Ice Bath Therapy: Speed up Recovery and Enhance Performance
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If you haven’t heard or just plain curious about Ice bath therapy, then you’re in the right place. World class athletes have adopted this practice, so begs the question, why shouldn’t you? Maybe you’ve tried it once or twice, and you didn’t see any changes at all. Well, are you sure you did it right? Ice bath recovery, when done properly and regularly, will speed up the recovery process of your body as well as improving your overall athletic performance. Ice bath therapy is ideally done in hydrotherapy pools for the best results.
Why should I take a bath with ice? It’s freezing!
Yes, it is chilling. Although most of us don’t like a cold shower, an ice bath right after an intense running session can actually do wonders for your body. It’s a fact that right after an intense activity, like a long run or a set of short sprints, your muscles experience microtrauma. These are small tears in the muscle fibers, which are perfectly normal for runners. You’re probably feeling some of it when your muscles hurt after an exhausting run, but you won’t feel every tear since they are, as the name implies, micro.
Because of the very low temperature, ice bath also becomes a great treatment for muscle soreness, strain, and inflammation. It also prevents the breakdown of muscle tissues. The cold water will stimulate muscle cells to start repairing the muscle tears.
As you immerse yourself in the ice bath, you’ll get relief from your sore muscles, let’s say your calves. The good thing about the ice bath is that your other leg muscles are also being treated in the process, like your hamstring, gluteus, and quadriceps. Thus, it gives your body optimal conditions for recovery.
How can I do it at home? I don’t have a hydrotherapy pool
You don’t have to be an owner of a five thousand dollar hydrotherapy pool for you to enjoy ice bath therapy. In fact, you’ll just need a bath tub, water, and a lot of ice packs. Here are the steps that you can take to conduct ice bath therapy at home:
- Prepare a lot of ice cubes or packs
Remember that your target temperature for an ice bath is from 12° to 15° Celsius. You can make your own if you have a decent freezer, or you can buy some at the nearest convenience store. - Fill the tub with cold water before you run
Put enough water to fill up to your waists so that the whole lower body can benefit from the therapy. - Right after your run, add ice
If you have a thermometer, you should measure how cold the tub is before going in. - Slowly step in the tub and prepare for the extremely cold water
Things to remember
- Don’t stay too long in the tub
Ten minutes should be more than enough time to stay in the tub. Stay for more than twenty and you’ll risk suffering from cold-induced muscle damage. - Your first few sessions will be the hardest
It would be a great idea if you would have something to keep you warm by your side, perhaps a cup of hot chocolate or tea. You might also want to find something to do while under ice bath therapy. You could bring a running book or a magazine with you. - Take a warm bath or shower around 30 minutes to an hour later
Muscles, along with the tissues, have a tendency to become stiff and tense in extreme cold. - There are times when you might want to jump out of the tub because you can’t handle the cold
I would suggest that you try your best to handle it. Keep yourself motivated by keeping in mind that this therapy will help your muscles recover, thus, possibly allowing you to have a better performance in your next run. - Extremely cold ice baths, colder than the advised temperature, could result to fainting
It’s always best to check the temperature from time to time. It’s also better if you let someone know that you’re in the tub with ice. Do this for safety reasons.
Now, you’re quite ready to take an ice bath. The therapy will surely help you reach your athletic goals, whatever they may be. Famous athletes will tell you that ice bath therapy works great. They believe that ice bath therapy gives them speedy recovery, and at the same time, helps in preventing injuries.
So what are you waiting for?
If you have a competition on schedule, you might want to consider taking ice baths to make sure you’re 100% ready for the big day. Quickly repair that muscle damage through regular ice baths after intense running.
I have used a hydro pool a few times and they do wonders!!! A local horse trainer has one for his horses and will let you use it for 10 minutes for £10 or 2 people £15, it is worth it when you do loads of training or when injured it speeds up recovery time!!
in my sports medicine class we had to do a ice bath, believe me it works wonders, but we had the temp around 42 degrees, but its not hard to do at home.. if you dont have enough ice just let the cold water run for a few minutes then fill up the tub. the only thing with that is you have to get in as soon as your done filling it up because it gets warm really fast.
I find it easier to add the ICE while I am in the tub. Pour a tub of cold water… when slow add a bag of to the tub… I find it easier to adjust
Hey there! Just stumbled this site and while I definitely support a quick dip in anything that cools your muscles, be it a cold shower or a short ice bath, I feel that I should make one correction to the the activity’s use:
While cooling the muscles after a hard run certainly helps reduce pain and inflammation, ultimately leading to faster healing times, it does NOT, nor should it, “flush” lactic acid from the body.
Lactic acid’s had a bad rep for decades, but the fact is, it’s a secondary fuel used in anaerobic exercise and in no way bad for muscles or their recovery. In fact, research into “cooldown” jogs after running has been shown to actually limit short-term recovery because it uses up the lactic acid buildup which would otherwise “refill” glycogen stores in the muscles!
Regardless, the idea of ice baths, when used carefully and sparingly, is likely a very good recovery tool. Just be careful to not parrot the old training myths!
So its not good to cooldown after an intense workout or race? Is it better to just walk after an intense race or even interval workouts, is it better to just walk between the workouts?
With very few caveats, the new training wisdom is that cooldown jogs and the like do not prevent injury or speed recovery, and should be taken at the runner’s preference, not as a training tool. I myself like to jog a short bit at the end of a heavy run, but I do it because it feels good to me.
The main exception to this is in people for whom heavy exercise might pool blood into the legs and away from the heart- namely people who are overweight, have heart or vascular disorders, or (oddly enough) serious athletes. In these people, an abrupt stop to, say, sprints might cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure and might cause fainting or the like.
Bottom line, cooldowns are generally unnecessary but can often be a comfortable way to mentally adjust to the end of a hard workout. Enjoy them, but don’t feel dependent on them!
Great reply, thanks James. I do a agree that when I cooldown after a race by jogging I mentally feel better. I do know that its not good to just sit down after a race. Walking would be good.
Ice bath therapy works great. After last Sundays 10-mile race now prep for this Sunday’s marathon. Use a variation from physical therapy at the gym. 3 mins in 50-degree cold plunge then 3 mins in 103 whirlpool – repeat x3. No cold plunge in your gym … then two 10-pound bags of ice in the tub and a secondary hot shower works at home too.
If you train or compete more than once a day, would it be useful to use ice baths in between those intervals?
Is it best to Stretch before or after the ice bath. I have done many ice baths in between double century rides, and hope they will work for Marathon training.
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My nipples are poked out and my toes and the bottom of my feet are turning red. Does this happen to everyone who takes ice baths for the first time?
How long after a long run can you wait to take an ice bath? We run at a location on the beach and then drive 45 minutes to home. Is waiting 45 minutes to an hour to take the ice bath counterproductive?
i did this for the first time in my life…..an boi this stuff really works,i went on that field an i ran like 12 yr old but before i couldn’t feel my legs omg….am tellin everyone who play sports that involves running to try this
Hey Willy, good to hear it worked for you! I personally don’t do it very often (because its damn cold!!), only when my legs are in severe pain