“In terms of muscle soreness, cold water immersion didn't seem to work any better than active recovery or any of the other recovery methods, including warm water immersion. Same for the recovery of muscular power. No significant difference between cold plunging and active recovery. Contrast water therapy, which is like alternating hot and cold, warm water immersion, air cryotherapy like in a cryo chamber, massage, or electrical stimulation. If it's all the same, I think I might prefer the massage to the plunge.”
“This study found that muscle warming was better than cooling, thought due to the slowing of glycogen resynthesis in the cold. Mean power output was better preserved hours after an all out arm cycling exercise. The cold did worse than control, and after the muscle heating there was hardly any decrease in power output at all. So wait, should we instead be taking a warm bath or a sauna after exercise instead of an ice water bath?”
“A key take home message is that if the goal of training is to build muscle mass and strength, regular cold plunges after exercise may not be beneficial. It all started with this study in 2006, showing that cold water immersion of muscles may actually interfere with regenerative processes and retard rather than support the desired improvements of muscular performance.”
“The placebo effect. Practitioners didn't just feel better, though. In some cases, they performed better too. But that also could be a placebo effect. Give athletes placebos, and there aren't only effects on perceived exertion, for example, but on actual muscle power, running speed, and even heart rate. Placebos like sugar pills that are deceptively claimed to be some performance enhancing drug actually enhance performance.”
“If we put all the studies together, there may be a small benefit favoring cold plunges, but only about one in five found statistically significant benefit, one found harm, and the vast majority found no significant effect. Still, enough of the studies leaned in the direction of benefit to tip the scale.”
Fake caffeine pills produce real performance gains
“When people were told they were getting about three hundred milligrams of caffeine, six hundred milligrams of caffeine, or a placebo, even though everybody got placebos, the ones who were told they got the placebo did worse, and there was increased power in the lower fake caffeine group, and even more in the higher fake caffeine group, with all the fake caffeinated participants even reporting caffeine related side effects.”
A fake tart cherry drink beat cryotherapy after marathons
“And finally, recovery following a marathon, a comparison of cold water immersion whole body crow therapy in a placebo controlled group given a fake tart cherry juice beverage. Neither cold treatment, whether wet or dry, was more effective than a placebo at improving functional recovery or even perceptions of training stress following a marathon. In fact, the placebo worked even better. Cold water worked better than the cryotherapy, but they both did worse than a fake fruit flavored drink.”
“Another explanation for cold induced reductions in strength is that cold water immersion constricts the arteries and causes a reduction in blood flow, which is important for muscle strength and development. A 50% drop in femoral blood flow compared to warmer water or control. Reductions in muscle blood flow reduces the oxygen supply, which plays a role in the decreased muscle mass too.”
