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Cold plunging looks mainstream now. Celebs do it. Pro athletes swear by it. Biohackers built entire routines around it. But Plunge didn’t rise from a massive wellness conglomerate. It started during COVID… in a garage… with one question:
“Do you think we can sell these?”
On this episode of the Playbook HQ Podcast, Plunge co-founder Ryan Duey breaks down how the company was born, why he believes cold plunging is first a mental health tool, and how Plunge expanded beyond cold into high-heat sauna — with design choices most traditional sauna brands never even considered.
Ryan and his co-founder Michael Garrett were already deep in wellness. They ran brick-and-mortar recovery businesses: float tanks, saunas, massage — and Mike even had cryotherapy.
But one thing was missing, there wasn’t a real cold plunge product. When the pandemic hit, everything shut down. Their businesses went dark. And Mike started tinkering.
In his garage, he built a cold plunge prototype and pitched Ryan with a simple plan:
They emailed their existing customer lists (instant distribution), and that “20” turned into tens of thousands of units creating the world’s #1 cold plunge brand.
Ryan’s take is clear. Cold plunging is not just a recovery trend. It’s not just inflammation or soreness.
It’s a mental health tool first. Every plunge forces a moment of controlled chaos:
He talks about the immediate chemical shift people feel:
And he frames it with one of the best lines in the episode. If cold plunging came in pill form, people would be addicted to it.
“It’s better than any pill that’s out there. The onset is quicker… you just have to do something uncomfortable.”
Ryan also makes a critical point. Cold is like training — there’s a right way and wrong way to do it. Done intentionally, it can be a major lever. Done poorly, it can backfire.
Ryan shares a story that hit hard.
A Plunge customer sent him a handwritten letter — describing a serious mental health crisis and suicidal ideation. Cold plunge became a turning point. Not a cure-all, but a catalyst.
Ryan says he read the letter to the entire team. There were alot of tears. It’s an extreme example, but it captures something real: these tools can shift momentum — fast. Not everyone is at rock bottom. But many people are stuck. And cold can help create a moment of forward motion.
Most people think Plunge only makes cold plunges. But their customers pulled them into a second product line: high-heat traditional sauna.
Ryan says it wasn’t part of the plan. They simply listened:
So they built one — and they attacked the pain points traditional sauna buyers know too well:
1) Heat that actually hits the science threshold
Most sauna studies cluster around 175°F+.
They designed for high heat as a non-negotiable.
2) A modern form factor that matches the Plunge design language
Clean angles. Futuristic but simple. Looks like a Plunge product.
3) Comfort inside the box
A backrest you can actually lean into. Seating that keeps you high in the heat.
4) Modular assembly
Traditional saunas often arrive as a pile of wood and a weekend-long DIY project.
They wanted something closer to the simplicity of infrared assembly — but with true traditional heat.
It took about 24 months from concept to launch. Then they dropped the Sauna Mini — solving for people who want high heat with a smaller footprint.
When I asked who histop inspirations are Ryan names the top two that came to mind.
He values a specific archetype: hard forward + high integrity + real operator.
Ryan recently completed a HYROX — and he loved it. Not because it’s his “big thing” right now, but because the event was a masterclass in execution. He remembers HYROX approaching Plunge early, when they were small but It didn’t fit at the time.
Now he’s watching HYROX fill a void left by CrossFit — and scale globally. He also shares a real-life reality: he just became a dad three and a half months ago — so expectations shifted. The goal was to show up and finish strong.
Ryan’s not pretending he has it solved. But he’s found a few anchors:
“I wasn’t doing anything well. Too tired at work, too tired at home. We had to solve the nighttime thing.”
Ryan’s stack is about resets, not complexity.
Cold Plunge Protocol
Sauna Protocol
Mini Rebounder (Trampoline)
Nutrition & Supplements
Health Tracking
Sleep Setup
He calls history his off-switch: a way to leave business behind and reset his brain.
Plunge didn’t just ride the cold plunge wave — they created it. And what makes their approach different is simple: they build tools that fit real life. Fast resets. High heat. High design. And a philosophy that performance starts in the mind.
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