Ice Baths and Sauna

Will they help your Hyrox Training?

Jan 14, 2025

Quote I love: Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Not sure who said this one, but it certainly applies to Hyrox Training.

I wasn’t sure about publishing this article—it’s been sitting in my draft folder for weeks. There’s already so much out there about cold plunges and saunas, some of it factual and, well, some of it not so much. But I thought I would share my thoughts and how I use cold water and sauna’s.

Cold plunges and saunas have been around long before the Romans—they just didn’t have social media to hype them up as a miracle cure for everything. Athletes have been using them for decades. I remember, as a 10-year-old, watching the South Melbourne Football Club (an AFL team that used to be based in Melbourne) fill bathtubs with ice for players after training. That was over 40 years ago.

I’m not a scientist, but here’s my honest take on saunas and cold therapy and how I use them. I’ve been using cold therapy for over 30 years. While I only started digging into the science more recently, I firmly believe that if it makes “you” feel good, then just go for it.

Cold Plunge

After a long sprint training session in the middle of winter we would often head straight to the beach. Standing in waste deep water with a wind cheater and beanie on shivering like crazy. For whatever reason, no science here, it always made me feel good standing in the water for 10 or 15 minutes after those hard sessions. The same for my early morning winter swims. I just like the cold water and the feeling after. The ocean water temp is not as cold as today’s cold plunges, only reaching about 13c (54f) in the middle of winter in Sydney. But cold enough to feel the effects.

Research

Today, research suggests that the immediate use of cold water submerging after training may blunt the adaptation and impact protein synthesis and the healing benefits that fresh blood supply provides. It makes sense that restricting blood flow to the muscles will have an effect on the healing process. I still use cold water, but I no longer do it directly after big training sessions.

Sauna

I’ve never had access to a sauna until recently. And I have to say I love it. I think it really helps for heat adaption, leading up to events in warm or hot environments. The science also supports sauna as a cardio boost.

Research

Researchers found that athletes who incorporated sauna sessions post-workout experienced up to a 32% increase in blood plasma volume and a significant boost in VO2 max over three weeks.
- Source: Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2020.
In a cohort of endurance runners, those using a sauna 4-5 times per week demonstrated improved cardiac efficiency and sustained oxygen delivery during prolonged runs.
- Source: Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 2021.
Heat acclimation (including sauna use) improved time-to-exhaustion in cyclists by 15% due to enhanced thermoregulatory and circulatory efficiency.
- Source: Journal of Applied Physiology, 2018.

Hyrox events are held in large halls and expo centers, which can get pretty hot, especially during the warmer months. Incorporating sauna sessions into your Hyrox Training to heat adapt in the lead-up to your race could give you that extra edge and help shave a few valuable minutes off your time.

The bottom line, if you like cold or hot therapy, and it makes you feel good, then I would probably recommend just doing it.