Looking for a quick and inexpensive activity that can ease your aches, boost your mood, and jump start your day? An ice bath may be exactly what you need. Where once the suggestion that someone “take a cold shower” was meant as a way to cool down feelings of lust, we’ve now come to understand that almost everyone can benefit from cooling down in the tub.
Also known as cold water immersion, with the acronym CWI, ice baths are exactly what they sound like: a very cold bath, made that way with ice or with ice-cold water. Typically the water temperature is in the 40s or 50s Fahrenheit. They’re hugely popular both within wellness and sports communities these days.
Why are so many people into ice baths, and are they right for you? Let’s find out.
Disclaimer
Before you go jumping into freezing water, you want to make sure you’re a proper candidate for an ice bath. Dr. Sanam Hafeez, NYC neuropsychologist and Director of Comprehend the Mind, says that they should be avoided by those who have cardiovascular conditions, respiratory conditions, and pregnant individuals.
Additionally, people who take certain medications aren’t a fit, as medication may interact with your body’s ability to regulate temperature. “medications that affect blood pressure, heart rate, or blood clotting may pose risks during ice baths,” she says.
How Ice Baths Work
Immersing yourself in cold water lowers your body temperature, making your body work hard afterward to bring itself back to stasis. While that may sound dangerous—and excess cold certainly is dangerous, if not in a controlled and safely timed environment—it actually has numerous emotional and physical benefits.
The act of an ice bath lowering your body temperature triggers multiple physiological responses.1 Dr. Hafeez explains that there are three principal occurrences: your metabolic rate increases, brown adipose tissue is activated, and hormones are released.
Increased metabolic rate is what happens when your body increases its metabolic rate to generate more heat. “This can involve processes such as shivering, which produces muscular contractions that generate heat as a byproduct,” says Hafeez.
The activation of brown adipose tissue, also known as BAT, is directly related to cold exposure. “Brown adipose tissue, or brown fat, is a type of fat tissue that specializes in generating heat,” explains Hafeez. She says that exposure to cold temperatures can activate BAT, producing heat through thermogenesis. “This helps to maintain body temperature in cold environments,” she adds.
Hormone release is why people feel a rush, or a high, when they take an ice bath or a cold shower.
“Cold exposure prompts the release of hormones like adrenaline and noradrenaline, which play roles in increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolic rate,” says Hafeez. “These hormonal responses help the body adapt to the cold stress and maintain internal temperature homeostasis,” she adds.
Hafeez tells us that ice baths have gained popularity in both wellness and athletic circles for the above reasons, as well as the fact that they are considered mental resilience training.2
Enduring the discomfort of cold immersion requires discipline and mental toughness, qualities that can translate into other areas of life.
“The trend’s visibility has been significantly boosted by endorsements from celebrities, athletes, and social media influencers, which have amplified its appeal to a broader audience,” she explains.
Mental, Emotional, and Physical Benefits of Ice Baths
Ice baths might seem like a hard sell due to the physical discomfort, but the mental and emotional benefits make them highly worthwhile.
As someone who lives in Los Angeles and doesn’t tend to leave the house if the temp drops under 60, I regularly brave the cold to jump in an icy bath because I appreciate the effects so much.
Mental
Increasing your resilience is one mental benefit of CWI, but there are more. The endorphins can directly make you feel better, too.
“Releasing endorphins from cold exposure can elevate mood and induce relaxation and euphoria,”3 says Hafeez, who notes that “this natural mood enhancement promotes a sense of calmness and mental clarity, allowing individuals to temporarily escape from stressors and experience a heightened state of well-being.”
I find ice baths invigorating and love how they make me feel impervious to stress. They may also promote better rest and enhance your sleep quality.
Emotional
Ice baths can generate an overall improved emotional state. “The controlled environment of an ice bath allows individuals to practice emotional regulation techniques, such as deep breathing and mindfulness,” says Hafeez.
She notes that these techniques can then be applied to other areas of your life as well, and can enhance your emotional resilience as well as your sense of emotional well-being. Cold therapy such as CWI also stimulate your vagus nerve, which is responsible for the regulation of your parasympathetic nervous system.4 Vagus nerve stimulating practices can help us feel calmer and happier.
Physical
We all know that when you get an injury, icing it is the first step. Thanks to ice’s ability to reduce inflammation, immersing yourself in it can also improve your body’s inflammatory response post-workout. That’s why it’s so popular among athletes, as it can help improve muscle recovery times and make recovery a smoother process.5
In turn, this can enhance athletic performance and endurance. Ice baths can also play a role in boosting immune system function by increasing your white blood cell count.6 To say nothing of the well-known connections between physical and mental health.
Tips for Taking an Ice Bath Safely
Once confirmed you are fit to take an ice bath, know that it will likely take some time to build up to a “full” time ice bath, which is typically in the five-minute range. Some people stay in for up to 15 minutes, but that should only be done by those who are very experienced with this practice.
There’s no need to start with a bath in the 40-59 degree range. Instead, Hafeez suggests that “you can begin with cool water and gradually decrease the temperature or increase the duration of exposure as you become more accustomed to the cold.”
Additionally, you don’t need to plan on staying in there for a full five minutes. Just like you can build up (or, well, down) in temperature, so can you with time. If you only last 30 seconds the first time, that’s still a win! Increase your time and reduce the temperature gradually, going a few seconds longer and a few degrees colder each time.
Before you start, it’s helpful to have a digital thermometer on hand so you know what the temperature of your water is. If you live somewhere very cold and you’re doing this in the winter, you may not even need any ice, because your tap water could be in the 40s.
Conversely, if you live somewhere warmer or it’s summer, you’ll want a couple big bags of ice on hand to add to the tap. Customize the quantity of ice with the help of the thermometer.
The hardest part about an ice bath is, of course, how cold it is, and how much you have to fight your instincts to jump out once you’re in there. Hafeez recommends focusing on your breathing to get through it.
Practice deep breathing and relaxation techniques to help manage discomfort and stay calm during the ice bath. Deep, slow breaths can help regulate your body’s response to cold stress and reduce feelings of anxiety or tension
Hafeez also recommends distractions to help you get through the chills. “Engage your mind in activities or distractions to shift your focus away from the cold sensation. Listening to music, practicing mindfulness, or visualizing positive imagery can help divert attention and make the experience more bearable,” she recommends.
You can also begin in the shower, turning the water from hot to cold for moments at a time. This is a much faster way to get your body used to the feeling of cold, as it doesn’t require a separate activity, and it can make for a great prep to an ice bath.
I’ve found that, despite being a very quiet person overall, immersing myself in freezing cold water makes me kind of loud. I let myself yelp and howl however much I need to. Once I am a few moments in, I find counting to be incredibly useful. I built up my time in ice baths and cold showers by counting to 10, then 50, then 100. now I top out around 400.
Recap
Ice baths have strong mental, emotional, and physical benefits, including speeding up muscle recovery time and improving your sense of emotional well-being. Taking one is as simple as taking a bath, but is likely to feel a whole lot less cozy than one.
Because of that, you’ll want to gear up to it, slowly reducing temperature and increasing your time. Ice baths aren’t a fit for everyone, so before you try one, make sure you are a fit to try it safely. Once you’ve confirmed it’s the right activity for you, you can be on your way to a super chill time.