The Suns purchased a $50,000 cryochamber on the advice of their renowned training staff.

"We use it for muscle recovery to pump the blood through the body," Suns head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson said. "We're trying to re-energize or reboot the body. It gives you a feeling of being cold and jump-starts your metabolism to feel refreshed the rest of the day."

The treatment consists of stepping into a nitrogen gas cylindrical chamber, followed by blasts of nitrogen gas starting out at minus-166 degrees and quickly cooling to between minus-256 and minus-274.

"I get in after a game," Grant Hill said. "It's helped me a lot on back-to-backs. I also get in there sometimes before games. It's definitely cutting edge and one of the new methods of recovery that I think, in five to 10 years, we'll see that lots of pro and college teams have it. I don't know exactly what it's doing to your body but I know when you get out, you just feel really good. I've tried it after games, mornings of back-to-backs before the second games and before games, and I get great results."

Exposure to extreme cold has similar effects to that of an ice bath.

"We're the carpenters," Nelson said. "It (the Cryosauna) is just another tool in our toolbox. There may be objective or subjective benefits. The psychological piece of that is better than anything. It's more important when I get feedback from players saying, 'I feel better when I do this.'

"I think a lot of teams will have something like this, and we just didn't want to fall behind."

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/219881/Suns_Invest_In_Cryochamber_Reap_Muscle_Recovery_Benefits

 

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The Suns have always had a great training staff.

Thanks for the article.

 

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I want one of those so bad.

Ice baths suck.

interesting. i always use contrast showers after a workout. i'd imagine this would be like a supercharged version of that.

 

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The Suns are envied league-wide for having an excellent medical staff. Just the fact they've kept Steve Nash (38) and Grant Hill (39) healthy every year and competing at an elite level, Nash's case, is amazing. In a year where young guys are going down every week with nagging injuries, the Suns have managed to keep their old stars healthy year in and year out.

 

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