How Long Should An Ice Bath Be
Ice baths, a type of cold therapy that benefits one’s physical and mental health is very common in sports recovery processes with moderate variations. Though, truth to be told, many are still not sure about how long should an ice bath be?
An ice bath should be no longer than 5 minutes for most people, with the majority of us at around 2 minutes per immersion. To make it most beneficial the temperature of an ice bath should be at around 4℃ (39℉). Any higher temperature and the time range mentioned above can go a bit up.
If you are planning on starting a routine of ice bath immersions you should be doing it the right way to protect your health in mind. Plenty of websites will write that ice baths can be as long as 15 minutes, however, please note that this might be a mistake there as most of them refer to the cold baths at around 10-15℃(50-59℉). So with the 4 degrees bath should be less.
This small change in the bath’s temperature makes a huge difference in the body’s reaction. The ice baths help improve health by achieving faster recovery, increase in the parasympathetic system, enhance immune system reaction to external threats, and can even induce weight loss.
Overall taking a real ice bath on a regular basis holds many benefits for our health and wellbeing. On that note, let’s understand how to make the best ice bath and what can be achieved through it.
Before you Start Ice baths have cold showers
You might be wondering how one can even get into a close to 4℃ bath. Well, it seems they all started by taking cold showers to enable resilience in stages.
I would start by finishing your showers with cold water for certain periods of time, while every few days trying to stay longer under the cold water stream. Try to find the calmness in it instead of contracting all your muscles out of “fake misery”.
After a couple of weeks, your ability to withstand the cold water will grow and you might find that taking a full cold shower is bearable and even enjoyable.
After the body feels a bit more comfortable in a cold water environment it will then be time to take a short ice bath. Starting with a temperature of 10-15℃ is recommended. With time and proper understanding, lowering the bath’s temperature to around 4℃ will get you the best health results.
Health benefits of Ice Baths
First, faster recovery for your body. Taking regular Ice baths makes the blood vessels compress while inside the ice-cold water and expand when your body reheats itself. This process changes the blood flow in a controlled manner which helps clean tissues faster. Moreover, it can also reduce the inflammation impact on our muscles.
Second, it can help with weight loss, as ice baths induce fat burning due to heat generation. It is a scientific fact that in order to produce heat there must be a material for the reaction. When it comes to the human body, heat can be produced by burning fat which ultimately leads to weight loss.
Third, regain control over stress and anxiety through the parasympathetic nervous system. This part of the nervous system is in charge of relaxing and slowing down our body’s response. Controlling over this system can help reduce stress in daily life and keep your body healthier for longer by doing so.
Regular Ice Baths can fight disease
In a study performed in the Netherlands, a group of people that have been taking ice baths regularly with breathing techniques demonstrated that they can fight external bacteria and heal very fast.
The group has healed after just a few hours having only mild symptoms, which left the doctors overwhelmed. The outcome of this study is that the use of cold therapy AKA ice baths, combined with the right breathing techniques and mental toughness can heal our body from illness.
This can be an effective tool for many people who wish to take control over their health. Ice baths can improve the quality of life by making the body less vulnerable to the ever-changing environment.
Read more about ways to improve the immune system in our post.
Control Ice Bath Temperature with these tools
Even if you are just a beginner to ice baths in time, controlling the water temperature will become a priority, as the right temperature will benefit you the most.
The best and probably the only tool for the job is a thermometer like this one on Amazon which I love as I find it more reliable than the electronic options.
Why is there a time limitation for ice-cold baths
Long exposure to cold temperature can cause hypothermia, this means that a long sitting in an ice bath is not recommended.
It will take between 10 to 20 minutes for a person to get into hypothermia, as a result, it is recommended to limit the time inside the tub for no longer than 5 minutes.
It is true that highly skilled individuals that have trained for years to endure cold conditions can bath for longer inside the freezing water. However, as many of us are probably in it for the health benefits rather than the glory and not as experienced as well, it is highly important to keep one’s immersions around 2 minutes and increase if needed, comfortable and wish to make progress after understanding one’s limits.
Moreover, the ice bath consumes energy while trying to keep the core body temperature and to warm its organs after the bath itself. This process is what helps you lose some weight as mentioned above, but overstaying in the bath will put your energy balance lower so bear that in mind as well.
If recovery is the desired outcome then overstaying in the cold water will only make you tired and by that miss the goal of faster recovery so one must avoid that.
How frequent should your ice baths be
Well, while there isn’t much of a restriction in regards to ice baths quantity, it is common to take them after a hard training day or competition or once every couple of days for other health benefits.
If it isn’t much of a hassle for you to put everything in place – ice, water, getting to a tub, etc. then do them as much as you feel like. But for most of us, it involves money and time, so I would say that 1-2 times per week is very beneficial.
Many people even do an ice bath once every two weeks, it all depends on your preference and time available.
Best inflatable tub for an ice bath
As many of us live in dense urban areas, not all apartments have tubs as space inside them is used for other more essential facilities.
For those like myself without a tub at home, I would recommend getting an inflatable tub so you could store it while not being used.
I have searched through Amazon to find the best options for your convenience.
- G Ganen Unisex Portable Foldable 3 Layer PVC SPA Bathtub Freestanding Bathtub, 29.5 Inch Blue
- Adult Folding Bathtub Thick Plastic Bath Tub Inflatable Simple Bath Tub Home SPA Bathtub
These two will surely provide you with the means to do ice baths at your home at any given time.
With that, I leave you to it and wish you the best of luck in achieving healthier and mindful living.
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