Popular fitness trend might actually SLOW muscle growth, experts warn

New research suggests ice baths could be doing more harm than good

Ice baths are all the rage right now. Modern fitness culture tells us a post-workout cold water plunge will ease soreness and inflammation – but are they helping or hindering progress in the gym?

The premise of a cold-water immersion is to shock your blood vessels into constricting, or narrowing, helping to reduce swelling and ease muscle soreness.

In theory, an ice bath speeds up recovery after a heavy gym session, possibly allowing gym-goers to go shorter between workouts and accelerate the muscle-building process.

However, new research suggests this might not be the case. According to a study by experts in the Netherlands, ice baths do limit inflammation – but that's the very thing that promotes muscle healing and growth.

"Shut it down too soon and you might be holding back your progress," Michelle Spear, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Bristol wrote for The Conversation.

The study looked at 12 healthy men who did a strength workout using just one leg, before submerging that leg in cold, 8C water for 20 minutes. The other leg sat in 30C water, so that scientists could compare the results.

"The results were clear: right after the ice bath, blood flow in the cold-exposed leg dropped by about 60% compared with the warm-water leg," Prof Spear wrote.

In the ice bath leg, the researchers even found about 30 per cent less of the necessary building blocks that muscles need to grow.

"After a workout, a bit of inflammation is actually a good thing – it signals your body to start the repair process. Immune cells release special proteins called cytokines – chemical messengers that help spark muscle repair," Prof Spear wrote

"But cooling the muscles too soon, like with an ice bath, can reduce this natural response. It dampens the signals and slows the activation of those repair cells, which may lead to slower progress and less muscle growth over time."

If bigger muscles are your fitness goal, ice baths might be doing more harm than good.

However, ice baths might be a useful tool for athletes needing to recover quickly. According to Prof Spear, waiting at least an hour after exercise before hopping into an ice bath might give the body enough time to absorb nutrients before calming inflammation.

The study was published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.