6 DECEMBER 5, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Ridgewood cryotherapy startup wants to
bring its treatment to gyms everywhere
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
When cryotherapy — the
pain relief treatment that
involves stepping into a
minus 100-degree cryochamber —
began to trend several years ago, it
was mostly restricted to celebrities
and sports stars who could afford
it.
Now, a trio of lifelong friends
from Ridgewood have formed a cryotherapy
company that aims to bring
the high-tech holistic treatment to
gyms across the city and beyond,
and they’ve started out in their home
neighborhood.
The three partners of Cryo with
JNJ brought a Colombian-made cryo
machine to Force Gym on Fresh
Pond Road in October. After years
of working in the cryotherapy
industry, Jeffrey Montesdeoca, the
founder and owner of the company,
said that he ended up working with
the gym after becoming friends with
its owner as a member.
The growing trend of cryotherapy
hinges on the idea that exposing
yourself to subzero temperatures
can relieve arthritis and back pain
and create an increased sense of
wellbeing and physical endurance.
“It basically pushes your threshold
when it comes to fatigue. Also,
you’re actually burning calories
throughout those three minutes,”
Montesdeoca said.
In the treatment, a large cylindrical
chamber is connected to a tank of
liquid nitrogen, which can cool the
air in the device down to -310ºF.
Montesdeoca first learned about
the emerging holistic treatment
when he got a job working with highprofile
celebrities and athletes at
KryoLife, high-end Midtown-based
cryotherapy company. He applied
for the position on Craigslist not
knowing anything, and ended up
becoming a disciple after using it to
supplement his own bodybuilding
regimen.
But Montesdeoca said that he noticed
an industry-wide problem with
the standard machines. They needed
to be cleaned every three hours. He
claimed that media reports of clients
Clients use the company’s cryotherapy machine.
Photo courtesy of Cryo with JNJ
who received frostbite were the
results of companies who tried to
surpass those limits and ended up
hurting their business.
After briefly leaving the cryotherapy
industry to work in social
media marketing, he came back after
he found a cryo manufacturer in
Colombia that created a new type of
machine that can go a full 14 hours
without the constant maintenance.
He thought that he could take the
industry by storm by becoming the
sole distributors of this new machine
in North America.
In an Instagram promotion video
for Cryo with JNJ, a voiceover says
“Our mission has begun … in Colombia,”
as a sublimated cloud of frosty
air blows across the iconic Colombian
Christ the King statue.
Montesdeoca got an injection of
capital from his parents and family
members in order to invest in the
machines. He says his goal is to make
this luxury service affordable.
And he has done that, relatively
speaking. The now-closed KryoLife,
where he used to work, charged
$90 for a three-minute session. The
Cryo with JNJ location at Force Gym
charges $55 for a three-minute session
for non-gym members, and $35
for members. For eight treatments
a month, they charge $198 and are
currently offering a $350 price tag
for unlimited monthly treatments
(normally $550).
“Once you’re inside there, you’re
going to see that it’s just cold air
that surrounds your body,” said
Montesdeoca, “Doing those three
minutes is going to make you feel
like a brand-new you.”
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