Ice bath?

[Mr Punch]

This sounds like bunk to me:

Listen to his reasons...
Anyone else?

[Oso]

ice is commonly prescribed for inflammation...the 'bad blood/fresh blood' thing is not particularly sensical but whatever makes it all work for him.

i was told to do ice soaking...and alternating ice/heat for shin splints way back in HS.


Jenna is kinda hot...but, she has a weak chin

[Vash]

First, that dude's going bald.

Second, I do something similar, when I have a particularly hard workout: Hottest water I can stand, four cups of epsom salt, soak full body total 15 minutes. full ice soak, 10 minutes. cold shower. lotsa protein/carb shake. creatine.

[Hebrew Hammer]

I believe this is a very common treatment amongst other pro athletes like football and baseball players, helps with recovery time. I think anything you do to shock the body will cause it to be more responsive...applying heat to a body that is used to being hot during training will not cause or elicit a reaction. That's my speculation as to what they believe its effectiveness is.

[WinterPalm]

I like to do alternating cold and hot showers after a tough workout. Steam bathes also help the skin and recovery...IMO.

[Kevin73]

I talked with a doctor about things like an ice bath or the dousing (dumping a cold bucket of water over your head in the morning).

He said that the sudden drop in body temperature tricks your body into thinking it is getting sick. It's response is to bump up the immune system and more white blood cells. This in turn heals the body quicker and keeps you healthier.

[Oso]

interesting...and somewhat believable...any data?

[Kevin73]

interesting...and somewhat believable...any data?

I don't use either of those, so I never looked into it further so I couldn't cite any data or sources to know if it is correct or not.

[Lee Chiang Po]

It is commonly said that cold will cause the blood to move to the core, but this is only a half truth. Actually, all the blood vains will shrink and this leaves only the larger ones to carry the majority of blood. Thus the core gets most of it. Heat will cause all the vains to expand to bring blood near the surface to exhaust heat. If you have injury to the skin or tissue, heat will open the vains and capilaries bringing a good blood flow into that area, which will cause healing. Arthritis I was told required heat. I spent years soaking my hands in hot water with plenty of epsom salts. I would work the hands while soaking them in an effort to relieve pain. Both my hands have suffered crush injuries over the years. I was visiting a Chinese doctor about 10 years ago and we discussed this. He told me to use hot water and salts to encourage blood flow into soft tissue injuries, but for arthritis I must use cold water. Not necessarily ice water, just cold water. I went home and gave it a try, and I was amazed that the pain stopped instantly, and my range of movement in the hands was at 100% at the same time. I have used cold water ever since. I have a problem with my left shoulder blade, and it was called frozen shoulder. It is actually from an old stab wound that pierced the blade. I have stood in the shower under cold water for a while and was able to move it almost 100%. Not quite, but almost. This went against about everything I had read or had been told for years. But, I can swear that it worked for me.