How to Ice Bath Like a Pro Footballer

How to Ice Bath Like a Pro Footballer

As always, I preach that as an individual, you need to try things, and see what works for you. Every single human being has their own unique physiology and psychology.

You Know Best

It is very important to take tips from experts, other athletes, scientists etc. But, at the end of the day, the only person who will know if the “technique” works for them is YOU! Therefore, I always suggest experimenting. Experimenting doesn’t mean to try something once, and if it doesn’t magically work right away to throw it out of your tool kit. I would advise to try something over a long period of time, spaced out evenly (increasing incrementally each time), and measure the trend, whether it is negative or positive.

Experiment:

If it makes you feel better, go on with it. If it makes you feel worse, never do it again, no matter what science or those other pro athletes or teammates told you.

DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.

 

 

 

 

 

With that being said, I want to cover the topic of ice baths. This article had to be written and broken down because there aren’t enough articles out there on how to do them, why do to them, when to do them, and how to benefit most from them.

The Constant Question of Getting Faster, Stronger & Quicker!

I am constantly asked the same question from online coaching clients and ‘Instagrammers.’ It reads something like this: “how can I improve my speed, how can I improve my strength, how can I improve my quickness?”-

Oftentimes, many will not like my answer, and I am sure you won’t like this either. I repeatedly reiterate how it is much more complex than just giving a quick answer of how you can improve speed, strength or quickness.

Trust me, I and many other professional athletes wish there was a quick answer and quick fix, but there truly isn’t one!

Change Your Habits, Change Your Life:

Like I always say, the habits that you run your body and mind through every single day (how you wake up, how you sit, how you walk, how you hold yourself, how you prepare for sleep, etc.), and all the small little details you implement along with proper attitude, training nutrition and sleep during your day to day life effect you as a whole.

As Aaron Alexander of the Align Podcast says, “every moment is a moment to get better in your mind and body.” That is how you have to look at it. Instead of crunching all of your time and crushing yourself with a two hour gym workout. You should start to look at how you move your body on a moment to moment basis.

Dialing in on Recovery:

Personally, I used to dial in on every single thing regarding lifting, running, doing ball-work, etc. But, I never dialed in on my RECOVERY!

What does that mean? I was constantly breaking my body down WORKING HARD in the gym & never giving it a chance to GROW & ADAPT during RECOVERY PHASES.

After delving deeper into the beauty of human anatomy, psychology and physiology, I realized that I had to change things up.-

That is when I started to incorporate other forms of recovery so my body could RECOVER QUICKER & MORE PROPERLY.

So, you may be saying to yourself, “but how does recovery improve speed/strength/etc?”

The answer is, it doesn’t improve it directly, but it will improve those aspects INDIRECTLY.

When you recover quicker and in a more efficient way, you will be able to TRAIN HARDER, LONGER & MORE INTENSELY. This will lead to more ADAPTATIONS. That is why YOU train!

Here Comes the Ice Bath

According to an article published in 2016, by BBC Sport, British number one tennis player Andy Murray, has a shower, some food and drink, and a massage and then rounds off his routine with an ice bath. For eight minutes he sits in iced water kept at 8-10C (46-50F) And he’s not the only athlete to use ice baths to help recovery after a competition.

THE WHY

Immersing your body in cold water can speed up recovery by reducing your body temperature, reducing blood flow by constricting the blood vessels and reducing the inflammation that has been built up in the tissues, joints, and ligaments from intense exercise.

The Controversy; YOUR Decision

As always with the good stuff can come the bad stuff, and that usually happens when the ‘good stuff’ is done for too long, and not with any regard to any sense of balance.

If your overall goal is to become as strong as possible, and build as much muscle as possible, you may not want to do a cold tub directly after your weights session. Ice baths could speed up the inflammation process so rapidly that you may hinder the muscle building process. It can also slow down protein synthesis (the process which amino acids are linearly arranged into proteins).

Depends on Your Goal

Generally, the goal of building muscle is for you to go into the gym, and with rep schemes of 8-12 for 3-4 sets, you break down your muscle tissue down.

During the recovery process (when you are out of the gym), you will rebuild your tissue to come back stronger. Therefore, some inflammation is beneficial.

As Jonathan Peake from Queensland University of Technology says “ice baths might be useful for a quick recovery between events during a competition, but not if you want muscle to get stronger in the long term.”

Beneficial Effects of Ice Bath on Nervous System Recovery

In the article. BBC does not discuss the beneficial effects of the cold on the nervous system. Submersing yourself in the cold tub can help your body transition to a more relaxed state after intense exercise by putting you into a parasympathetic state (rest & digest), which is the absolute best state to be in during a period of recovery.

My Opinion:

 Personally, Ice baths are one of my favorite techniques to speed and aid in recovery process. As I stated in the beginning of the article, YOU need to do what works for you.

My current training goal, especially during the season, is not to build muscle. It is to recover my muscles and nervous system as quickly as possible to be able to perform my best in the next training session or match. As always, YOU need to determine YOUR GOAL.

The cold plunge may be scary for some and understandably so. It is NOT an easy thing to do. It is not some easy “biohack.”

You have to have the grit and the guts to do this thing!

That being said, I know YOU have the grit, determination and fortitude to do this thing! 

THE HOW TO: 

Let’s talk about some ways to get it done: 

1. Make yourself a nice cup of your favorite beverage. My beverage of choice is hot peppermint tea with slices of ginger and lemon. This will be major key for you, and will be great to sip on when you are plunged in the tub.
2. As ALWAYS, start very slowly. If you are not experienced with a cold plunge. Start with just using COLD WATER, NO ICE.
3. Turn your bath tub on as cold as possible and let it run. If you are a beginner and scared of the cold, get in the bath tub right away and let it run while you’re in there.
   -Another option you can look towards is to do a contrast. Take a hot shower or hot bath the cold tub so you can increase your body temperature before hopping in the cold tub. Once again, increasing your likelihood of lasting in the tub.

 

4. WHAT I DO: If you are a bit experienced:

-Buy a couple of ice bags. Keep them by the tub. Turn the water to cold, and once your in the tub and soaking. Add the ice.

5. Sit in the tub for 5,10,15 minutes. This is your choice. Obviously if you are a beginner, start with a couple of minutes, and build up your tolerance. Maximum should be 15 minutes.
6. Get out and into warm clothing.
7. If you are still cold afterwards, take a warm bath or warm shower. But, we want to try to avoid this because the cold is constricting your blood vessels, and getting the blood back to the tissue naturally will help with the inflammation.
8. ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR DAY!

When to do It:

-This is personal preference. Though, I would advise not to do it at least 3 hours before bed time.

-Morning (in a fasted state) is also a preferred time, and can aid in fat loss.

Try it out. If it works for you, keep on doing it. If it makes you feel worse, no need to force yourself through it. There are many other recovery techniques that I will talk about in later articles, and that I talk about on my Instagram, and YouTube channel.

As always, if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to reach out!

Enjoy your Sunday, and make sure to GET VIBEYYY!

Referenced Article:

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20161209-do-athletes-need-to-take-ice-baths