Basic ICE BATH Questions

Never had an ice bath, but do you think you are fueling well enough?

I never had a ice bath but I do enjoy putting my six pack of Bud in one before I down a couple.It taste so much smoother when it's ice cold.I hope that helps.Cheers!

Once a day is good-- or as often as you can if you can't do that

stay in for 10 minutes. The trainer folks tell me that any longer can damage tissue or something

try to do it within an hour of the run, but anytime later will be ok.

I don't think the ice bath will fix your problem, although I think ice baths are great ways to prevent soreness and injuries. I really don't know the rules about how often, etc, I have only experimented with them. As for your cramps, what exactly do you mean by "cramps all up and down your legs?"

the best time to take an icebath is right before a party where there's gonna be lots of booze and fat chicks

By leg cramps:

I've been running 50-75 miles a week, virtually ever day for years now. Then all of a sudden.....

From just below my knees (both) all the way to my toes went into real severe pain. Its all the way around my legs, all over, and just gets worse and worse.

Someone said it SOUNDS like compartment syndrome, but they also said its not that, because that doesn't just come on badly all of a sudden.

I can only say the pain is like how you feel after running a REALLY hard long road race, in flats with very little cushioning. Then stand still for 10mins - THEN try to run!

Any ideas would be appreciated.

you can get cramps from being dehydrated so you should reduce salt, drink water etc.

my experience with having ice baths is have one asap after training for a few minutes. also good to have cold, hot, then cold. the cold seals the muscle fibres and stops them from getting damaged further, then the warmth encourages blood to come in & wash the lactic acid out. (some crap like that anyway).

Any other adice (especially annecdotal) on the i-baths?????????????

Cheers,

Harry

If you haven't already, do a search on this site. I remember several threads about ice baths. I think the rule of thumb is 55 temp. for 20 minutes. Usually, i draw a cold bath, hold on to my ba$$s, and enter. Have a few buckets of ice to add once you get settled in.

Make sure the water isn't below 40 degrees F, if it's under it's bad. Not sure why, but that's what I've been told. I usually had my temperature between 45-50.

ok, getting to the original question.ice baths are great and you want to know the following:

Harry R wrote:

How often?

For how long?

How soon after a run does it need to be?

Harry

i'd say 5+/week, within 20-30 minutes after a workout, at a temp of about 50 degrees for 15 minutes. that's what I've done. I actually used to do it for 12 minutes at 35-40 degrees, but learned in Athletic Training class that it would be better to do it the way i mentioned it above.

that's one thing i miss about college running: free ice baths!