I Did My First Ice Bath.

By TLS

Over the past several years, I’ve heard often and from several different sources, the benefits of an ice bath. Today I tried my first one. I do not think I represented well.

I was mentally prepared, I prepared the tub, I had the ice, and got ready.

However, to back up a little, I decided to try to ease into this one instead of jumping head first off a cliff. So I filled the tub with cold tap water. Near the middle of June it's a little difficult to call this cold water. I knew the water would not be extremely cold but I was a little disappointed to see just how warm it actually was, 68°F out of the tap into the tub.

Faced with this “warm” water, I did not expect too much of a problem at this point. However, once I stepped in I was surprised how shockingly cold it was. The water came up to about mid abdomen and at that point I did not feel like laying down in the tub for total submersion. I did have ice available though, so, in goes the first load of ice. I could feel the water instantly begin cooling down. I circulated the water with my hands while attempting to not hyperventilate, I was sure the temperature had plummeted to near freezing. I checked the water temperature again, 66°F. Clearly, I have a long way to go.

In goes the second batch of ice and the temperature plummets again. This time I’m sure to near liquid nitrogen temperatures. I swirl the water to circulate and check the temperature, 63.5°F.

Ok, obviously I need to work on this a bit, and I under estimated how much the ice would actually drop the temperature of the water. Tomorrow if I can muster up the motivation to try this again I’ll be using a lot more ice.

Ice baths are supposed to have a whole host of health benefits to include improved immune system response, increased mitochondria production, improved energy, reduced inflamation, to name just a few. We’ll see if I keep this up and not have a heart attack while trying to improve my health. Fingers crossed.

Would you ever try an ice bath? Or is this just madness? Share your experience (or avoidance strategies) in the comments below.