Thoughts on using Ice Baths

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Ice baths seem to be getting more and more popular. And people are using them for a variety of different reasons, from getting healthier, recovery, burning body fat and more.

But are they worth the hype?

Gonna need at least a long beard to look cool freezing in one!

Of course, that answer is ‘it depends’.

Two questions you need to honestly ask yourself before you invest in an ice bath:

1. Are you realistically going to be consistent in using it 3-4 times a week?

To get the benefits of using an ice bath, you only need to be using it for a total of 11 minutes a week. Which doesn’t sound too long. But those 11 minutes should be spread out over the course of a week.

And the water doesn’t need to be ‘ice’ cold either. Although throwing buckets of ice into it on a freezing cold day and jumping in will do wonders for social media clout…

But the second question is even more important:

2. Are you doing the basics?

I’m not selling you anything in this week’s newsletter. It’s not sexy, but if you’re not doing the basics, you are using an ice bath for a shortcut.

What are the basics?

Your 7-9 hours of sleep

A balanced nutrition diet

2-3 litres of water a day

Staying active throughout the day - that might mean 10k steps a day

Exercise 2-3 times a week for 45 minutes or 4-5 times a week for 20-30 minutes

If you are not doing all of the above basics, I’d be quite confident to suggest that you are looking at ice baths as a quick fix and a shortcut in your fitness journey. Like a fad diet, you may feel initial success, but it won’t last.

Here’s the thing with ice baths. They are tough to do. You are building mental toughness by jumping in, and when you do hit your 2-3 minutes, you feel like you’ve done something. Just like you feel good after most runs or workouts.

In that respect, they do have benefits.

Ice Baths can feel ‘Stone Cold’… if you know, you know!

And yes, they can aid in recovery after workouts. I have read that if your primary goal is to build muscle, you should wait 4-5 hours after a workout to use a cold plunge, as the effects of cold therapy disrupt muscle growth.

And it’s certainly going to make you feel more alert.

But, it will have a minimal impact on burning calories, activation of ‘brown’ body fat, etc. Using an ice bath as a primary means to lose weight is NOT a recommended strategy, in my opinion. If that’s the main reason you want an ice bath, I would look elsewhere.

Using ice baths for fat loss is similar to using other supplement tools like protein shakes and creatine. Yes, they can be good for you. But, usually, when you’re taking protein and creatine, you’re in the middle of a good regime when it comes to your health and fitness. You’re not taking a shake daily going to work and necking them after a takeaway every evening without training at all.

Just like you’re not going to just jump into an ice bath every day to recover from exercises you’re not doing. Usually, there are other lifestyle changes that happen that coincide with using cold water therapy. Why jump into freezing cold water for the sake of it?

And they do have their benefits. If you are currently using them and find they are helpful, absolutely keep using them. For some people, they find doing a lot of stretching and foam rolling before a session improves their performance. Some studies would suggest they have minimal or no effect at all. But, if you feel good doing them, that’s a huge plus to continue to use them.

A strategy to implement before going all in on cold plunge therapy is to take cold showers first. Build up your exposure time with that. If you can hack cold showers and need more, and you are consistent with all the basics, then ice baths may be for you.

But if you don’t use ice baths, it’s not the end of the world. It’s an added luxury to your training, in my opinion. There’s a dopamine hit which causes you to feel great after using them… or so I’ve been told. The same hit that some get through running or at the end of a hard workout.

It’s definitely not something I would rule out investing in down the line. But I know I would not take advantage of it with my routine right now.

But if you are not sleeping 7-9 hours most nights or training regularly, investing in an ice bath is just putting a poorly laid plaster on a much bigger issue.