IcyHot · sauna + ice bath
Get hot.Get cold.
Our sauna and ice bath live at Stay Gold Dundas, a few steps from the lifting floor. Train, sweat it out, plunge, repeat. It comes with your membership, so you don't need a separate spa pass to do it properly.
How it works
The short version
Where
Stay Gold Dundas, 3519 Dundas St W, just east of Jane. Dundas is open 24/7.
Who
Members. Solid Gold includes up to two sessions a week. Open Gym members get a session every two weeks.
How
Book a slot in the app, like a class. It keeps the sauna from turning into a sardine tin.
What to bring
A towel, a water bottle and something you don't mind getting wet.
First time?
Ask a coach to walk you through it. Nobody expects you to be a cold plunge monk on day one.
The protocol
Hot, cold, repeat
10 to 15 min hot
Sit, breathe, sweat. New to it? Start at 10 and get out early if you feel off.
1 to 4 min cold
Get in, slow your breathing, long exhales. One minute counts. Work up from there.
Rest a minute
Let your body catch up before the next round. Have some water.
Do 2 to 3 rounds
That's a full session in under an hour.
Finish how you like
End cold if you want to feel wide awake. End warm if you're heading home to sleep.
Why bother
What the research actually says
Heat. A long-running Finnish study of over 2,000 men found that people who used a sauna 4 to 7 times a week had a much lower risk of dying from heart disease than people who went once a week (Laukkanen et al., JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015). It's an observational study, so it shows a link, not proof. It's still a pretty good excuse.
Cold. A Copenhagen study of regular winter swimmers suggested roughly 11 minutes of cold a week, split across a few sessions, and about 57 minutes of heat, is enough to see changes in how the body handles temperature (Søberg et al., Cell Reports Medicine, 2021). That works out to one or two IcyHot sessions a week.
The catch. Jumping into cold water right after lifting may blunt some of the muscle you're trying to build (Roberts et al., Journal of Physiology, 2015). If muscle is the goal, plunge on rest days, after cardio, or a few hours after lifting. If you just want to feel good, ignore us and enjoy it.
Most people come for the same reasons: they sleep better, they feel less beat up, and twenty minutes without a phone is rare.
The room
Not a spa. Better.
Questions
The stuff people ask
Is there a gym with a sauna and ice bath in the west end of Toronto?
Yes. Stay Gold Dundas at 3519 Dundas St W, just east of Jane, near the Junction, Baby Point and Bloor West Village, has a sauna and ice bath for members.
Is the sauna included in the membership?
Yes. Solid Gold includes up to two IcyHot sessions a week, and Open Gym members get one every two weeks. You book it in the app.
Can I buy a sauna day pass?
IcyHot is for members. If you want to try Stay Gold first, book a free tour or grab a free pass for a class and an open gym session.
Does Stay Gold Brock have a sauna?
Not right now. The sauna and ice bath are at Dundas. One membership covers both gyms, so you can lift at Brock and recover at Dundas.
How long should I stay in the sauna and the ice bath?
10 to 15 minutes hot, 1 to 4 minutes cold, 2 to 3 rounds. Beginners should start at the short end.
Should I do the ice bath right after lifting?
If building muscle is the goal, it's better to wait a few hours or plunge on a rest day. Straight after cardio or HYROX training is fine.
Keep looking
More at Stay Gold
Sweat. Plunge. Repeat.
Come see the room. The tour is free.