Ice baths can be a powerful tool for revitalizing well-being when done correctly, or they can be a stressful experience with few results if misused. 

There's little doubt whether ice baths are beneficial or not. Countless studies have shown they can enhance muscle recovery, improve circulation, reduce inflammation, and improve metabolic health. 

The problem is that all these impressive benefits come from proper use, and many people are simply jumping into freezing water to imitate what they've seen online, blindly hoping for positive effects.

This is ineffective at best and dangerous at worst. There are real risks from using ice baths incorrectly. It's possible to experience extreme cold shock, brain fog, or even hypothermia in rare incidences.

Besides, it's doubtful anyone would want to go through the effort, time, and expense of cold water immersion therapy with nothing to show for it. A far better option is to invest just a few minutes learning ice bath best practices to make the most out of your experience.

Keep reading to find out how long you should take an ice bath, what to wear in an ice bath, and what to do after an ice bath so you can take the plunge like a pro on your very first try.

If you're ice bath curious but not quite ready to dive in, cold showers are an excellent starting point. Cold showers can yield many of the same benefits as ice baths, albeit to a lesser extent, and with a smaller body of scientific data to back up their effectiveness.

Cold showers are a convenient way to give cold therapy a try before investing in a cold plunge setup, but more important than this, they make you better cold-adapted to allow for an easy transition into ice baths. 

This is why many people choose to follow the 30 Day Shower Method to prepare for cold plunges. This is the protocol:

Days 1-10 

Turn the water to cold for 60 seconds either at the beginning or end of your daily shower. This is best done in the morning or early afternoon.

Days 11-20

Increase your daily cold shower time to 3 minutes. This can be done for 3 minutes straight, or in 30 second intervals for an easier option. Throughout this span of 10 days, take 2 days off from cold showers completely to give your body time to adapt. 

Days 21-30

Increase your daily cold shower time to 5 minutes. This can also be done straight or in 1 minute intervals with bouts of warm water in between. Once you can reach the 5 minute mark without too much strife, you're more than ready to try a proper cold plunge.  

Once you're ready to try your first cold plunge, you'll want to follow a few preparatory steps for an ideal experience.

How Long Should An Ice Bath Be?

To start with, it's best to determine the amount of time you want to spend in the cold plunge before you're actually in there. Much like going to the grocery store hungry, it will be hard to make a reasonable decision while your brain is very concerned with addressing your immediate uncomfortable state. 

A duration as short as 60 seconds is fine for beginners, though the therapeutic effect will kick in more effectively after 3 minutes. More experienced plungers will be able to work up to 10 minutes to get the most pronounced cold therapy benefits. Keep a timer handy so you stay accountable. 

What's The Best Ice Bath Temperature?

Ice baths should ideally be at or below 60℉ (16℃) with the most cold-adapted of plungers being able to tolerate temperatures as low as  39℉ (3℃). Beginners should start on the warmer end of this scale and gradually work their way to cooler temperatures as their body adapts. As an example of someone who represents peak health, Dana White, UFC President, cold plunges every morning at 50℉ (10℃).

Using a cold plunge with digital temperature monitoring is the best way to accurately track and control your experience, but swimming pool thermometers are a good option for more basic setups. 

Clothing and Consistency

What you wear in an ice bath will affect your experience. Clothing can trap heat close to your body which makes the cold feel less intense than it would on bare skin. Beginners can try their first few plunges with a long-sleeved shirt, shorts, and even water shoes, but most people will find swimwear or casual athleticwear to be more convenient. 

Another important factor is the time of day. Cold plunging is best done in the morning or early afternoon to avoid negatively affecting sleep. It's also best to stay consistent with the chosen time of day so a habit forms, and so normal hormonal fluctuations can adapt to it more easily. 

What To Do Immediately Before Cold Plunging

Before immersing yourself in cold water, you'll want to make sure your muscles are warm and your mind is calm. The best time to cold plunge is right after a workout where both these factors are already taken care of, but if you're cold plunging another time some light exercise can substitute.

Try to get your blood pumping with some gentle warmup movements like jumping jacks, pushups, bodyweight squats, or lunges. This will loosen up your muscles and improve circulation. Avoid anything vigorous so your heart rate doesn't increase too much.

Once you're getting into your cold plunge tub, these are the most essential guidelines to follow.

Enter Slowly

The hardest part of the whole experience will be getting yourself into the water. This is where you'll have to use discipline to overcome your base instinct of avoiding pain since cold temperatures register in the nervous system very similarly to pain. It should be uncomfortable, but never unbearable. Use caution and exercise reasonable judgment to push your limits safely.

Entering slowly can help attenuate the cold shock response, but keep in mind the longer you draw it out the less therapeutic time you'll spend immersed in water. The full extent of ice bath benefits come when the body is in water up to the neck, but beginners can also work their way up to this by leaving their hands, shoulders, or upper body out of the water the first few times. 

Use a Timer

Using a timer is essential not just for safety, but also for motivation. It can even be used as a tool to help regulate breathing if it's visible while in the water. You'll also want to keep track of your ice bath duration and temperature so you can gradually adjust these factors over time.

