I take ice baths/showers to help recover my muscles and joints quicker every time I workout or train Jiu Jitsu. I highly recommend them to anyone to inquires about them. I spend about 5 minutes at a time in the ice water. I’d recommend maybe starting at a slightly cold temperature for 2 minutes a day first thing in the morning and gradually making it colder and build to 5 minutes. There are lots of great athletic journals out there about ice baths and the benefits that include what temperature your water should be and for how long. The best one I read was from a rugby trainer. Hope that helped a bit.

It´s my own barrel sauna with 190 degrees (or 90 Celsius) for 10-15 min. after a hard rolling session, then cooling down by showering outside with 40 degrees (4-5 Celsius). 10 min. later next round. All in all 3 rounds and additional lots of isotonic drinks. The whole procedure takes 1 1/2 hours and I am feeling like new born (instead of run over by a truck directly after hard session).

I've heard good reports on the benefits for keeping the body injury free

Taking a dip into a cold, clear fresh water lake (frozen or not.... and sea is fantastic too!) after a sauna, surrounded by nature, can be almost orgasmic.

Like Mikey Page already laudably paraphrased, science doesn't support ice baths/plunges helping with recovery practically at all. Subjects often perceive having recovered better, but this is a feeling that is not soundly supported by data. That said, I personally take cold plunges and showers because I get a good feeling out of them, and I believe that they can have a positive contribution to one's overall well-being mostly through their mental benefits. I live in Finland, where our lakes are pretty fucking cold 90% of the year. Taking a dip into a cold, clear fresh water lake (frozen or not.... and sea is fantastic too!) after a sauna, surrounded by nature, can be almost orgasmic. It's good for your SOUL. Does jack shit for your muscles. Sauna, however, has proven clinical health benefits! The combo of sauna & a cold plunge is my favorite. So my take is: by all means bath in ice if it makes you feel good, but don't think it's some sort of a magic trick to keep you injury-free or factually make your muscles less sore after a training session. Rest, improving your strength & mobility, and, to a lesser extent, sauna, all are demonstrably better for recovery and injury prevention.

Photoshoppers, this is your mission should you choose to accept it: Tatu + Orgasm Face + Frozen Lake

Does your orgasmic sauna experience include beer? Some say beer is like a recovery drink...

Beer is, of course, so essential to recovery I didn't even bother to mention it!

The current research doesn't support the use of ice baths outside elite sport. For example, people at the CF Games use them as it does reduce inflammation and muscle soreness if you have to compete within a few hours of one workout to the next. Ice therapy works as a temporary pain disruptor and overloads the sensory input of pain to the brain. As the brain can only handle a certian amount of external input before it has to shut something off. Also a contraindication of this is that it causes vasoconstriction which stops new blood getting to the affected area. If you want to reduce swelling it's not ice that does it, it's compression. In my rehab clinic we use a device called a Game Ready, its a couple of grand. But it provides cold and compression therapy. We've found that it's the compression that gets rid of the swelling and the cold just provides analgesic. However if it makes you feel good go ahead with it! I am a big advocate for the biopsychosocial model of how pain is affected. It just bugs me it doesn't do what it's marketed as. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.[...]MC2938508/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.[...]MC5350472/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.[...]MC4603811/ (meta analysis)

Beer is, of course, so essential to recovery I didn't even bother to mention it!

If you do it you should know this, its not a requirement to post videos to your social media of your cold plunges everyday.

This is why a 'moderators smartass badge of excellence ' is needed!

Well a guy I used to train with did this everyday for a month. He would tag Jocko in every single video too.

Ok I'll bite did jocko ever respond?

Like Mikey Page already laudably paraphrased, science doesn't support ice baths/plunges helping with recovery practically at all.