Contrast Therapy

Lipid changes during menopause and cardiovascular risk for women

Dayspring discusses how menopause dramatically shifts lipid profiles in women, increasing cardiovascular risk at a time when many women are told their cholesterol numbers are normal by conventional standards.

"Cardiovascular risk factors for younger women and lipid changes during menopause"

Contrast therapy and hormesis amplify benefits

The discussion covers how combining heat and cold therapy creates a hormetic response where short-term controlled stress unlocks the body's natural healing abilities, similar to the benefits of fasting.

"what it does for the body, what it does for hormosis or heremesis, I should say, is incredible where you just expose yourself to something that you believe is, you know, not good for long periods of time. But if you expose yourself for short periods of time, it does everything amazing things for the body."

Hormetic stress explained - why temperature extremes help

Josh and Chuck explain the hormetic effect, where controlled stress from temperature extremes trains the body to better respond to unintentional stress, improving the immune system and overall resilience.

"And so supposedly, according to this idea of the hormetic effect, which seems to be pretty legitimate, by just kind of slowly, little by little, stressing your body, you improve your body's stress response, your immune system, that kind of thing. And exercise is one way to do it, but also exposing it to temperature extremes, like through a sauna or a cold plunge also produces hormetic effects because they put hormetic stress on your body, too. That seems to be the basis behind health benefits from sauna-ing or cold plunging."

Warmer water still works - safer contrast therapy approach

Chuck and Josh explain that water at 70 degrees Fahrenheit provides meaningful cold exposure benefits with far less risk than extreme cold, and that even a hot-to-cold shower switch can deliver some benefit.

"I mean, I'm talking like 70 degrees. Still sounds warm. That's not warm, especially if you're in like a hot tub first or a sauna first or you've exercised or something like that. It does the trick. It does everything you need to do without, or I shouldn't say without the chance of killing you, with a much less chance of killing you."

How estrogen loss in menopause raises LDL and cardiovascular risk

The episode explores how the loss of estrogen during menopause impairs the body's ability to clear LDL cholesterol, leading to higher apoB levels and increased cardiovascular risk that is specific to women's biology.

"how estrogen helps clear LDL on the body and the changes with menopause, including having higher apo"

Contrast therapy defined as hot-cold nervous system reset with specific neurotransmitter benefits

Ryan Moore breaks down contrast therapy as infrared sauna with red light for the hot source and cold plunge for the cold source, explaining the neurotransmitter cascade including norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin boosts plus inflammation reduction from blood vessel constriction.

"So the therapy treatment is hot, cold, hot source is infrared sauna with red light. Your cold source is a cold plunge. And so benefit wise, in terms of sauna, it's detox. So liver, kidneys, lymphatic system, opening up your blood flow, increasing circulation, kind of a cold plunge."

Mental benefits surpass physical recovery as primary reason for daily contrast therapy

Ryan describes how he shifted from using contrast therapy primarily for muscle recovery to doing it every morning for mental reset, noting that a three-minute cold plunge can completely rewire his mindset when business stress hits.

"That's incredible. And the experience that you've had from this firsthand, what kind of benefits has it had in your life? So in the beginning, my main focus was I needed this for muscle recovery, probably more than anything. I've actually shifted. I actually do it more for the mental aspect because starting the business is tough. And there have been days where I'm like, why did I do this? I'll go jump in the cold plunge for three minutes and forget I even ever had that thought."

Optimal weekly contrast therapy dose for beginners and regular users

Ryan lays out the specific weekly protocol: aim for 11-12 minutes in the cold and 50-55 minutes in the sauna per week, which typically works out to two 60-minute sessions for most people.

"one time, at least get started one time a week. But I would say the average person probably needs to do two sessions a week. So what you want to aim for is 11 to 12 minutes a week in the cold tub, 50 to 55 in the sauna."

Professional bodybuilder describes unexpected cognitive benefits of contrast therapy

Dan Stoll, a professional bodybuilder and coach, explains that while recovery benefits are obvious, the biggest surprise has been dramatically improved cognitive sharpness, focus, and productivity from regular contrast therapy sessions.

"able I am to get back into high intensity training the next day. Um, so it's, it's a very like obvious benefit for anybody that takes that on. My favorite thing about sweat house actually is the unexpected benefits I've got on the coaching side of things. And so, cause I'm a bodybuilder for sure. I love to do that. I do it professionally. I also coach lifestyle athletes and competitive bodybuilders. And when I'm regularly doing my contrast therapy, I'm"

Contrast therapy produces an endorphin high and intense focus

The host describes the euphoric, high-like feeling from doing an hour of alternating sauna and cold plunge, noting the incredible focus and elevated endorphins that follow a contrast therapy session.

"I was just on vacation this past weekend and we went to a spa and they had contrast therapy there. And I sat there and I did it for like an hour back and forth between the sauna and the cold plunge. And when you leave there, you're just like, my God, I can, the focus you have. And also, you know, and we've had other people that have, we've talked about contrast therapy on this podcast before, but it kind of makes you feel like high in a way, like your endorphins are super high."

Contrast therapy benefits extend far beyond athletic recovery

Sam explains that athletes and recovery seekers are only a small percentage of their clientele, with most people coming for anxiety relief, sobriety support, or simply 60 minutes to unplug and focus on themselves.

"our studio, like contrast therapy. So a lot of people think when they think of contrast therapy is, Oh, it's for athletes and it's for, uh, people who are just looking to recover because they're sore. So we also are trying to help break that stigma a little bit because that is such a small percentage of what actually walks through our door."