Whole Body Cryotherapy
The new "IT" in Fitness Recovery?
by Jeannie Mok
So…you workout at your favorite gym’s booty camp. Mine is D1 Sports in Worthington. You do fantastic exercises for your lower & upper body that consists of things you only think body builders do. You do things like back squats followed by power cleans, kettle bell squats, walking lunges with weights for 40 yards, box jumps, and finally push the prowler 40 freakin yards. Your body hurts so good, right?! That’s just Day 1.
Day 2,is even more of the same. When it's all said and done you leave the gym feeling great, right? YEAH, I crushed this workout!! You're throwing up high five’s & fist bumps with everyone saying it was a great workout as you leave the gym.
But when you get home and start to relax the after effects start to set in and you're asking yourself questions like, "Why do my legs feel like concrete blocks?" as you do the chicken wing shoulder circles with your arms (c'mon, you know you do these) By the second day after your workout, all you can think about is the PAIN. PAIN while you tried to sleep and more PAIN getting in the way of everything and I'm willing to try just about anything (legal) to get through it, cause not training isn't an option.
I decide that the best course of action is to seek professional help so I grab Brian, the GM and inform him that I'm willing to do ANYTHING to stop "this" (full body hand gesture) pain. Being the consummate professional that he is, Brian smiles and shows me the Cryotherapy room and gives me a tour. Now, the fact that the Cryo Tank resembles something out of a Star Wars movie where Han Solo gets flash frozen does not give me added confidence.
But, I did say, "ANYTHING." Anyways, Brian goes through his spiel that the temperature is going to be between -120 to -200 degrees Fahrenheit, you’re in there for 2-4 minutes, you wear minimal clothing, can’t have wet skin or clothing, how it will help you lose another 500+ calories because your body expends more energy to increase your body temperature, blah, blah, blah. Of course, I zone out cause I’m thinking “Doesn’t he realize I.AM.IN.PAIN”?! And then he says the magic words (ta da!!)…alleviates pain, reduces inflammation and swelling. So I basically scream "LETS DO THIS!"
Brian starts doodling with the controls and tells me to strip down to what I'm comfortable in (he gives me a robe, you pervs) and leaves the room. When he returns he has me put on these thick but comfortable socks and gloves so as not to get frost bitten? I seemed to have missed that part during his spiel but there's no turning back at this point.
"PAIN is getting in the way of everything and I'm willing to try just about anything (legal) to get through it..."