{"id":21630,"date":"2020-11-27T07:00:25","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T05:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/?p=21630"},"modified":"2022-08-17T15:01:10","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T13:01:10","slug":"do-ice-baths-help-in-post-workout-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/personal-fitness-training-blog\/do-ice-baths-help-in-post-workout-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Ice Baths Help In Post-Workout Recovery?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Taking a post-workout\u00a0dip in an ice water bath is a common practice among many athletes. Known as cold water immersion &#8211; or\u00a0alternatively <a href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellhealth.com\/the-latest-on-different-types-of-cryotherapies-3884521\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cryotherapy<\/a> \u2013 this practice is favoured among athletes to help them with their post-workout recovery as well as reduce muscle pain and soreness after intense training sessions or competitions.<\/p>\n<p>As well as the ice bath, some athletes utilise and contrast water therapy (alternating between cold water and warmer water) in order to get the same effect. From elite runners to many\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/courses\/rugby-coaching\/\">professional rugby<\/a> as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/courses\/soccer-coaching-course\/\">football players<\/a>, the post-workout ice bath is a common practice routine.<\/p>\n<p>The notion of ice baths have been around for a while and, right now, they\u2019re picking up steam and popularity. Although ice baths may soothe sore muscles in a post-workout recovery session, they aren\u2019t for everyone\u2014and could be counterproductive depending on what you want to achieve in terms of your fitness goals.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What Is The Theory Behind An Ice Bath?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The theory behind ice baths is linked to the fact that intensive <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/blog\/why-could-bursts-of-exercise-improve-metabolic-health\/\">exercise<\/a> causes microtrauma, in other words, tiny <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/personal-fitness-training-blog\/common-muscle-injuries-a-personal-trainer-needs-to-know-about\/\">tears<\/a> in your muscle fibres. This microscopic muscle damage is really a goal of exercise as it stimulates muscle cell activity in addition to repairing the damage as well as strengthening the muscles (muscle hypertrophy). However, this microtrauma is also linked with delayed onset muscle pain and soreness (DOMS), which happens between 24 and 72 hours after exercise.<\/p>\n<p>The ice bath is believed to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Constricting <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/blog\/what-are-the-best-exercises-to-manage-diabetes-and-lower-blood-sugar\/\">blood<\/a> vessels and flush waste products, such as lactic acid, out of the affected tissues<\/li>\n<li>Decreasing metabolic activity in addition to slowing down physiological processes<\/li>\n<li>Reducing swelling as well as tissue breakdown<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Then, with the process of re-warming, the increased blood flow is believed to speed up circulation, and in turn, accelerate the process of <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/blog\/what-are-the-benefits-of-sleep-for-exercise-recovery\/\">healing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While there is no current protocol about the ideal time and temperature for cold immersion routines, most athletes or trainers who use them for post-workout recovery recommend a water temperature between 12 to 15 degrees Celsius as well as immersion times of five to 10 minutes &#8211; sometimes up to 20 minutes.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-21637 size-shop_single\" src=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/shutterstock_1831470046.png\" alt=\"Trifocus Fitness Academy-post-workout recovery\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/shutterstock_1831470046.png 600w, https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/shutterstock_1831470046.png 300w, https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/shutterstock_1831470046.png 768w, https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/shutterstock_1831470046.png 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><strong>When Should You Have An Ice Bath?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>At the moment, there\u2019s no time period which has been shown to be most effective. However the sooner that you can hop in the ice after an <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/blog\/how-to-make-walking-more-of-an-intense-workout\/\">intense workout<\/a> or game, the better you\u2019ll feel. If you work out and then wait for an hour, a lot of those healing processes are already taking place so they\u2019ll have a different effect.<\/p>\n<p>Whether the science is supportive of the ice bath theory or not, many athletes swear that an ice bath after intense training assists them with recovering faster, preventing injury, and just feeling better. You can give this a try to see if it works for you however if you decide you don&#8217;t like it, feel free to skip it the next time!<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/contact-us\/\"><strong>Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n<p>A personal trainer can advise you of the best possible ways to recover after an intense exercise. Why not become a personal trainer yourself and see what other benefits this great career path brings? <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/courses\/national-diploma-of-personal-training\/\">Have a look at<\/a> our accredited Personal Training Diploma for additional information about how you can become a personal trainer.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/courses\/national-diploma-of-personal-training\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-19973 size-shop_single\" src=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/footer1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Trifocus Fitness Academy- Personal Trainer\" width=\"600\" height=\"96\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/footer1-1.jpg 600w, https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/footer1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/footer1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/footer1-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/footer1-1.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NATIONAL DIPLOMA OF PERSONAL TRAINING - Trifocus Fitness Academy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5y8hCGEwFlE?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taking a post-workout\u00a0dip in an ice water bath is a common practice among many athletes. Known as cold water immersion &#8211; or\u00a0alternatively cryotherapy \u2013 this practice is favoured among athletes to help them with their post-workout recovery as well as reduce muscle pain and soreness after intense training sessions or competitions. As well as the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":21676,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2116],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21630"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}