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| - First, let me put on my pretend make-believe lab coat and geeky glasses for this science experiment:
Five days a week I work out very intensely. Although my body will ache with all training, leg day seems to give me the most trouble. After nearly a year of grueling sessions of tri-sets, I found myself limping around for nearly a week. Shouldn't my body be used to this by now? The worst part is that by the time I recover it's time for another leg day! I needed to do something about this situation ASAP.
When I arrived at Glace, "Claire" the attendant showed me to the curtained changing area and I chose a pair of gloves, socks, shoes, and a wrap that was provided. I stepped up into a florescent glowing chamber with cold misty vapors. It looked like a contraption at the Electric Daisy Carnival. The chamber closed around me, leaving my head exposed. I gave "Claire" my wrap. I stood naked and laughed out loud. How odd that as the mist filled and became icier that I had no concern about my lady parts getting frost bite. As "Claire" chatted with me my mind was no longer on frozen genitalia. The clocked ticked away. Just like she described the last 30 seconds had me feeling like I had been tossed off the TITANIC and plunged into the sea! My skin began to feel like little needles were pricking it and I turned 360 degrees like TSA instructs you to do at the airport. This was to keep the vapors from being in one designated spot. Plus I wanted to make sure ALL sore points would be targeted evenly. "Claire" told me I was negative something degrees but it really didn't matter at this point. I was turning into a chocolaty fudgesicle! Just like that, the session ended and I got dressed. I headed towards my warm car and began to thaw out. My body heat returned quickly and I was no longer cold.
LATER ON THAT EVENING: My butt was starting to fatigue. My adductors were tightening and I could feel soreness setting in.
THE VERY NEXT DAY: Although I was not limping, I was still VERY sore. More fatigue and tightness set into my quads and my gluteus Maximus would NOT stop twitching! All the lunges and squats I did was much too powerful for cryotherapy! It was uncomfortable getting up from my desk at work and I was grateful it was my rest day.
FIY/DIY ICE BATH
I bought a GROUPON deal to Glace but before I went I wanted to try out my own experiment so that I can compare it to cryotherapy. Two weeks before my Glace appointment I went to Walmart and bought a cheap bag of ice. I made sure after a GRUELING leg day to drink my usual 45g or protein after the session and NOT stretch, just to measure the effectiveness. (A bit laziness too, but the other sounded more official. Haha).
FIRST, I put my heater on 80 degrees downstairs AND upstairs. Ain't nobody got time for Pneumonia. I filled my bath tub with cold water. Once it filled half way, I dumped HALF of the bag of ice in the tub. Fearfully I watched as the chunks of ice swirled around the tub. Was I really ready for this? I put on my bathing suit and jumped into ice cold water without hesitation. Within seconds my right leg went numb! My teeth chattered as I watched the clock. I was NOT going to give up. I had to stay in for at least 8 minutes! After 8 minutes, I sealed the deal with two extra minutes and got out quickly. My legs continued to be frozen but I was proud that I made it through.
THE VERY NEXT DAY: I woke up and NOT a glimpse of pain was felt. No hobbling around and trying to bend over slowly. No waddling and taking 5 min just to get to the other side of the room. No dreading the stairs, taking one step at a time. No coming down the stairs like I'm walking on coals! Best of all, no holding on to the handicap bar in the restroom just to get up! This literally cost me $2.00. Two weeks later I sat in another ice bath after leg day and it was just as effective. What I believe made a difference was the intensity of coldness was maintained for the duration of the ice bath as opposed to the coldest lasting for only 30 seconds with cryotherapy. I do believe cryotherapy can be beneficial to a lot of people--just not for my leg days! DIY ice bath in comparison to cryotherapy is my preferred method of choice. Not because of price, but because of actual results.
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