Hot and Cold Therapy

Ice baths and cold therapy are really popular at the moment on social media, and saunas are probably not too far behind. These two methods of subjecting your body to the cold and hot have been around for years, but with social media getting involved (us too i guess in this case), there can be truth mingled with fabrication as to the benefits and pitfalls of using these two methods. In this short blog, I want to briefly describe a basic protocol as well as what I have found from using them. 

We are going to try and use these two therapy options for physical and mental recovery. To define recovery, as an overarching idea it is to be able to do what you want to do in terms of progression day to day (there’s obviously more to it but for the purposes of this blog, that definition will suffice).  What we do on a daily basis should allow us to do what we want to do today, and tomorrow at high quality. Does our recovery allow that? We should pay attention to our recovery regardless of what our goals are so we can do what we want tomorrow. In the first instance, sleep and nutrition are the primary go to’s to achieve recovery.

So cold water immersion, it’s a very common recovery technique and we can see on TV, elite athletes using cold baths after sport and exercise. Idea is simple: you sit in some cold water for a bit. Firstly, it makes you feel really good. It makes you feel like something is happening. It dumps adrenaline into your system and you get a dose of dopamine. It feels terrible for the first little while when you’re in, then when you get out, you feel great. A cold bath (not an ice bath) can decrease your body temp, meaning that when you get into the gym after, your ability to fatigue is reduced, as your ability to thermoregulate is better. Aerobic work especially benefits from this. Ice baths, though, really constrict the blood vessels so the blood stays warm inside your body, so you don’t get the same effect. The water doesn’t need to be icy cold to achieve the thermo reg benefits. Cool water is fine to allow the blood to get cold and circulate for the physiological benefits. For your brain and mental health, the ice is righteous. In terms of times of day, morning, pre workout is best. Ice baths are great at decreasing inflammation, but an ice bath post workout can reduce the healing/recovery process. It can stunt post workout adaption, go for it in the morning pre workout. There is some interesting research into cool water post workout for slightly reduced inflammation and faster recovery, but we’ll leave that for another time. As a final note, be aware that if you do a cold bath in the evening, it can affect your sleep as your body will be trying to warm back up, while you want your body to be cooling down as you get into sleep. 

So heat. Who doesn’t love a super hot sauna? It is social and warm, which mid feb is lovely. A traditional finnish sauna is ideal, it gets hotter than the infrared saunas. The heat is basically the opposite to cold water therapy, it opens everything up. Blood gets warmer, and flows more easily through the expanded, dilated blood vessels in the body. Heat is metabolically taxing, it burns calories. This doesn’t discount exercise and a good diet unfortunately but it gets your body ticking over, while sat on your butt. A sauna by itself is all you need, A spin class in a Sauna is mad. Any virtue taken to an extreme becomes a vice, so don’t get pulled into long sessions in the sauna or adding extra things in there in an attempt to multiply the benefits. 20 minutes in a good hot sauna is enough. A good hot sauna releases heat shock proteins, which help to make your cells more resistant to damage and stress. It helps with recovery post workout, increases blood flow but makes sure you’re hydrating. Dehydration will ruin any positive effects from the heat. You can gauge if you have done enough and done it right by how you feel the next day. If you are ready to smash the next day, that’s a good measure that your heat has worked. In terms of time of day, later in the day is better, ideally post workout. Heat isn’t the silver bullet to health, but there are tons of great benefits to it, one being better sleep. Sauna later in the day post workout. Your body will then start cooling off which is good prep to start down regulating your system ready for some good sleep. 

So in conclusion. These are two great pieces to add to the wider whole that is recovery. Cold or ice baths in the morning, and heat in the evening. Simples.