Feeling the chill - how we cold plunge at Recentre

"How long should I sit in the ice bath?"

This the most common question we are asked by clients doing the cold plunge for the first time.

Our answer? As long as you need to.

There are so many factors that affect how long you may want to or are physically able to stay in the ice bath. These include:

• How cold tolerant you are

• Your stress levels - it often feels harder to sit in the ice bath if you have had a big training week, it was a challenging day in the office or you had a less than good night's sleep. Often you won't realised you're feeling stressed until you add ice....

• Fear or anxiety about your ability to 'do' the ice bath - it's natural to feel a little anxious about putting yourself into an uncomfortable situation voluntarily. 

There is no "correct" way to do your contrast session - everyone has a favourite combination that works for them. Here are a few of our current favourites:

• The Boss - Warm up in the sauna then into the ice bath. Plunge straight under for ten seconds. Settle in for a minute then reset with another full submersion. Once or twice and you're done.
   

• The Soul Destroyer - Rinse off in the shower then its straight in and under, and then chill for 4-6 minutes. Head to the sauna for 30-40 minutes then its back to the ice bath for another endurance plunge. Finish COLD!
   

• Easy Does it - Start with a soothing long sauna for 40 minutes then head over to the ice bath.  Don't linger too long in the shower - just take a deep breath and get into the ice! Two minutes and you're done! Whilst clients have been known to sneak back into the sauna*, we encourage you to let yourself feel the chill for a bit and let your body do the work regulate your temperature.

* We do not judge these people :-)

Take a look at how Jesse, one of our regular Recovery members likes to do the plunge.