Cryotherapy
Frequently Asked Questions
Cryotherapy is the brief exposure to ultra low air temperatures in a fully enclosed, walk-in chamber or room.
Regular cryotherapy usage comes with vast benefits including; muscle recovery, relief from aches & pains or nagging injuries, reduced inflammation, stronger immune system, elevated mood, better sleep, caloric burn, brown fat production, and much more!
HOLSELF Cryo sessions are fully customizable to time, intensity level, ambient lighting, and music. Sessions are anywhere from 2 to 3.5 minutes and you can come out early at any time if you need to!
It is best to expose as much skin as possible to the cold air so we recommend wearing underwear, bathing suit, or shorts inside the cryo chamber. It is important to always cover the extremities such as hands and feet for protection. Shoes or slippers are required and HOLSELF provides all safety/comfort items including;
- Robe
- Slippers
- Gloves
- Mask (for comfort)
- Headband
No! You will have your own private room, robe, robe hook, and closed door to experience cryotherapy as intended without anyone seeing you. A HOLSELF Guide will be available to accompany you on request, or you can experience it privately or with a friend!
The cryo chamber is roughly -150 to -175 degrees fahrenheit. While this sounds painful, it is much more comfortable than a cold plunge or even a cold shower. This is because whole body cryo uses hyper cooled, oxygenated air rather than a fluid such as water to cool the body. Air has a much lower insulating factor than water, so your body gets the great benefits of cold without the discomfort of being covered in water.
There are many claims of several hundred calories being burnt during a cryotherapy session. The truth is, everything we do, we burn calories and caloric burn results from cryotherapy will vary by person. The process of thermoregulation (your body doing work to maintain homeostasis, i.e. vasoconstriction/dilation) certainly burns calories from working to keep your body warm in extreme low temps. In addition to thermoregulation burning calories, extreme cold exposure promotes brown fat cell production. Brown fat cells are actually mitochondria packed cells that burn energy and reduce white fat cells to stay warm. We are all born with high levels of brown fat cells but they reduce as we age (hence why kids have amazing metabolism and its more difficult to lose weight as we age). Extreme cold exposure such as cryotherapy is one of the only known ways to increase brown fat cells as we age and is a great way to keep your metabolism strong!
This varies for everyone but the average, healthy person should try to do cryo 3-5 times per week for best results. It is important to note that the benefits of cryotherapy are best achieved by doing it on a normal, routine basis as a preventative measure rather than waiting until after an injury.