Whether you’re a marathon runner or just enjoy working out for general fitness, there are numerous benefits of ice baths. In fact, there’s research that demonstrates ice bath benefits for both your physical and mental health!
Ice baths may be shockingly cold (see what I did there), but the advantages and health benefits may be worth the chilly plunge.
However to get the maximum benefits you also need to understand when NOT to use ice baths, how cold the water needs to be, how long to stay in and who benefits the most.
In this article, we’re going to cover everything you need to know about ice baths for maximum results from your time turning blue.
What Is An Ice Bath?
An ice bath often referred to as cold-water immersion, is a form of cold therapy where you immerse your body in cold water mixed with ice cubes.
The water temperature is typically between 50°F and 60°F, but can be as low as 40°F. The temperature is extremely important to get the studied benefits, otherwise your sitting in cold water for the fun of it.
You can achieve this at home by filling half your tub with cold water and then pounds and pounds of ice (usually 3 5lb bags). Or many folks who do this regularly now keep an ice tub outside which helps the water remain cold, so you need to add less ice to quickly take the plunge.
You can build your own or get snazzy and invest in one starting at $1,100.
The key is you need to be submerged up to your neck to fully activate the brown fat stores that are in the top of the chest and behind the neck.
That’s right, for all you runners who have been wearing a sweatshirt and just sticking your legs, you’re missing out on the full spectrum of benefits from cold plunging. If you’re gonna do it, might as well go all in.
How Long to Stay in an Ice Bath?
Most people work their way up to about 10 minutes of immersion at a time if they’re using this as a continued therapy.
However, starting out should be around 1-5 minutes per session depending on how cold the water is. Remember that is is going to be uncomfortable and every bit of you is going to want to get out the second you get in!
Usually, you can start to mentally over come that as you stay in past the initial shock.
How Often Should You Cold Plunge?
Many studies have been done on ice baths and cold stimulation, but getting the results you desire is something that is individual to you. This makes it difficult to know the exact frequency and duration you need to achieve results.
One recommendation is a minimum of 11 minutes total per week, 2-4 times a week, 1-5 minutes per time.
Is Cryotherapy the Same as An Ice Bath?
The thought of taking an ice bath may make you cringe, but there are many ice bath benefits that make it worth the cold. Note that there are other cold water exposure options such as a cold shower or a form of cryotherapy that you may have heard a lot about, but they do not impart the same benefits.
Cold showers absolutely force you to deal with discomfort, but lack many of the other benefits of a true ice bath.
Cryotherapy studies have shown that without the weight of being submerged under the ice the results are not the same.
When Not Use An Ice Bath
Unfortunately the most common time that we see runners jump in an ice bath is after a long run because they want to speed up recovery.
While it may indeed do that, what you are also doing is blunting the effect of your training. You want that long run inflammation because it’s how the body breaks down to rebuild stronger.
The reason that you see NFL, NBA and other professional athletes using it is because they need to perform at their top level again really soon. In that case they aren’t looking for fitness adaptations, but instead to quickly resolve issues to play again.
In fact, the doctor who came up with the R.I.C.E. method for recovery from injuries, along with others now states that putting ice on an injury actually delays recovery! It will dull pain, but has been shown to make healing take longer as it reduces blood flow to the area.
Are ice baths harmful?
If you have some medical conditions it’s best to avoid this recovery technique. Specifically those with Type 1 or 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure or any known cardiovascular disease.
And as always, it must be said to athletes that MORE IS NOT BETTER. Don’t think that if 15 minutes is good then 45 minutes is better. It’s not. Then you are in fact increasing your risk of
9 Ice Bath Benefits
Runners have been using Ice Baths for centuries to speed up their recovery time after long runs and races. More recently, studies have begun to investigate the science behind this age-old remedy and whether ice baths really do provide the benefits runners claim.
Here are 7 ice bath benefits that have been supported by research:
#1 Reduces Muscle Soreness
One of the most common reasons runners take ice baths is to reduce muscle soreness after a hard workout. Studies have shown that ice baths can effectively reduce muscle soreness and help with the healing process.
When you climb in to the ice cold water your blood vessels constrict. As you warm up they dilate (get bigger) to increase the flow of oxygen in ciruculation.
This is the primary mechanism which many believe helps with reducing swelling, muscle soreness and recover by overtime increasing blood flow to muscles.
According to a study from The International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, cold-water immersion after exercise (in this case a hamstring exercise) decreased soreness and gave athletes a higher perceived recovery level compared to other methods of recovery.
Another study they conducted on rugby players (rough sport!) found that cold-water immersion reduced muscle soreness and fatigue.
Always wanting to give both sides there was a small study of 9 male athletes ages 19-24 that showed no improvement in recovery with ice baths. I don’t want to do them, so I like this study, ha!
#2 Speeds Up Recovery
Ice baths have also been shown to speed up the recovery process after strenuous exercise.
Race day can put so many strains on your body so muscle recovery is key to kick start feeling strong and the ability to do post marathon recovery work.
Sports Medicine reviewed numerous studies where cold-water immersion techniques were used by athletes to recover after exercise and found that ice baths were a more effective recovery than other types of recovery such as hot-water baths and room temperature water baths.
That being said, definitely take a second to learn about the benefits of using both hold and cold therapy! My personal preference is to utilize a hot epsom salt bath for muscle relaxation, but combining it with a cold plunge could actually take it all to the next level.
This is known as Contrast therapy and has been used more by PT’s to help with inflammation in recent years based on new data.
#3 Increases Metabolism
Do ice baths burn fat? Why indeed they may help by activating our brown fat stores, which in turn can promote weight loss.
