ice baths and doms

Drained_Empty

anyone have any scientific or anecdotal experience of this from either a coaching or player perspective?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23287837

Higgins, TR, Cameron, ML, and Climstein, M. Acute response to hydrotherapy after a simulated game of rugby. J Strength Cond Res 27(10): 2851-2860, 2013-Despite lacking clear scientific evidence, hydrotherapies (water treatments) are accepted techniques to help team sport athletes recover from the physical effects of games. The purpose of this study was to assess the comparative effectiveness of cold water immersions (CWIs) and hot-and-cold contrast baths on athletes' recovery after a simulated game of rugby union. Twenty-four experienced, well-trained, male rugby union players were divided into 3 groups to receive recovery interventions: CWI for 1 group, contrast baths for a second group, and passive recovery for a third (control) group. Pregame and postgame measurements included a countermovement jump (normalized as a ratio to body weight), a sit-and-stretch flexibility test (centimeters), thigh circumference (to detect swelling; centimeters), and participants' perception of delayed-onset muscular soreness (DOMS, 100-mm visual analog scale). Statistical analysis included analysis of variance, and the calculation of omnibus effect sizes for each group ((Equation is included in full-text article.)) and the magnitudes of change within and between groups (Cohen's d). The participants in the contrast bath group reported statistically significantly greater measures of DOMS than participants in the control group did at 1 hour postintervention (p = 0.05, control group: d = 1.80; contrast bath: d = 4.75), and than participants in the CWI group did at 48 hours postintervention (p = 0.02, CWI: d = 1.17; contrast bath: d = 1.97). These findings provide modest evidence that contrast baths are a less effective strategy for recovery from rugby union than are CWI or passive recovery. Specifically, 2 × 5-minute CWI is superior to both contrasts baths and passive recovery in alleviating DOMS after exercise-induced muscle damage. Our recommendation for rugby union players aiming to attenuate the effects of DOMS postgames is to take 2 × 5-minute CWIs baths immediately after the game.

Dotcomdolly

Wouldn't be me for me but I did this bath yesterday & it definitely helped (really sore quads from CF and a run)

http://zenfullydelicious.com/lavender-epsom-salt-bath/

Much nicer than ice!

I recall hearing an interview with Tim ferris re ice baths - found this on his forum
http://4hourpeople.com/question/486/Ice-Baths-Methods-and-Results

kevpants

Yeah I think they help. They take the edge off anyway.

I found them most beneficial after running more than weight training though, I'd always felt my legs were ablaze the night after running and they helped with that as well as little bits of tendonitis I get in my knees afterwards.

Maybe I'm a masochist but I think it feels nice lowering your legs into freezing water after a hard session of squats or a long run.

kevpants

For further reading though there's a study that showed people who believed ice bathes work have a higher success rate with them and the same is true for hot baths. Possibly all in the mind, not that it really matters. Placebo effect is the best treatment for anything if you can manage it.

Alf Veedersane

The first time I ran a marathon, I came home, stood over the bath, looked at the cold tap and contemplated a cold bath. I turned on the hot one and sank into a nice hot bath. I'd decided I'd suffered anough for one day. Good old DOMS kicked in, as per.

The next one, I came home and sat in a cold bath. It was awful. I still got DOMS though to a lesser extent. But that might have been down to the stretching I did after and the cycle home I had after the run.

Either way, I still went back too taekwondo training the day after both of those instances so it didn't really matter.

Sometimes a tablespoon of MTFU is enough to get you through.