Are Cold (Ice) Water Immersions Effective?

Sunday Times Life section front page 021125

You can see from the front page of the Life section of the Sunday Times today that cold immersions are all the rage now with at least 10 new openings in recent years.

Before you jump on that bandwagon, do note that evidence shows that ice baths/ immersions does NOT help recovery after exercise. 

The more we know about cold water immersion (from research), the more it seems we (athletes and non athletes) have it wrong. Regular immersion in cold water significantly inhibits recovery from strenuous exercise. 

In fact cold water immersion after hard exercise suppressed signaling pathways associated with recovery. This suppression lasted several days. In addition, ice bathing reduced the body's muscles uptake of dietary proteins, which is important for growth and cell maintenance. Grgic (2022) showed that cold water immersion reduced exercise related strength gains while (Pinero et al, 2024) showed that ice bathing immediately after weight training inhibited muscle growth.

On the contrary, hot water immersion (below) improved recovery following exercise induced muscle damage (Sautillet et al, 2024).

Cold/ ice immersions may have other health benefits such as improving your mood and alertness, or mental wellness. When immersing your body in cold/ ice immersion, the body activates its "fight or flight" response. The blood vessels constrict to preserve your inner temperature while your heart rate and breathing increases. This shock is what causes alertness when you go into the cold water. 

If improving your mood or alertness is your goal, then mornings are a good time to do so.

Why are athletes and non athletes still doing cold water immersions? Social media is probably the cause. Wim Hof (the Dutch iceman) says that cold "activates" your metabolism and strengthens the body's immune response. Others on Tik Tok swears that ice baths improves alertness and concentration. Purveyors of commercial health and wellness have likely jumped on the same bandwagon.

Remember, hot water immersion (rather than cold water immersion) improved the rate of explosive strength and recovery following exercise induced damage. When recovery or explosive power is a key performance requirement, hot water immersion should be preferred over cold. 

You can still use ice of course. I ice my sore body parts still, because it does reduce muscle pain. I fell and bruised my elbow last week and the icing provided pain relief as the ice numbs the skin and blocks pain signals to the brain. 

References

Fuschs CJ, Kouw IWK, Churchward-Venne TA et al (2020). Postexercise Cooling Impairs Muscle Protein Synthesis Rates In Recreational Athletes. J Physio. 598: 755-772. DOI: 1113/JP278996.

Grgic J. (2023). Effects Of post-exercise Cold-water Immersion On Resistance Training-Induced Gains In Muscular Strength: A Meta-analysis. Eur J Sp Sci. 23(3): 372-308. DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2022.2033851.

Pinero A, Burke R, Augustin F et al (2024). Throwing Cold Water On Muscle Growth: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis Of The Effects Of Postexercise Cold Water Immersion On Resistance Training-induced Hypertrophy. Eur J Sp Sci. 24: 177-189. DOI: 10.1002/ejsc.12074

Sautillet B, Bourdillon N, Millet GP et al (2024). Hot Bt Not Cold Water Immersion Mitigates The Decline In Rate Of Force Development Following Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage. Med Sci Sp Ex. DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003513