Ice Baths After Yoga: Are They Beneficial?
The benefits of ice baths are being widely discussed across the world right now, with cold therapy being a go-to recovery strategy for many athletes and non-athletes. In this article, we discuss whether taking an ice bath after yoga can be beneficial.
We cover a range of topics including, inflammation and muscle soreness, as well as practical tips to take on board when you are enjoying a cold plunge. Read on to learn more about this topic and utilise cold therapy for your future yoga sessions and recovery routine.
Do Ice Baths After Yoga Help?
Yes, taking an ice bath after yoga can help significantly reduce inflammation and can increase the amount of fat burned throughout your session.
Benefits of an Ice Bath After Yoga
There are several benefits you can enjoy by taking an ice bath after yoga, including less inflammation and muscle soreness and increased fat burning.
Reducing Inflammation and Muscle Soreness
The main benefit you can expect to experience from taking an ice bath after a yoga session is a reduction in inflammation. During yoga, an individual will typically experience some muscle soreness due to the moves and holds they are required to perform throughout the session.
Although you might not feel this soreness immediately after the session has concluded, it’s highly likely that you’ll experience it the following day after a night’s sleep.
By taking an ice bath or cold shower, you expose your body to colder temperatures, which causes your blood vessels to constrict. This, in turn, reduces blood flow, reducing the amount of inflammatory cells being spread around the body. Less acute inflammation will then be experienced by the body, meaning you’ll be on the road to recovery a lot quicker and will be back in the yoga studio in no time at all.
Increased Fat Burning
Another benefit you can expect to receive from taking an ice bath after a yoga session is increased fat burning. If you’re using yoga as a strategy for losing weight, we highly recommend incorporating cold therapy into your post-yoga routine.
The reason for this is that when the body is exposed to cold temperatures, it has been proven to stimulate the production of brown fat. This is the type of fat that is used to produce heat, keeping humans warm when they are cold.
By taking an ice bath after yoga, you’ll be able to enhance your metabolism, improve insulin sensitivity and improve weight management.
Practical Tips and Precautions for Using Ice Baths after Yoga Effectively
Before taking an ice bath after yoga, there are some practical tips and precautions to consider, these include temperature and duration, as well as safety considerations.
Temperature and Duration
The ideal temperature of an ice bath for recovery is up for debate, however Jonathan Leeder, an exercise physiologist at the English Institute of Sport, highly recommends taking an ice bath between 10 and 15°C for optimal recovery.
At Chill Tubs, we recommend that our customers stay in their ice bath no longer than 10 minutes within this temperature range in order to improve recovery and muscle soreness.
Safety Considerations and Potential Risks
When enduring cold therapy, there are some potential risks to avoid, these include:
- Not using an ice bath when under the influence of alcohol or drugs, which hopefully won’t be the case when taking a yoga class. This is because they increase your chances of fatal hypothermia.
- We do not recommend children use the Chill Tub.
- Before taking an ice bath, pregnant women should consult with their doctor first.
- Anybody with serious health conditions (e.g. diabetes, high or low blood pressure) should also consult with their doctor first.
- Not staying submerged in cold temperatures too long.
- Not setting the temperature of your Chill Tub too low.
Other Recovery Strategies to Use Alongside Cold Therapy
As well as enjoying ice baths, there are other proven strategies to use alongside cold therapy to improve the recovery process and get you ready for your next yoga session. These strategies include stretching and massage.
Stretching
As any yoga enthusiast knows, stretching is really important for the human body. Although part of the core focus of yoga is to improve stretching and flexibility, it’s always worth incorporating post-yoga stretching alongside your time in an ice bath. Opt to do some dynamic stretches prior to your yoga session and some deep stretching afterwards.
The powerful combination of yoga and stretching will help you become a lot more flexible in the future.
Massage
Another post yoga recovery strategy to consider is massage. Although research is limited in this area, massage can certainly help you feel ready for your next yoga session in a shorter amount of time.
Chill Tubs at the Mind, Body and Spirit Festival
If you enjoyed this article and would like to find out more about the benefits of ice baths after yoga, Chill Tubs will be in attendance at the Mind, Body and Spirit Festival in London from the 24th – 27th May 2024.
You’ll be able to see our Chill Tub products in-person and ask our experts any questions you may have about cold therapy.
We hope to meet you there!
Contact Us
If you’re unable to make the trip to London in May, you can always contact us at a more convenient time. Via email, phone or in-person, we love speaking to our customers to help them understand how we can help improve their wellbeing through cold therapy.
