Contrast therapy alternates between heat and cold to enhance physical and mental performance. Heat boosts circulation and recovery, while cold reduces inflammation and activates the parasympathetic nervous system, improving mood, resilience, and overall balance.
Hot Science
Hot therapy supports overall health by improving circulation, boosting endurance and recovery, and promoting deeper sleep. It elevates mood, helps the body expel toxins, activates heat shock proteins for cellular repair, and supports long-term longevity.
Improved Cardiovascular Tone
Studies show that saunas help lower cholesterol, improve blood pressure, decrease the risk of heart attack and cardiovascular disease.
Those using saunas 2-3x week had a 27% reduction in mortality associated with cardiovascular disease versus those who used saunas 1x week. Sauna use 4-5x week had a 50% reduction rate in mortality associated with cardiovascular disease.
Sauna increases heart rate to 100-150 BPM mimicking cardiovascular exercise without physical wear and tear on the body.
Physical Endurance & Recovery
2x 20 minute sauna sessions per week at 80C increases human growth hormone (HGH) improving muscle mass, weight loss, bone density, energy, brain function, exercise capacity and temperature regulation.
Hyperthermic conditioning, the physiological adaptation when the body is repeatedly exposed to heat, enhances blood flow to muscles increasing oxygen, glucose, fatty acids and nutrients. This accelerates muscle recovery, reduces soreness, and enhances performance by improving blood flow and flexibility.
30 minute sauna sessions 2x a week for 3 weeks increased participants’ ability to run until exhaustion by 32%.
Better Sleep
Traditional sauna for 15 minutes every other day improved sleep efficiency +18% as measured by time spent in deep sleep and overall duration of sleep.
Expels Toxins
In the sauna, we sweat out heavy metals and toxins such as mercury, BPA and phthalates. Toxins are most concentrated in fatty tissue just below the surface of the skin. Sweating in the sauna excites the water molecules surrounding fat, which helps break down and expel the chemicals within.
Enhanced Mood
Hot and cold stimulate hormone production and release.
Norepinephrine (NE) can jump 3x when sauna users push themselves to the edge of their heat tolerance (20-30 mins). NE in the brain is a neurotransmitter that enhances focus, attention and improves mood. In the body NE is a powerful hormone decreasing inflammation system wide.
Prolactin is a hormone that aids in myelin growth. Myelin makes the brain function faster, a critical feature in repairing nerve cell damage. Endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin induce euphoria while boosting energy levels, calmness, and pain tolerance.
Saunas also reduce high cortisol levels, which are often linked to depression, chronic stress and increased belly fat.
Boosted Heat Shock Proteins
Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are produced by cells in response to heat stress. HSPs are essential for optimal body function. They aid in muscle maintenance, cell repair, and have anti-cancer properties. They also prevent protein aggregation, reducing the risk of diseases like neurodegenerative disorders and heart conditions.
Cold Science
Cold exposure supports mental and physical resilience by boosting mood, increasing metabolism, and aiding weight loss. It strengthens immune function, enhances antioxidant production, reduces inflammation, accelerates athletic recovery, and may help protect against neurodegeneration.
Boosted Mood
Norepinephrine (NE) is a hormone in the blood and a neurotransmitter in the brain. It plays a crucial role in boosting your mood, vigilance, and attention span. In the blood, NE causes vasoconstriction to retain body heat and is also known for its anti-inflammatory properties. More than 50% of all deaths are attributable to inflammation-related diseases. A 2 minute cold plunge in water 0-6C can yield up to a 5x jump in NE.
supported Metabolism, potential Weight Loss
Metabolism is activated through a process called thermogenesis, which produces body heat through energy in the muscle tissue via contractions (shivering). Non-shivering thermogenesis occurs once the body has stopped shivering.
A calorie is the amount of energy required to heat one gram of water one degree Celsius. This is why it is referred to as “burning” calories when we exercise or partake in hot and cold exposure. Your body burns calories as it works to reheat itself after cold immersion.
Improved Immune Function
Cold water immersion 3x per week for 6 weeks has been shown to increase white blood cell count, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (active in killing cancer cells), and other beneficial immune cells.
Antioxidant Production
Cold exposure activates genetic anti-oxidizing systems (far stronger than supplemental antioxidants) such as glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase to counteract Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). ROS are always present, and damage cells in the body, including DNA. Cold exposure for 20 days doubled glutathione and increased superoxide dismutase by ~43%.
Athletic Recovery & Reduced Inflammation
As explained in the “Boosted Mood” section, a 2 minute cold plunge in water 0-6C can yield up to a 5x jump in norepinephrine ( NE) NE is known for its anti-inflammatory properties.
Athletes use cold water therapy for reducing post-exercise muscle stiffness, delayed onset muscle soreness, eliminating fatigue, decreasing exercise-induced muscle damage, and recovering sports performance.
Decreased NEURODEGENERATION
Cold exposure elevates RBM3 (a cold shock protein) for up to 3 days, which protects against synapse damage, decreases neurodegeneration, and regenerates synapses. Synapses are gaps between neurons responsible for cell communication and creating memories. These synapses break down through aging which increases the risk of Alzheimers.
mindfulness
Meditation
Mindfulness has been shown to improve mental health and reduce stress. When faced with stress our bodies create cortisol, the steroid hormone regulating our fight-or-flight response. By calming the mind and regulating emotions, meditation can help reduce the impacts of sustained elevated cortisol (chronic stress).
Mediation can help counter the effects of anxiety by slowing down racing thoughts and regulating breathing, which calms the nervous system. People with anxiety who regularly practiced meditation saw positive, long-term impacts on their mental health, according to a study in General Hospital Psychiatry.
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Hypertension (high blood pressure) affects one billion people worldwide. Meditation has promising results in decreasing high blood pressure, by around five points .
Meditation reduces the body’s stress response, thereby decreasing inflammation and risk of conditions such as chronic pain, fatigue and heart disease
Meditation changes how you emotionally react to situations. Elements such as mindfulness and controlled breathing reduce impulsive reactions. People who practice meditation regularly have stronger mood regulation, self-awareness and ability to be present.
Research suggests those who meditate fall asleep faster and experience greater sleep efficiency in terms of duration, REM, deep sleep, and perceived restfulness and energy levels. Meditation can improve latency (time to fall asleep) by reducing mental rumination.
—Viktor E Frankl, renowned neurologist and psychiatrist“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.”