Research carried out by the School of Exercise and Health Sciences demonstrates that exposing the body to cold temperatures after exercise increases fat metabolism. This process is known as Cold Thermogenesis or the process of your body trying to create heat because you’re cold.
Basically, the body sends a signal that activates a certain protein to speed up the metabolism.
Why does the body ultimately speed up its metabolism? When you’re exposed to really cold water, your body has to burn calories to bring your core body temperature back up to a temperature where you’re comfortable. Hence, a quicker burning off of those calories means a faster metabolism.
IF you are doing this to lose weight, let’s remember that a quick 10 minute dip is not going to compare to going for an hour long run or a 30 minute strength training session which will build muscle for all day boost of metabolism.
#4 Improves Stress Response
Have you ever heard of your vagus nerve? Stimulating this area is linked to improving your parasympathetic nervous system: digestion, focus, mood, and reduced stress levels.
As the body reacts to stress by wanting to return heat to your core, it does this through triggering the vagus nerve in your brain.
While that happens the sympathetic nervous system is then put on the back burner. This is responsible for that fight-or-flight feeling, racing heart rate and all the normal “I’m freaking out” messages your brain gets.
By shutting that down it results in an improved tolerance to stressful stimulus, both in and out of the water.
#5 Increases Mental Stamina
Besides being good for your body, ice baths have also been shown to be good for your mind. Want to get better at holding on in the pain cave during the final few miles of your race? This might be the ticket.
When you expose yourself to cold-water immersion, you have to be mentally tough. Not many people want to expose themselves to freezing cold water. It’s extremely uncomfortable.
Once you’re in there it’s mind over matter to keep you in there. If you can force yourself to stay in for the amount of time you need, you’re putting yourself very much in control of a situation that will ultimately benefit you. Even if you hate it in the moment.
So basically it’s a lot like tempo runs.
#6 Elevates Your Mood
I mean I was laughing extremely hard watching the runners who jumped in to our outdoor ice plunge at a recent running retreat. So even without the studies, I agree. ;)
Ice baths can enhance your mood and reduce feelings of anxiety. Ice baths can elevate your mood by increasing levels of dopamine, which is a hormone associated with your brain’s reward system.
When dopamine increases, you tend to feel happy and good. Pair that with endorphins, the natural “feel good” chemicals produced while running, and you can be pretty joyful about your sport!
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism ran an evaluation of dopamine levels when a person is exposed to certain stressors. They found that when exposed to cold water, the dopamine levels increased slightly.
You may also be wondering do ice baths reduce cortisol? It is thought that levels of cortisol, the stress-reducing hormone, are reduced due to cold water exposure, whether it’s a cold water shower or ice bath.
This could be why it often helps athletes to sleep better.
#7 Increases Focus
In the same study conducted by The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, researchers concluded that when exposed to cold water, norepinephrine levels also increased.
Norepinephrine and epinephrine are hormones that give you an increased blood flow and an increased heart rate. They also increase alertness and attention.
So when you’re exposed to the ice cold water in the bath, you can produce hormones that increase your attention and focus.
#8 Helps With Depression
We’ve already mentioned that cold-water immersion or ice baths can possibly make you happier. But what if you’re already feeling depressed?
According to a researcher at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, cold hydrotherapy can relieve depressive symptoms relatively effectively.
“due to the high density of cold receptors in the skin, a cold shower is expected to send an overwhelming amount of electrical impulses from peripheral nerve endings to the brain, which could result in an anti-depressive effect.”
#9 Boosts the Immune System
This is a particularly big benefit promoted by those who have studied with the Wim Hof method. But in fact, this benefit appears to show up even with those daily cold showers!
A clinical trial in the Netherlands found that cold showers led to a 29% reduction in people calling off sick from work.
It’s also been shown that white blood cells, the ones that fight infection, circulate more when you get cold. This seems to be related to many of the benefits above around metabolism, increased blood flow and the vagus nerve.
How To Take An Ice Bath Safely
Ice baths are a simple and effective form of cold water therapy to improve your physical and mental health. However, it’s important to take ice baths properly to avoid injury.
You have a risk of hypothermia and frostbite whenever you have cold exposure so you need to be careful about the temperature and duration of your bath.
Test the Temperature
Be sure to gradually add ice cubes to the tub until the ice water is between 50°F and 60°F. You want the water to feel uncomfortably cold, but not so cold that you can’t handle it.
As you get used to taking these cold baths you can gradually decrease the temperature of the water, if necessary.
Move Around!
That’s right, to get the most out of the cold plunge in to your ice bath you need to keep moving. As Andrew Humberman explains it, while staying still the heat that your body is generating actually keeps you warmer.
So it’s going to feel better to grit your teeth and not move, but you need to!
Build Slowly
If you’re new to ice baths, start with shorter duration’s of 1-5 minutes depending on how cold the water is, and gradually work your way up.
Set a timer, so you know exactly when you’ve hit your limit for the day. But don’t be afraid to exit sooner if needed.
Focus on Your Breathing
After getting in to the water, it becomes really key to focus on deep breathing. This is going to help with that fight or flight response.
What to do After an Ice Bath?
Once you finish, make sure you have a towel handy to prevent slipping and to wrap up. Then you want to being doing light movement, don’t get out and sit down.
The goal is to get blood flowing back in to your extremities. But we do not want to jump in to intense physical activity.
You may feel a tingling sensation all over as this happens.
So, if you’re looking for a way to reduce muscle soreness, speed up your recovery time, and improve your mental health, ice baths may be the answer. Give them a try and see for yourself!
Looking for more recovery tips?
- Best at home muscle recovery tools
- Do massage guns really work
- Best Compression Tights for Runners
- Post run meals for recovery
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