- Aug 15, 2018
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Ice baths feel great after a hard session, but the hypertrophy data has made a lot of people rethink using them right after lifting.
The landmark paper is Roberts and colleagues in the Journal of Physiology in 2015. Physically active men trained lower body twice a week for 12 weeks. One group did 10 minutes of 10 °C cold-water immersion after every session; the other did light cycling. MRI showed the active-recovery group added substantially more thigh muscle mass (roughly 309 g versus 103 g). Type II fibre cross-sectional area increased about 17 % with active recovery and did not increase meaningfully with cold water. Acute biopsy work in the same paper showed reduced satellite-cell activity and blunted anabolic signalling (p70S6K) after the cold immersion.
Later trials (Fyfe et al., 2019; others) have shown similar attenuation of type II fibre growth and signalling when cold water is applied immediately after resistance sessions. A 2024 Bayesian meta-analysis (Piñero and colleagues, European Journal of Sport Science) pooled the longer trials and estimated a small but consistent reduction in hypertrophy with regular post-exercise cold-water immersion (corrected SMD around −0.22), with a high probability that the effect is negative. Strength findings are more mixed, and endurance adaptations appear less affected.
The mechanism most often discussed is reduced blood flow plus dampened inflammatory and anabolic signalling in the hours after training. Occasional use or use well after the session is less clearly problematic; the consistent signal is against regular immediate post-lift immersion when size is a priority.
Do you still use cold water or ice after lifting, and if so have you noticed any difference in progress during periods when you stopped?
The landmark paper is Roberts and colleagues in the Journal of Physiology in 2015. Physically active men trained lower body twice a week for 12 weeks. One group did 10 minutes of 10 °C cold-water immersion after every session; the other did light cycling. MRI showed the active-recovery group added substantially more thigh muscle mass (roughly 309 g versus 103 g). Type II fibre cross-sectional area increased about 17 % with active recovery and did not increase meaningfully with cold water. Acute biopsy work in the same paper showed reduced satellite-cell activity and blunted anabolic signalling (p70S6K) after the cold immersion.
Later trials (Fyfe et al., 2019; others) have shown similar attenuation of type II fibre growth and signalling when cold water is applied immediately after resistance sessions. A 2024 Bayesian meta-analysis (Piñero and colleagues, European Journal of Sport Science) pooled the longer trials and estimated a small but consistent reduction in hypertrophy with regular post-exercise cold-water immersion (corrected SMD around −0.22), with a high probability that the effect is negative. Strength findings are more mixed, and endurance adaptations appear less affected.
The mechanism most often discussed is reduced blood flow plus dampened inflammatory and anabolic signalling in the hours after training. Occasional use or use well after the session is less clearly problematic; the consistent signal is against regular immediate post-lift immersion when size is a priority.
Do you still use cold water or ice after lifting, and if so have you noticed any difference in progress during periods when you stopped?