After a 8 games of ultimate frisbee in a single weekend my first reaction is, “OMG I’m going to take a nice ice bath as soon as I get home.” The reason for this is because athletes have come to think that by emerging our bodies in ice water we will speed up recovery time thus getting rid of the our soreness. For those who are unaware of ice bath practices, it is when you fill a space usually your bathtub with cold water and ice enough to get the temperature between 54 and 60 degrees fahrenheit. You then submerge your body from the waist down (more of your body once you get use to the cold) for 10-15 minutes. Afterwards most people refreshed and better then they started, even though there hasn’t been a substantial evidence to back up the effects of ice bath and speeding up recovery.
However, a recent study has found some evidence about the effects of ice baths.The findings shown that not only does a ice bath not speed up recovery but it greatly hinders the process. I find this information to be extremely interesting, as a person that has been using ice baths as apart of my recovery routines after competitions or long practices I found that I personally feel alot better after ice baths then I did before. However, as stated by Dr. Mirkin “About all icing is good for is a placebo effect”.
The healing feeling that I am getting may simply be my intuition playing a trick on me due to my belief in ice bath practices.This is caused by numerous sources whether it be athletic blogs, Strength and Conditioning coaches or seeing professional athletes ice bathe as apart of their training, that point to the idea that it works.
So why do all of these health professionals recommend it to their athletes even though there are multiple studies saying this doesn’t help and a few saying it’s actually making matters worst? Its pretty simple, it’s because ice baths do in fact work depending on the circumstance. Athletes should do whatever they think makes them feel great so they are ready to go back on the field and compete the next day. Feeling great and being ready for competition is better than not using the ice bath method of recovery and starting a game off sluggish. However, if for training purposes slowing down your recovery time is not in your best interest.
Works Cited
“How Beneficial Is a Post-Workout Ice Bath?” Shape Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
“A Recovery Ice Bath Isn’t (Always) Such a Good Idea.” Outside Online. N.p., 30 Apr. 2015. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
Cold temperatures may not be a bad thing for recovery in athletes. Cryotherapy, which puts people in an environment that is -140°C, is used for recovery in athletes. Although it only lasts a short time, it seems to promote natural healing qualities in the body.
http://impactcryo.com/cryotherapy/how-it-works/
I used to get really bad cramps on my leg, and I was always told to go to the ice bath. I thought it worked, because everyone else did it, but I never really felt an instant sense of relief. The study you found was very interesting, considering ice baths are a regular thing in an athletes recovery. Maybe you should have looked up a study that does support ice baths so you can have both sides to the argument. Overall, really good blog, I am happy I read that study, now I will double think if I should use an ice bath or not to recover.
Taking an ice bath always felt like it worked for me, just because the cold water numbed my legs to the point where I could not feel them. Whether it is placebo or not, I am certain that athletes will continue to use ice baths to free away from the sore and aching body one gets after competition. As I looked into your study, I realized this was a controlled trial and was well conducted. However, it did not stop the confounding variables. “Since researchers were looking specifically at the effects of cold water, other important factors in muscle-building were left uncontrolled, so it’s difficult to say all potential strength lost was due to CWI” (Source) Here is an article that I found that also supports the study that ice baths do not work. If ice baths do not work, do you think that hot bath would work? After all, ice and hot will have different results!