Odin Ice Bath
Physical recovery enhancement
Cold water immersion has been shown time and again to enhance physical recovery, especially after endurance and high-intensity exercise. A multitude of studies - covering a range of variables, including different exercise types and intensities, water temperatures, plunge duration and participant fitness levels - report measurable improvements in the following areas: reduced muscular soreness and DOMs (delayed onset muscle soreness), faster recovery of muscle power and increased perceived recovery. This is largely due to a significant reduction in circulating lactate (lactic acid) and creatine kinase – which appear in elevated levels after exercise.
Reduces inflammation.
Scandinavian cultures have sworn by cold water immersion for its positive impacts on health for centuries, and the scientific community is finally uncovering the physiological processes responsible. Whether you’re an athlete or just starting your health improvement journey, chronic inflammation can be a significant hurdle to overcome. In addition to the plethora of anecdotal evidence supporting the inflammation reduction benefits of cold plunging, more and more empirical studies are finding supporting evidence within bloodwork of cold water immersion participants. Multiple studies indicate this may be explained by the cold temperature reducing blood flow to the muscles (vasoconstriction) having the effect of decreasing or slowing the activation of inflammatory cytokines (proteins), and increasing anti-inflammatory cytokines. Additionally, the vasoconstriction response to cold water immersion can also have a pain-relieving effect.
