Your first cryotherapy session:
what to expect.

Most people book their first whole-body cryotherapy session with a mix of curiosity and mild dread. The dread is misplaced. The session is short, dry, supervised, and over before you have finished deciding whether you like it — and almost everyone walks out feeling sharper than they walked in.

Before you arrive

There is nothing to prepare. You do not need to bring kit, and you do not need to shower before or after, because the cold is dry and leaves your skin dry. Arrive as you are — from the office, from the gym, from the train.

Two things do matter. First, come in dry: not straight from a shower or a sweaty workout, because moisture on the skin is what makes cold uncomfortable. Second, take off jewellery and anything with exposed metal, which conducts cold. That is the whole checklist.

At Le Chalet Clinic we ask every new client a few screening questions on the first visit. It takes a minute and it is there to make sure the session suits you.

Getting changed

You change in a private room into the garments we provide: shorts, thick socks, slippers, gloves, ear protection and a face mask — and a sports bra for women. The extremities are covered because that is where cold is felt most; the rest of you is exposed on purpose, so the whole body gets the same even chill. Allow about five minutes.

Inside the chamber

The chamber is electric, not nitrogen: think of a very powerful air-conditioning unit rather than a cloud of gas. That is why the air is clear, why you can move around, and why your head stays in the cold with the rest of you. A member of the team stays with you throughout and talks you through it.

The first thirty seconds feel like a cold winter morning. By the first minute the cold is properly biting and your breathing shortens — this is the moment first-timers doubt themselves. Breathe slowly, keep moving gently, and it settles. The second and third minutes are calmer than the first; most people are surprised how manageable −90°C is when the air is bone dry. Three to four minutes and the door opens.

If you want out early, say so. Nobody is timed to the second on a first visit.

Stepping out

The first sensation is warmth rushing back to the skin — a pins-and-needles glow that lasts a few minutes and is the part most people come back for. There is a lift in alertness that many clients describe as similar to a cold swim without the wet. You get dressed, and you are done: the whole visit, door to door, is about fifteen minutes.

You can train straight afterwards if you like. A session after the gym is one of the most common ways clients use it; a session mid-afternoon, between meetings, is the other.

Five first-timer tips

• Book a quiet slot. Mid-morning or mid-afternoon on a weekday gives you a slower welcome.
• Eat normally. There is no need to fast or to eat specially before a session.
• Move, don’t brace. Slow steps and loose shoulders inside the chamber make the cold easier than standing rigid.
• Pair it. Many clients follow cryotherapy with hyperbaric oxygen therapy — the jolt, then the calm.
• Judge it on the afternoon, not the minute. The session is brief; the way the rest of the day feels is the point.

Your first session is £29 for new clients. If you are nearby, our Canary Wharf page has directions and opening hours; every price is on the pricing page.