Long held as an exclusive benefit for top athletes, models and celebrities, Minus 110 on Hutt St is Australia’s first full body cryotheraphy centre that is available to anyone. So we sent one of our Glam Adelaide writers along to experience standing in their underpants in a freezing room first hand:
As I sit listening to a young lady named Julie cheerily explaining exactly how full body cryotherapy works, I pause to once again ask exactly what I’m getting myself into. First my blood will begin to circulate to my internal organs, then adrenalin will be released as my body continues to go into survival mode. I interrupt to ask if anybody has ever backed out at the last minute, but on learning that I would be the first one decide that there’s nothing for it but to give it a try.
Hutt Street’s Minus 110 is the first establishment of this kind in Australia with Therapeutic Goods Administration approval, offering this treatment, part of a burgeoning field that promises a range of health and beauty benefits by subjecting the body to extreme cold. Among these are increased metabolism, pain relief, cellulite reduction and more regular sleeping patterns, though each client comes in for a different reason.
Joining me is a businessman named Travis who’s also trying it out for the first time. After stripping down to socks, shorts and a headband to keep our ears warm, we don face masks to compete a rather unusual ensemble and enter an acclimatisation chamber that is cooled to “only” -30°C.
Half a minute with the cold air flowing all around us flies by as we trade pleasantries and both remark on how surprisingly comfortable it is. And it’s true, with no air movement to speak of it’s certainly not an unpleasant sensation, though the subtext to our conversation is that the real test is yet to come.
As an alarm goes off Phillip, our guide, opens the door and tells us that it’s time for the real deal. We step into -110°C and the effect is immediate. The rain outside means that there’s still a bit of moisture in the air and it occurs to me that the subsequent condensation means that if I can no longer feel my legs, I won’t even be able to look down to check that they’re still there.
Such worries are entirely unfounded – because I’m being cooled by air rather than a plunge pool, the process of cooling is slow and not altogether unpleasant. Nevertheless, both Travis and I start hopping from foot to foot as the second minute wears on and we both begin to feel significantly cooler. The time passes quickly, though, and as I start to wonder whether there’s any chance that the door could freeze shut, a light goes off and it’s time to enter the real world again and do a few exercises to warm up the muscles.
This gets the blood flowing back to all parts of the body and helps to reduce inflammation and speed up injury recovery,one of the chief benefits touted by Phillip. One of their major clients is the Port Adelaide Football Club, who may or may not also be interested in the purported beauty benefits including an increase in collagen production.
Though I don’t notice any wrinkles disappearing immediately, there is a slight spring in my step as I walk out the door and back into a rainy day. Suddenly it doesn’t feel quite so cold outside.
To find out more information, or make a booking, visit the Minus 110 website.
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