Ice baths: The Cold truth

Written By Jefe De Pano

Hope you didn't come here looking for some warm, comforting training tips; we’re are talking about ice baths. Cold water immersion therapy has been widely recognized in the wellness and sports communities for its extensive benefits. Temps hover between 32 - 60°F. Duration is short. Benefits are massive. You see everyone jumping in on instagram… but why?

What You Actually Get from the Cold

1. Faster Recovery
Cold water hits hard and heals fast. By constricting blood vessels and slowing blood flow, it cuts down inflammation and muscular damage. Once you get out and warm back up, blood rushes back in, flushing out waste and speeding nutrient delivery. A study from the European Journal of Applied Physiology showed ice baths reduce soreness and inflammation.

2. Better Sleep
Lowering your core body temperature signals the nervous system to slow down and recover. Cold immersion triggers the body's thermoregulatory response, promoting deeper sleep cycles and better recovery overnight. More REM. Less tossing. Real recharge.

3. Vagus Nerve Reset
The vagus nerve governs your heart rate, digestion, breathing, and mental clarity. Cold plunges light it up like the Griswold house on Christmas. When this nerve gets stimulated, your body shifts leans on your parasympathetic nervous system: rest, digest, recover. That means less anxiety and more control under pressure.

4. Mental Toughness
Other than a 10 second eccentric on a heavy front squat while blasting Creed, I'm not sure there's much better ways to train what's in between the ears. You build it when your nervous system is screaming and you stay put. That initial cold shock floods your system with adrenaline, triggering the fight-or-flight response. But if you master your breath and stay in the discomfort, you train your brain to stay calm in chaos. That skill carries over to every part of life.

5. Blood Flow Boost
Cold plunges slam the brakes on circulation. Then, when you exit and start warming up, blood vessels dilate and fresh blood floods the body. According to UCLA Health, this boost in circulation helps remove toxins, reduce inflammation, and jumpstart recovery.

6. Brain Rewire for Mental Health
We are seeing something wild in the cold; rewiring the brain itself. Bournemouth University ran MRIs before and after 5 minute plunges and found heightened activity in the prefrontal and parietal cortices; areas responsible for focus, decision making, and processing emotion. That shock resets the system. For people battling anxiety or depression, this could be more than therapy. It could be hope.

7. Dopamine Surge
Dopamine is neurotransmitter that, simply put, is responsible for emotions the emotions that make us feel good; and it turns out a quick ice baths is its best friend. Following an ice bath we can observe our dopamine levels reach 2.5x higher than what our normal baseline levels are. For reference, the dopamine level increase one experiences after doing cocaine is also 2.5x higher than baseline levels, but the difference is the duration of this peak.

Dopamine crashes in only 30 minutes following cocaine ingestion, compared to a three hour dopamine high after an ice bath.

Jump in an ice bath, not a pile of snow...

Timing and Application

  • Post-Cardio: After long, grueling cardio, ice baths are your best friend. Flush lactic acid. Drop soreness. Reboot fast.

  • After Lifting: This is where things get tricky. Sure, it helps soreness. But cold can blunt hypertrophy. Why? Because vasoconstriction slows nutrient delivery to muscle tissue. If your goal is size or max strength, be strategic. Save the cold plunge for later or limit it.

How to Get Started

  • Start with cold showers. Learn to breathe.

  • Drop temp slowly. Build exposure.

  • Keep sessions short. Hypothermia is not a flex.

  • If you have health conditions, check with a doc before you get started.

Temperature vs Duration

Colder water = shorter time. Always start warm then taper your way down.

Cold Commandments

  • Start Slow – Let your body adapt over time.

  • Control Your Breathing – Slow, deep breaths are your anchor.

  • Listen to Your Body – There is a difference between discomfort and danger.

  • Consult a Pro – If you have heart issues or health concerns, do not wing it.

Ice baths are not a trend. They are a tool. Cold reveals weakness and builds strength. Embrace it, conquer it, and utilize it.


“The only time you are actually growing is when you are uncomfortable” —T. Harv Eker


Collect this info, sleep on it, and if you still don’t believe us then check these guys out; they’re the real geniuses:

  • Huberman, Andrew. (2021, September 7). Controlling Your Dopamine For Motivation, Focus & Satisfaction (No. 39). In the Huberman Lab. https://www.hubermanlab.com

Jefe De Pano
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