Cold Therapy

Cold Therapy is a method in which we expose ourselves to cold temperatures via cold shower, ice baths or cryotherapy. There are many implications on the health benefits Cold Therapy can provide but many athletes around the world now use to improve their recovery between training sessions. There are a lot of contradicting studies, with some supporting Cold Therapy as a huge benefit while some others illustrating very miniscule effects. Lets dive a little deeper on while we think you should include it into your routine!

Positive Implications

Cold Therapy was originally used as a method to cool the body down post training to restore homeostasis and kick start the recovery process. When we train, we create inflammation within the body due to our musculoskeletal system being placed under stress and breaking down. This can inhibit our ability to recover as we feel sore as our body is still in the state of repair. This is why there was a huge emphasis on cool downs in traditional training methodologies. With our body not recovering as efficiently, we are reduced in the overall volume and frequency of training our body can handle. 

With Cold Therapy, we reduce the healing time as we reduce the amount of inflammation caused, allowing us to feel more recovered and increasing our readiness to return to training. There are also other benefits that include:

• Improving lymphatic and immune system health 

• Reducing overall inflammation 

• Improving our body’s ability to return to homeostasis

• Increase mental toughness

• Increasing our metabolic rate 

Negative Implications

With the benefits there are also negatives associated with Cold Therapy. One is that the inflammatory response caused post training has hypertrophic benefits which should not be altered by external means. Another implication that many strength coaches believe is that relying on methods of recovery to decrease rest time between training sessions is detrimental to the athlete as they have a mental reliance on exterior methods. Relying on such methods creates a sense of reliance and decreases our natural ability to heal between training sessions. The decrease in the inflammatory response also negates the effects the response has on improving from the created stimulus.

Neutral ground

While there are both positive and negatives to Cold Therapy, there is also a middle ground. We do recommend using Cold Therapy as a way to help with training provided it is used at the appropriate time. Preparing for competition where we want our recovery to be at its best would be a perfect time to indulge in Cold Therapy however if you are trying to work on improving endurance or work capacity off season and specifically work on your body being fitter, it might be better to just let it do its natural course. These are all sport specific however and if you are looking to improve your general health, we would recommend doing it all the time! With any doubt we recommend looking up the Wim Hof Method as it gives a much bigger insight on the benefits Cold Therapy can possibly provide to the human body. 

We hope this article gives a little insight on Cold Therapy and how it can benefit you!

Peace out Movement Fam!

Coach Matty