Could That Ice Bath Be Hampering Your Muscle Growth Goals?

Cold water immersion—aka ice baths, cold plunges, and maybe even freezing-cold showers—is having a wellness moment. Google searches for “cold plunge” have shot up in the past five years; countless celebrities have extolled the benefits of this trend on social media; and products (like dedicated plunge tubs) and studios have brought the practice to the masses. In Peloton’s 2024 Spring Wellness Trends report, 19 percent of participants said they’d try or have already tried cold plunging—all to say, there’s a good chance you, too, have immersed your body in super-cold water, or are at least considering giving it a go.

There are some promising benefits to cold plunging, according to experts and existing research. Studies suggest that cold plunging after exercise can improve muscle recovery and ease soreness, for example. Cold exposure might also support an overall healthy immune system, boost your mood, and improve stress resilience. And, anecdotally, plenty of cold-plunge proponents say it makes them feel invigorated and alert.

But while these are all good reasons to take the plunge, some exercises are wondering if ice baths could reduce muscle growth. Indeed, cold water immersion may not be right for people who are specifically focusing on building muscle. “While cold plunges may speed up recovery in the short term, recent research is showing negative effects on adaptations to resistance training, including muscle growth,” says physical therapist Lindsy Jackson. 

Read on for more about the effect a cold plunge can have on your muscles, plus how to continue enjoying ice baths without hampering your muscle growth goals.

Do Ice Baths Reduce Muscle Growth?

First, a quick refresher on what, exactly, cold temperatures do to your body: When you plunge into frigid water, something called vasoconstriction occurs, says Benjamin Gordon, PhD, instructional assistant professor in applied physiology and kinesiology at the College of Health & Human Performance at the University of Florida. This means your blood vessels get smaller in response to cold temperatures in an effort to maintain body heat. And vasoconstriction “seems to speed up the recovery process to a degree,” Gordon explains. “So that’s the purpose of cold water immersion, or at least should be the purpose.”

So how does this affect your muscles? Cold therapies reduce inflammation in the body, which is one reason why a person can bounce back from intense exercise with less noticeable muscle damage or soreness after taking an ice bath. But inflammation is also a necessary physiological process for muscle growth, Jackson explains. 

Think of it this way: When you exercise, micro damage occurs in your muscles, which triggers a cascading inflammatory response. This eventually leads to your body rebuilding that muscle and increasing muscle fiber size in the process. (And this equals muscle gains!) But when you cold plunge during this process, you may hamper that crucial rebuilding result.

“Cold constricts blood vessels, slowing blood flow in the area the cold is applied,” Jackson explains. “Enzymes and nutrients essential for building muscle are carried in the blood. So, it stands to reason that restricting or slowing blood flow could hamper the natural process that leads to muscle growth.”

Right now, there isn’t tons of evidence to support this theory, but there is some. One 2020 meta-analysis published in Sports Medicine reviewed eight articles that studied chronic cold water immersion in relation to both resistance and endurance training sessions. The researchers found that cold plunging associated with resistance exercises led to a decrease in strength over time. 

In a more recent meta-analysis in the European Journal of Sport Science, researchers concluded that cold water immersion may result in at least a small reduction of hypertrophy, aka muscle growth. The study authors noted that while cold plunging probably doesn’t completely prevent muscle gains, it may hamper them compared to the results you’d get from just doing resistance training alone.

More research is needed on this subject. But the existing research is pretty compelling, Gordon says. “These studies are talking about a fairly low number of participants, and yet when you look at the significance values, they’re very significant.”

Tips for Taking Ice Baths and Keeping Muscle Gains

If you love the way a cold plunge after lifting makes you feel—that burst of energy, the reduced soreness after a workout—this news may be kind of a bummer. But you don’t necessarily need to stop taking ice baths all together, experts say. Here’s how to continue cold plunging without experiencing a negative effect on your muscle gains, if that’s important to you.

Think About Your Priorities 

“My first [tip] would be to sort of prioritize and question your goals,” Gordon says. “Why are you cold plunging, why are you exercising?” In other words, are you working out because you want to support your health, or are you specifically hoping to build muscle? Are you an athlete looking for a way to recover after a strenuous game? Or are you exercising because you love the way a good workout clears your head? Once you can articulate what your primary goals are, consider where cold plunging fits into your routine.

For example, the overwhelming majority of research supports cold plunging as a recovery tool, Gordon notes. So, say you’re an athlete and you have a game on Friday then another the following Monday. You might think: “I want to feel as good as possible for Monday, so I’m going to cold plunge after my game on Friday so I can feel better.” In this scenario, cold plunging would help support your overall goal, which is to feel your very best for your next game.

Cold Plunge When Recovery Is Your Focus

If your main motivation for taking ice baths or cold plunges is to help your body recover from a particularly challenging workout or series of workouts, like back-to-back games or long runs, go ahead and take the plunge: “Cold therapy techniques remain a good option for pre-performance recovery,” Jackson says. 

And again, if your priority is recovery—not necessarily muscle building—you probably don’t need to worry much about whether cold temps are affecting muscle growth. In these situations, “the reduction in muscle growth may be acceptable in exchange for the reduced recovery time,” Jackson explains.

This practice can be particularly useful if you’re getting ready for a big event (think: a marathon) and tapering your training, a strategy that can help you perform your best, she adds.

Consider Cold Plunging Before, Not After, Exercise

While we still need more studies on cold water immersion’s impact on different types of exercises, some people might find a pre-workout plunge beneficial, especially if it’s a super hot day. An ice bath before exercise can help maintain a lower body temperature, which might boost workout performance in hot conditions, experts say. In fact, 2017 research published in the European Journal of Sport Science found that cold water immersion to be more effective than drinking an ice slushie as a pre-cooling treatment.

…Or Space Out Workouts and Ice Baths

Spacing out your workouts and cold plunges (rather than hopping in an ice bath immediately after exercising) might also be worth trying.

“Hypothetically, if you [cold plunged] at different times of the day, it may be less impactful on muscle gains, but there hasn’t been research to support this,” Gordon says. But in theory, you might do your resistance training in the morning and cold plunge just before bed, he says.

Balance Cold Plunging with Other Modes of Recovery

The most compelling research on cold water immersion has to do with its effect on post-exercise recovery, Gordon notes—so if muscle growth is a priority, you might focus on other recuperation strategies instead. 

After all, an ice bath isn’t the only way to recover: Cooling down and stretching help relax tired muscles after a workout, as can a sauna session. It’s also critical to get plenty of sleep, fill your plate with muscle-recovery foods (eggs, Greek yogurt, and salmon all contain lots of protein to help repair muscle tissue), and make sure you’re building in enough rest days into your routine.

The Takeaway

Cold plunging is a popular wellness trend, and there are some good reasons to dip a toe (er, your whole body) into icy waters. Cold water immersion has been associated with better post-workout recovery, and the practice might also help boost your mood and strengthen your immune system, among other benefits. But there is also some research to suggest that cold plunges and ice baths hamper muscle growth, especially when you take an ice bath shortly after a workout, which is something to consider if your primary exercise goal is to build muscle. Taking the plunge before or well after you exercise and balancing ice baths with other forms of recovery can allow you to continue participating in this trend without impacting your muscles.