You’ve already heard of ice baths if you’re a fitness freak. Although taking an ice bath may sound unbearable, some people believe it is one of the simplest and fastest ways to alleviate post-workout pains. The process, also known as cold-water immersion (CWI) or cryotherapy, is thought to aid with muscle regeneration, inflammation reduction, and weight loss.

When it comes to athletic development, whether you want to add strength, sprint, or work out hard, there are two things you must do. First, you must enhance your body through exercise, and then you must recover from that exercise. It isn’t easy to fine-tune and create the right relationship and balance between these two variables. 

To put it more simply, if you wanted to improve your performance, even more, you need to work harder and recover faster. Failure to recover quickly enough from additional training will otherwise return a person to an overtrained state, raising the risk of injury. Here are some of the benefits you can get from an ice bath.

Improve Metabolism 

To achieve your desire of having a healthy body, you must have a well-balanced diet combined with frequent exercise. However, you can also change your fat cells’ behavior by exposing your body to colder temperatures.

A brief knowledge, there are two types of fats in our body called unhealthy white fat and healthy brown fat. The brown fat cells’ tissue, unlike white fat cells’ tissue, transforms energy into heat. This process, thermogenesis, can help in controlling weight gain and metabolic function.

Furthermore, a study found that exposing white fat to an ice bath causes it to behave more like brown fat, implying that cold therapy causes white fat to begin to burn. With the help of an ice bath, you can make use of your unhealthy white fat.

Strengthen Immune System

Ice baths can also work wonders in your immune system. Alternative breathing methods and submerging in an ice bath have been shown to cause an immune system adaptation response called regulated hypoxia that works by causing the stress hormone adrenaline to become active. 

It pushes the body to work outside of its comfort zone by exposing it to physiological stressors, directly influencing immune function. Also, an ice bath raises the amount of disease-fighting leukocytes in the body.

Not only that, but it may also have a cancer-fighting impact. Regularly exposing yourself to ice baths boost the number and function of cytotoxic T-cells and natural killer cells (NK cells). These cells play a vital role in both preventing and destroying tumor cells. 

Furthermore, quick immersion in ice-cold water may improve blood-brain barrier permeability, protecting against certain infections.

Enhance Mood and Brain Function

It’s a bit of a hassle when you can’t utilize your brain functions, especially if you are working on a task. If you want to improve your mood and brain functions, then you must try an ice bath. 

In addition to that, your mental concentration will improve after taking an ice bath, possibly due to the catecholamine release that cold therapy offers. The sympathetic nervous system is activated, and endorphins are released when exposed to cold. It also boosts noradrenaline production in the brain, which prepares the body for action and enhances concentration.

For similar purposes, ice baths may boost mood. It expects to send electrical impulses to the brain due to many cold receptors in the skin, resulting in an antidepressant impact. Ice baths, in reality, are believed to have antipsychotic properties for the same purpose. Its electrical impulses may also prevent psychotic neurotransmissions from being transmitted.

Relieves Muscle Pain

It’s essential to allow the body time to recover after a strenuous training session. You have plenty of options to choose from, stretching to massage, etc. But most people would prefer something that can lessen the time of recovery, just like an ice bath. It can help speed up the healing process by reducing inflammation and muscle pain.

Furthermore, if you submerge your body into an ice bath, it’ll help heal damages caused by intense physical activity. Your blood vessels constrict when you are immersed in cold water and dilate when you emerge, and this enables you to remove the metabolic waste found in your body after a workout. 

The increased blood flow brings more nutrients and oxygen to your cells, helping your body heal faster. Therefore, your body’s local temperature is lowered, which aids in limiting the inflammatory response and thereby allowing you to heal more quickly. 

Boosts Your Central Nervous System

Your central nervous system is an essential part of the body because it regulates most cognitive and emotional functions. So, it is just right to protect and even enhance your central nervous system.

One thing that will indeed significantly affect your central nervous system is by trying ice baths. Ice baths relax the central nervous system, allowing you to sleep better and feel better. As a result, your reaction time and explosiveness will increase in future workouts. People who take ice baths claim they have a healthier emotional condition and sleep better.

Furthermore, ice baths can also support the central nervous system by encouraging sleep and, as a result, making you feel better because you are less tired.  The nervous system, the body’s internal tranquillizer, helps you get a good night’s sleep.

It’s particularly critical for people to get the right amount and quality of sleep to perform at their best. Since sleep patterns are activated and controlled by the brain and nervous system, it is necessary to emphasize taking care of it as much as you can.

Takeaway

Although there is a lot of evidence that suggests the benefits of ice baths, it’s easy to see how ice baths could have some drawbacks. After all, you’re going to be submerged in icy water. Don’t overdo it if you’re going to try cool or cold water immersion after your workout.

Furthermore, ice baths are possibly not for you if you have any medical conditions. Before attempting this, particularly one that requires exposure to severe cold, always consult your doctor. We can stretch the realms of healing beyond what we thought imaginable as we learn to accept the power of ice baths.