Is Cold Water Hurting Your Gains?

🫠 Did you know that ice water baths immediately after your workout could be affecting your gains? 👉 Swipe to learn more.

Ice water immersion has become quite popular for its multiple health benefits. However, a recent meta-analysis of 8 studies in 120 people found that immersion in ice water after a strength training session can slightly decrease hypertrophy in both trained and untrained people.

🧊The degree to which it affects muscle hypertrophy is not well understood. Additionally, it is unknown if intermittent use of this technique has the same effect as daily use.

✅Some points to consider are the several limitations of the analysis, and the results apply to baths within the first 15 minutes post-exercise. Furthermore, muscle hypertrophy does not stop with ice water baths; it is only slightly decreased. For these reasons, more studies are needed to fully explain the effects of all types of cold therapies on muscle mass gain.

☝️If you're someone looking to maximize muscle hypertrophy, you might want to avoid immersion in ice water immediately after your strength training session. On the other hand, if you're an athlete looking to minimize muscle mass gain, you could start incorporating this technique.