Most people approach wellness like a buffet — they try a little of everything and wonder why nothing sticks.
Many of the members at Lost in Float who tell us they love their results do something different. They stack.
They use multiple modalities in a deliberate sequence, each one designed to build on the next. We call it the Recovery Stack — and the research behind each step is worth understanding.
Why Stacking Works
Your body doesn't respond to single interventions the way it responds to combined ones. The idea is synergy — where the combined outcome may exceed the sum of the individual parts.
Think of it this way: research suggests a cold plunge alone may help with inflammation, and a sauna alone may raise growth hormone. Alternating between the two — what we call Fire & Ice (Sauna + Cold Plunge) — may produce cardiovascular and hormonal responses that neither produces in isolation. The Lost in Float Recovery Stack takes this principle and extends it across five modalities.
Step 1: Cold Plunge — Prime the Nervous System (Before Strength Training)
The stack begins in the cold plunge. We don't sell single cold plunge sessions, so book your cold inside the Fire & Ice (Sauna + Cold Plunge) room (45 min $49 / 60 min $59) or the Immersion Room (hot plunge + cold plunge, 20 min $25 / 45 min $49) — or swap in a 3-minute cryotherapy session ($55). Starting cold is a deliberate sequencing choice based on what the research shows about cold exposure and resistance training.
The cold-then-strength order produces two benefits. First, the catecholamine response — norepinephrine and dopamine — spikes within minutes of cold exposure and remains elevated for 1–2 hours. Many guests tell us that boost sharpens their focus and alertness going into a workout. Second, and more important: research suggests cold exposure immediately after resistance training may blunt muscle hypertrophy and strength gains by interfering with the inflammatory and mTOR signaling that drive muscle protein synthesis. A 2015 study in the Journal of Physiology found that post-workout cold immersion significantly reduced long-term muscle adaptations compared to active recovery.
The "cold-before-lift" rule applies specifically to resistance training days. If your workout is cardio-only — running, cycling, rowing, HIIT — cold plunge after exercise is fine and arguably preferable. Cardio doesn't rely on the same hypertrophy signaling pathways that cold blunts, and post-cardio cold immersion may support recovery and reduce perceived soreness. The order only matters when you're trying to build or preserve muscle.
Cold also activates brown adipose tissue (brown fat) — a metabolically active tissue that burns energy to generate heat. Some small studies have found regular cold exposure increased brown fat activity, which may modestly raise energy use over time. Read more about cold shock proteins and the deeper benefits of consistent cold exposure →
Step 2: Tonal — Build Muscle, Raise Your Metabolism
With your nervous system primed, move to strength training on our Tonal digital weight machines. Tonal ($20 a session, free daily for members) is a wall-mounted smart training system that uses digital resistance (up to 250 lbs) and AI coaching to deliver a precision strength workout in 20–40 minutes.
Building muscle may raise your basal metabolic rate — the number of calories your body burns at rest. Estimates vary, but each pound of muscle is often cited at roughly 6–10 calories per day at rest — modest on its own, but it adds up over time. Resistance training also creates the muscle adaptation signal that the remaining steps in the stack are designed to amplify and protect.
Step 3: Sauna — Cardiovascular Adaptation & Extending the Workout's Benefits
Immediately after training, enter the sauna. The case for post-workout sauna use sits on three pillars researchers have studied: cardiovascular adaptation, hormonal amplification, and growth hormone preservation of training gains.
Cardiovascular benefits. Research suggests regular sauna use may support cardiovascular adaptations — improved endothelial function, reduced arterial stiffness, lower resting blood pressure, and increased heart rate variability. The Finnish KIHD study (Laukkanen et al., 2015), which followed over 2,000 men for more than two decades, documented that frequent sauna use was associated with substantially reduced risk of fatal cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. The mechanism appears to be a "passive cardio" effect — sauna sessions elevate heart rate into a moderate cardiovascular range, mimicking many of the adaptations you'd get from actual aerobic exercise.
