THE CHALLENGE
ICE, ICE, BABY
Alison Izzo takes the plunge
My sister happily describes herself as a desert rose. It’s a cute moniker that rings true, so I’ve happily co-opted it. See, we grew up in the Mallee, in a town that is said to get more hours of sunshine per year than anywhere else. Forty-plus-degree summers were the norm, and the sandy earth of the school playground was always warm – even in winter. It figures then that I don’t do well in the cold.
Which is why I’m questioning my life choices as I stand waiting to submerge myself in a bar fridge-sized chest filled with sub-zero water. But I’m not the first to choose cold water therapy, and I won’t be the last.
Dutch extreme athlete and motivational speaker Wim Hof put ice baths on the wellness map, but we can thank Gwyneth Paltrow for bringing cold water therapy into the cultural zeitgeist when she dedicated an episode of her 2020 Netflix docu-series The goop lab to the Wim Hof Method (WHM). Now, it’s positively mainstream. Your local physio probably has cold water therapy on the menu, PTs routinely recommend an icy ocean swim post-workout, and any infrared sauna provider worth their salt lamp will have an ice bath add-on. But why? Ice bathing, a form of cryotherapy, has been scientifically proven to help reduce inflammation, aid muscle recovery, reduce stress levels, aid sleep and boost dopamine levels.
This story is from the February 2024 edition of Marie Claire Australia.
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This story is from the February 2024 edition of Marie Claire Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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