Ice baths are said to boost your metabolism by as much as 22% for up to 72 hours. This is because cold exposure causes something called non-shivering thermogenesis, a process by which your body creates heat from muscle contractions.

Ice baths can help prevent muscle damage when you are sore. But does this mean you will feel less sore? Inflammation is caused by the process of fixing the damaged muscles. You may feel less sore if you lower the inflammation.

The main purpose of ice baths is to lower the amount of metabolites and cytokines in your muscles. This may help with muscle healing and reduce muscle damage.

When you take an ice bath, your body’s first response is to reduce blood flow to your skin to protect your core body temperature. This increased blood pressure in your muscles causes the release of lactic acid and metabolites from your muscles.

Your body’s second response is to increase your heart rate to remove the metabolites from your muscles as quickly as possible. All this causes a large amount of pain. The increase in blood pressure and heart rate also improves muscle contractility, which allows you to exercise longer and harder. All of this causes an increase in pain tolerance and encourages working out more.

Ice baths make your nerves more active, which helps you exercise harder. As your muscles get warmer during exercise, the signals from your brain to your muscles slow down. When you take an ice bath, the signals speed up, resulting in stronger muscle movements.

Some studies have shown that cold water immersion can help when you’re feeling down. This is due to the hormones released during cold water immersion.

Some studies have shown that cold water emersion can make you feel less worried. This is because cold water can calm you down, help you focus on controlled breathing, and make you more alert and energetic.