Ice Baths for Athletes | The Benefits and Side Effects

"Are ice baths safe? How long should I stay in an ice bath? Are ice baths good for recovery?" These are common questions that people ask who want to improve their exercise performance and overall health. Ice baths have many benefits for overall health and recovery, but they might not be right for every type of athlete. In this video we take a deep dive into the science of cold water immersion and answer all the above questions and more.

Description: #icebath #recovery #coldwaterimmersion

Chapters:
0:00 Start
0:30 Importance of recovery for athletes
2:04 Ice baths for recovery
3:10 Side effects of ice baths
3:55 Cold shock proteins and ice baths
5:20 Benefits of ice baths for endurance athletes
6:18 Summary
7:35 The best ice bath temperature
7:52 End screen

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[jeepz]

I'll save everyone a bunch of time. Cold water therapy is great for recovery, boom done!

[arubanjames]

44 years old, worked construction my whole life, beating up my body. We went hiking in the Smokey mountains last summer, hiking 8miles a day up and down the mountains and my only option for bathing was a cold mountain stream, those who endured the cold stream bath felt great and those who didn’t noticeably suffered. I have bathed as cold as possible everyday since then, and started working out because of my old man pains. This is the first time in my life I have worked out and not had muscle pain, because of the cold water therapy! I feel like a kid again! I’m building an ice bathtub in my yard! I wish I knew all this ice stuff earlier!

[Leondediosable]

In the navy you take cold showers for better focus faster recovery after a hard intense work out at Basic Training

[kevinthomes]

Several of the top Strongman professionals do cold tub recovery. There might be a reason that Iceland per capita has the most Strongman Champions.

[aaravos]

for all you people that think cold bath is hard, I've been taking cold baths since twelve since I play football, the first days might be hard but after the forth day you literaly wont even notice it, I don't even feel bothered by it no more both cold baths and sea water, it's very refreshing and the benefits are a lot, you can even burn fat with cold baths for you guys and girls who are looking to lose some weigh, also starting with warm and ending with cold can help the blood vesuls to work way better and react better in both cold and warm temperatures, try it out for a month and you will feel like a monster, of course it's your choise after all

[denisemetz]

The mental clarity is what does it for me it's instantaneous

[AlexP-ybgh]

You can’t talk about ice baths without talking about Wim Hof and the actual research behind his breathing technique which helps also to tolerate the freezing temperatures, two scientists studying him won noble prizes because of what they discovered, there is so much research to back up his breathing technique

[organix]

Very well put together. Extremely informative.

[kxnglee]

I thought people who took ice baths were psychopaths as a kid, but now that I’m a young teen having actual leg problems, a ice bath is the best feeling in the world.

[danielmcnulty]

Very well done. Agrees with my experiences as a HIIT athlete. However, I have one contradiction. I workout in early AM most days, from 0600 to 0700 most days. Work, kids, etc demand this. I take a 5 degree C bath for 4 minutes right after. I can tell you from long documented experience that it helps recovery, soreness and the like, as you state, but I sleep better by a wide margin at night, even though I take my baths in the early AM. There seems to be some mechanism that helps sleep quality many hours after the ice bath. Not sure what that is, but it is definitely there. I take road trips for work and such, and I notice immediate changes in sleep quality if I don't have my precious ice bath. Whatever it is, I love my sleep now!

[aaronkenney]

Hard workout during day. Hot bath at night. Muscle recovery during sleep, then cold water when awake to strengthen the muscles and mind. Sounds good to be.

[provuksmc]

5:22
The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell!

[terranceschemp]

I just did my first ice bath and I feel like the caveman that discovered fire. Probably going to do this everyday for the rest of my life.

Doing jui jitsu and lifting weights for the past 2 years has taken a toll on my (only 24 year old) body. Not trying to sound like a salesman here. But I just had gone to the chiropractor and a massage place last week my back was bothering me so much. (I have knots in my back that are causing me to not be able to turn my neck) and neither of those helped. I took an ice bath and boom gone! Jui jitsu tonight and I’m gonna hit up the ice bath again. If you’ve never done it, get the balls and just try it at least once.

[iam]

Wim Hof aka "The Iceman" RULES...!!!%

[yishaithegift]

I discredit all these people telling me about research. The best research is personal experience. Cold baths are absolutely beneficial to the recovery process. Any negative effects are very minimal. I've played football (American) I was a boxer, wrestler, and ran track. And I can tell you that after 2 a day sometimes three a day practices my body was worn down. When I was introduced to ice baths it changed my life! Not only was I not in pain the following practice. But I had tons of energy as well. So much so that my teammates and coaches thought I was on drugs. So all of these people talking about "research" are misleading the point. If you are an athlete, or weight training, or have a job that is physically demanding, an ice bath will certainly help you. Just dont pussy out! Blessed.

[rShakeford]

Thanks for the great video man. You did a good job of distilling the research into an understandable format.

[luke]

I found with cold water therapy my libido disappeared! 60 days of cold showers... felt zen but no such tendencies

[damianthomas]

It is snowing outside so I just went to this spot in my yard where it wasn’t windy or muddy and well dived in for couple of minutes🤣🤣🤣

[polnapanda]

Cold water immersion might help with sleep but It can't be done right before sleep because when you get cold your body starts internal heating It's bad because around sleep time your body temperature drops And body heating after cold shower reverses that process I know it's a little counter intuitive

[PPCSI]

I take a very hot shower and end it with a few minutes of purely cold water. As cold as the shower gets. It feels amazing, especially after a workout !