Breathing

Focusing on your breath will be the single best tool to help you have a positive ice bath experience. The cold will automatically make your muscles tense and cause shallow breathing, but learning to take slow deep breaths despite this will teach your mind and body to better adapt to stress.

Here are 3 breathing exercises to try:

The Wim Hof Method

1. Sitting upright, take in a full breath so that the belly expands, then naturally let it go without force. Repeat 30 times.
2. After the 30th exhale, hold your breath for as long as is comfortable.
3. Take a very full breath and hold it in for 15 seconds.
4. Repeat the entire cycle.

Box Breathing

1. Breath in for 4 seconds
2. Hold your breath in for 4 seconds
3. Breath out for 4 seconds
4. Hold your breath out for 4 seconds

Diaphragmatic Breathing

1. Place one hand on your chest and one on your stomach.
2. Take in a slow deep breath so that the chest rises, and then the stomach expands.
3. Hold it in for a short pause. 
4. Slowly exhale so that the stomach draws in and the chest lowers.

Maintain Mental Focus

Last, but not least, try to focus your mind on the present moment and remain as calm as possible. This will help keep your heart rate at a reasonable pace and increase your tolerance to the cold. 

Keeping your gaze fixed in one place can be helpful as well as doing ice baths in a calm setting free of distractions. Maintaining mental focus also contributes to the positive cognitive adaptations that take place with cold therapy. 

Dry Off and Warm Up

Make sure you have a towel handy so you can immediately begin drying off and warming up. You'll want to do this gradually and naturally if possible. Jumping straight into a sauna or hot tub might be tempting, but you'll be missing out on the thermogenic benefits of your body warming itself up. Contrast therapy (hot and cold) can also potentially leave some people feeling lightheaded or dizzy, so it's best done with additional safety precautions. 

Instead, put on some layers, make a hot drink, and move your body with some light exercise like walking to gradually warm up and promote circulation. Wait to take a hot shower until at least 30 minutes after your cold plunge.

Rehydrate and Massage

Hydration is important after cold plunges to replace any minerals lost due to the stress response as well as to promote healthy blood volume and flow. An electrolyte drink can be especially helpful, or you can opt for coconut water as a simple alternative or even just regular water.

Light stretching and massage can also boost the effects of ice baths by increasing circulation and tissue repair. Once you've warmed up, foam rollers, manual self-massage, a massage gun, or yoga can all help reduce any residual tension from tight muscles.

Refuel  

Finally, you'll want to replenish your energy levels and return to a state of "rest and digest" by having a snack or meal. Choose something with a balance of protein and carbohydrates and plenty of antioxidants. 

Don't Stay in Too Long

No matter how experienced you are at cold plunging, you should never be in an ice bath for longer than 15 minutes. There's a point of diminishing returns where you end up causing more stress to your body than it's able to effectively recover from. This point is different for everyone, so knowing where your level of challenge is and pushing slightly past it gradually is the best strategy.

Don't Start Too Cold

Staring off too cold is another common mistake. While cold plunging should be challenging, an experience too extreme may cause an aversion to cold therapy rather than a healthy sense of accomplishment from doing something difficult. It's better to lower the temperature gradually as the body becomes more cold-adapted.

Breathing Too Fast

Although you may feel breathless for a moment immediately after immersing yourself in cold water, it's important to quickly regain control of your breath to help regulate your nervous system throughout the experience. Dipping into the water with empty lungs after an exhalation can make it easier to take in that first deep breath after experiencing the start of cold shock.

Not Exercising and Getting Your Blood Flowing Beforehand

Perhaps the most common mistake is to jump into cold tubs with little to no preparation. Warming up the body first with movement and layers will make the entire experience more tolerable, and it can heighten the benefits of cold plunging by improving circulation.

Not Drinking Plenty of Water Beforehand

Equally important to rehydrating after a cold plunge, is consuming plenty of fluids beforehand. When you're dehydrated, your blood becomes thicker and has a harder time flowing through your circulatory system. Cold water also has this effect so dehydration will make the whole experience unnecessarily challenging. 

Not Submerging Enough of the Body

It's tempting to just get in the cold water halfway and call it a plunge, but you'd be missing out on the full extent of its benefits. Immersing the thyroid gland in the front of the neck and the vagus nerve which extends from the brain stem downwards both have especially positive outcomes. Exposing the thyroid gland to cold can help regulate thyroid hormones and vagus nerve stimulation can improve stress resilience.

Not Prioritizing Warming Up

Many of the health effects of cold plunging take place after the time spent in cold water. The cold exposure itself is a mild stressor (much like a workout) and the response and adaptions that occur afterward are where the real benefits take place. Warming up afterward is essential to boost blood flow so oxygen and nutrients are delivered to the tissues in need of recovery.

Not Seeking Medical Advice with Pre-Existing Health Conditions

As valuable as cold plunges can be, they're not an appropriate therapeutic tool for everyone. In the wrong scenario, they can even do more harm than good. People with heart conditions or impaired circulation especially should exercise caution around cold plunging since it may be an inappropriate amount of stress to put on their cardiovascular system. 

The best way to use cold plunging as an effective tool for overall wellness is to establish a consistent routine, and installing a home setup is the easiest way to make that happen.

HomePlunge can transform your bathtub into a temperature-regulated cold plunge haven with no bulky tubs or water tanks needed.

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