Ice Baths as Recovery

Dennis lifted before and after games…most of his work pre game was vascular induction stuff for injury prevention and the lifts after was his growth work. That guy could eat chicken!

Yes thanks for the correction, a much better way of saying it.
:smiley:

Hey you’d eat alot of chicken if you trained like him too!!!

Just on DR - he also cycled stationary right up to game time and sometimes during games when he was ‘on the bench’.

Guys like him never get the credit they deserve …

i must admit i never used ice baths before i came to university
thats becuase i always thought “just ice bags on my legs would do the trick”
i was so wrong
u cant replicate the cold tubs
50 degrees for 15 min is golden for recovery
i have never recovered so fast from workouts ever, i swear by them now.
amazing.

The first 5 mins sucks!!!
I am not sure that I have felt a difference when I took them in college. And Ive done them 3x this yr and not sure I felt a difference either. How can you be so sure?

Agreed about the first 5 min. I used to feel that they were the best thing ever (however, this was when i was running XC in high school). For a distance runner/long sprinter i could see a lot of benefit as post workout inflamation is more of an issue with these athletes as compared to short sprinters (to my knowledge, i could be wrong).

Just from my experience… I have noticed a large decrease in the amount of time it takes me to recover after a day of speed or special endurance + weights (including lower). I have only used the cold whirlpool a few times this season so far, but my legs felt awesome the next day and had virtually no soreness or stifness after using this, compared to not icing the legs at all.

How can you be sure it wasnt because you adapted to the work?

quick
ive never adapted well to squats the next day when i used the ice baths it helped huge
i went back home for christmas and didnt use the ice baths my legs were killing me

Good point. Not entirley sure, but I am usually sore after a heavy leg day/speed day.

I take ice baths rough four times per week following my more intensive workouts to help reduce inflamation, speed recovery, and prevent the onset of injury. The bath is between 47-50F, and I remain in it for about 10 minutes.

Am I negating the benificial effects of of the bath by taking a warm shower afterwards?

we have a cold whil pool… i get it a little below 45 and go waist down… it really helps my legs recover from intensity and speed days… =)

in highschool I had to make a ghetto one with a 10 gallon bucket for my knees down… hahaha

I usually have athlete shower while their body temp. is still elevated and then ice bath usually 45F for 8-10 minutes for all the reasons you stated. We have enjoyed great succes with this method especially in multiple day competitions.

remember this:

HSI: Ice ice Baby…

http://www.larrywade.net/gallery.html

Charlie …

Not sure if this was ever an issue with your guys - but does execssive or repeated exposure to ice baths or cold immersion have any negative (or positve perhaps) effect on the functioning of the testicles or sperm count?

Just something someone raised with me a while ago.

I’ve searched the literature but haven’t seen anything to suggest one way or the other.

Anyone else?

interesting questions(of course :rolleyes: ).

Anyone seen any research?

Stupid questions.

You think so do you?

[Then again in light of some of the contrbuitons … some of us would probably be better not off having any children]

In mammals,as we humans are - the testes are located outside of the body for a very good reason.

The testicles must must be kept at about 37°C or 98.6°F to optimse sperm production.

Now if you were interested or serious about having children you should be somewhat conerned about that.

The cremasteric reflex is what your boys do to keep the temp right.

There is significant evidence that prolonged compression, or prolonged exposure to high temperatures like saunas or baths can negatively affect this process

(Spending more than 30 minutes at a time in water heated to 102 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) or more may lower your sperm count)

I want to know what the effect is in colder temperatures.