Ice Baths

just resurrecting this thread - does a bath filled with water from the cold tap work just (nearly) as well or does it need to be ice?  No point inflicting cold water on myself unless it is going to work.

Orb - I use cold water from the tap in my cold baths - only after a long run.  I rarely take longer than 10 minutes and that's bad enough!!

Enjoy!!!

I've been thinking through how ice-baths might work (or not!). Never tried it enough to know whether it works but just thinking through the theory.

Now ice applied to an INJURY - fine, local tissue trauma and blood collecting at the site gives rise to swelling thus preventing tissue from getting oxgyen, therefore application of ice reduces bloodflow thus reducing swelling and oxgyen demand from muscles is reduced by reducing cell metabolic rate.

But what about ice to improve recovery? Think about it. What is the process at the cell level here? There is muscle damage - in the form of small tears but not damage from an impact or ruptures in capillaries.The only thing I can find that tells you WHY iceing might help is to get the body to increase blood flow to combat the low temperature which then flushes out waste products. But the muscle damage is still there isn't it? And surely that is what causes the recovery pains? I can see that temporarily the ice might numb the area but thats about it.

Sorry but I just like to know HOW things are supposed to work. Anyone more knowledgeable help?

So, the article is saying that even after exercise, muscle damage is still occuring? If you cool the muscle, metabolic activity is reduced which inhibits further breakdown? Presumably the breakdown is quickest straight after exercise therefore 'catching it' for 10-20 mins at that point pays dividends?

AND the spike in blood flow after helps clear waste products (which is what I said)?

I had a cold water bath today after a 10k tempo run (at 7:36 pace).  I stayed in for 15 minutes and had no aches or pains in my legs whatsoever afterwards.  I love ice/cold baths, after the initial shock you just get used to it.  The secret is not to move if you can help it as the water will slosh up the warm bits of your body. 

 I always wear a woolly hat and have a cup of tea when I'm taking a cold bath.  Afterwards, don't rub yourself dry, pat yourself dry instead and put a couple of layers of clothes on so you warm up quickly.  Whatever you do, don't put your feet on a radiator or in front of a fire! 

Ice/cold baths ALWAYS work for me, I'd recommend them. 

Paul Gammo wrote (see)

I've been thinking through how ice-baths might work (or not!). Never tried it enough to know whether it works but just thinking through the theory.

Now ice applied to an INJURY - fine, local tissue trauma and blood collecting at the site gives rise to swelling thus preventing tissue from getting oxgyen, therefore application of ice reduces bloodflow thus reducing swelling and oxgyen demand from muscles is reduced by reducing cell metabolic rate.

But what about ice to improve recovery? Think about it. What is the process at the cell level here? There is muscle damage - in the form of small tears but not damage from an impact or ruptures in capillaries.The only thing I can find that tells you WHY iceing might help is to get the body to increase blood flow to combat the low temperature which then flushes out waste products. But the muscle damage is still there isn't it? And surely that is what causes the recovery pains? I can see that temporarily the ice might numb the area but thats about it.

Sorry but I just like to know HOW things are supposed to work. Anyone more knowledgeable help?

One theory is the reduction in muscle temp draws blood from peripheral structures and this reduction in blood flow has n aeffect on blood markers and enzyme clear out. e.g. creatine kinase and heat shock proteins (hsp70), which are indirect markers of muscle damage / oxidative stress.

CK has been studied to death, mainly because of its high volume in muscle soreness studies, some of which have correlated with high amounts of hsp70 too. There are many other muscle proteins and enzymes that have been studied in relation to muscle damage but it's a bit beyond mentioning here.

You're right, the muscle damage is still there... the ice / cold water immersion studies have shown to have an effect on pain for example (facilitating return to training, recovery etc) but strength loss is still evident (dynamometry etc).

Key authors in this area are Nosaka, Clarkson, Connolly, McHugh and Howatson if you want some bedtime journal reading

Le Neause wrote (see)

 No woolly hats or tea - I get really hot running so this helps cool me down well.

hubby and I both take ice cold showers after long or hard runs or bike rides, been doing it for years and it certainly works.

Did it after long runs when marathon training earlier in the year.

Used to leave my running tights on (less of a shock) and put on an old fleece top and sit in there with a hot coffee for 10-15 minutes.

Keeping still is a definite help!  Didn't add ice as the water temperature from the tap was very low in January-March anyway.

Its not the most pleasant of experiences and it does tend to shrink things to an unbelieveably small size for a while but....I did find I felt relatively good immediately and had no obvious DOMS.