I have heard that ice baths are good to take after a hard workout. Is that true?

Question

I need my athletes to recover quickly from strenuous track workouts. If I have them take an ice bath what will that do? How does one take an ice bath? How long? Can it cause damage to a persons body? Any other details would be appreciated.

Answer 1

It is quite common for top runners (and a really large percentage of amateur runners) to take ice baths. Like many things in sport and fitness, there is no conclusive scientific evidence to the benefits of ice baths.

That said, I personally take ice baths after especially hard workouts to reduce recovery time. I have found that ice baths, paired with elevating the legs for 10 min before the bath, really speeds recovery.

I fill the tub enough to cover my legs, dump in a bucket of ice - enough to make the water chilly, but not painfully cold. 7-15 minutes is the typically recommended time. No damage has been documented to result from these short duration, cold water baths.

Answer 2

I'm not sure about track workouts, but I know that more than a few of the people who trained for the Chicago marathon with me last year are known to take ice baths after their 15 or longer mile runs.

I wouldn't take the bath for any longer than 10-15 minutes. Just the same amount of time you would normally ice an injury at a stint.

I can't imaging that it would cause damage, but I would talk to a doctor for the official verdict.

Everyone likes to recover quickly from strenuous workouts, but it doesn't always happen that way. Proper rest in seriously important. Ice will help ease the overall soreness.

I've heard that a cold bath, without the ice helps, but is not necessarily as effective. I've also heard that if you start with cold water, and then after your body is in there for a minute, having someone add the ice in, is easier on the body.

Answer 3

If you are planning on taking an ice bath make sure to do a cool down workout before. An ice bath helps the recovering process for the muscles and helps to reduce the lactic acid build up. Also if you take an ice bath u slow the blood flow allowing more oxygen to get the muscles rather than a hot bath which increases the speed of blood flow. You can do an entire ice bath or just certain injured body parts i.e. legs. You can do ice baths in pretty much anything including the whirlpools to get the jets included into it. When using the ice bath MAKE SURE NOT TO STAY LONGER THAN 20 MINUTES. After 20 minutes the ice then actually starts to break your muscles down destroying it because of the cold. Also because your body just endured extreme cold you do not want to just jump into a steaming hot shower afterwards. You want to slowly/normally warm up your body because such a big jolt can cause shock. Even though it all sounds hard it actually is very easy and beneficial to you.

Answer 4

I take an ice bath about 1-2 hours after your hard workout. I have personally taken ice baths and I swear that they help. Stay in the ice for 10 min and when you get out your legs will be numb, but when you dry off and put sweatpants and a sweatshirt on and warmup your muscles will be much less sore. I also recommend taking a hot shower a few hours after the ice bath once your legs are back near room temp

Answer 5

In high school, my girlfriends and I used to do that. Before I move on, get your head out of the gutter. LOL. After our workout and cool down, we would ice our legs after practice. It looked like one of those old #2 tubs (only it was bigger, newer and stainless steel) and it was filled with ice and cold water. The water came up to our knees and our coach gave us a time limit - no more than 1/2 hour. The water temperature was in the low 40s most of the time (when you think about it, that's quite close to freezing!). It made our legs feel less tired.
As far as taking an ice bath for the whole body, I'm not sure I'd do that. Hmmmm. I do think it would cause a lot of damage to the body - especially the vital organs. A person can statrt suffering from hypothermia (under certain conditions) in about 5 minutes.

Answer 6

It is one thing to ice a sore ankle and an entirely other thing to ice the entire body. Someone with no professional training on the matter should never prescribe this sort of treatment. If you want to try something similar (that doesn't have any risks) try having people drape themselves in cold/wet towels.
Your athletes will recover best from strenuous workouts if you alternate days. Monday can be strenuous and Tuesday should be a lighter practice.

Answer 7

Yes it is good to ice after a workout. As long as you did a cool down run you will be fine. I wouldn't take a ice bath unless you are going to have another hard day, like a 2 day state championship. Icing really helps the recovery process. Also you should eat a lot of protein in the 30 mins after you finish your workout. This will really help you along in the recovery process.

Answer 8

i think thats true. my coach strongly reccomends them the workouts. it is supposed to drain the lactic acid out of you legs, speed up recovery time, and overall make your legs feel better. To take an ice bath fill a bathtub with freezing cold water but only enough to completely cover your legs. You can add some icecubes to make it even colder. then sit in it for 5-10 minutes...no longer or the cold is damaging to your legs. My coach swears by them so i hope this helps.

Answer 9

If you sweat and take an Ice bath you could get very sick.

Answer 10

don't know why you would do that.... ice makes your muscles tighten up. I would imagine there might be lots of cramping going on there. Maybe a cool shower though, just to cool off a bit.