Sports Reality
PERFORMANCE TRAINING AT ITS BEST Free Sports Performance Consultation

by Jeff Appel

Benefits of Ice Baths

Ice baths are an effective method of minimizing muscle pain as well as recovering quickly after demanding training sessions or competitions. While placing ice packs on affected regions of the body is also helpful, taking ice baths is even more beneficial to the body. Ice baths offer numerous advantages.

Decrease injury risk

Whether or not scientific research supports ice baths, many athletes swear that they benefit from a decrease in injury risk following regular use of cold immersion. It prevents muscle strain and injury as well as aiding in quicker recovery. In fact, an ice bath offers a long-lasting beneficial effect in the deep body tissues, which sequentially assists in the cooling of large muscle groups.

Reduces metabolic activity

Immersing the body in ice cold water is beneficial in lowering metabolic activity, especially in athletes. Metabolic activity is usually lessened through the constriction of blood vessels, which results in minimal tissue inflammation and breakdown. Taking ice baths following an exercise helps lower muscle soreness while enhancing exercise recovery.

Enhance the healing process

Due to the improvement in blood flow after the performance of highly intensive workouts, an ice bath is normal routine among athletes as it boosts the process of healing. The cold temperature of the water causes blood to move to all the organs so as to ensure that they are warm. Furthermore, health experts say that as the body attempts to combat the cold by warming itself up, the immune function is activated and high amounts of WBC are released in response.

However, overreliance on ice baths for reducing inflammation and muscle pain reduces the body’s efficiency in dealing with these problems on its own. So just like anything, too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing.

 

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