Does icing after workouts actually help recovery? The Washington Post says it might not

There are lots of unproven and/or pseudoscientific recovery treatments in sport that are nonetheless widely accepted. Icing, cupping, those Japanese magnets. Once upon a time, runners would smoke on the starting line to “open up the lungs”. Icing at least has a tangible effect, even if the benefits are questionable.

You're about 30 years late to the party JG. It's been discussed here many times.

Runners have superstitious rituals. We know that.

It ic counterproductive for restitution, but good for getting adaptet to cold condition.

Heat heals.

This has been common knowledge among those in the know for a long time. Not to the PE teachers and HS coaches, but those that read the literature! Next thing you are going to be surprised about is whether stretching helps prevents injuries and improves recovery or lactic acid is the limiting factor to distance running performance.

what a shock wrote:

malmo wrote:

You're about 30 years late to the party JG. It's been discussed here many times.

Runners have superstitious rituals. We know that.

Wow, malmo being a d-ck for no reason. What a shock!

(now quick, QUICK, delete, delete, delete. We can't have anyone criticizing malmo. He's a VIP here, don't ya know. )

Whatever we all think of Malmo, he's not wrong this time. The much-maligned Magness had the scoop on icing and put it in his book, and that has been several year ago by now. WP and Gault are indeed very late to the party.

Old news, dude. Timing matters, but most people still don't get it.

HaHa, our athletic trainers prescribe ice baths for everyone after every workout. I told my athletes to stay away and the trainers hate me.

Jonathan Gault wrote:

Personally, I took some ice baths in LRC

Huh???

wanna b trainer wrote:

HaHa, our athletic trainers prescribe ice baths for everyone after every workout. I told my athletes to stay away and the trainers hate me.

This is the key observation here. So many of these 'treatments' only exist so that 'trainers' can keep themselves employed. If you're injured, go see a doctor. If you're sore, just go home, have dinner, and get some sleep. An easy 3 miles in the AM is usually all you need beyond that.

kokoro wrote:

wanna b trainer wrote:

HaHa, our athletic trainers prescribe ice baths for everyone after every workout. I told my athletes to stay away and the trainers hate me.

This is the key observation here. So many of these 'treatments' only exist so that 'trainers' can keep themselves employed. If you're injured, go see a doctor. If you're sore, just go home, have dinner, and get some sleep. An easy 3 miles in the AM is usually all you need beyond that.

I agree, the problem is that these trainers should continue to educate themselves and keep up with science and provide the best advice. The trainers above are at a Div. 1 school, pretty embarrassing.

Taking it for the team...... wrote:

Crumpet wrote:

Huh???

The jobros required company baths and he didn't want to appear too excited about them.

Lol, college. I took ice baths in college. Freudian slip ;-)

Cold reduces blood flow. Blood flow is good for recovery. Therefore you should avoid cold during recovery unless inflammation is mechanically hindering blood flow.

I was under the impression that icing doesn’t actually aide in recovery but it reduces inflammation and can help add spring in your step before big races and workouts, particularly after a week of hard training. I never ice after a workout or race, but I will after my pre meet run the day before a race.

I was in a training camp where I increased my mileage substantially and using the cold hotel pool helped my legs a lot (together with self-massaging tight shin muscles). Also any time I shower I use the coldest setting at the end to reduce inflammation.

The elite athletes (2:10-2:18 marathoners) were doing the same, every day they stepped in the pool.

Coaches know what they are doing from dozens of years of experience. If they still prescribe cold water, ice or ice bath treatments, they do it because they know it works and has a positive effect.

Icing only delays your internal human recovery system. Your body will try to fight the cold temperature first and then re-heat the areas that are dammaged to repair them, so you will be working harder when taking Ice baths. It's just like starting your car engine in cold weather.

Jonathan Gault wrote:

I always felt my body healed better after a hard workout if I just rested and slept a lot.

I agree with that. Ice baths do nothing for DOMS in my experience, but extra sleep helps a bit

Inflamation is not a bad thing. It's actually your body working hard to repair damage, so Icing it will only delay your recovery.

Jonathan Gault wrote:

Former Dartmouth XC runner Andy Han has written a story in the Washington Post that argues that there's not much evidence that icing actually enhances recovery -- and that it could actually delay it.

What say you LRC? Personally, I took some ice baths in college, but I hated them (my toes could not stand the cold) and never felt they really did much for me. I always felt my body healed better after a hard workout if I just rested and slept a lot.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/why-icing-a-sprain-doesnt-help-and-could-make-the-injury-worse/2019/03/04/25a6caa0-3ae4-11e9-a2cd-307b06d0257b_story.html?utm_term=.43b56df87cc4

A Swedish scientific study got the same results. Ice bath will not speed up recovery and actually enhances recovery and could actually delay recovery.

Hanzo wrote:

The sub-elite athletes (2:10-2:18 marathoners) were doing the same, every day they stepped in the pool.

Fixed