Entrepreneur, coach, mom, wife, friend. These are just a few of the words that can describe Melissa Giambrone, co-owner of Cornerstone Fitness. She has been lifting weights for 15 years now and calls the results of contrast therapy “life changing.” She told us the benefits she’s seeing and what you can do if you’re looking to make the same changes in your busy life.
Tips for the First Session
We get a lot of questions from people who have never done a cold plunge. That’s why we ask regulars like Giambrone what advice they give. If you’re a first timer, her biggest tip is to be honest with yourself.
“This is going to be difficult,” she says. “It's not going to be easy. You have to go in with that mindset that I have to break through this mental barrier. You’re going to want to get out immediately. Just take a deep breath and tell yourself this is going to be tough and however long you last, celebrate that.”
Benefits
When you have four kids who are all in different sports, are running a business, and trying to maintain relationships as a wife and friend, life can get chaotic. Thankfully, contrast therapy can give you 30 minutes to yourself.
Sleep
A big issue she was experiencing… lack of sleep, particularly deep sleep.
“Mom life. I was sleeping maybe seven hours but I just felt tired all the time and I was getting like 20 minutes of deep sleep,” Giambrone says. She adds that she barely got any REM sleep. But after adding in contrast therapy, she started getting an hour and a half of deep sleep each night. Her kids have even noticed, saying that she hasn’t taken a nap in months. Adults average a total of 3-5 sleep cycles per night, 20-25% of these should account for REM. Typically REM intervals decline as we get older.
Even if she has a bad night, she still gets deep sleep. Giambrone adds she thinks contrast therapy, but especially the plunge, has made a difference because she goes “a hundred miles an hour all the time,” so to just sit, be quiet, and relax is amazing.
Inflammation
After training for more than a decade, your body can take a hit. She was in and out of physical therapy for her hip pain during deadlifts. But after going to Contrast Studios, she says she stopped needing to go to physical therapy.
Giambrone adds, “My body feels great. I’m still lifting things I was lifting 10 years ago, still training with volume and I never feel like a car has hit me.”
She sees differences in inflammation reduction and feels the difference in her joints. She still competes in weightlifting for fun and knows she will come the day before and after the competitions.
Metabolism
A big part of metabolism, especially as you get older, is hormones. Giambrone says she saw a huge improvement in balancing out her hormones. After her first session, she said she sat on the couch for 10 minutes and then was starving. If you experience something similar, just know it shows that your metabolism is surging.
She has also seen a huge change with bloating saying, “Every day you just wake up and feel great.”
The Routine
Everyone has a different routine in our private rooms. Giambrone changes how she uses her 30 minutes based on how she feels.
Breaking up her time in studio
Normally, she says she does 20 minutes in the infrared sauna and four minutes in the cold plunge. Sometimes, she decreases her time in the sauna to 17 minutes and spends seven minutes in the plunge. She also keeps her eyes open and reads the writing on the wall until her time is up.
Time of Day
She has 4 kids who are in multiple sports and owns a business. Plus with life in general, it can be easy to snap. That’s why she goes in the middle of the day.
“I feel like when I leave here, it’s my mid-day reset and then I go home and I am just calm, just at ease,” She says. It’s a great way to manage her mental health after working with clients and working out in the morning.
Co-owner Patrick Coyne adds that the time you come depends on the results you want to see. If you’re working on increasing muscle mass, come to a session before working out. But, life can be chaotic and it’s great to contrast at any time of the day.
Her Favorite Part
“The staff here is amazing. They know you by name. They remember your preferences and everyone greets you with a smile. It’s the best experience to walk in here and feel welcomed,” Giambrone says at the end of the podcast.
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