Exeter is a city that trains. Between the triathlon and running clubs putting in miles around Exeter Arena, the university’s athletic union squads, weekend footballers, gym-goers and everyone building up to their next 10k or sportive, recovery is just as important as the training itself, and it’s often the bit that gets skipped.
That’s about to change. Yassou-Me Wellness Clinic in St Thomas has a luxury 2-bar hard-shell Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) chamber on its way, the only one of its kind in the area, and recovery-focused training is exactly where it’s expected to make the biggest difference.
Why Recovery Matters as Much as Training
Anyone who’s trained seriously knows the cycle: you push hard, you break the body down a little, and then it adapts and comes back stronger, but only if you give it the chance to actually recover. Skip that step too often and you end up dealing with nagging soreness, plateaued performance, or the injuries that quietly build up over a season.
Most recovery tools focus on one piece of that puzzle, ice baths cool inflammation, foam rolling eases tight muscles, sleep does the heavy lifting overnight. HBOT works differently. By increasing atmospheric pressure while delivering concentrated oxygen, it allows more oxygen to dissolve into the bloodstream and reach tissue that’s working hard to repair itself.
How Athletes and Active People Use HBOT
While individual results vary and HBOT isn’t a replacement for proper training, sleep or physiotherapy, many athletes and active people use sessions to help support:
Training & Performance
- Faster recovery between training sessions
- Reduced muscle soreness and stiffness after hard efforts
- Enhanced athletic performance and recovery capacity
- Improved muscle repair following heavy training blocks
Injury & Rehabilitation
- Support for injury rehabilitation
- Improved wound healing
- Reduced inflammation throughout the body
- Support for post-surgical or post-injury recovery
Endurance & Energy
- Reduced fatigue and improved energy levels
- Improved circulation and blood vessel formation
- Better recovery from physical and mental stress
- Improved sleep quality, which underpins almost everything else
If you’re a runner building towards a marathon, a triathlete stacking swim-bike-run sessions, a rugby or football player managing knocks through a season, or simply someone who trains hard at the gym a few times a week, this is the kind of recovery support that fits around serious training, not instead of it.
Built for People Who Don’t Have Time to Waste
One of the things that sets the Yassou-Me chamber apart is how it’s been designed. It’s a hard-shell, 2-bar chamber, more advanced than the soft-shell, lower-pressure chambers found in many wellness studios, with a spacious, premium interior, ambient lighting and a built-in entertainment system.
For busy athletes, that matters in a very practical way: bring your laptop, catch up on emails or a podcast, and treat the session as part of your week rather than another appointment competing for your time. The team will even bring you a cuppa.
A Natural Fit for Exeter’s Active Community
Exeter has long had a strong endurance and team sports culture, from the triathlon and road running clubs training out of Exeter Arena, to university sports clubs, to the city’s rugby and football following on a weekend. Recovery tools like HBOT have traditionally been the preserve of elite training centres and professional clubs. Bringing a chamber of this standard to a wellness clinic in St Thomas means that level of recovery support is, for the first time, genuinely accessible to local athletes, weekend warriors and anyone training hard around a normal job and family life, not just professional squads.
What to Expect From a Session
Once the chamber is up and running, sessions will follow a simple structure: settle into the chamber, pressure builds gradually while the team talks you through it, and then it’s your time to rest, read, work or simply switch off while a trained team member monitors the session throughout.
Get Ahead of the Season
The installation countdown is underway, with launch dates, introductory packages and VIP memberships to be announced soon. If recovery is the piece of your training you keep meaning to sort out, this is worth getting on the list for early, particularly if you’re building towards a spring race season or pre-season training block.
- Follow Yassou-Me on Facebook and Instagram for launch updates
- Subscribe to the newsletter on the Yassou-Me website
- Get in touch directly to register your interest ahead of opening
Frequently Asked Questions
Can HBOT help with sports recovery? Many athletes and active people use Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy alongside their normal training and recovery routine to help support muscle repair, reduced soreness and overall recovery between sessions. It works alongside good training, sleep and nutrition rather than replacing them.
Is HBOT useful for injury rehabilitation? HBOT is often explored as part of a wider rehabilitation approach to support the body’s natural healing process. If you’re managing an injury, it’s worth discussing this alongside your physiotherapist or GP’s guidance.
How often would an athlete use HBOT? This will depend on individual training load and goals, and will be confirmed once Yassou-Me’s packages and membership options launch.
Do I need to be a competitive athlete to benefit? Not at all, recovery support is just as relevant whether you’re training for your first 5k, playing five-a-side weekly, or simply staying active and want to support your body’s recovery.
Where is the HBOT chamber based? Yassou-Me Wellness Clinic is based at 11 St Thomas Centre, Cowick Street, Exeter, Devon.
