Hot Cold Therapy

Alternate the heat and the cold, and let your body do the adapting

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The sauna at Green Square seen from the changing area, its glazed timber cabin set behind a tiled bench and hanging plants

The ice bath room, with two baths side by side under warm lighting

An empty steam room finished in deep blue-grey render, with a tiered bench running along two walls

A stone-tiled shower alcove with a rain head, beside a glass door

Heat opens you up and cold shuts you down. Doing both in one session is the whole practice.

Person seen from behind at the glass door of a Finnish sauna, looking in at strip-lit tiered timber benches

Start in the heat

Ten to fifteen minutes in the Finnish sauna at 90°C is a full round. Sit lower on the benches if it is your first one, and come out while you are still enjoying it rather than when you have had enough.

A cold plunge pool of pale blue water with a fern hanging over it

Then straight into the cold

Thirty seconds in the ice bath is a real go at it. Breathe out slowly as you lower in, keep your shoulders under the water, and get out while getting out is still your own idea.

The round

Sauna, ice and steam, in the order we recommend, and what each one is for.

The sauna
90°C · 10 to 15 minutes
Dry heat at 90°C, with an automatic spray holding the humidity steady so the sauna feels the same at the end of a busy evening as it did at the start. Most people sit for ten to fifteen minutes. The heat is what makes the cold worth doing, so this is the round to be unhurried about.
The ice bath
3°C and 14°C · from 30 seconds
Rinse, then in. Two temperatures, so you can start at 14°C and work down to 3°C over a few weeks rather than on your first night. Thirty seconds counts. The first ten of them are the loud part, and the quiet after you climb out is the reason anybody comes back.
The steam room
45°C · for as long as it feels good
Wet heat at 45°C, gentler on the chest than the sauna and the easiest place to finish. Your breathing settles, your skin comes back to temperature, and nothing about it asks anything of you. Go back to the sauna from here, or get changed and go home.

There is no program, no timer and nobody with a clipboard. Sauna, ice, steam and infrared — and however you want to use them.

A white-tiled communal shower area with a bucket shower and terrazzo floor

Rinse between each one

There are showers between all of them. A rinse before the cold is both the rule and the part of the round most people end up looking forward to.

An empty infrared sauna seen from the doorway, its heating panels glowing red along both side walls

A gentler heat if you want one

The infrared cabins run cooler than the Finnish sauna and feel completely different — the heat lands on you rather than filling the air around you. Plenty of members do their whole round in there instead.

The facts

Sauna, ice, steam
The recommended round: 10–15 min
Typical sauna round: 30 sec
A good first ice bath: Move freely
All session, any order

You get access to everything in the club: the Finnish sauna, infrared sauna, ice baths and steam room, every session
Private, spacious and luxurious change facilities
Open 6am to 11pm, every day of the year

In detail

Whether you are new to wellness or have been shocking your body with heat and cold for years, anyone can feel the benefits of hot cold therapy.

At XtraClubs we promote routine use of facilities like the ice bath, saunas and steam room as a way for all Australians to feel like the best versions of themselves. By combining the short-burst experience of cold therapy with immersive, relaxing moments across heat therapy, you place your body and mind in a position where they need to react quickly to healthy stress.

How often

Several sessions a week is fine. Listen to your body, hydrate well, and give yourself a few minutes rather than going straight from one into the next.

Your session includes access to all of our facilities and you can move between them as often as you like, so how many rounds you do is yours to decide. We recommend the order above, but we encourage members to find what works best for them.

Building the habit

Compared to our ancestors we experience very few natural hot or cold stresses. Houses cool us down, clothing and technology keep us warm through winter. Previous generations were not so lucky, and their bodies constantly adapted to fluctuating conditions.

Contrast therapy reintroduces some of that stress deliberately, in a controlled environment, at a dose you choose.

What the research says

These are the topics research has examined, and how much weight each one can bear. Every finding is an association rather than proof, and the papers behind them are published in full.

Established evidence
Muscle recovery
Cold water immersion after hard training is associated with better recovery of muscular power in the following 24 hours.
Established evidence
Heart health and circulation
The strongest evidence for regular sauna use sits here — large prospective cohort studies link frequent sauna bathing to lower cardiovascular mortality.
Emerging evidence
Mental health
A prospective cohort study found frequent sauna use associated with a significantly reduced risk of developing psychotic disorders.
Emerging evidence
Sleep
The accelerated drop in skin temperature after cold immersion is associated with better-regulated sleep following exercise.

Read the research and its sources ›

Hot Cold Therapy frequently asked questions

Is there a recommended way to use XtraClubs?

There's no right or wrong answer but most people begin with the sauna to warm up, then move to the ice when they're ready. It's a lovely rhythm to follow, but feel free to find your own. Plenty of members finish in the steam room.

What is included in a session?

Your session includes access to all of our facilities, including Finnish Sauna, Infrared Sauna, Ice Baths and Steam Room. You can move freely between each throughout your session.

How long should I stay in the sauna or ice?

As long as it feels right for you. Always listen to your body — in the ice, even 30 seconds is a great place to start, and there's no minimum time anywhere in the club.

Is there anyone who should take care?

Heat and cold both put load on the heart and the circulation. That is most of the point of them, and it is also why some people should check before they start.

Speak to your doctor first if you are pregnant, if you have a heart condition, if your blood pressure runs high or low, or if you take medication for it
Do not use the sauna, steam room or ice baths after drinking alcohol
Stop and get out if you feel dizzy, faint, unwell or simply unsure — heat and cold place real physical stress on the body and there is nothing to be gained by pushing through
Cool down gradually rather than all at once, and drink water between rounds
Our clubs run unstaffed for part of the week. If you have a condition that could mean you need someone on site, contact the team and ask when the club you use is staffed
You must be 18 or over to use the clubs

None of this is medical advice and our staff are not qualified to give any. If you are unsure whether heat or cold is right for you, ask your GP before your first session.

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