Cryotherapy: Would you freeze yourself fit?

    By Sarah Holt, CNN

    Updated 1210 GMT (2010 HKT) February 17, 2015

    Could you survive temperatures colder than Antarctica ... wearing only your underwear ... in the pursuit of fitness?
    Photos: Deep freeze fitness
    Deep freeze fitness – Could you survive temperatures colder than Antarctica ... wearing only your underwear ... in the pursuit of fitness?
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    Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington is not afraid of the cold. The Irish golfer uses cryotherapy treatment as a regular part of his training and fitness regime.
    Photos: Deep freeze fitness
    Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington is not afraid of the cold. The Irish golfer uses cryotherapy treatment as a regular part of his training and fitness regime.
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    Athletes who use cryotherapy must be prepared for a big chill. There are typically two chambers in a cryotherapy unit. The first a milder -60 degrees Celsius (-79 Fahrenheit) and the main chamber chilled to -130 (-200 ˚F).
    Photos: Deep freeze fitness
    Deep freeze fitness – Athletes who use cryotherapy must be prepared for a big chill. There are typically two chambers in a cryotherapy unit. The first a milder -60 degrees Celsius (-79 Fahrenheit) and the main chamber chilled to -130 (-200 ˚F).
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    Protective clothing to keep the chill away from the delicate parts of the body is a must for these female cryotherapy participants at the pioneering Olympic Sports Center in Spala, near the Polish capital of Warsaw.
    Photos: Deep freeze fitness
    Deep freeze fitness – Protective clothing to keep the chill away from the delicate parts of the body is a must for these female cryotherapy participants at the pioneering Olympic Sports Center in Spala, near the Polish capital of Warsaw.
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    West Ham United is one of several English Premier League soccer teams to use the mobile cryotherapy unit, which has been on the road since 2013. Here players Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan and Joey O'Brien prepare to enter its chilly interior.
    Photos: Deep freeze fitness
    Deep freeze fitness – West Ham United is one of several English Premier League soccer teams to use the mobile cryotherapy unit, which has been on the road since 2013. Here players Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan and Joey O'Brien prepare to enter its chilly interior.
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    Chilled out New Yorkers can try out KryoLife's "cryosauna" for $90 a session, as the big freeze therapy comes to the high streets.
    Photos: Deep freeze fitness
    Deep freeze fitness – Chilled out New Yorkers can try out KryoLife's "cryosauna" for $90 a session, as the big freeze therapy comes to the high streets.
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    Don't fancy cryotherapy? The ice bucket challenge wouldn't make American swimmer Michael Phelps flinch. The 18-time Olympic gold medalist uses another popular cold remedy, ice baths, as part of his fitness regime.
    Photos: Deep freeze fitness
    Deep freeze fitness – Don't fancy cryotherapy? The ice bucket challenge wouldn't make American swimmer Michael Phelps flinch. The 18-time Olympic gold medalist uses another popular cold remedy, ice baths, as part of his fitness regime.
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    antarctica padraig harrington alpine viewtemperature cryotherapy chambercryotherapy inside chamberwest ham cryotherapycryotherapy kryolifephelps ice bath

    Story highlights

    • Golfer Padraig Harrington uses cryotherapy as part of his fitness regime
    • The deep-freeze treatment is increasingly popular with professional athletes
    • Athletes enter a chamber that is chilled to -130 degrees Celsius (-200 ˚F)
    • New York salon owner says cryotherapy creates such a high it's like "legal doping"
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    (CNN)Would you dare to freeze yourself fit by stepping into a chilling chamber colder than Antarctica?

    Golfers are used to frosty fairways, stormy tees and soggy greens but Padraig Harrington is taking the plunge with a real deep freeze.
      Ireland's three-time major winner is following in the chilling footsteps of actor Daniel Craig and super-fit soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo by exposing himself to cryotherapy in preparation for the 2015 season.
        "I've used whole body cryotherapy for several years," Harrington commented to CNN.
        "Guided by research from Setanta College, it's played a key part in my recovery, especially between competitive periods."
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        Cryotherapy translates as cold cure -- but for some the intense chill goes beyond words.
        "The cold floods your brain and you can't process much more than putting one foot in front of another," Mike Moynihan, a columnist for the Irish Examiner, recalls of his experience in the chiller.
        "Your body is in revolt and won't allow you to relax. It's so different, to be that cold, that I had a real notion of what people mean when they refer to a hostile environment -- but that only came afterwards, when I was outside."
        Chill with a thrill
        For others, cryotherapy is an ecstatic chill with a thrill.
        "I call it 'legal doping,' says Eduardo Bohorquez, who runs New York's only cryotherapy center. "When you come out you feel so euphoric."
        Those brave enough to enter the cryotherapy chamber expose themselves to tingling temperatures of -130 degrees Celsius or -200 Fahrenheit.
        That makes Antarctica -- where NASA recorded the coldest spot on earth as -92 degrees Celsius at the end of December 2013 -- officially warmer.