Photography by dc-9.com

You will need a lot of courage to step into an ice bath. Taking that very first baby breath when the icy water touches your bare skin freezes you and makes your body go into overdrive as it initiates the fight or flight process. However, if you can endure those first uncomfortable moments of exercise, there are many scientifically-based physical and psychological gains to be had.

Regular ice bath training provides a stronger heart, reduced inflammation, and sharper brains, just to name but a few benefits of this healthy practice. Let’s explore the top 10 benefits you stand to gain:

1. Over-all muscle soreness and muscle recovery post workout.

Muscle soreness is the pain felt after exercising because the stress from exercise creates tiny breaks in muscle fibers. Ice baths cause vasoconstriction and decrease metabolic rate thereby reducing inflammation and increasing the removal of exercise by-products. Research shows ice baths bring DOMS down to over 30%, which in turn can help elicit faster recovery between high-intensity training sessions.

This is how 100 km ultra-marathoner Rob refer to ice baths as his “secret training weapon.” He does up to five ice baths a week, and that his legs recover quickly, “which keeps me ready to put down 30-40 miles every week.”

2. Improved Cardiovascular Muscle Capacity And Circulatory System Overall Well Being

Contact of the skin with ice for a bath leads to constriction of blood vessels hence the blood pressure rises. When you step out of the bath, both blood and oxygen go back into the tissues. This process gradual creates hypertrophy of cardiac muscles and makes the vessels stronger.

Caroline Leenders, Professor and Head of Human & Health Science Department of the University of Huddersfield, said that “ice bathing cleans the arterial plaque deposit in the similar way that cardiovascular exercise does.” The author himself even gets weekly baths by Leenders, attributing this to her good blood pressure and cholesterol levels of “excellent.”

3. Better Awareness, Engagement and intellectual capacity

An ice bath produces neurotransmitters and hormones such as norepinephrine and dopamine in your brain. Each plays important functions with regard to concentration, vigilance and attention. The mental focus obtained after it makes them a favorite of students during exam preparation or before business presentations.

Southern Tech CEO Stacy Becker even wakes up with a 3 min bath. “I get into an ice bath and the lights come on,” she says. “I leave recharged and focused on the tasks that involve strategies and solving problems.”

4. Superior Fat Loss and boosted Basal metabolism

Upon stimulation of cold receptors located on the skin, pathways are set into motion that lead to increased rate of lipolysis- the process of breakdown of fats to provide energy. This process helps our ancestors, the probability of survival in freezing temperatures rises in the course.

Cold exposure has been also found to increase adiponectin level – a protein that is involved in peripheral glucose uptake and fatty acid oxidation. The research indicates a near 3 fold increase of adiponectin levels in those who bathed. The hormonal release promotes fats utilization for up to an hour after cold exposure.

5. This is done to get a high immune system and less incidences of falling ill

Cold water stresses the body and activates an immunity system which is inherited from ancestors. During the bath, the metabolism is stimulated and, for 12 to 48 hours afterward, the antiviral/bacterial proteins are launched. It has been proven that 3 ice baths a week reduce sickness and boost immunity four percent more than non-ice bath takers.

Prior to developing an interest in CFS/ME, Susan Brenner had problems of recurrent respiratory infections and colds requiring 3-4 antibiotic cycles a year. Whenever the doctor advised her to get off the cold, she started taking cold showers in the morning, and taking ice baths once a week; today, she gets a cold once a year. “I promise I’ll be using this for the rest of my life,” she cheerfully boasts.

6. Improved Sleep Quality

Cold water in case of an ice bath brings vasoconstriction during the period that the subject is submerged in the bath, while, the reverse,vasodilation, occurs in the rewarming phase. This regulation of blood flow activates the parasympathetic division that slows down the pumping of blood, relieves tension and muscles and sets the body for rest. Research shows that people spend more of their time in recuperative deep sleep, wake up less during the night.

Another of Henry Yu’s favorite advantages is that triathletes wake up less tired in the morning and find it easier to fall asleep at night. I use an ice bath immediately after training sessions particularly in the evening. It becomes this calming ritual, making sure that I’m fully getting the rest I need at night.”

7. We have stress resilience if not for the improved mood that was disrupted by stress

Endorphin and dopamine levels, therefore, rise during the bath and even after increases –activating the brain reward system. For instance, bather Cameron Briggs stated that getting into cold showers is like being reborn each time. It is not unusual to see winter sun glistening on a block of ice as the any advance of endorphins. Cold clarity washes over me. Upon waking up this message comes to me: “I wake up calm, alive and able to take each day as a gift.” These enduring changes in the emotive disposition pave for long term stress coping capability through encouraging positive neural plasticity.

8. Decreased Muscle Soreness and Damage after Training

That’s because during an ice bath session the circulation of blood is restricted due to the low temperature, thereby expelling lactic acid and other inflammatory markers out of the muscles that have been used during exercises. Players participating in ice baths have significantly lower levels of CK for muscle damage and CRP for inflammation respectively. Use of cold water immersion in conjunction with compression makes the detoxification process even more effective.

Canadian ultra-runner Sabrina Clark has put her faith in ice baths to assist her transition from marathons to 50 miles races. Instead, she says, “Without them, I wouldn’t be able to perform the training volume.” Ice baths save my legs.”

9. Better Bone Minerals Density and Connective Tissues Health

For the first time, direct cold stimulation elicits a gradual increase in bone density minerals and connective tissue formation. Similar to the heart and blood vessels, it only takes cold water which has a slightly mild stressor to bring about an adaptive response. As far as protective effects are concerned, it is well understood that consistent ice baths help in reducing stress fracture risk in athletes and help in maintaining the joint of the body.

10. Better Psychological Hardiness

Ice baths require perseverance to enjoy the benefits that come out of this kind of therapy. As fitness guru Jillian Ree has correctly said, baths prepare your mind for the tough times in life and to sport. It does not take a lot to stand up and get into ice cold water when every fiber in your being is telling you to get out. As in life, we need to listen and pay close attention when things get tough – only in this way can we be the best that we can be. This she owes to her nightly ice bath regime, which she says gave her the fortitude to tackle Mount Kilimanjaro last year.

The Takeaway

These 10 minute cold water immersions comfortable become over time yet deliver major rewards to the physique and mind - decreasing stiffness, accelerating tissue repair, assisting weight alleviation, increasing resistance to diseases and lifting depression. The evolutionary cold-shock response therefore exposes ones body to brief stressors, which trigger positive changes. Take things slow, advance equally as slow, and before you know it, ice baths become something that is on the list as a stealth weapon in the journey towards improving one’s health and physical abilities.