MMA Post Workout Ice Bath

I've been seeing and hearing that people have been taking ice baths or cold showers after their workout, Well here is my 2 cents on the issue.

What exactly dose Ice do for the individual?

People have been using ice for years to decrease inflammation from injuries. So why not use it for inflammation caused by workout as well.

How does it work?

So apparently these cold baths/showers decrease inflammation that the muscle develops during a workout. This will decrease the soreness that a person would have for days after their workout. So to recap it would allow the person to workout more frequently without the soreness that comes from normal workouts.

My 2 Cents?

In my opinion this is great for dropping weight because you will be able to do your cardio more frequently. But I have to disagree with using it for weight training. The body trys to stay worm when it is cooled by vasoconstriction (shrinking the diameter of the blood vesicles). This will decrease delivery of proteins and other need materials for the muscle to repair.

Other things to look into.

NO has been used to dilate these vesicles to deliver more of the proteins and materials needed for the muscle repair. So if you used NO in combination with the ice bathing you could prevent the vasoconstriction but their may be potential harm to the body by doing this. unless there is a study out there saying it is safe. I would have to disagree with this combination.

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