Should you make a cold dive before or after training?

Cold dives (immersed in icy water) can reduce inflammation, stimulate immunity and promote better sleep. The time of your timing, before or after training, depends on your fitness goals and your desired advantages.

Jump at the main dishes to remember.

Pre-training advantages

There is a lack of scientific evidence to support doing cold dives before a training session.

However, many swear by its advantages of improving performance during exercise or physical activity, leading to improved endurance and more efficient and more effective training.

A 2012 study revealed that cold diving before your training can be beneficial to reduce your central temperature for outdoor training in hot conditions. Cooling of the body in advance can improve performance by preventing overheating.

Other research has shown that diving in cold water before exercise can activate the body’s combat or leakage response, increasing vigilance and energy. This could, in theory, help improve training performance by increasing energy levels.

Post-training advantages

There is much more evidence to support a post-training in cold diving.

For example, people who think cold after heavy lifting or other muscle strengthening exercise have reduced muscle pain and muscle pain (DOM) with delayed sensations if they plunge cold within 24 hours of training.

Other post-training advantages may include:

• Better elimination of lactic acid in the muscles for faster recovery
• Improve sports performance
• Improving muscle strength
• Reduction in fatigue
• Reduced inflammation
• Reduction of muscle damage and stiffness
• Reduced swelling and tissue degradation

Other potential advantages of regular cold dives

Whatever the moment you make a cold dive, some evidence supports the advantages beyond training. They include:

• Better sleep quality
• Improved mood and quality of life
• Reduced inflammation

It is important to note that these advantages, as well as the pre and post-training advantages, lack large-scale evidence; Additional research is necessary.

Risks

Although cold diving is considered beneficial for your health before and after exercise, there are risks to be considered when adding to your routine, in particular:

• Decrease in muscle growth: Research indicates that making a cold dive after training could inhibit muscle growth over time.
• Risk of injury during exercise: A cold dive before your training can reduce muscle temperature. Instead of warming up, your muscles can become less prepared for movement, increasing the risk of injury.
• Cold shock: Cold dives, whatever their end, can trigger a cold shock, which is a sudden reaction to freezing temperatures which cause rapid breathing, increase in heart rate and high blood pressure. This puts additional pressure on the heart and can be dangerous.
• Hypothermia: Hypothermia (low body temperature) is a potential risk, depending on the duration of your stay in water. Hypothermia occurs when freezing temperatures mean that the body redirects the blood from the ends to protect the vital organs, resulting in reduced circulation and a drop in overall body temperature.

How to make a cold dive

If you want to try a cold dive, it is essential to know how to do it. Although specialized baths are sold online, everything you really need is a way to immerse yourself in cold water for a defined time.

According to research, cold dives are generally carried out in water at 20 degrees for five minutes. The whole body, up to the collarbone (collarbone), is overwhelmed during this period.

Main to remember

• Cold dives can provide physical and mental advantages, such as reduced inflammation, better sleep and improved mood, although more -scale research is necessary to confirm these effects.
• Diving before training can stimulate vigilance and help thermal endurance, while post-training dives are more supported by science to reduce pain and accelerate recovery.
• There are potential risks, including cold shock, hypothermia and altered muscle or muscle performance, especially if cold dives are not timed or carried out correctly.