Can ice baths be effective several hours after a workout?

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi there.

Did a fifteen miler this afternoon (saw Chrissie Wellington and an angry rattlesnake along the way, so it was an eventful one) and am feeling a little sore. For ice baths to be effective/worth it, should they be done shortly after the run, or can they still be helpful at the end of the day or even the next day? Any help on this one is appreciated.

Thanks!

2

End of the day is fine. Ice baths aren’t really time dependent. Right after or even the day after, it all helps. Sooner is better, but it’s always gonna help. At least as long as you are sore. I.e., if you feel 100% the next day, you probably don’t need an ice bath…

3

Thanks, Rappstar. I appreciate the response. I’ll see if I can tough my way through one tomorrow.

And hey - I lived in Victoria for a while and raced “against” you a few times (also I’m a friend of Adam Campbell’s). Best of luck with your recovery man, looking forward to seeing you out there again soon.

4

If you can’t handle the ice bath, even just cold tap water will be beneficial. You can start with cold water and add the ice slowly.

5

Thanks, Rappstar. I appreciate the response. I’ll see if I can tough my way through one tomorrow.

And hey - I lived in Victoria for a while and raced “against” you a few times (also I’m a friend of Adam Campbell’s). Best of luck with your recovery man, looking forward to seeing you out there again soon.

Thanks. In Victoria, we would do our ice baths in the ocean. Usually end of the day, regardless of when the hardest workout (or run was), because it can be really hard to do another workout - especially swimming - after an ice bath.

6

I think that the effectiveness of “cold recovery” is completely relative, w/r/t time and temperature. An ice bath right after you finish up is the ideal scenario. However, I’ve found that bathing in anything remotely cool right after trashing my legs is highly effective. For instance, I logged 4 1/2 hours of hard riding yesterday in and around LP. As I got back to my car, my quads and glutes had that burning/fatigue feeling in every step. I walked straight out into Mirror Lake and stood there for about 5 or 6 minutes. The water isn’t nearly ice bath condition (probably 55F), but that short submersion of my smoldering legs was enough to restore complete comfort - even after the 3 hour car ride back home. This is why my second stop after every race is the swim area - the first, of course, being the bier garten.