Benefits of an Ice Bath and, It Helps You Recover Faster
Improves blood circulation throughout the body, which helps to flush out toxins. In addition, it reduces inflammation, relieves pain, and speeds up recovery time.
Prevents muscle strain/injury:
It will protect your muscles from injuries by flushing out lactic acid that builds up in the muscles during intense training sessions, making them stiff.
Reduces stress levels:
After a hard workout, an ice bath will bring down your body temperature and slow down your heart rate. This helps reduce fatigue, promote sleep, elevate mood, lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels in the blood, improves mental well-being.
It helps you recover faster:-
Just like icing, a sore muscle relaxes it, relieves pain, and reduces swelling. In addition, it can increase collagen production, which leads to minor damage after a strenuous workout session since the muscle has been rested and is ready for action again.
Prevention against delayed onset muscle soreness:
Swelling due to inflammation caused by a hard workout can be minimized with ice baths as they reduce the effects of DOMS (Delayed onset muscle soreness).
Perfect for post-workout recovery:-
Being a natural diuretic, it helps flush out lactic acid and other toxins from your body. In addition, the sudden temperature difference between hot water and cold air stimulates blood circulation, which speeds up healing.
It doesn’t matter what time of the year it is. A simple session in a tub full of ice can be all you need to stay ahead of your fitness game. To complete the experience, put some meditation music on and feel yourself drift into a state of total rejuvenation.
Mental benefits of an ice bath:
-improves circulation
-reduces stress and tension
-boosts the immune system
-relieves swelling and aches in muscles
Cellular benefits of an ice bath:
-reduces inflammation in the body
-reduces post-workout muscle fatigue and soreness.
I’ve been doing this for years, but when I published it on Facebook over a month ago asking what health benefits people were interested in, I was surprised to learn that many people don’t do it.
ice bath benefits for skin:
-reduces acne (the cold constricts the skin’s pores)
-reduces psoriasis (ice baths relieve itchiness, reduce swelling and redness in dry, scaly patches of skin. read more here )
-reduces cellulite (by reducing fat cells’ affinity for lipids, it helps break up fatty deposits)
-reduces inflammation (cold water is anti-inflammatory and applying cold to the skin reduces redness of inflamed tissues.)
cellulite – ice baths can reduce fat cells’ affinity for lipids, which helps break up fatty deposits that cause cellulite. source: livestrong.com
ice bath benefits for hair:
-reduces dandruff (the ice bath reduces inflammation of the scalp.)
ice bath benefits for the body: it boosts immunity, relieves swelling and aches in muscles, improves circulation, and reduces stress. read more here.
It’s easy to do – you just need an ice tray, some water, and about 30 minutes. It can be done daily if you do it in the evening, but I recommend doing an ice bath at least twice a week.
handy how-to:
1) fill the bathtub with cold water and add ice. make sure the water is nice and cold (the colder, the better.) Don’t use hot water – you want to shock your body, so you need the water to be as cold as possible.
2) immerse yourself fully in the water, and stay there for two full minutes. don’t worry if your skin starts turning white – that’s just a part of nature’s way of keeping itself alive and well. If feeling uncomfortable at any time, simply stand up and get out.
3) exhale completely, then submerge your head underwater for a full 10 seconds. hold your breath as long as you can. this is how long your body needs to bring all the blood from its limbs back to the main organs, so by doing this you’ll achieve maximum benefits from the ice bath.
4) step out of the bathtub and quickly dry yourself off. You can do this with a towel or an air blower, but don’t spend more than 10 seconds doing it – you want to keep your body moving during this phase.
5) get dressed immediately afterward, because your main goal is to move as much as possible after the bath.
6) you can do this up to 3 times a day, depending on how long it takes your body to warm back up again. If you need more time for this purpose, simply repeat the process two or three times in a row. But if you feel fine in about 15 minutes after each ice bath session – great! Then you can skip the second and third sessions.
handy tips:
you don’t need to do this in a bathtub – any other type of container that’s big enough to hold your whole body will work, such as a kiddie pool, or even a large bowl. if possible, add ice cubes from trays filled with purified water to make the bath even colder.
also, make sure your skin doesn’t get scratched after the ice bath – if you have an open cut on your skin, it can take weeks for it to heal. usually scratches heal within a few days, but adding cold water will slow that process down dramatically.
ice baths are not recommended for people with a history of cardiovascular disease, those who have had heart attacks or strokes, those who have advanced arthritis or other conditions that affect their joints adversely.
ice bath benefits for athletes:
ice baths are used by many athletes for reducing muscle soreness after workouts, but they also improve performance by stimulating blood flow to the muscles.
Ice bath therapy:
-can include a salt glow (to remove dead skin cells and unclog pores), or a milk bath (fortified with protein, vitamin A, D, E, B6, calcium, and magnesium) to soften the skin.
-may also be used for therapeutic reasons on specific parts of the body–for example, cold compresses on the forehead are used to relieve tension headaches. ice massage on the legs can ease varicose veins and the hardening of the arteries, while ice packs reduce facial swelling.
Although an ice bath is not normally recommended for pregnant women or people with poor circulation, sources say it’s generally safe if done in moderation (no more than three times a week).