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    Arora Ice Bath Recovery

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    Ricardo Mery
    Marquette University researchers reviewed the effectiveness of ice baths for active recovery in athletes. While ice baths are believed to reduce inflammation by lowering body temperature and blood flow, studies show ice baths provide little advantage over other recovery methods. Specifically, three studies found no significant differences in muscle soreness, fatigue, or performance between athletes using ice baths and those using other recovery techniques. While ice baths may have physiological and psychological benefits, there is no strong evidence they aid recovery more than varied recovery approaches.

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    Arora Ice Bath Recovery

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    Ricardo Mery
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    Marquette University researchers reviewed the effectiveness of ice baths for active recovery in athletes. While ice baths are believed to reduce inflammation by lowering body temperature and blood flow, studies show ice baths provide little advantage over other recovery methods. Specifically, three studies found no significant differences in muscle soreness, fatigue, or performance between athletes using ice baths and those using other recovery techniques. While ice baths may have physiological and psychological benefits, there is no strong evidence they aid recovery more than varied recovery approaches.

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    Marquette University researchers reviewed the effectiveness of ice baths for active recovery in athletes. While ice baths are believed to reduce inflammation by lowering body temperature and blood flow, studies show ice baths provide little advantage over other recovery methods. Specifically, three studies found no significant differences in muscle soreness, fatigue, or performance between athletes using ice baths and those using other recovery techniques. While ice baths may have physiological and psychological benefits, there is no strong evidence they aid recovery more than varied recovery approaches.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    29 views2 pages

    Arora Ice Bath Recovery

    Uploaded by

    Ricardo Mery
    Marquette University researchers reviewed the effectiveness of ice baths for active recovery in athletes. While ice baths are believed to reduce inflammation by lowering body temperature and blood flow, studies show ice baths provide little advantage over other recovery methods. Specifically, three studies found no significant differences in muscle soreness, fatigue, or performance between athletes using ice baths and those using other recovery techniques. While ice baths may have physiological and psychological benefits, there is no strong evidence they aid recovery more than varied recovery approaches.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 2

    MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC & HUMAN PERFORMANCE RESEARCH CENTER

    Are Ice Baths an Effective Form


    of Active Recovery?
    01/11/2023
    Written by: Rhea Arora - Junior in Exercise Physiology
    Mentor: Toni Uhrich
    Edited by: Mike Haischer

    Key Points:
    • Ice baths are a common form of active recovery for athletes to reduce soreness.
    • Cold water immersion reduces body temperature and reduces blood flow to the
    affected areas.
    • Evidence suggests that cold water immersion used exclusively as a form of recovery
    provides little to no advantage to athletes.
    The use of cold-water immersion is used as a form of recovery after vigorous exercise and an aid in long-term
    training adaptation. The physiology behind ice baths is that sitting in an ice bath reduces body temperature and
    blood flow throughout the body, blunting the inflammatory response commonly present after intense exercise
    (Figure 1)1,2. Studies about the effects of hydrotherapy have also stated an added psychological benefit through
    an endorphin rush with cold water immersion leading to a reduction of fatigue during immersion3.
    Active recovery from intense exercise is crucial for athletes, especially after repeated efforts. While cold water
    immersion is widely perceived as an effective option; there is debate about whether or not reducing the
    inflammatory response after intense exercise has any real benefit. Inflammation is a natural, protective body
    response and needs to happen for the body to heal. There are three steps for soft tissue injuries to heal;
    inflammation, repair and remodeling2. Icing is effective to prevent pain or soreness after an intense workout but
    the inflammatory response slows until blood rushes back to the affected area and the soft tissue warms again.
    Therefore, cold water immersion may not be advantageous because it is prolonging the body’s natural
    inflammatory response.
    Studies suggest that cold water immersion is no more effective than other forms of active recovery that minimizes
    inflammatory responses after intense exercise1,4. No significant relationship between fatigue levels, muscle
    soreness, and overall wellness were found with athletes using cold water immersion as a recovery method
    compared to athletes that did not. Also, little difference in athlete performance in the long term and short term
    were observed with athletes that used cold water immersion as a form of recovery compared to athletes that did
    not (Figure 2)3.

    Figure 1: Ice baths may blunt the inflammatory response after intense
    exercise by lowering body temperature and peripheral blood flow.
    1
    MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC & HUMAN PERFORMANCE RESEARCH CENTER

    Are Ice Baths an Effective Form


    of Active Recovery?

    Figure 2: Relation of control group (dotted line) and group with cold water immersion (CWI - solid line) over the
    course of three weeks assessing muscle soreness, fatigue, and total wellness. The overlap of the lines indicates
    no significant differences between athletes that recover with cold water immersion versus athletes that do not. Over
    the course of the three-week exercise training sessions, overall wellness was similar between the group that did
    use CWI and the group that did not use CWI.3

    In conclusion, while there are many reported physiological and possible psychological benefits to cold water
    immersion, there is no significant evidence to prove the benefits of the exclusive use of cold-water immersion
    compared to a comprehensive approach of varied recovery techniques to better recover from intense exercise.

    References

    1. Peake, J.M., Roberts, L.A., Figueiredo, V.C., Egner, I., Krog, S., Aas, S.N., Suzuki, K., Markworth, J.F., Coombes,
    J.S., Cameron-Smith, D. and Raastad, T. (2017), The effects of cold water immersion and active recovery on
    inflammation and cell stress responses in human skeletal muscle after resistance exercise. J Physiol, 595: 695-
    711. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP272881
    2. Berra, Lindsay. “The Cold, Hard Truth about Icing Your Injuries.” Men's Health, 24 Nov. 2019,
    https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a29710918/icing-sore-muscles/.
    3. Lateef F. Post exercise ice water immersion: Is it a form of active recovery? J Emerg Trauma Shock. 2010
    Jul;3(3):302. doi: 10.4103/0974-2700.66570. PMID: 20930987; PMCID: PMC2938508.
    4. Tavares F., Simões M., Matos B., Smith Tiaki B., Driller M. (2020), The Acute and Longer-Term Effects of Cold
    Water Immersion in Highly-Trained Volleyball Athletes During an Intense Training Block. Frontiers in Sports and
    Active Living, 10.3389/fspor.2020.568420. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2020.568420

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