Contrast Protocol Builder
Answer four questions and get a complete session: what order, what temperatures, how long each round, and how often to repeat it. Start the timer and it walks you through every phase. Copy the link to save or share your exact protocol.
What are you after?
Cold experience
What you have
Time budget
Your session — 29 min
2–3 sessions per week
- heat
Sauna — 10 min
Target 150–170°F (65–77°C). Sit, breathe slow, no phone.
- cold
Cold plunge — 1 min
Target 59–60°F (15–16°C), submerge to the neck, exhale slowly.
- rest
Rest — 2 min
Air-dry, sip water, let your heart rate settle.
- heat
Sauna — 10 min
Target 150–170°F (65–77°C). Sit, breathe slow, no phone.
- cold
Cold plunge — 1 min
Target 59–60°F (15–16°C), submerge to the neck, exhale slowly.
- rest
Rest — 5 min
Air-dry, sip water, let your heart rate settle.
Useful weekly targets from the research conversation: ~57 total minutes of sauna (2–3 sessions) and ~11 total minutes of deliberate cold across 2–4 sessions.
Educational tool, not medical advice. Heat and cold exposure stress the cardiovascular system — clear it with your doctor first, especially if you're pregnant, have heart or blood-pressure conditions, and never plunge alone or after alcohol.
How the recommendations are built
The plans follow the patterns most consistently supported in the heat/cold research conversation: sauna bouts of 10–20 minutes at traditional temperatures, deliberate cold in small weekly doses (minutes, not marathons), heat before cold in a contrast session, and goal-specific placement — cold early in the day for alertness, heat near evening for sleep, and cold kept several hours away from strength training when muscle growth is the point. Presets marked "inspired by" reflect publicly discussed routines, not endorsements.
None of this is medical advice; it's a starting structure to adjust to your own tolerance, and to your doctor's judgment where that applies.