Extending the workout's benefits. Some research suggests sauna use after exercise may further raise the growth hormone response from training. A 2007 study by Scoon et al. found endurance athletes who completed post-workout sauna sessions over three weeks significantly improved time-to-exhaustion and plasma volume compared to training alone — suggesting the sauna drove additional cardiovascular adaptation on top of the exercise stimulus.
It's worth being honest: sauna's popular reputation as a "detox" tool isn't what the research supports — the cardiovascular and hormonal effects are the better-supported reasons to include it in the stack. Aim for 15–20 minutes at temperature.
Step 4: Red Light Therapy — Accelerate Cellular Repair
Red light therapy slots in well after the sauna. The near-infrared wavelengths in our full-body red light bed ($49, ~15 min) reach into muscle tissue, and research suggests they may support mitochondrial ATP production in the cells that were stressed during training. That may help the repair process and shorten recovery time between sessions.
Research suggests red light may also help with residual inflammation and support collagen production — and many guests tell us they notice their skin tone alongside their performance.
Step 5: Float — Lower Stress and Lock In the Gains
The stack ends with a float. Cortisol — your primary stress hormone — is catabolic. It breaks down muscle tissue. Even a great training session, if followed by a high-stress day, can have its gains partially undone by chronically elevated cortisol.
Research suggests float therapy may meaningfully lower cortisol, and a 60-minute float ($75) is the calmest hour in the stack. Some researchers also think the deeply relaxed theta state may support the consolidation of motor learning — the movement patterns you worked on in training. You're not just recovering. You may be getting better at what you practiced.
When to Add HBOT to the Stack
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy isn't part of the foundational stack for everyone. Our HBOT is a seated hard-shell chamber with four settings (1.3, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 ATA), 95–97% oxygen by mask, 60 minutes, $85. It offers enhanced oxygen availability, and some people add it as a regular addition (1–3 sessions per week) around goals like these. On the same day, do red light before HBOT. HBOT does not diagnose or treat any condition — talk to your doctor about any health concern.
- Energy and mental clarity. HBOT offers enhanced oxygen availability, and emerging research is exploring its effect on mitochondrial ATP production. A 2022 systematic review in Neuropsychology Review reported improvements in memory, executive function, and processing speed across multiple studies — though those studies were done in clinical settings, and results vary.
- Inflammation and recovery. Emerging research at milder pressures (1.3–1.5 ATA) has reported reductions in pro-inflammatory markers including IL-6 and TNF-α — markers associated with inflammation and slower recovery. Many guests tell us they add HBOT on heavier training weeks.
- Slow recovery from training or injury. Some studies on athletes have reported faster reductions in creatine kinase (a muscle damage marker) and lower soreness scores with post-exercise mild HBOT compared to passive recovery alone. Particularly relevant if you're training hard and finding that recovery between sessions is the bottleneck.
- Metabolic health. Emerging research, including a 2025 systematic review, has looked at HBOT and insulin sensitivity, with early findings that are encouraging but still preliminary. If metabolic health is your focus, talk to your doctor first.
- Cognitive support and brain health. Emerging research suggests enhanced oxygen availability may support general cognitive maintenance, particularly with consistent use over weeks to months.
For people without these specific goals, HBOT is still an option to explore — but it's not the same kind of foundation that the cold-strength-sauna-red light-float sequence is. Read the full HBOT guide for more on what the research supports →
Access the full stack
Every element of the Recovery Stack is available at Lost in Float — memberships start at $69/month and include 50% off every additional full-price service. All members get 50% off full-price HBOT, and Gold and Platinum members can use credits on HBOT.
Explore memberships → Book your first sessionThe Results Our Members See
Many members who follow the full Recovery Stack 3–5 times per week tell us they notice less soreness and better sleep in the first couple of weeks, and body-composition and strength changes over the following months when it's paired with consistent training and nutrition. Results vary from person to person.
Lost in Float | 8244 Northern Lights Dr, Lincoln NE | 531.289.7739 | Open Tuesday–Sunday 9am–9pm
