It used to be that the most emotive topic in my world was the efficacy (or lack of) of Foam Rollers.
But easily, for the past 12-18 months, the old King is dead, long live the new metaphorical King!
So, to be clear, this is not an opinion piece. I am not giving you an opinion, or allowing any of my own personal biases to dominate. I am simply giving you the data. Do not shoot the messenger! IT IS NOT MY RESEARCH! (I’m nowhere near clever enough for clinical trials).
A quick anecdote before we go further; I met a flat earther – he said he believes the earth is flat because it FEELS flat. I said I believe the earth to be spherical because the level 1 empirical peer-reviewed evidence – the meta-analysis – shows it to be spherical (its actually an oblate spheroid, but….).
The flat earther said “yes but it FEELS flat”.
And we got on like a house on fire, because that’s cool 🙂 No dramas, no one is getting hurt.
Perception is incredibly hard to measure – how something feels in this instance. How something FEELS and how something OBJECTIVELY MEASURES can be 2 different things.
Does one outweigh the other? That may be an individual choice, and is definitely a different discussion.
However: the metrics by which Recovery is measured from here on in are Muscle Soreness, Inflammatory Markers, Mental Health Wellbeing and Fatigue
So, what does the research say:
- A recent Maastricht University study with 12 men found that immediately plunging into ice after resistance training significantly reduced blood flow and blunted protein uptake in muscles—key drivers of hypertrophy (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise)
- A 2024 meta-analysis titled “Throwing Cold Water on Muscle Growth” confirmed that cold-water immersion post-resistance training reduces positive hypertrophic adaptations (Throwing cold water on muscle growth: A systematic review with meta‐analysis of the effects of postexercise cold water immersion on resistance training‐induced hypertrophy – Piñero – 2024 – European Journal of Sport Science – Wiley Online Library)
- One 2019 human study reported that cold-water immersion reduces myofibrillar protein synthesis rates, directly impacting muscle growth (Cold water immersion puts the chill on muscle protein synthesis after resistance exercise – Chaillou – 2020 – The Journal of Physiology – Wiley Online Library)
- And so generally, pretty consistently it is shown that whole-body cold plunges negatively affect strength and hypertrophy – though aerobic adaptations seem less impacted.
So what does this mean in practical terms?
Ice baths may help with short-term soreness relief, but if the goal is muscle or strength gain, or improvement in athletic performance, evidence suggests they can be counterproductive.
But what about Wim Hof Method, with its claims of physiological and mental health benefits?
Again the research paints a murky picture:
- A 2024 systematic review (8 studies) noted potential anti-inflammatory effects, but overall study quality was low—small sizes, lack of blinding, and heavy male bias (~86%) make the findings hard to generalise.
- Crucially, no reliable evidence supports claims of improved athletic performance, lung capacity, or muscle recovery
- A small RCT published in Nature found no measurable physiological or psychological changes after 15 days of sleep, breathwork, and light cold showers—suggesting that underpowered or inconsistent protocols may play a role, i.e the placebo effect (The effectiveness of the Wim Hof method on cardiac autonomic function, blood pressure, arterial compliance, and different psychological parameters | Scientific Reports)
| Method | Evidence Summary |
|---|---|
| Ice Baths | May reduce perceived soreness short-term, but hinder hypertrophy and strength/athletic gains |
Wim Hof Method | No solid evidence supports improved performance or muscle recovery, or mental health well being |
To go full circle, if ice bathing “works” for you, that is absolutely great and you should absolutely continue with them.
This is not an opinion piece.
As someone who works solely in ‘recovery’, I want everything to work.
It would make my life as a Sports Therapist much easier 🙂
It is worth intermittently critically appraising your recovery protocol (you definitely have one, right? ), as when we talk about many recovery protocols, we have to acknowledge that many of the products or modalities – which are incredibly poorly regulated – actually offer something very different to physical, measurable recovery; they offer exclusive membership to bespoke (and sometimes elite) societal groups – whereby members of your running club, or CrossFit box or exercise group/gym all swear by a recovery tool, and all use that recovery method, and so the objective facts and measures that are important become secondary to the acceptance.
We do it, simply because they do it.
And that may be a huge failing in your training.
If you want an evidence informed, bespoke and individualised recovery plan, let me know.