Ice Baths

We have all found ourselves at one point or another wishing for more hours in the day, and training is no exception. What if we could get an extra session or two in a week? Over months and years, the hours would most certainly add up fast, and by extension the desired results.

Image by Aaron Meshon

Increased importance on recovery from training and athletic performance has led to greater research delving into the effectiveness of various recovery techniques. One of the more popular being cold water immersion, or affectionately known as ‘Ice baths’ and un-affectionately known as ‘F#*@ its cold’.

So the question is, how much are ice baths really going to help me? (is it worth the hassle)  To answer this, I would suggest you read about a dozen scientific journal articles on the matter and make an informed decision… but as we have already established, you’re far too busy for that. So I’ll do it and sum it up in a few hundred words you can read on your phone while on the can.

There are plenty of studies out and about and an even greater number of various outcome measures. The common and recurring measures I will run through are Perceptive measures, Performance outcomes and Physiological measures.

Perceptive measures (feel)

Fatigue -  “a feeling of tiredness and mood disturbance which can also be categorized by a decrease in performance output” Halson & Jeukendrup (2004) 

Mental fatigue and wellbeing can have a significant effect on subsequent athletic performance post exercise bout, therefore the enhancement of perceived recovery such as tiredness, soreness described as DOMs (Delayed Onset Muscle soreness) and general feelings of wellbeing hold significant importance in effective recovery and improved athletic performance.  

The greater body of work on the topic water immersion and fatigue indicates that ice baths have a positive effect on perceived recovery after and between highly strenuous exercise bouts and at worst only neutral effects after at least moderately strenuous exercise bouts.

So basically it can make you feel better after a big session, but its unlikely you will end up feeling  more fatigued.

  

Performance

Similarly to perceived effects of fatigue physical performance decreases as a result of highly intense exercise (duh!). and as we are aware perceived fatigue from exercise can often correlate with decreased performance.

The exercises commonly used to measure performance in studies include fatiguing repeat efforts, sprint performance and maximal contractile muscle performance (e.g. squat jumps, one off sprint efforts, 1rm weight lifting)

ice baths also appear to have little impact on maximal contraction performance as compared to endurance and total session load.
This suggests that ice baths are not beneficial for individuals recovering for one off effort power events (sprinting, throwing, jumping sports), however is not detrimental to  performance in these sports. Ice baths do appear to have positive effect on time to fatigue and overall output post treatment and will positively impact training load and thus athletic performance.

So put simply, sprinters and alike can go home, put their feet up and enjoy Netflix and chill, while endurance athletes will have to lose feeling and their feet and chill.

Interestingly, overwhelming evidence shows that performance measures are highly likely to correspond to perceived fatigue in athletes. Indicating that perceived recovery may either influence output or may be a guide for athlete recovery status.
(If you feel good you perform good)

Physiological measures

This is where the science can begin to cloud the waters, (pun most certainly intended) there are a plethora of measureable indicators of fatigue, including heart rate, core body temperature, hormone levels, and various blood markers. The problem is that these numbers are meaningless until they can be correlated to real world results i.e. it doesn’t matter if the numbers say you are recovered if you don’t actually perform.

However here are a few theories of physiological factors that make ice bath effective.

The cooling effects of ice baths aim at returning the body to its homeostatic (resting) state by alleviating the effects of the inflammatory response.

Heart rate, cardiac output, arterial blood pressure and peripheral resistance have been identified as the main affected cardiovascular mechanisms responsible for physiological changes during and immediately after ice baths.

The vasoconstriction (closing up of blood vessels) helps to prevent swelling and oedema (bleeding) and therefore reduce damage to muscles, leading to faster recovery.

Conclusion:

Currently there is enough evidence to suggest the use of ice baths is effective for endurance athletes, on both performance and perceived fatigue.
There needs to be feather research into exact methods including time, temperature and timing of ice baths but here are a few suggestions.

  

Recommendations:

-          Directly after training session (or as close to it as possible)

-          Less than 12 deg C

-          Include active recovery if possible (gentle walking, cycling ect)

-          More than 20 mins total (can be in 2x 10 min bouts if you’re a wuss)

-      Don't skip the basics of recovery (hydration, nutrition and rest) for ice baths.

-      Guys, be prepared for significant shrinkage.

Personally, I hate ice baths, too cold. So I don’t do it… so whatever.

References

Ascensão, A., Leite, M., Rebelo, A.N., Magalhäes, S. & Magalhäes, J. 2011, ‘Effects of cold water immersion on the recovery of physical performance and muscle damage following a one-off soccer match’, Journal of sports sciences, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 217-25.

Bahnert, A., Norton, K. & Lock, P. 2013, ‘Association between post-game recovery protocols, physical and perceived recovery, and performance in elite Australian Football League players’, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 151- 6.

Cook, C.J. & Beaven, C.M. 2013, ‘Individual perception of recovery is related to subsequent sprint performance’, British journal of sports medicine.

Dunne, A., Crampton, D. & Egaña, M. 2013, ‘Effect of post-exercise hydrotherapy water temperature on subsequent exhaustive running performance in normothermic conditions’, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, vol 16, no. 5, pp. 466-71.

Elias, G.P., Wyckelsma, V.L., Varley, M.C., McKenna, M.J. & Aughey, R.J. 2012, ‘Effectiveness of Water Immersion on Post-Match Recovery in Elite Professional Footballers’, International Journal of Sports Physiology Performance.

Getto, C.N. 2013, ‘Comparison of Active Recovery in Water and Cold-Water Immersion After Exhaustive Exercise’, Athletic Training & Sports Health Care, vol. 5, no. 4, p. 169-74.

Halson, S.L., Quod, M.J., Martin, D.T., Gardner, A.S., Ebert, T.R. & Laursen, P.B. 2008, ‘Physiological responses to cold water immersion following cycling in the heat’, International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 331-46.

Leeder, J., Gissane, C., Van-Someren, K., Gregson, W. & Howatson, G. 2012, ‘Cold water immersion and recovery from strenuous exercise: a meta-analysis’, Br J Sports Med, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 233-40. 

Roberts, L.A., Nosaka, K., Coombes, J.S., & Peake, J.M. 2014, ‘Cold water immersion enhances recovery of submaximal muscle function after resistance exercise’, American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, vol. 307, no. 8, pp. 998-1008. 

Stanley, J., Peake, J.M. & Buchheit, M. 2013, ‘Consecutive days of cold water immersion: effects on cycling performance and heart rate variability’, European journal of applied physiology, vol. 113, no. 2, pp. 371 - 84.

White, G.E., Rhind, S.G. & Wells, G.D. 2014, ‘The effect of various cold-water immersion protocols on exercise-induced inflammatory response and functional recovery from high-intensity sprint exercise’, European journal of applied physiology, vol. 114, no. 11, pp. 2353-67.

 Wilcock, I.M., Cronin, J.B. & Hing, W.A. 2006, ‘Physiological response to water immersion’, Sports medicine, vol. 36, no. 9, pp. 747-65.