Elite athletes love their ice baths, or "cold plunges." After sweating it out on the court or on the pitch, you slide into a tub of freezing cold water to keep the muscle cramps away.

Lately, the practice has gained popularity in wellness and bodybuilding circles — with the additional step of snapping a photo of yourself to signal that you belong to a higher echelon of physical specimen — but influencer gym bros especially. You know the type: selling you branded protein powders, a program for "INSANE" gainz, and form-fitting Gymshark tees.

But a new study, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports and & Exercise, throws some cold water on the purported benefits of the practice. And hilariously, it seems to produce the exact opposite effects you'd want as a person trying to build muscle.

"It looks like it's not a great idea" to soak in freezing water after lifting weights, lead author Milan Betz, a researcher at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, told the Washington Post.

Wait, you may ask as a person unfamiliar with the practice, why was microdosing hypothermia a thing in the first place? There are purported benefits, backed by limited science. The biggest upside that research has shown so far is that an icy dip can help with muscle soreness by reducing post-exercise inflammation and flushing out lactates.

That makes it more well-suited for aerobic athletes like runners, soccer players, and swimmers. But anyone training for strength? That's a different story.

The Study

As part of the study, the researchers had a dozen healthy young men perform a leg workout, and when they were finished, immediately submerge one leg in a bucket of warm water (80 degrees Fahrenheit), and another leg in a bucket of icy water (30 degrees), for 20 minutes.

To wrap up, all of them were given a protein shake that contained a biochemical tracer, according to WaPo, allowing the researchers to see where the protein traveled in the volunteers' bloodstreams.

Much of that protein, it seems, may be going to waste. Ultrasound imaging revealed that blood flow in the cold-plunged legs dropped considerably compared to the warm leg — and stayed that way for hours. That constriction, as a result, cut off a lot of protein from reaching the strained leg muscles. Less protein, of course, means fewer gains.

Brad Schoenfeld, a noted exercise scientist at Lehman College in New York known for his bodybuilding advice, co-authored a 2024 meta-analysis which suggested that ice baths could harm hypertrophy. Responding to this latest research, Schoenfeld told WaPo that its findings "provide confirmatory evidence" that a reduction of protein uptake is responsible for these negative effects.

Conclusion

Still, it's not over for ice baths. This was a small study, and one which only focused on one specific approach. The participants plunged immediately after the workout — but most advice out there recommends waiting several hours. Immersion time could be a major factor, too. There could be psychological benefits, and if your personal experience suggests that to be the case, "there’s no reason to change your mind," Benz told WaPo.

That said, Betz recommends that if you're all about gains, you should pass on taking a plunge right after your workout.

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Source: futurism.com