Cryotherapy can be worked into a fitness regime to effectively support an individual’s goals, whether that’s to lose weight, go from being a couch potato to running 5k, compete in a competitive sport, or even to run a marathon.
Here we share 5 ways implementing cryotherapy into your fitness routine can help.
- Increased metabolism – by lowering the skin’s temperature, the body is forced to work harder to heat and transport the blood around the body. This increases metabolism and overall calorie expenditure. Cryotherapy may also stimulate the production of brown adipose fat or “good fat”. The cold temperatures enable the brown fat to convert the white, “bad fat”. This thermogenesis process leads to a leaner body mass.
- Sleep – The power of a good night’s sleep cannot be underestimated. The increased dopamine levels resulting from a cryotherapy session have been shown to increase the depth, duration and quality of sleep, helping the body to recover from physical exhursion.
- Before and after – working out before cryotherapy will give you greater energy and greater recovery due to the reduction in inflammation, while those who working out after cryotherapy will experience a higher pain tolerance and more energy.
- Reduce inflammation – cryotherapy can help to reduce inflammation and restore functional capacity of muscles after strenuous exercise. It is widely known that excess inflammation can impede the healing process and also deters physiotherapists, massage therapists etc. from working on the affected areas. Slowing the cellular metabolism also inhibits cellular damage with the result that the need for repair is reduced.
- Nutrients and oxygen – when exposed to the cold, the body will maintain blood in the core region to protect the vital organs. As soon as the cold is removed, the heart pumps blood back to the extremities, which helps to redistribute nutrients and oxygen throught the body.
