So all these athlete types and any celeb who’s ever done anything on telly ” for charity” always get dunked in an ice bath after exercise it would seem.
I’m aware of why they do it but does it mean that having a hot bath after exercise isn’t all that good for your aches and pains?

There are two schools of thought.

Ice baths are supposed to reduce inflammation and swelling.

Warm baths I thought would increase blood flow by dilating your capillaries, hence blood supply required to repair muscle tissue after the activity.

I use an ice bath when training for running events because I have an inflammation injury I need to manage in order to train the next day. After a ride it’s nice to sit in a warm bath. Especially in winter. No inflammation injuries there thank the Gods.

I’m a fan of an ice bath then hot shower. The ice bath is meant to force blood deeper into the muscle, the hot shower then draws the blood out with hopefully more of the lactic acid.

Works for me after heavy training sessions, but could be the placebo effect

Cold baths straight after exercise seem to reduce aches and pains next day, only bother after a really big or fast ride/run whatever followed by a warm shower. OTOH a hot bath seems to help with aches I already have but leaves my legs completely empty, tired and no power next day and maybe the day after that. But my baths are 0.5C below scalding and I spend ages in them. Definitely not advised for recovery. ie getting back on your bike asap

I found ice (technically snow) baths incredibly effective in keeping my legs working as a newbie skier who was overusing strength to compensate for poor technique.

chiefgrooveguru – Member
I found ice (technically snow) baths incredibly effective in keeping my legs working as a newbie skier who was overusing strength to compensate for poor technique.

Will remember that one for next time I deck it in a load of powder 😉

I’m a fan of the hot cold routine if I’ve worked out particularly hard, or my muscles are really feeling it, but for injuries I think cold initially for a while to reduce swelling, then hot/cold to increase blood supply.

ice baths make you feel like you’re a hardnut, so you are more up for going out and smashing it out again the next day 8)

(no idea about the physiology, but they work for me)

How do you actually make enough ice for a ice bath then?

I believe ice baths are more used for professional sportspeople who need to be able to smash themselves up day after day. It reduces the initial inflammation and resulting soreness/stiffness. Particularly loved by the quick bowlers in first class cricket who impart a massive amount of stress on muscles that re not really designed to be used in that way. It beats popping anti-inflammatories like smarties and screwing up your liver.

As with a lot of things that are ‘good’ for you, it is not too pleasant at the time!

Still wonder how people do it. My ice tray can barely manage a round of g&t’s let alone a bath. Is a cold water bath just as good?

You buy a load of these from the supermarket:

…and wang them in a cold bath. I imagine you would only need 4-5 bags to make a bath run with cold water ice cold. Could probably store enough in the freezer, for a bath, at any one time. Maybe just have a dedicated chest freezer full of them?

Couldn’t you just use one really big ice cube?

Ice baths reduce the bodily reaction to excercise, so the inflammation and soreness is less, but so is the adaptation to the excercise.