For more than 5000 years, cold immersion therapy has been one of the most profoundly important practices throughout human history. Not only does it boost your mood, alleviate soreness, stimulate blood flow, reduce inflammation and build discipline, mental fortitude and patience, but it’s also an inherently social ritual, often practised in communal environments with like-minded strangers.

That’s the ethos of P3 Recovery, at least: Port Melbourne’s latest must-visit wellness centre that focuses on enhancing physical and mental well-being through advanced recovery techniques.

It all started when P3 Recovery owner Paul Goldfinch first visited a P3 facility in Burleigh in 2017. At the time, Paul was training for a multi-sport event and noticed a glaring gap in the market for holistic recovery centres for everyday people.

Of course, for professional athletes in the NRL and AFL, ice baths and infrared saunas are part and parcel of the game; a non-negotiable for sportsmen and women to effectively take care of their bodies as they go through the inherent strains of the footy season. But for regular gym-goers, these high-tech recovery tools can often seem like a luxury, and P3 Recovery has been instrumental in democratising wellness and recovery for everyone.

It only took Paul a week to notice the positive changes these facilities were having, not only on his recovery, but his performance during training. Fast forward to 2024, and Paul and his wife Brigitte have expanded P3 into a sprawling community with locations across the country. And they’re looking to expand throughout the world.

“People in our community are at the forefront of all our decision-making.”

Paul Goldfinch, P3 Recovery owner

With a holistic approach to recovery, P3 is committed to delivering world-class services for Australians who want to take care of their own health. Whether you’re a professional athlete seeking peak performance ahead of a big weekend fixture or simply looking to take that next step to look after your body, P3 offers a comprehensive wellness experience for its members that supports both physical and mental health, whilst providing a sense of community within one of their many facilities throughout Australia.

“[Take] Brian, he’s a 72-year-old cancer survivor,” Brigitte told a group of media in Port Melbourne. “He started using P3 for the hyperbaric chamber, actually, primarily because he’d researched it and saw that it would help people with the effects of chemo.”

“He then started using the ice baths. Now he’s doing Ironman events – he’s about to do the Braveheart Seven, which is seven marathons in seven days in seven states. And he just uses our facilities to help him get through all of that.”

I was lucky enough to experience P3’s new location in Port Melbourne, just a short drive from the city’s CBD. Opened this year, the 300m2 centre is a state-of-the-art facility designed to cater to a range of diverse wellness needs from its growing Victorian community.

After the necessary tour, exploring the site’s ice baths, saunas, compression therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy rooms, I got into my boardies and into the infrared sauna – a first for me, but as the centre had welcomed Queensland’s State of Origin squad just days before, it was the one I was most looking forward to.

The benefits of saunas have been well-documented throughout history, particularly in traditional Finnish communities where the “savasana,” a smoke sauna heated by a fire under stones, was an intrinsic part of life. Chief amongst them was a recent Finnish study linking frequent sauna use to lower rates of heart-related deaths and cardiovascular events after repeated use.

Modern infrared saunas incorporate coloured light therapy with each colour serving a specific benefit to your session: Red light stimulates circulation and collagen production, aiding skin health and wound healing whilst blue light promotes relaxation, reduces stress, and can improve sleep quality; green light helps balance emotions and enhances overall relaxation and harmony; yellow light boosts energy levels, enhances mental clarity, and uplifts mood.

Personally, I enjoyed the opportunity to step into the sauna and close the door behind me, leaving my phone with my belongings and switching off for 15 minutes. I focused on my breathing; the warm environment encouraged a deeper sense of relaxation that often eludes me during the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Next up, we headed into the ice baths; four individual tubs that could easily fit 10 people each for a cold immersion therapy session and set to four temperatures: Hot Bath (35-40°C), Warm Bath (28-34°C), Cold Bath (10-15°C), and Ice Bath (5-10°C).

When we’re exposed to extreme cold, our blood vessels constrict to conserve heat and maintain core temperature, prioritising blood flow to vital organs such as the heart, lungs, and brain. It’s an almost immediate reaction from the moment you step into the pool; a much-needed shock to the system that feels like a thousand pinches all over the body once the cold takes hold.

Naturally, it’s a departure from the contemporary comfort of our everyday lives, and what only took four minutes in the first session certainly felt like a lifetime within the pool.

I’ll be honest, the first time stepping into the baths isn’t the most pleasant experience but the inherent benefits are worth it every time: improved recovery, alleviated muscle soreness and fatigue, enhanced circulation, decreased inflammation and a boosted immune system… the list goes on.

Following my experience with the infrared sauna and ice baths, I was eager to explore some of P3 Recovery’s other therapy offerings like compression therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Compression therapy is such a game-changer for those looking to accelerate muscle recovery and reduce soreness. At P3, the compression boots and sleeves are state-of-the-art, designed to apply controlled pressure to your limbs, promoting blood flow and lymphatic drainage.

It can take a while, so unless you’re happy to scroll while the boots do their work, it’s another opportunity to spend time with some of P3’s incredible community members. From professional athletes to elderly cancer survivors, I was struck by everyone’s unique experiences with P3 discussing what led them to the centre and how powerful these sessions can be for those looking for a positive change.

The final session of the afternoon saw me placing an oxygen mask over my mouth and stepping into a pressurised space like something out of a big-budget sci-fi film. With a quick zip, I was inside the hyperbaric oxygen chamber, breathing 100% pure unadulterated oxygen for the next 30 minutes which supposedly promotes healing, reduces inflammation, and enhances cellular repair.

It was certainly different to the other sessions; I was alone, and there were no immediate changes to my body quite like the contrast therapy or compression boots. But it was an extremely relaxing way to wrap up the day. The quiet, deep breaths became longer and the chamber’s gentle pressure created a calming recovery experience to unwind – the perfect way to finish my session and reflect on a transformative day at P3 Recovery’s new Port Melbourne location.