…i take the plunge?

1 min read

07 FROZEN ASSETS

Popularised by Wim Hof, now practised by, well, everyone online, ice baths are undeniably having a moment. But what are the benefits?

01COLD OPEN

A rise in body temperature is one of the things that wakes us up in the morning, whereas a low temperature is linked to sleep. Counterintuitively, an ice bath fires you up, while a warm one makes you drowsy. ‘After cold exposure, your body heats up,’ explains Calum Sharma, head of exercise science at The Body Lab, London. With regular exposure to the cold, your body starts to adapt and gets better at temperature regulation.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN…

02 SORE POINTS

‘A cold dip causes blood vessels to constrict,’ says Sharma. This reduces blood flow to the extremities and shunts it into deeper tissues and internal organs, minimising heat loss. In the process, blood becomes more oxygenated and nutrient-dense. Step out, and blood vessels dilate. ‘This oxygenated, nutrientdense blood now flows to your muscles and speeds up recovery by reducing biomarkers associated with muscle damage and inflammation.’ In other words, it’s a fast fix for delayed onset muscle soreness (aka, DOMS).

03BREAK DOWN

But you need to time it right. If strength and size are your goals, Sharma suggests skipping the post-training ice bath as it can impair muscle-building. ‘Satellite cells in our muscles play a crucial role in the maintenance and repair of muscle fibres,’ he says. Cold exposure blocks or delays the increase in satellite cells that normally follows strength training. You should therefore consider a pre-workout dip instead. ‘Research suggests “pre-cooling” for two to three minutes at 10°C can

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