If you were a high school or college athlete, you’ve probably got a cringe-worthy memory or two of ice baths. The whole “willingly submerge yourself in ice-filled water” thing isn’t exactly new, but it’s not just athletes doing it these days. In recent years, ice baths’ fanbase has shifted.
In 2019, Zac Efron posted a picture of himself in an ice bath to his Instagram stories. Lady Gaga herself even shared some (predictably glamorous) photos of herself in a chrome, ice-filled tub after rehearsals for the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards.
Though there’s no denying Zac and Gaga’s athleticism (you remember her flinging herself from the stadium ceiling at the 2017 Superbowl Halftime Show…), their frigid pastime begs the question: Should you be reaping the benefits of ice baths, whatever they may be, too?
While some trainers and celebs swear by them, using ice baths as a recovery tool comes with its fair share of controversy. In fact, Gabe Mirkin, the physician who originally popularized using ice for exercise recovery in the 1970s, now retracts his original findings, saying that ice might actually delay muscle healing.
These days, most experts use ice baths to minimize muscle soreness, so you can go hard (or harder) the day after a tough workout, explains board-certified sports clinical specialist Leada Malek, DPT, CSCS.
So, should you trade that post-workout bubble bath for an ice bath? Here’s the lowdown on ice bath benefits and a few do’s and don’ts for getting your freeze on.
Your Body On Ice Baths
Although ice baths might seem like a pretty modern trend, the origin of icy plunges as a healing mechanism actually dates back a few centuries. Some trace the intrigue back to James Curie, an English physician from the 1700s, who witnessed a shipwreck in which some crew members survived being immersed in cold seawater for hours. Those out of the water, who were exposed to wind, however, ended up dying.
While it’s hard to attribute the survivors’ good luck entirely to that cold water, one thing’s for sure: Something happens on a physiological level when you’re submerged in ice.
One key effect occurs in your blood vessels. “When submerged in icy water, the decrease in your body’s core temperature constricts blood vessels,” explains Brandon Nicholas, CPT, a trainer with The Fitness Tribe.
This constriction might help the body flush out waste products, including those accumulated in muscles during exercise, suggests a study published in the Journal of Emergencies, Trauma, and Shock. Talk about a jolt to the system.
The Potential Benefits Of Ice Baths
If you’re skeptical about the true ROI of dunking your entire body into a giant 7/11 Slushie, look, that’s understandable! There might just be a few solid reasons to suck it up, though.
1. You’ll probably feel an immediate decrease in pain.
While there’s the obvious numbing that comes with putting ice on your bare skin, it’s not the only way ice baths help ward off pain. “Researchers suspect that your perception of pain is lowered as nerve conduction velocity is slowed,” explains Malek. Basically, the system your body uses to signal that you’re in pain goes into slo-mo.
2. Swelling might go down, too.
“Vasoconstriction, or your blood vessels narrowing in response to the cold, might also lead to lower localized blood flow,” explains Malek. So, swell-inducing extra blood flow that muscles might receive after a particularly brutal workout gets stopped in its tracks.
3. You may perform better in your next workout.
The most sought-after benefit of ice baths? That they can help athletes train or perform at high intensities on back-to-back days. “Especially within 24 hours after exercise, ice baths may help reduce both DOMS [delayed-onset muscle soreness] and RPE [rate of perceived exertion]. This helps the athlete get back to previous training intensities more quickly,” Malek says.
Basically, if you have to crush a hard workout and get back after it the next day, taking an ice bath in between can help minimize performance-wrecking swelling and waste buildup in your hard-working muscles. Hence why Gaga might have done so before the MTV VMAs.
4. You might even feel less stressed.
While no studies directly link ice baths with stress reduction, anyone who’s applied cooling ointment to a rash or simply splashed cold water on their face in the morning knows the uplifting effects a cold treatment can produce.“Because of the immediate pain relief, some people report feeling happier or more alert after an ice bath,” explains Malek. Plus, the extreme temperatures force you to modify your breathing to be deeper and more controlled, which might also contribute to the de-stress effect, she adds.
The Potential Consequences Of Ice Baths
Before you go cannon-balling into an ice bath, though, there are a few potential downsides you should probs keep in mind.
1. They can be dangerous.
Think chilling in icy water like those shipwreck survivors sounds fun? “Aperson can experience hypothermia and frostbite with improper execution,”warns Nicholas. Plus, since ice baths can slow your heart rate, they’re probably bad news if you have a heart condition.
Malek adds that people with diabetes should also avoid icy soaks, since they often have trouble maintaining their core body temperature when exposed to extreme changes.
2. While good for short-term performance, they don’t actually help you recover.
One major drawback for anyone trying to build muscle or get fitter: Post-workout ice baths might actually hinder muscle repair and growth, according to a 2019 study in the Journal of Physiology. The researchers noted that exercisers who took ice baths following workouts had lower levels of a muscle growth-related protein and higher levels of a muscle breakdown-related protein than those to kept their recovery room temperature. Womp, womp.
3. The perks could just be the placebo effect.
Much like the romance I’ve created with another regular at my morning coffee joint, the benefits of ice baths might just be, well, imaginary. Yep, ice baths’ positive effects are at least partially attributable to the placebo effect, suggests one Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise study. Nothing against the placebo effect, but good to know.
So, should YOU be taking ice baths?
If ice baths can help you feel less stressed and plagued by aches and pains, it’s no wonder celebs are all about it (even if it is just placebo effect). But, whether it’s worth the hassle of filling a tub with ice water and coaxing yourself in, is up in the air.
“With all the conflicting evidence, it’s hard to say if ice baths are truly beneficial,” saysMalek. “Ice baths take a few minutes to get into because of the frigid temperature, which makes me wonder if taking an ice bath is just a waste of time and perhaps recovery efforts would be spent doing something else.”
Ultimately, unless you’re some sort of athlete and have to crush a workout or competition tomorrow after an intense training sesh today, you can probably skip the tub time. Instead, focus on techniques like foam rolling and stretching, Malek suggests.
How To Take Ice Baths Safely
Hell-bent on submerging in Titanic-level temps? Ya better follow a few guidelines.
First, start by filling your tub with a 1:3 ratio of water-to-ice (think one bucket of water for every three buckets of ice), suggests Nicholas. Once your tub is ready, ease your way in. “Start by gradually dipping your lower body into the bath so you can adjust properly to the cold,” he says.
At first, you might soak for just 30 seconds or so. Even as you acclimate, though, always cap your ice baths at 15 minutes max.
If you want the cold but not the buckets of ice (who has time for that?), go for a cold shower, instead, suggests physical therapist Chad Walding, DPT. “Start with your shower on warm. Turn the knob to cold for 10 seconds, then turn it back to warm,” he advises. After three days or so of these short chilly intervals, “bump up the cold water to 20 or 30 seconds,” he says. From there, you might be able to take your entire shower with that knob set to cold.
The bottom line: Ice baths aren’t the exercise recovery heroes we once thought they were and aren’t worthwhile for the average person. Focus your post-workout efforts on foam rolling and stretching instead.
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