Cold water immersion could be doing your fitness goals more harm than good.
It may give you a better high than cocaine and be a central pillar of every cutting-edge wellness institution popping up around the world, but it turns out that cold water could actually be damaging your gains in the gym, according to whistleblowing experts.
The fitness world is rife with people icing themselves after exercise, and a lot of people blindly subscribe to the thinking that an ice bath after training is key to maximising the value you get out of a session in the gym. Touted by big A-list celebrities like actor Chris Hemsworth, pop star Lizzo, wellness guru Gwyneth Paltrow, and even some athletes at the Olympics, experts are now warning that diving headlong into cold water right after weightlifting — though offering a slew of undeniably recovery benefits — may impede muscle growth.
The Cold Plunge Craze
Chris Hemsworth is one of the most vocal advocates for ice baths as a way to recover from workouts. In 2022, he did a three-minute ice bath on Instagram to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s disease. Joe Rogan also touts their benefits on his ridiculously hugely popular podcast, while sports legends such as Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James have similarly been spotted lounging around in ice-cold tubs after games. Ice baths are now twice as popular as they were in 2019, and searches relating to cold plunges have made a fiftyfold increase over the same period.
The Science Behind The Freeze
Dr. Rhonda Patrick, a fitness educator with a background in Biomedical Science and Nutritional Biochemistry, says cold water immersion post-workout might actually be destroying your gains:
“So if you’re performing cold water immersion after exercise, you’re probably harming your gains… That’s the chilling effect that reduces the amount of proteins your body makes right after a workout to build up your muscles.”
When you throw some heavy weights around, your muscles tear. The body then patches those tears with proteins, making the muscles bigger and stronger over time. Research has shown that cold water immersion could be interfering with this process.
According to Dr. Luc Van Loon, a professor of physiology of exercise and nutrition at Maastricht University, ice baths are best used for treating injuries right after a workout, not for improving physique:
“If you’re injured during exercise, the cold can help reduce swelling and pain… But in the long term, evidence shows that it makes it harder for muscles to grow and strengthen.”
A 2024 study by exercise scientists at City University of New York, reviewing eight older studies on the topic, found that cold therapy after resistance training blunted the body’s ability to build muscle. “People looking to improve their muscle conditioning should reconsider using cooling as part of their recovery strategy,” Dr. Patrick said in a statement.
Despite these warnings, cold therapy after exercise remains immensely popular. Dr. Van Loon did note that extreme athletes might benefit from ice baths due to the fact they help to heal wounds, but in regular gym-goers trying to build muscle, it’s best to avoid a cold plunge on the same day one does weight training, or not until at least six hours after the session.
