Cryotherapy is a hot trend that has a cult following in the recovery, wellness and beauty industries. You may have heard people talking about it or seen celebrities or athletes posting themselves coming out of icy cold chambers on social media, but what is Cryotherapy and why is everyone talking about it?
What is Cryotherapy?
The goal of true whole body cryotherapy is to expose as much skin as possible to temperatures of -166F or below for a short period of time — two to three minutes — to create a drop in the external skin temperature of 30 to 40 degrees. The best way to measure this is to use an infrared temperature device before and after the session on the back of the upper arm, measuring the delta between two temperature readings. The results are illustrated in this thermographic image below that shows the outer skin temperature dropping while the core temperature remains intact.
Effects on the Body
Blood rushing to the core is our body’s natural way of protecting our core organs from extreme cold. When exposed to extreme cold temperatures, blood rushes from our extremities to our core, creating a systemic response throughout the body that produces a myriad of benefits. As mentioned above, cold promotes increased blood flow which brings fresh, oxygenated blood full of white blood cells to areas of the body that need it.
How Can it Help with Revenue and Member Retention?
Adding the offering to a gym or fitness setting is a complete game changer, with a multitude of benefits.
- New Revenue Source: People are willing to pay $25 to $50/three-minute session with average volume of 50-plus sessions per day. At less than a dollar an hour to operate, revenue becomes pure profit. $25/session times 50 sessions/day equals $1250/day. Another pricing option is subscription based or enhancing existing subscriptions.
- Member Retention: Cryotherapy is a highly coveted, novelty experience that not everyone has. Adding cryo will set you apart from competition and help with member retention. Cryotherapy demand is quickly growing and will soon be in most gym settings.
- Train Harder/Recover Better: Cryotherapy helps with recovery and offers members constantly looking for a way to improve their workouts, feel better, and train harder and more often.
Types of Cryotherapy
When selecting the type and brand of your next cryotherapy chamber, it is important to understand the differences and what type will fit best with your offering and your members
- Electric vs. Nitrogen: The old form of Cryotherapy was done with dangerous, costly nitrogen as a cooling method. Many instances of injury and even death, have caused nitrogen to lose considerable favor in the cryotherapy world. Additionally, each nitrogen session costs $5 to$7/session, compared to $0/session in electric chambers.
- Head in vs Head Out: To get the full benefit of cryotherapy, it is important to ensure the machine allows for full body cryotherapy, meaning a walk-in chamber where the head is exposed. This is only possible in electric cryotherapy systems as there is no dangerous nitrogen gas.
- American vs Overseas: Cryotherapy systems are extremely high tech and require a lot of monitoring, tech support, and at times, in person service. Be sure to buy American and ask about service coverage.
