Athletes all across the world have a common goal of proper recovery to stay in top physical form, and for many of them cryotherapy can play a big role in this space. Now, of course you don’t need to be a top athlete playing for a multi billion dollar sports franchise in order to use Cryotherapy, but there is a reason why these athletes can’t get enough of Electric Cryotherapy!
Top athletes are pushing themselves harder and harder because of longer seasons and more games as competition also has increased simultaneously. Athletes have needed to prioritize their recovery regimen to become the best versions of themselves as well as recover smarter in order for longevity. Most top name athletes as well as sporting teams have prioritized cryotherapy and sports recovery to ensure their success in the future by installing cryotherapy chambers.
Effects on muscle damage/Treating DOMS
As Whole Body Cryotherapy increases circulation by exposing the body to ultra cooled air, it also helps purify the blood and transports nutrients to the body’s soft tissue. This in turn accelerates healing. As an active person, small tears and injuries are a byproduct of maintaining that lifestyle. The circulation of oxygen and other blood flow through to your body parts help reduce systemic inflammation and lower concentrations of markers for muscle cell damage. A study done in 2017 showed that muscle pain was reduced by 80%, with the use of whole body cryotherapy.
WBC has also shown to improve antioxidant balance and increase beta- endorphins. Increasing beta endorphins also regulates the perception of your pain in brain neurons, treating soreness and also delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Who wouldn’t want to not feel as sore a few days after your exercise? Sign us up!
Reduced Inflammation
Stimulating the Vagus Nerve helps prevent inflammation through the presence of the tumor necrosis factor. This alerts the brain and draws out anti-inflammatory neurotransmitters that regulate the body’s immune response. Cryotherapy reduces the inflammatory process by decreasing the macrophage infiltration and the accumulation of the inflammatory key markers. Hence, the world's top athletes and renown sports franchises resort to cryotherapy as a key mode of recovery. As these benefits are accomplished by stimulating the Vagus Nerve, we delve deeper into the details in our dedicated article explaining how the Vagus Nerve is effected by Cryotherapy.
The repeated stress put on your joints resulting from sports can be grueling to your body. A study from Szczecin University of Poland found that after using cryotherapy regularly, participants experienced an increase in interleukin-6. This is a protein that is released during intense exercise acts as an anti-inflammatory, helps to regenerate tissue, and pathogen defense. The longer the inflammation lasts the more time it will take one to recover, reducing the inflammation can help them return to competition ready.
Performance Benefits
Anaerobic power and capacity is primarily seen in sports such as volleyball, basketball, hockey, boxing, and wrestling. Anaerobic means ‘without oxygen.’ Thus Anaerobic capacity and power is the power you are using when doing high intensity activities where your body isn't using oxygen for energy which it does during low intensity workouts. For example activities like riding a bike you would need oxygen to complete the exercise, aerobic, versus weight lifting where one will not need oxygen to complete the action, anaerobic. Increasing your anaerobic capacity can be the push at the end of a race or last push to get past your opponents at the end of a game. This could make or break a game!
A study done in 2010 by Kilmek showed that 10 sessions improved the anaerobic power in men significantly. This is likely due to the cold temperatures limiting oxygen allowing the body to function without it and also the metabolic change that takes place which is an increased activity of anaerobic glycolytic enzymes. Another study tested elite Rugby players showing greater improvement in speed, strength and power versus players that did not use WBC over that same time.
Faster Recovery
Healing is accelerated with WBC because the metabolic rate in cells is reduced. It can give cells a much better chance of survival after injury. During the treatment your blood vessels constrict to help reduce swelling and after you finish the treatment the vessels once again dilate. This enriched blood filled with oxygen, hormones, and healing enzymes then flows back to the body which helps the lymph system work more effectively.
With athletes who train at a high level multiple times a week, this will bring great relief as it enables them to have increased endurance for events and also get back to running swiftly. Researchers found that, “in conjunction with moderate-intensity training was more effective for the recovery process than the training itself.”
Time Saved
Ideally as an athlete you would want to have less down time and high quality time while reducing pain and stiffness. For ages cold therapy has been used for treatment, although it can work wonders on increasing stamina and injury management. You can experience cryotherapy in 3 minutes whereas to receive the same results you would probably need to do an ice bath for 10-20 minutes. In addition ice/water never gets cold enough to get the body temperature drop necessary for a true cryotherapy (cold therapy) session.
Utilizing recovery time can go a long way in the life of an athlete. Why spend an extra 30 minutes setting up for an ice bath where walking into a cryotherapy chamber could do the same in a fraction of the time. It is almost as simple as a 5 minute errand. Machines will be started up each morning before the business opens up and will be functioning throughout the day. It does not need to be prepped any further than showing up with proper cryo gear and then picking a song, color, and enjoying a session. That might sound too good to be true, but check out this video to see it in action!
Futuristic it may seem, but it is highly available to the public. CryoBuilt alone has 100 + locations with chambers spread across the U.S. which you can go visit.
Feeling Refreshed
After a cryotherapy treatment, most people feel refreshed and recharged! Your immune system, blood cells, endorphins, focus and recovery ability will all benefit. With all these benefits it's no wonder why athletes are actively using cryotherapy. Along with treating your body right after the hard work you’ve put into it, all of these benefits come from just a few minutes in the chamber!
If you’re looking for any locations to try out cryotherapy, we have locations all across the US. Follow this Link.