today i made 15mins and it felt good.
Some people here post that ice baths decreases blood flow - but my legs were very well red and i think there is a good blood flow then or am i wrong.
And Charlie: Do you think long ice baths could have negative effects on your sprint performance?
Alot of athletes use ice baths after speed work and swear by it but we didn’t do it very often so I’m not sure on the effect of longer time frames. We kept it to about 5 to 7 min when used at all.
Obviously you’ve got a benefit from short times - any reason why you wouldn’t go longer Charlie or is it just that you’ve found 5-7 sufficient?
I can’t remember where I heard it first but I started with 15 - 20 and now I just use 15 minutes.
Like I say I use max 15 minutes (after high Intensity work) and I find it quite effective - is that too long.
I just figured that the same principle that applied to injuries would apply here- 20min or longer to reduce blood flow into an injury (so they said at the time but perhaps it was really more related to inflammation) so kept it under 20min to increase circulatory response. Just my gut feeling.
That was my very reasoning behind reducing from 20 to now 15 mins.
I know contrast showers are very effective but I find the cold baths very effective also.
I just thought you had a specific reason for keeping it so far below the 20 minutes.
I will try some shorter 5-7 min baths and see what the response is.
By the way - have you ever heard of mixing epsom salts into cold baths?
hot maybe, not cold!
i am doing it exactly like you.
i am doing it just to that point when my legs start to feel hot…
But can anybody please explain a little bit more in detail why >20mins isnt good because of this “injury aspect/princaples” and what is about inflammation…
And thanx for your answers 
I love this thread. Just commenting?
What does epsom salt really do?