Patrick Gunther
*This contrast therapy studio review is sponsored by Freein, providing some of the sturdiest and most economical at-home cold plunge + water chiller units available today.
Pre-Visit Contact with Plunge Saratoga
On a recent weekday morning, I phoned Plunj, located in Saratoga Springs, Utah, to learn a little more about their establishment before booking an appointment. “Hi, Plunj Saratoga; this is Ivy.” I queried Ivy: “I was setting up an appointment on your website, and I saw a place for a promo code. Do you have any promo codes I could use?” She responded, “No, we don’t have any promotions going on right now, since we are so new. But, it’s always good to check!” “Okay. So, are you guys located on Redwood Road?” I asked. “Yes, we are just right across the street from Costco,” she replied. Although most of us have GPS nowadays, it’s always good to get a landmark, so you know what you’re looking for when you get close to your destination. I am not intimately familiar with Saratoga Springs, but I have been to Costco there, so being across from Costco was helpful to know.
The $64,000 Question: How Cold is It?
“What is the temperature of your cold plunge?” I wanted to know. Ivy responded: “Our cold plunge ranges from 50 to 55-degrees, but it feels nearer 50-degrees with the circulation of the water.” I can definitely attest to that as being the truth. When I’ve done plunges in a river, it always feels much colder than when I sit in still waters, even if the temperature reads the same. “Is it a personal-size cold plunge, or is it more in the style of a hot tub?” I wanted to know. “Our plunge comfortably fits 4 people, but it could hold a total of 7,” Ivy said. That brough to mind an image of Plunj Provo that I saw on Facebook, which is currently being renovated and upgraded to jump through the hoops of regulation, and is thus temporarily closed to the public. The new Plunj in Provo, and in Saratoga as well I learned, are identical in construction, and are custom made (completely unique to Plunj) based on feedback from customers. The Plunj is four feet deep. Ivy told me that the session was a general session, and so there could be up to seven individuals in the session, but no more. I then asked Ivy about the temperature of the sauna. “The saunas ranges from 95 to 205 degrees, but later in the day, they are set between 200 to 205 degrees,” Ivy stated. “I’ll go ahead and book for the latest time tonight. Thank you for your help, Ivy.” “Yeah, no problem. We’ll see you tonight!” was her reply.
Our Tour of Plunj
About seven minutes to 8 o’ clock, I arrived with my youngest daughter. When we got there, we walked in, and the girl at the counter was checking another customer in. She greeted us, and asked us if we had been there before (we had not). She asked if I was Patrick, and I replied that I was. We were then directed to scan a QR code to fill out the necessary waiver prior to participating in the contrast therapy. After completing the informed consent, Abby introduced herself to us, and supplied us with two towels, a larger body towel, and a smaller towel. Abby explained that one was for toweling ourselves off as desired, and the other was to either sit on in the sauna (because the wooden benches would be hot), or for putting on our feet, if I recall properly. I surmised that the small towel could also be used to wet, and put over your head in the sauna to keep your head cool (and so your nostrils don’t burn if you didn’t want to breath through your mouth in the sauna). At that point, we were still in the lobby, and Abby told us that she would now be giving us as tour of the facilities. She said that during our session she would be back in the plunge and sauna area to talk to us, and check in to see if there was anything we needed. She led us towards a small table and refrigerator that were situated against a wall, and told us that we could now procure any snacks we wanted there, and that we could take care of payment after our session. We didn’t feel the need for it at that point, so let her continue her tour. Abby then pointed towards the wall, and commented that this was a written list of benefits that could be had from contrast therapy (HOT, COLD, REST, and REPEAT). My daughter snickered reading the sign, later commenting that old men would really like it, as one of the benefits listed was increased libido, lol. I wasn’t aware that she knew what libido was…
“Really Cool People in Room #2”
Abby then told us that we would be meeting some really cool people during our session. That piqued my interest, as I was not quite sure what she meant. Did she mean that the people that were already in the back doing the cold plunge were chilled to the bone? Or, that they were unique and interesting individuals? I was soon to find out. We were then led by the changing rooms, Abby pointing out and explaining that was where we were to prepare for our session that would begin in just a few minutes. Abby then proceeded to a small alcove whereupon there was a water cooler with cups, and some tea that we could sip on between sittings of the sauna and dips in the cold plunge. Further on, Abby took us to Room #2, where the sauna and cold plunge were situated. Here is where we saw the “cool people” that Abby had commented on previously. We learned that they were regular customers, of which she enjoyed interacting with, and felt that we would as well. It was a father with his college age son and his teenage daughter. The father was basking in the sauna, and somehow looked familiar, but only vaguely. He was inside the sauna with his son, and the daughter was in the cold plunge.
