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Janek Skarzynski / AFP - Getty Images
Women stand during a session in the cryotherapy room at the Olympic Sports Center in Spala, Poland, on March 7, 2012.
Janek Skarzynski / AFP - Getty Images
Participants exit the cryotherapy room at the Olympic Sports Center in Spala, which became famous after it was used by the Wales rugby team.
Shaun Botterill / Getty Images, file
Sam Warburton of Wales wins the lineout ball during the RBS 6 Nations match between England and Wales at Twickenham Stadium on February 25, 2012 in London, England. The Welsh went on to win by 19 points to 12.
At a sports center in Spala, a town 60 miles southwest of Warsaw, a group of women step out from a 10-square-foot sealed chamber amid a cloud of ice-vapor. They are trying cryotherapy, a workout aid used by a growing number of international sports stars that entails standing in temperatures as low as -256 degrees Fahrenheit (-160 degrees Celsius).
According to Welsh rugby star Sam Warburton, cryotherapy is like an 'evil sauna'. The first time he stepped inside one of the oversized fridges in Spala last year, he recalled, one of his teammates freaked out and began banging on the door to get out.
But the Wales team's unusual training methods seem to have paid off. Since they took up cryotherapy as part of their training regimen, they have powered into the World Cup semi-finals — their best performance since 1987 — and to the top of the standings in the Six Nations championship.
"Cryotherapy reduces inflammation" explains Adam Beard, the team's head of physical performance. "It dampens the nervous system, so it gives you that painless feel, and it allows you to flush toxins away from the working muscles pretty quickly, because obviously you're in extreme temperatures and the blood wants to move away from the limbs to regulate the core temperature," he told Agence France Presse.
Janek Skarzynski / AFP - Getty Images
Participants use the gym after a session in the cryotherapy room in Spala.
Leave a Comment:
We're all thinking it....if it works, why are they so fat?
A lot of fat people like to cling to these diet and exercise fads. They trick themselves into believing that they can eat what they want and exercise for only 10 minutes a week and still lose weight so long as they lock themselves in a walk in freezer for a few minutes.
Eat less move more. Everything else is a waste of money and time.
The article doesn't say one thing about losing weight or fat.
It does work - you should've seen them before!
Maybe they just started?
I should have waited to have lunch!
No thanks, but I'd say the same about a regular hot sauna. I have a high heat intolerance but I don't like temperature extremes while being enclosed in a small room with a bunch of people.
lol..... I guess we can safely say the men were really there to workout and not to look at the women.
I didn't see one person that looked remotely fit..... This sounds like those pills that make your junk bigger and the diets that make you drink honey water and cayenne pepper to "cleanse".
I can understand how making the blood move to muscles will help in healing. Unfortunately, it's calories in vs. calories out on the weight issue.
-256 Fahrenheit?? Are they prepairing for a trip to Mars?? That can't be good for you...
and it allows you to flush toxins away from the working muscles pretty quickly, because obviously you're in extreme temperatures and the blood wants to move away from the limbs to regulate the core temperature,". Umm this process has nothing to do with flushing out toxins. It only increases the odds of thickened blood clogging up your heart and causing a massive heart attack. It never ceases to amaze me how people are stupid enough to not use their intelligence.
I live in Alaska and we have EXTREME cold. People die from the cold. The worst I've seen is -60f. The article says these rooms are -256f. This is beyond STUPID.
I'm sure nothing bad will come of this trend. What could go wrong?
I think the key to this type of therapy is missing from the article.
Paraphrasing wiki:
The release of endorphins from this type of therapy can have a lasting effect, the pains and signs of inflammation as found in blood tests remain suppressed for weeks.
This is the true benefit of the sauna and subsequently I feel will never help "normal" people and help fat people even less.
Here's a fun fact: starting as young as high school athletes take pain killers to strength train. Why? Because lifting weights and pushing your body to the absolute max causes A LOT of pain. With pain killers (or in this case, the help of the evil sauna) athletes can essentially bypass illegal drugs that numb your pain (but get you banned from sports) and now legally push themselves beyond normal human limits.
Why it wont help normal people or fat people: Simply because most people will get injured before we can push ourselves beyond 100% where as professionals with the help of trainers, dieticians, world class equipment, etc can. Furthermore, most people quit working out simply cuz they are lazy and has nothing to do with pain.
P.S. - This article was pretty interesting though, I learned something new even though it took some extra research.
Did you know sitting in a pot of boiling water hurts ?
I always used to think that Polish jokes were bigotted and not nice. Perhaps I was wrong. If these people believe this is a good idea, they may deserve all those jokes.
To all those people saying this doesnt work nd its just a fad. You actually still have to work out and train. The room is their to help remove toxins and improve muscle recovery. I go in one of those hott rooms 180 degrees after i workout and their are always a to the bunch of fat people up in there. Fat lazy people are always attracted supposedly quick weight loss FADs and always wonder why they never work.