ice baths? or baths with cold water?

[robstaaass]

i'm seeing more and more professional level athletes take baths for a few minutes in ice water and i'm sure that extremely cold water helps as well. anyone ever tried these? what do you think. it supposedly stops/reduces inflammation in muscles, extracts "bad blood" and allows clean blood to enter the body tissue.

[MonsieurGeorges]

Cryotherapy ("cold therapy") constricts blood vessels and decreases metabolic activity, which reduces swelling and tissue breakdown. Once the skin is no longer in contact with the cold source, the underlying tissues warm up, causing a return of faster blood flow, which helps return the byproducts of cellular breakdown to the lymph system for efficient recycling by the body. "Ice baths don't only suppress inflammation, but help to flush harmful metabolic debris out of your muscles," says David Terry, M.D., an ultrarunner who has finished both the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run and the Wasatch Front 100-Mile Endurance Run 10 consecutive times.

-from runners world

i have taken an ice bath before and I found it to be very refreshing. its not something that will make or break an athlete but it will make you feel better after an exhausting workout.

[j]

yeah, it is the contraction and expansion of blood vessels that is a main part of this regimine. i have looked into it.

the cold water pushes your blood inside towards your vital organs. warm water has opposite effect, speading more blood outwards towards your skin and limbs.


in shower, you can alternate between very warm/hot-ish water and flip it on cold for 10 seconds and then back to warm. u can do this a couple times.

it may not be bst for peeps with high blood pressure though. and always check with not just one, but several physicians. PT's may know more than a regular doc.


edit: across asia, and russia, they have bath houses(not those gay kind!) that have iced baths and warm water pools that people alternate between. it is an old practice and i know people who use it.

[g0tcha]

would kinda see the shower version of this as a waste of time. you wouldnt be able to get our entire muscle or even an entire body part completely cold like in a bath. some people dont have a bath unfortunately but hey you can always improvise. get a large garbage can that you can bend your legs when you get in and your shoulders reach just about the top edge and that should be good. cold water and a bag or 2 of ice. sit for 10-15 minutes, chill for about an hour then have your shower. make sure not to warm up directly after the ice bath. you can dry off and dress back up but you would benefit from it best by waiting about 30-60 minutes after the ice bath before you actually take your hot shower. first time i tried this i could barely walk and my legs and feet could barely move and i cramped a few times during the workout but after the ice bath it felt like i was read for another session. dont expect miracles from this though. it helps in the recovery if you can hop in one asap after a workout no more then 30-45 min after. goodluck

[chef22]

This works well. My gym has a hot tub and a cold tub. I go from one to the other. I spend about a minute or so in each 3 or 4 times. It helps a lot with soreness from hard work outs. I would highly recommend this if you can.

[Phenomkidd]

Ice Bath/Cold Bath - Cold for 10-15mins
Shower - Cold then hot every 3mins or something like that. End with cold unless you're going to sleep soon then end with hot.

IMO Ice Bath is more effective as it constantly covers you.