How a TH7 contrast therapy session works
A contrast therapy session at TH7 means moving from a hot pool to a cold pool and back, three to four rounds, finishing on cold. For the physiology behind it, see our full breakdown of contrast therapy.
There’s a reason for the alternation. Blood vessels dilating and constricting in turn under the changing temperature is what produces the recovery effect. Too few rounds, or staying in either pool too long, and you lose it.
Hot pool temperatures and timing
The hot pools sit between 38°C and 40°C, warm enough to lift your body temperature and dilate the blood vessels near the skin. Each round in the hot pool runs about three to four minutes. This is the same heat-exposure principle used in a traditional sauna, applied through water immersion instead of dry air.
That’s long enough to bring on vasodilation without leaving you light-headed when you stand up. If you’re new to it, start at the lower end.
Cold pool temperatures and timing
The cold tubs run between 8°C and 12°C. Most rounds last about a minute, though some people build up to two. Water this cold constricts the blood vessels and sets off the cold shock reflex.
Your breathing quickens in the first twenty seconds or so. Slow nasal breathing brings it back under control fairly quickly. If you’re after more intense cold, our dedicated ice baths run colder than the contrast pool.
Why we finish on cold
Finishing on cold leaves your blood vessels constricted, which helps push metabolic waste and fluid out of tired muscles and back into the lymphatic system. Finishing on heat does the reverse, pooling blood in the peripheral areas.
Hot-to-cold is also the order that produces the most lasting alertness afterwards, since the cold prompts a release of norepinephrine. That’s why the protocol is built around it.
