i got a massage after a race the other day and the masseuse said to take a warm bath when I got back home. i was sort of confused by her comment as i was under the impression that a cold bath was best after a race. who is right?
Soon after a workout – cold only.
Later that day and the next – warm can feel nice, but doesn’t help anything. If your muscles need warming, put on some clothes and move around. When my legs have that aching tightness the day after an all-out effort, I lay on the floor and do “bicycling” legs in the air.
Then I stretch a little and do a cold soak.
cold is the way to go. Think of yourself as a thourghbred horse. They always get a nice cool hosing down after workouts.
If it’s good for the horse, it’s good enough for me.
Jumping into a hot-tub right after a hard workout is a bad idea, but a lot of people do it. I agree w/ you, but it sure does feel nice to relax in those hot tubs after IM Canada.
… cold is best… helps reduce swelling and reduces bleeding. However, I for one must admit that warm baths feel much better on the muscles. I think it’s the relaxing effect you get from warm water that triggers the relaxation effect. Unfortunately, it’s cold that helps speed recovery.
Joe Moya
Hot baths too close before or after heavy exertion are not good. They do, more or less, inflame your entire body regardless of whether or not you have an injury. If you have specifically injured something (twist, impact, etc.), heat immediately following is bad for it because it will increase the blood flow to that area as your body tries in vain to cool it back down.
I’m assuming you snagged the massage because you were tightening or even cramping in spots. If you are tightening and/or cramping, a cold bath will increase the severity of the cramping and probably cause more. Why? Because blood flow to the area decreases and it can no longer replenish used nutrients. Try it. Stick your hand in a bucket of ice for 15 minutes, pull it out, and it will be pale from lack of blood flow and will feel stiff as a board when you try to move it.
However, warm neither equals hot nor cold. The masseuse suggested a warm bath because it continues the relaxation process. A massage damages you in a similar fashion to a workout, causing microscopic bruising and tearing in your muscles. If you jump into a hot bath, you worsen the damage and you will feel it tighten later for sure. If you jump into a cold bath, your body will rapidly tighten up, totally undoing any immediate good the masseuse did for you. A warm bath (i.e. around room temp) helps keep your blood flow stable and allows your body to be in a relaxed position without excess compression at the points on which your body is resting due to your buoyancy. Of course, this assumes you have a bath large enough in which for you to nearly lie down.
I discovered ice baths while working with a Division 1 cross country team. They always jumped into an ice cold whirlpool after intense workouts. I have incorportated them into my training/racing and have convinced my wife and friends to do the same. Everyone who does them finds that they help the recovery process tremendously.
I will fill the tub with cold water and then add ice (2-3 8lb bags). Enough ice to cool the water to a chilly 50-55 degrees. I will not lie to you, those first 5 minutes are brutal, find a happy place. Your legs will eventually become numb to the cold, after about 5 minutes. I stay in the water for about 15 minutes. I definitely notice a difference when I do this after particularly hard training sessions or races.