WHY ICE BATHS?
SOOTHE ACHING MUSCLES AND GET A MENTAL BOOST
Cold water immersion has fantastic benefits, from happy hormonesto potential improved weight loss and overall health and well being.A regular ice bath can improve blood flow, and even so much ascold showers can improve energy levels and decrease pain levels.
BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
Cold water therapy can stimulate your body’s immune system, some evidence suggests. This means it could potentially improve your body's capability to fight pathogens. Research has been done that tested whether people could improve the antibodies in their bodies by regularly practising cryotherapy, breath work, and meditation. Subjects were infected with a bacterial infection, and the focus group that implemented these methods showed fewer symptoms. They produced more
antibodies and fewer cytokines reacting to the bacteria. In this study, it was felt that the breath work techniques were much more impactful than the ice bath at reducing cold and flu symptoms. They did, however, attribute cold water to developing resistance to stress over an extended period.
DECREASE INFLAMMATION AND SWELLING
Many doctors and physicians will agree that cold temperature helps to relieve swelling and inflammation.
Think of an ice pack on a sprained ankle; it does this by constricting blood vessels, reducing swelling and buffering the nervous system by minimizing pain. This makes cold water body immersion an obvious treatment when treating an injured athlete or aiding in recovery.
RELIEVE STRESS
Cold water body immersion can have profound effects on stress levels. This is thanks to the stimulation of noradrenaline which, as mentioned earlier, plays a big role in mood regulation.
SOOTHE SORE AND ACHING MUSCLES
Cold water therapy is a form of recovery that has been shown to minimize inflammation, as well as ease what's known as DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) all by improving blood circulation and tightening your blood vessels.