Chill-out! Ice baths, they do a body good…right?

I can’t say I am a big fan of the ice bath, but I do understand the concept behind the therapy.

In a nutshell here’s what sportsmedicine.com has to say about ice Baths (if you know of other more recent articles, let me know and I’ll update the post)

The ice bath is thought to:

• Constrict blood vessels and flush waste products, like lactic acid, out of the affected tissues
• Decrease metabolic activity and slow down physiological processes
• Reduce swelling and tissue breakdown

If you want the full details on the contradictory studies, go here http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sampleworkouts/a/Ice-Bath.htm

What I can tell you from a newbie’s experience with 2 weeks experimentation using cooler than normal baths is this:

• The initial immersion is NOT pleasant, especially when you have just come in from a -20C run and your core temp is up (Maybe I’m not doing this right, but cool is cool to me)
• It doesn’t feel much better while you’re sitting in the bath continuing to cool down…flashes of Grease’s soundtrack come to mind…I’ve got chills….
• Draining the water and getting out of the tub feels GREAT!!
• Running a warm shower and warming up before a stretch session…equally pleasing.
  

While I offer no scientific or conclusive proof either way, nor am I qualified to…for me the experiment albeit somewhat unpleasant is having some positive effects on my recovery, the last couple of weeks my legs and hip flexors have felt better than they have in a long time.

I won’t be breaking any records anytime soon, so for me the objective while running increasingly longer distances, is to remain injury free. As of this posting, I see this as one way to help.

I’ll keep you posted on this self-induced cold front.

Happy trails and sunshine and warmth!