"Elite athletes jumping into tubs filled with ice water after a tough workout is a fairly cliché scene in sports movies, but for good reason. Ice baths have become a post-workout habit that countless professional athletes take very seriously. Kobe Bryant is so dedicated to taking ice baths that his personal tub of cold water has gotten its own police escort! Hearing things like that makes people wonder how something as simple as ice water can be beneficial to the world’s most successful athletes. When asked, those athletes will often cite reduced muscle soreness, faster recovery, and injury prevention as their main reasons for taking the plunge."
"In sports therapy, an ice bath or sometimes a cold-water immersion or cold therapy is a training regimen usually following a period of intense exercise in which a substantial part of a human body is immersed in a bath of ice or ice-water for a limited duration." -Wikipedia
Benefits are speculative but include the following:
- Prevents injury.
- Speeds recovery. According to one report, it is believed to decrease the amount of time needed by the muscles of athletes to return to top condition between training sessions.
- Keeps muscles limber. One account suggested it would reduce muscle soreness after heavy exertion, such as after snow shoveling.
- Repairs muscles.
- Reduces inflammation. But one account disputes there is any benefit in fighting inflammation. However, according to Greg Whyte of the English Institute of Sport, inflammation may be good for the body and act as an "important and beneficial part of the muscle's response to training."
- Feels good afterwards.
- Less muscle soreness
- Less muscle pain.
- Less muscle stiffness. -Wikipedia
While I do not pretend to be an elite athlete, after my runs this past week that have been pretty intense (lots of mileage, speed work, and long hills), I decided to fill the bath yesterday with some cold water, pour some ice in, and dip my legs in. I made sure not to make it too cold that I was gasping for breath, and it did really feel good.
It made me think about you all and the relief you may be needing from some long days, exhausting breathing treatments and the weariness of the waiting game. Whatever it is that you need, I pray that you will find a time and a space this weekend to exhale and to find some needed sweet relief.
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