Ice baths after the gym may be blunting your gains
- Claim
- ICE BATHS: KILLING GAINS?
- Catch
- SMALL STUDIES
- Verdict
- AFTER LIFTING? SKIP THE ICE
In a 12-week study published in the Journal of Physiology, physically active men strength trained twice a week and followed each session with either 10 minutes of cold water immersion or an easy active cool-down on a bike. Type II muscle fiber size grew about 17% in the active recovery group but did not increase significantly in the cold water group, and strength gains were also smaller. A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis of 8 studies found some evidence that cold water immersion right after resistance training may attenuate muscle growth, though the studies were of fair to poor quality and the effect was small and uncertain. The catch: a Cochrane review found cold water baths reduced muscle soreness for one to four days after exercise, and the downside for endurance training such as running or cycling is less clear.
SOURCES
- Roberts et al. (2015), "Post-exercise cold water immersion attenuates acute anabolic signalling and long-term adaptations in muscle to strength training," Journal of Physiology
- Piñero et al. (2024), "Throwing cold water on muscle growth: a systematic review with meta-analysis of the effects of postexercise cold water immersion on resistance training-induced hypertrophy," European Journal of Sport Science
- Bleakley et al. (2012), "Cold-water immersion (cryotherapy) for preventing and treating muscle soreness after exercise," Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
For information only, not medical advice. Cold water immersion can be risky for people with heart conditions; check with a doctor first.
