Everything You Need to Know About Cold Tubs

Our 15 Biggest Takeaways

1) Cold Water Immersion is more effective than Cold Showers

Obviously, not every athlete has access to a Cold Tub or Cold body of water, but the temperature transfer from skin to water is 4 times greater than the transfer from skin to air. However, Cold showers are a serviceable alternative if that is all you have available.

2) The Sympathetic response (Epinephrine/Norepinephrine) from the Cold Tub is very similar if not exactly the same as our response to any other stressor in Life

We can use that information to train “resiliency”. You can train your ability to think clearly and not panic from the very potent stress response caused by the cold water. This now can translate over to other stressors in life as we have desensitized our “panic response” to stressful situations. This could explain why many people report improved ability to stay calm or keep their cool in stressful situations after chronic use of Cold water Immersion. The Stress response hormones are still released in the body, but the body has just be trained to keep calm and not overreact when those hormones are present.

3) There is NO optimal Temperature for Cold Water Immersion the applies to every Athlete

There are way too many person to person variables to prescribe 1 specific temperate across the board, however a general rule of thumb it should be very uncomfortable giving you the urge to get out, but still safe to complete.

4) Performing Mental Tasks during the immersion may better train your ability to think clearly in times of stress

This is much tougher to objectify, but logically forcing your self to perform these tasks may be a better option than the “Just Push Through” method. Breathing techniques may also be beneficial in this realm.

5) Moving around during the immersion breaks the Thermal Layer and makes the water in contact with your skin colder

One reason our bodies naturally want to stay incredibly still while in a cold tub is because it allows a Thermal Layer to build. As our bodies start to lose heat to the surrounding water, that water becomes warmer. If we stay perfectly still during this process, a layer of warmer water begins to build right above the skin’s surface. This is why staying moving in the cold tub is much more uncomfortable that being a still as possible. Circulating water also fills this role of removing the Thermal Layer.

6) The minimum effective dose appears to be around 11 minutes per week

There is no great research on this specific topic, but Dr Huberman (Go check out the Podcast!) does a great job of extrapolating from other studies that 11-15 minutes per week seems to be a good effective dosing. Again, this is at a very uncomfortable temperature (varies by person) that gives you a strong urge to get out but can still be completed safely.

7) Studies show a 5X increase in Adrenaline and a 2.5X increase in Dopamine (The Feel Good Hormone) in the blood for the 2 hours following Cold Water Immersion

It is important to note that in this study, the water temperatures were not very cold (60 degrees) so they kept the subject in there for up to an hour. (Not recommended). It is also important to not the they stopped measuring at the 2 hour mark so these hormones may be present for much longer. This may be why people often report improved mood and mental acuity in the hours following a cold tub

8) Cold Water Immersion converts White Fat (Bad Fat) to Brown Fat (Good Fat)

White fat is the calorie storing belly fat we think of that just acts as a freezer storing excess calories until they are needed. Brown fat is a very metabolic fat that burns a ton of calories regulating our body temperature. For this reason, our metabolic rate will increase over time meaning we burn more calories on a daily basis.

9) End in Cold to optimize the Metabolic activity

If your goal is to improve metabolism, it is reccomended to end in cold to force the body to use it’s own energy to heat the body back up versus ending in a warm shower or hot tub. For Athlete’s that have trouble gaining weight, we would extrapolate the opposite which is to end in warm and save those calories.

10) Taking Caffeine 1-2 hours Prior to Cold Water Immersion increases the Dopamine Receptors in the Brain

This means the Dopamine released during the process is much more potent as it has more receptors to bind to and give you the “feel good” effect

11) If you want to optimizes the metabolic activity, try to get to the point of shivering (Safely)

The muscle activity during shirvering burns through calories with the goal of creating heat in the body

12) If your main training goal is increasing Strength or Hypertrophy, it is best to avoid Cold Water immersion for 4 hours following your lift

There is evidence to show that Cold Tubs can have negative effects on strength gains if done right after the lift. If this is big concern for you, it may even be best to schedule the Cold Tubs on Non Lift days.

13) Cold Water Immersion has been shown to Improve muscle soreness in the following days, a quicker return the the athlete’s baseline power, and an improvement in subjective Recovery

This was shown in a Meta Analysis of 52 studies and was done directly after a high intensity workout. Interestingly, There was no improvement in a return of eccentric strength.

14) To optimally cool down the core temperature of the body, apply a cool contact to the Bottom of the feet, palms of hands, and top of face

This was compared to the prior standard of Arm pits, Groin, and Neck. The reason for this is because those areas transition directly from Arteries to Veins instead of transitioning through capillaries. For this reason, the the blood can be cooled down at a much faster rate. If the contact it too cold however, vasoconstriction may occur and defeat the purpose. This is interesting for both recovery and heat stroke cases.

15) Cold Water Immersion Increases our Core Body Temperature due to the reheating process which can negative affect sleep if done at night

Our bodies need to cool down 1-3 degrees in the evening for optimal sleep. Thus, night time Cold immersion could negatively affect that process and interfere with you sleep. For this reason, it may be better to knock out your cold tubs earlier in the day.

We again want to Thank Huberman Labs (No affiliation) for putting out this great information for free on a topic the is super interesting for us having seen positive benefits in first person (Huberman Lab Posdcst: Episode 66).  As always, please see your Physician before starting a Cold Water Immersion Protocol to make sure it is a good fit for you.