The Benefits of the Ice Bath

I have recently been converted to a firm believer in taking advantage of the ice bath. At the beginning of this season, I was peer-pressured into participating in an ice bath for the first time ever. Now that sounds kind of terrible... But it was a good kind of peer-pressure. It was something that opened my eyes to the advantages of taking an ice bath.

Google Image of an ice bath

The first I took an ice bath, I thought I was gonna die. Ok... that might be a little too melodramatic, but it sure felt like it at the time. They're not lying when they call it an ice bath. It's freezing! It might be about 60 degrees in the water, but that's way lower than our natural body temperature.

Now that I've experienced it a few times, my body accepts the cold because it knows what it is doing for my body. The cold water seeps into my skin, reducing swelling and tissue breakdown. My athletic trainer has us only stay in the water for 10 minutes max because our bodies could start to think we're catching hypothermia and warm us back up to fight it off. This would be very counterproductive.

 Google Image of a typical ice bath

After the 10 minutes are up, I get out and my skin loses contact with the cold source. At this point, the underlying tissues warm up and cause the return of normal blood flow. This helps my body to recycle efficiently.

Since Conference is this week, I decided to take one today and it was so worth it. It helped to relax my body after a very stressful week of classes and training. Now I feel ready to go throw some weight throw tomorrow and then shot put on Saturday.

"Relax. Let every moment be what it's going to be. What's meant to be will come your way, what's not will fade away." 

- Anonymous