Last updated: July 16, 2026
Quick Definition
Cryotherapy is the use of extreme cold, usually air chilled to around -110°C to -140°C, to reduce muscle soreness and inflammation after training. In MMA, it is most often a whole-body treatment that fighters use to recover between hard sessions.
What is cryotherapy?
Cryotherapy means treating the body with extreme cold for a short, controlled period. In MMA, the term almost always refers to whole-body cryotherapy, where a fighter stands in a chamber for two to three minutes while the surrounding air is cooled far below freezing. The goal is faster recovery: less soreness, less swelling, and a quicker return to full training.
Fighters run into the term constantly. A UFC athlete mentions a cryo session in a post-fight interview, a coach lists it alongside massage and ice baths, or a gym advertises a chamber on site. The UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas installed cryotherapy chambers as part of its standard recovery setup, which is a large part of why the practice is now tied so closely to the sport.
The idea is not new. Athletes have iced sore joints for decades. Cryotherapy takes that same principle, cold slows swelling and dulls pain, and applies it to the whole body at once, at a far lower temperature and for a much shorter time than an ice pack or a cold bath.
How cryotherapy works
The cold is the active ingredient. When skin temperature drops sharply, blood vessels near the surface tighten and push blood toward the core to protect the organs. This is called vasoconstriction. Once the session ends and the body warms back up, those vessels open again and fresh, oxygenated blood floods back into the tissue. Supporters describe this cycle as a kind of flush that helps clear the byproducts of hard training.
Extreme cold also triggers a sharp release of norepinephrine, a hormone linked to pain relief and alertness. Advanced Recovery Cryotherapy, drawing on published research, reports increases of roughly 200 to 300 percent after a whole-body session, which helps explain why people often step out feeling energised rather than drained.
A typical whole-body session lasts two to three minutes. The chamber does not actually freeze muscle tissue. According to Mass General Brigham, the body reacts to the cold as an emergency, driving blood to the core, without the deep tissue cooling that longer cold exposure can cause.
Whole-body vs localised cryotherapy
Not all cryotherapy looks the same. The two forms a fighter is most likely to meet differ in how much of the body they treat.
| Type | What it treats | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Whole-body cryotherapy | The entire body inside a chamber or cryosauna | General recovery, soreness, and inflammation after training |
| Localised cryotherapy | A single joint or muscle group with a targeted cold applicator | A specific injury, such as a swollen knee or a bruised forearm |
Whole-body chambers come in two designs. Nitrogen systems cool the air with liquid nitrogen, while electric systems use refrigerated air. Facilities that use electric chambers, such as Advanced Recovery Cryotherapy, note that they avoid the oxygen-displacement risk associated with older nitrogen units.
Cryotherapy vs ice baths
This is where most of the confusion sits. Fighters have used ice baths for years, and cryotherapy is often described as a faster, drier version of the same thing. They are related but not identical.
| Feature | Whole-body cryotherapy | Ice bath |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | Around -110°C to -140°C air | Roughly 10-15°C water |
| Duration | 2-3 minutes | 10-15 minutes |
| Medium | Dry cold air | Cold water immersion |
| Experience | Brief, intense, tolerable for most | Longer, sustained discomfort |
The practical draw for busy fighters is time. Mass General Brigham and multiple recovery clinics point out that a two to three minute chamber session can deliver a comparable cold-therapy stimulus to fifteen minutes in a cold tank, with less of the sustained discomfort that makes ice baths hard to stick with. The research on whether one clearly beats the other is still mixed, which is worth keeping in mind before treating cryotherapy as an upgrade rather than an alternative.
Does cryotherapy actually help recovery?
The honest answer is that the evidence is promising but not settled. A 2015 systematic review by Hohenauer and colleagues, published in PLOS ONE, found that cooling significantly reduced delayed onset muscle soreness at 24, 48, and 96 hours after exercise, with a medium-to-large effect. Work by Lombardi and colleagues in 2017, published in Frontiers in Physiology, found that whole-body cryotherapy lowered markers of exercise-induced inflammation while leaving the useful inflammation that drives adaptation intact.
Performance is a harder case. Medical News Today notes that a 2019 study found four weeks of whole-body cryotherapy produced no measurable gain in physical performance in male athletes, and a 2021 study in judo practitioners found no clear performance benefit either. In other words, cryotherapy may help a fighter feel better and recover sooner without necessarily making them faster or stronger.
Safety matters too. The Mayo Clinic notes that whole-body cryotherapy is generally well tolerated and does not appear to harm cardiac or immune health in healthy people, but the cold causes a temporary rise in blood pressure and is too intense for some. Whole-body cryotherapy is not FDA approved to treat medical conditions, and people with heart or circulation problems, cold sensitivity, or who are pregnant are usually advised to avoid it. Anyone with a medical condition should speak to a doctor before trying it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is cryotherapy just an expensive ice bath?
Not quite. Both use cold to reduce soreness and inflammation, but cryotherapy uses dry air at far lower temperatures for a much shorter time, while an ice bath relies on longer water immersion. They overlap in purpose, not in method.
How cold does a cryotherapy chamber get?
Whole-body chambers typically cool the air to somewhere between -110°C and -140°C. The Mayo Clinic notes some protocols go below -148°F for the usual two to three minute session.
Do UFC fighters use cryotherapy?
Yes. The UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas has cryotherapy chambers as part of its recovery facilities, and individual fighters have used it for years.
Does cryotherapy heal injuries?
No. It is a recovery aid that may reduce soreness and inflammation. It does not repair a torn muscle or a broken bone, and it is not a substitute for medical treatment of an injury.
Sources
- Hohenauer, E. et al. “The Effect of Post-Exercise Cryotherapy on Recovery Characteristics: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” PLOS ONE, 2015. Accessed July 2026.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139028 - Lombardi, G. et al. “Whole-Body Cryotherapy in Athletes: From Therapy to Stimulation.” Frontiers in Physiology, 2017. Accessed July 2026.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00258 - Mass General Brigham. “Cryotherapy for Athletes: How It Works, Benefits.” Accessed July 2026.
https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/articles/cryotherapy-for-athletes - Mayo Clinic Press. “The Chilling Truth: Exploring the Health Benefits and Risks of Cryotherapy.” 2024. Accessed July 2026.
https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/living-well/the-chilling-truth-exploring-the-health-benefits-and-risks-of-cryotherapy/ - Medical News Today. “Cryotherapy: Safety, What to Expect, and Benefits.” 2024. Accessed July 2026.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319740 - UFC. “UFC Names CryoBuilt Official Cryotherapy Partner of UFC Performance Institute.” 2021. Accessed July 2026.
https://www.ufc.com/news/ufc-names-cryobuilt-official-cryotherapy-partner-ufc-performance-institute
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