{"id":8911,"date":"2024-06-11T17:11:37","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T16:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mensfitness.co.uk\/?p=8911"},"modified":"2024-06-13T14:01:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T13:01:34","slug":"science-ice-baths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mensfitness.co.uk\/health\/science-ice-baths\/","title":{"rendered":"The Science Of Ice Baths: How Do They Aid Recovery?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whether or not you<\/strong>‘d personally plunge into an ice bath, there are many who extol the virtues of cold-water therapy. We take a closer look at the science of ice baths and how they could aid recovery.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From\u00a0Freeze the Fear<\/em>, the celebrity endurance programme overseen by the \u2018Iceman\u2019 Wim Hof, to platforms like TikTok, on which thousands film themselves taking the plunge, showing the world that you can stand the cold has become more fashionable than ever. While TV and social media are encouraging us to embrace ice baths, what does the world of science have to say?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the surface (pun intended), ice baths sound like a form of torture. If you wince at the idea of lowering yourself into a regular swimming pool, why voluntarily cover yourself in water just north of freezing? Well, because the therapeutic benefits of cold water are well documented, and taking an ice bath has purported benefits not just for the body but the mind too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People who talk about the experience of ice baths do so in an excited tone of voice, like followers of a new religion. Laura Fullerton says that she first tried it at a breathwork and ice bath workshop. \u201cI felt incredible <\/em>afterwards!\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s like pressing the reset button: if I can survive two minutes in the cold, I can handle anything!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fullerton is the founder of Monk<\/a>, which launched a while ago as \u2018the world\u2019s first at-home ice bath\u2019. Monk comes with a companion app to help people better deal with the challenging sensation of being immersed in freezing water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Like coffee on steroids<\/strong>‘<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a newbie, it is famously difficult to control the rate of your breathing at the beginning. Kyle Miller, who takes tourists to Finland on ice bath experiences as part of Flash Pack travel<\/a>, says these holidaygoers\u2019 first five breaths tend to be frantically fast \u2013 \u201cthen you realise you\u2019re not dying\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller lives in Finland, close to Norvajarvi, a lake in the Lapland region in the north. Ice baths are a daily routine for him \u2013 and around 50% of Finnish people. Every day, he walks out of his house in the morning and reaches the lake within two minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There, he lowers himself into a hole that he hacked out of the ice himself. He stays here for 20 calm breaths \u2013 approximately two minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like coffee on steroids,\u201d he says. \u201cEverything in your system is like, \u2018What\u2019s going on? OK, I\u2019m awake; I\u2019ve never felt so alive in my life; this is amazing; I want to get out of here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller calls the practice \u201can immediate shock of adrenaline on your system\u201d, for obvious reasons. He says, \u201cAfter going through such a challenging ordeal, I\u2019m ready to take on anything and everything in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photography: Getty Images<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The science of ice baths: physical benefits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So, according to science, what are the concrete benefits of ice baths? Cold-water therapy, and its close cousin cold-water swimming, have demonstrated encouraging results in various studies as ways to improve wellbeing, both physical and mental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How ice baths aid muscle recovery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps most famously, the method is prescribed as a way to mitigate muscle soreness<\/strong>. Like applying ice to a wound, says Miller, it is intended to act as a form of pain relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various studies in the last ten years have discovered that cold-water immersion can improve muscle pain to some extent. In 2018, cold-water immersion in rugby players was said to have provided \u2018some beneficial effect by reducing fatigue and soreness\u2019; in 2014, another study concluded that \u2018cold-water immersion appears to facilitate restoration of muscle performance in a stretch-shortening cycle\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inflammation is a malady treated well by cold temperatures, because blood vessels constrict, helping to bring down swelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could ice baths help with fat loss?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The benefits go on. A 2013 study demonstrated a link between cold acclimation \u2013 different to cold-water therapy but still all about reducing body temperature \u2013 and the production of brown adipose tissue activity, which helps us lose weight<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weight loss would be unsurprising given that the technique is also proven to increase metabolic rate: when you submerge your body in cold water, your heart rate tends to go up and your body works harder to efficiently pump blood around the circulatory system. (When Wim Hof himself was studied alongside his twin, however, there was no significant difference in brown fat production between the two men.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does cold-water therapy improve your sleep?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It is also said that cold-water therapy improves your sleep. Anecdotally, that could well be true for many people. But there are studies that have found both positive and non-existent correlations. In fact, there are more studies demonstrating a link between good sleep and hot showers than good sleep and cold showers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ice bath benefits: what’s the scientific proof?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many of the studies on cold-water immersion have used small sample sizes. Plus, their results aren\u2019t hugely conclusive one way or another. Because the practice is often combined with a few different elements \u2013 exercise and socialising, for example \u2013 it is difficult to pinpoint the role that the cold water plays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duncan Leighton, a physiotherapist who works for at-home spin and fitness brand Apex Rides, thinks the findings regarding the science of ice baths should be treated with a pinch of salt and that, though it has been around for hundreds of years, perhaps ice bath therapy is just in vogue at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One issue, Leighton says, is that there isn\u2019t even conclusive scientific evidence on why we get muscle soreness. If we don\u2019t exactly know why the problem occurs in the first place, it\u2019s tough to assess treatments \u201cbecause we kind of don\u2019t know what we\u2019re treating\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, as recently as 2019, one study found that ice baths seem to impair muscle conditioning after leg exercises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by Wim Hof (@iceman_hof)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>