In the sporting world there are many methods that can be used to help athletes recover faster post exercise. These can range from passive or active recovery through to electronic devices that massage parts of the body.
One method which has been made popular in the UK by the likes of Paula Radcliffe and Andy Murray (who swear by it) is ice bathing, scientifically known as Cold Water Immersion (CWI). The picture below shows Mo Farah using this method:
When you get an injury the first protocol is applying an ice pack on the injured area. Well an ice bath works on the same principles only for general recovery and not just in the case of an injury.
In simple terms an ice bath induces a flush like action that helps the muscles, tendons, bones, nerves and all the different tissues used in sport recover from their workout in the following way:
- “Ice bath” narrows blood vessels and thus decreases blood flow
- This reduces swelling and tissue breakdown thus relieving pain
- Once out of the ice bath the underlying tissues warm up
- This causes a surge of oxygen filled blood to flow back to the muscles
- This helps return by products of cellular breakdown to the lymph system for efficient recycling by the body
- Main by product is lactic acid which can cause cramp, fatigue and a general feeling of tiredness in the muscles (delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS))
With ice bathing temperatures and durations are always discussed. There is no conclusive research as to optimal temperatures or durations but many believe for contact sports the temperature needs to be lower. Research suggests that ice baths need to be used straight after exercise however Andy Murray uses them daily even when not training but he has a hectic schedule to contend with. Temperature, duration and times will depend on the physicality of ones sport or training and also personal preferences.
Some people see it as a torturous method for recovery and even huge fans such as Paula Radcliffe admit they hate the thought of taking them. However the old cliche of no pain no gain is very much true in the instance. Ice baths are beneficial to athletes due to the hydrostatic pressure and cold temperature of the water.
Technology has allowed ice bathing to progress significantly. Instead of barbaric means, such as putting ice ice in a wheelie bin like below, athletes and coaches can now use more scientific and hygienic methods that actually require no ice at all (such as our F3 HydroPool products (
http://www.f3hydropool.com/)). These products chill the water to a temperature that is controllable by the user.
Being able to control the temperature is a massive benefit as with traditional methods this was not possible as the ice would lay at the top of the water meaning the temperature was colder at the top than the bottom. Another problem was that the heat of bodies especially with teams cause the ice to melt and heats up the temperature meaning there is a constant need for the re-filling of ice. Therefore it was impossible to ensure that the athlete's whole body or specific area was recovering with the same temperatures. This may be one of the reasons that some studies have reported no benefits as they did not test accurately enough.
As these new products eliminate all the problems with traditional methods any future tests into ice baths should be carried out using them to find conclusive evidence. Overall ice baths as a recovery procedure following exercise is better than performing no recovery procedure.
Ice baths should be implemented immediately post exercise to ensure maximum recovery benefits irrespective of the time of administration.