The “Bucket Room”
We were then guided around the corner to the “bucket room”. This was where a bucket was situated overhead with a rope to pull and release the water (warm water) to pour down and rinse yourself off with. We were instructed to douse off after being covered in the sweat that would inevitably drench us, depending on how long we spent in the sauna, and was a requirement to visit between modalities so we wouldn’t be stewing the cold plunge with unseemly sweat juice (my words, not hers).
A Toasty 200
Abby said that currently the sauna was running at about 200 degrees, and the cold plunge was running at a temperature of 50 degrees. She mentioned that she liked to start with a couple of minute cold plunge, and then get into the sauna for 10 to 15 minutes. She then told us to enjoy our session, and politely excused herself. It was now up to us to decide how to spend our time between the sauna, the cold plunge, and… rest.
A Communal Experience
My daughter was already dressed in her swimming suit, and I told her I would be right back after I changed. Once I was ready, my daughter and I both jumped in the sauna. I turned the sand timer over, and we began our sauna experience. I immediately noticed how hot the floor was. We put our towels down on the top-level bench to sit on so as not to burn our buns. I wanted to be in for about 15 minutes, so we just sat and talked to our “neighbors” in the sauna. I liked the fact that it was more of a communal sauna. It’s sometimes nice to have a more private sauna, as is available at JIKO Life in Draper, but at other times communing with fellow roasters is fun as well. After a few minutes of discussion, I finally recognized the man I was speaking to was a fellow student from my high school days. He was our school’s varsity quarterback. It was nice to see him, and catch up a little bit on things. He never knew me, being my brother’s age (2 years ahead of me), but nonetheless I knew of him, having enjoyed watching him play high school football.
Sweating Profusely & Elevated Heart Rate
After spending 15 minutes in the sauna, sweating profusely, and my heart rate being quite elevated (I’m sure it was over 100 bpm), my daughter and I exited the sauna, went into the bucket room and pulled the rope for the bucket to rinse off, and then entered the cold plunge. There are some vertical steps that you descend while holding on to the metal side rails. The water was as expected – very cold. Not painful cold like the 35-degree water as I experienced previously in one of the three plunges at JIKO Life, but moderately cold (at least to my perception). As my daughter and I sat in the cold plunge, I advised her not to sit in there for too long, as it was her first time in a cold plunge, and I had been using my Ice Pod portable ice bath nightly now for the past 3 months now. But, she insisted that she was going to sit in it as long as I was. I monitored her closely, just to make sure she wouldn’t get cold shock.
Starting to Shiver
I started to shiver pretty significantly after about three minutes in the cold plunge. I hadn’t thought that was going to happen. I thought that I was more resilient than that. My daughter had goose bumps, but was not shivering. After remembering that I hadn’t been doing the Wim Hof Method breathing technique that I had previously been taught. I breathed through the phase I was in, and settled into the feeling, becoming more present and relaxed. Soon the shivering had departed. I was keeping track of the time we were sitting in the plunge, looking at the clock on the wall behind us. As I was only sitting on the ledge in the cold plunge, my shoulders were not covered. I decided to immerse myself more fully, and slouched down to the floor of the cold plunge to obtain coverage to the bottom of my neck. My daughter followed suit. All told, I stayed in the delightful 50-degree water for 17 minutes. It was an exhilarating experience! As I exited, to get into the sauna again for the last few minutes before our time was up, my daughter opted to stay in. That little bugger was determined to outdo me! She stayed in for about 20 minutes (her first time!). Not too shabby for a teen! I got back in the sauna for about 5 more minutes, then went for the bucket, and got back into the plunge for a speed plunge (jumped in, dunked myself fully), and then got out and went to the dressing room to shower and get dressed.
Nice, Tidy Dressing Rooms
The dressing room was well attended to (very clean and orderly), and there were a couple of showers in there for the patrons (one of them was very roomy, and contained a bench to sit down on or place your belongings on) as well as lockers to store your belongings in. After I and my daughter had finished in the dressing rooms, we exited the facility happy to have been able to experience it together, and be so evenly matched in our abilities to stay in both the heat and the cold for lengthy periods of time (is it genetic?). Abby wished us a good night on our way out, and my daughter thank me sincerely for engaging in the activity together with her. It was a very pleasant DDD (daddy-daughter-date).
TL;DR
I recommend Plunj Saratoga to anyone who wants to experience cold water immersion and sauna in any combination (whether shorter in the cold plunge and longer in the sauna, vice versa, or just a little bit of each, and resting, talking, and relaxing in the lounge chairs outside of the cold plunge). It’s not only great for your physical health, but it’s great to test your mettle, and push yourself a little bit beyond your comfort zone. Fifty degrees for a cold plunge is a good entry-level plunge, and it has been proven that you really only need to do it for a couple of minutes at a time to get the benefits from it. Besides that, it fits perfectly the age-old proverb, “chill out, dude!” You really do feel very calm and relaxed afterwards, and will sleep like a baby.
