Ice baths have taken the world by storm in the past couple of years. The method once viewed as obscure and insane is now a mainstream practice in many people’s everyday routine. Whether you are a sore athlete or just someone looking to be more alert and active through the day, ice baths are key to performance and function. Cold Water Immersion (CWI) goes farther than just helping with soreness and has many unseen benefits that can transform one’s life for the better.
One might just view ice baths as something an athlete does while sore or in pain, but this is not the case. Ice baths can help combat serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, asthma and even neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzhemiers and Parkinsons. They also strengthen your immune system, speed up your metabolism, and increase brain function. There are so many overlooked benefits to Ice baths and cold plunges and it is crazy to not perform them.
The most known and popular benefit of ice baths is workout recovery and helping with soreness and pain. This is all because of the way your body is reacting and going into shock when exposed to the cold temperature. Chris Kolba, a physical therapist at Ohio State Medical center goes into detail about what is really happening to your body. He says, “The cold temperature can bring down your metabolism, causing a slowdown in your breathing and sweating. The cold temperature will also reduce swelling and tissue breakdown and shift lactic acid away from your muscles. When you get out of an ice bath, your muscle tissues and your entire body will begin to warm up, which causes your circulation to increase and your muscles to relax.” The slowdown of your metabolism can also make you lose weight as brown cells are released when exposed to cold temperatures. Your body burns calories heating itself back up and uses brown cells to do so. Kolba proclaims, “The primary function of brown fat cells is to make heat, and they help your body control blood sugar and insulin levels. Immersing yourself in ice baths has been shown to help turn some of the white fat cells into brown fat cells, which can help you lose weight.”
For my senior capstone project, I chose to experiment with ice baths. My friend Banks Williams has a state of the art Ice bath at his house, so I decided to take advantage of it. I started with 1 minute the first day and then increased to 3-5 min for each session. Off the first session I immediately noticed significant changes in my life. I felt so motivated to do school work, I wasn’t so tempted to scroll on my phone, exercising was easier, decreased appetite, and extreme mental awareness. I usually get tired and crash after lunch, but I haven’t experienced that since my ice bath sessions started. I now have my own ice bath and use it everyday. Ice baths are definitely not some made up myth. I would encourage everyone to start trying the trend and see how positively it affects their lives!
