FIRE AND ICE
What is the Cold Plunge and what is Contrast Therapy?
Cold Plunge aka Cold Water Immersion (CWI) is the practice of immersing oneself inside a tank of cold water. Made popular by sports trainers and Wim Hof, it improves natural recovery, aids in workout recovery, improves cardiovascular circulation, reduces muscle inflammation, facilitates weight loss, and improves skin tone. We offer oversized tanks that undergo constant circulation and filtration and can fit up to two people. The most difficult challenges are the most rewarding. Contrast therapy involves combining hot and cold therapies, so in our case, we combine Hot hydrotherapy with the cold plunge hydrotherapy. We call this the “fire and ice” method.
How it works:
We have a Cold Water Immersion (CWI) tanks and a Hot Tub. If this will be your first time trying the practice, we recommend you start at 30 seconds to a minute to see how you and your body respond. There is a timer to make sure you don’t overstay the cold plunge. We recommend you alternate between hot and cold starting with Hot for 10-15 minutes and ending with hot for approximately 3 minutes.
Why get in the cold water tank? Why contrast therapy?
Hormetic stress optimizes you into a stronger, more resilient, and healthier human, both mentally and physically. Sometimes, we struggle with emotional, mental, or physical conditions that weigh us down or make life feel overwhelming. The cold water immersion happens to be a complete reset and nudges us toward healthier and happier states of being. There are so many reasons to make this a routine: detoxification, increased metabolism, immune system and cardiovascular support, weight loss, improved circulation, and skin rejuvenation.
Our cold plunge tank maintains a temperature between 48-50 degrees and the hot tub maintains a temperature between 102-104 degrees.
The maximum we recommend is 5 minutes in the COLD. “No Heros” with the plunges. This means it’s not about who can stay in longer, but about safely pushing ourselves to overcome a challenge. It’s about building resilience, not showing off. Science has shown that 1-3 minutes is a good goal. At two minutes systems in our body are affected, and after 5 minutes the benefits decrease.
How do we clean the water? The water in our cold plunges and hot tub is constantly filtering to create a completely sanitary pool of water. We also use hydrogen peroxide as a sanitizing agent which is more effective than chlorine when combined with ozone, but much gentler on the skin. The levels of H2O2 are monitored on a daily basis to ensure proper sanitization.
Much like working out our muscles, other systems in the body are strengthened when they are stressed in a controlled environment. Heat and Cold are safe ways to stress our cardiovascular system, respiratory, immune system, and energy production systems. Cold plunges have been shown to lower inflammation, boost metabolism, accelerate recovery from workouts, improve sleep, boost your mood, increase energy, and support the immune system. It’s hard getting in, but you will feel amazing after.
We believe that cold plunges are a safer, less expensive, and more effective way to cool the body. The thermal conductivity of water is 25 times greater than air, so humans lose body heat up to five times more quickly in water compared to the same temperature in air. So while Cryotherapy can show temperatures under 250 ℉, it’s not as impactful on our physiology as water under 60 ℉.
Cold plunging is safe for individuals in good health. If you have any health concerns relating to getting into cold water it is best to consult your doctor. Cold water immersion is not recommended if you have abnormal/altered skin sensation, Impaired circulation: tissue damage may result from vasoconstriction, open wounds / broken skin, hypersensitivity to cold, such as Raynaud’s phenomenon, cold urticaria, cryoglobulinemia, and paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria, angina pectoris or other severe cardiac diseases, peripheral vascular disease, under influence of drugs or alcohol, or epilepsy.
Contrast therapy is the process of exposing the body to rounds of hot and cold environments. This can be done using air or water. At Cell-U-Light Therapy Center, LLC we offer cold plunge tanks with water ranging from 48-50 degrees and hot tub with water at 102-104 degrees.
Contrast Therapy can offer improved circulation, decreased swelling, reduced inflammation, improvement in muscle strains, increased range of motion, reduced muscle soreness, increased energy & alertness, and elevated mood.
For healthy individuals contrast therapy is safe. It is recommended to read up on contraindications for saunas and cold plunges before trying contrast therapy.
A good place to start might be 1 minute working up to 3 minutes for the final of 3 plunges/visit in the ice bath, and 10-15 minutes in the hot tub. It is recommended to start with 10-15 minutes in the hot tub followed by 1-1 ½ minutes in cold then 3 minutes in hot tub, 1-1 ½ minutes in cold, 3 minutes in hot tub, 2-3 minutes in cold followed by a final 3 minutes in the hot tub. This is only a recommendation; the maximum allowable time in the hot tub before exiting and cooling off is 15 minutes and the maximum allowable time in cold bath is 5 minutes.
When you submerge part or all of your body in cold water, small blood vessels called capillaries respond to the cold by getting smaller. This is known as vasoconstriction, and when you warm the body, the opposite happens. Your blood vessels open up. This is known as vasodilation. So, how do these circulatory changes help you? When you rapidly alternate between hot and cold, your blood vessels open and close in a pulsing, pump-like motion. Some proponents think this pumping action can help relieve various injury symptoms and help with muscle recovery. Two studies conducted in 2007 showed that contrast bath therapy can also help decrease the lactic acid in your body, helping you recover from the soreness and fatigue of strenuous exercise.
Just a few of the many benefits experienced from Hot and Cold Plunge Hydrotherapy.. aka Fire n’ Ice (or Nordic Cycle Therapy):
- Stimulates your body’s systems… Activate circulation, and raises heart rate.
- Improves resting heart rate
- Improves metabolism
- Incredible vascular workout (simulates HIIT training)
- Boost the immune system
- Fires of the lymphatic system
- Reduces swelling and inflammation
- Relieves muscle soreness
- Improves mood… Releases, endorphins, enkephalins, and dopamine
- Reduction of anxiety and depression
- Resets stress response aka flight or fight
- Increases pain tolerance
- Improves the appearance of skin
- Leads to weight loss
- Makes you SCREAM.. Makes you Laugh.. Makes you High on Life!!
Cell-U-Light Therapy
Center’s suggested hot and cold hydrotherapy protocol combined with our
TheraLight bed has benefits far reaching! It’s the most incredible vascular
workout imaginable! Just think.. what you’re seeing here… what’s happening
beyond what the eyes can see.. and definitely feel!!