Published April 20, 2026 02:11PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
When you see a shirtless guy (and let\u2019s be honest, it\u2019s usually a guy) hacking through a frozen tub with a hatchet to start his morning with a cold plunge, he\u2019s probably not just doing it for the Reels views or to put hair on his chest. He\u2019s taking that cold plunge because he believes an ice bath will improve his workout recovery, boost his metabolism, and make him think more clearly (and not just about why he\u00a0wishes he weren\u2019t\u00a0so damned cold). Oh, and he thinks it might inspire you to do the same.<\/p>\n
Before you dive in, though, there are\u00a0some cold, hard truths to know about cold plunging: Even though ice baths have exploded in popularity, with a market valued at more than $300 million, not all of its purported benefits have been proven by science.<\/p>\n
\u201cCold plunging\u2019s been used for a long time, but really the systematic studies have been quite few,\u201d says Chris Minson, PhD,<\/a> a professor at the University of Oregon and co-director of the Exercise and\u00a0Environmental Physiology Lab, where he studies how heat and cold affect our bodies. The practice, he says, is outpacing our scientific knowledge.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the biggest thing when it comes to the science literature is that it\u2019s just such a mixed bag,\u201d says Kelli McCormick, PhD<\/a>, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Ottawa, where she studies how heat and cold impact our cells and our longevity. \u201cThere are some studies that are saying, \u2018Yes, it\u2019s helpful,\u2019 and some that say the exact opposite in the same scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Minson and McCormick are believers in cold plunging, but they\u2014and other experts I spoke with\u2014have caveats about its impact and how it\u2019s done. They don\u2019t want to throw cold water<\/em> on your attempts to get healthier and recover from your workouts with an ice bath. But getting results and benefits isn\u2019t as simple as making a tub as cold as possible and jumping in. Here, scientists share what we know about those backyard cold plunges, and eight ways people get ice baths wrong.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When it comes to temperature and our bodies, we actually know a lot more about heat than cold.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you really want to look at adaptations and positive effects on biomarkers, there\u2019s way better evidence for saunas than there is for cold water immersion,\u201d says Shawn Arent, PhD, CSCS<\/a>, chair of the Department of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina. \u201cI\u2019m not going to dismiss [cold plunging] just based on the body of literature right now, but if we based it just on the literature right now, it\u2019s not overwhelmingly convincing.\u201d<\/p>\n Many studies on cold plunging are small, he says, and most are conducted on men only; the effects may be different in women. Some studies are also conducted not on people doing cold plunges<\/em>, but going for cold swims<\/em>. In these cases, some of the benefits\u2014like improved mood<\/a>\u2014could come from the cold water, the activity itself, social benefits from being with others, or some combination of all three.<\/p>\n Some cold plunge benefits that studies have<\/em> shown include:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Those primal dudes on Instagram and the athletes meeting with Kevin Hart on Cold as Balls<\/em><\/a> are dipping into baths of literal ice. So the water\u2019s got to be really, really cold, right?<\/p>\n Actually, no. To get the benefits of cold plunging, the water probably doesn\u2019t need to be as cold as you imagine at all<\/em> (and water that\u2019s too cold might impact your ability to reach those benefits\u2014more on that in the next section). But truly icy water is an extra-special blunder during your first plunges, experts say.<\/p>\n For starters, it makes the whole process more unpleasant, says Minson. While many people want to ice plunge because<\/em> it\u2019s unpleasant, thinking that will add to the benefits, the effect might instead be that you just never want to plunge again.<\/p>\n Extra-cold early plunges may also impact how well you breathe while in the water, says Altaf Mapara, MS,\u00a0a physical therapist who works with Team Kenya Olympic athletes at his facility, Performance Medicine, in Nairobi, Kenya<\/a>. When you first get into any cold water, Mapara explains, your instinct is to gasp, take in a big breath, and then\u00a0hold your breath.<\/p>\n Cold immersion is already a stressor on the body, triggering alarm bells that release stress hormones like cortisol, increasing respiration, and sending fluids rushing from your extremities into your core. When you hold your breath in the water, that\u2019s an extra stressor, which reduces the amount of time you can stay submerged.<\/p>\n At his facility, Mapara doesn\u2019t even have people start in the cold plunge itself. In the days leading up to their first plunge, he suggests taking progressively cooler showers, getting used to breathing in chillier water before taking the plunge. Minson suggests the same type of protocol.<\/p>\n McCormick suggests starting with water that most people would think of as lukewarm. \u201cTwenty-five degrees Celsius [77\u00b0F]\u00a0is the threshold for cold exposure,\u201d she says. Once you\u2019re in water of that temperature, you\u2019re already doing cold immersion. Start with water that\u2019s cool, not cold, to see if you like the experience, and gradually work your way down to colder exposures.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even after you\u2019re accustomed to plunging, cranking up the cold to dip into single-digit Celsius temperatures may give you an \u201cInstagram effect\u201d where you look tough, but they\u2019re not necessary to make adaptations to your body.<\/p>\n In fact, McCormick says, ultra-cold ice baths in the range of 5\u00b0C (around 40\u00b0F) will probably make the duration of your plunge too short for y<\/strong>ou to see any\u00a0benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re only going to be getting skin cooling at that point,\u201d she says, \u201cso you\u2019re not going to have that deeper muscular cooling.\u201d<\/p>\n In McCormick\u2019s study, where cold plunging led to increases in mitophagy <\/a>(a type of authophagy targeting mictocondria), study participants were in water that was 57\u00b0<\/strong>F \u00a0(13 to 14\u00b0C), and stayed for up to 30 minutes; she\u2019s now looking at the effects of the same temperature for only ten minutes. Most studies with benefits for metabolism, mood, and alertness<\/a> work with water temperatures around 15\u00b0C (59\u00b0F). For muscle soreness, a review of nine studies found that a water temperature of 11 to 15\u00b0C (51 to 59\u00b0F) for a duration of 11 to 15 minutes provided the best results.<\/p>\n Minson suggests building up to plunges that last two to five minutes in water that\u2019s 50 to 59\u00b0F.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Your favorite, fittest influencer says they\u2019re taking a morning cold shower for ten minutes\u2014and maybe you saw a research study that says participants saw benefits when plunging for 20.<\/p>\n \u201cThe competition component of it is a little dangerous,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople are like, \u2018Well, that person\u2019s doing five minutes.\u2019 But, that person also\u00a0has a different build than you.\u201d<\/p>\n People respond differently to cold based on how much body fat they carry and how much surface area they have. Individual differences can also exist among people who are the same size. In her study on autophagy, McCormick says that some subjects had to come out of the water within ten minutes because their bodies were becoming hypothermic, while others could go for 30 minutes.<\/p>\n There are also gender differences here, Minson says. Most studies on cold immersion are on men, but Minson studies cohorts of both genders, and has done studies on women alone. While he says there are not usually differences in safety between the two, there are differences in how men and women experience cold because of differences in our bodies.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen will tend to have a little bit less muscle mass. Women tend to have a little bit more body fat than men,\u201d he says. This means more surface area. \u201cThat means they may get colder a little faster than a male would in the exact same temperatures. But depending on their percent body fat, the body fat can act as an insulation \u2026 so you can make an argument that a woman will cool faster or might cool slower.\u201d<\/p>\n In older women, McCormick says, increased torso body fat and increased vasoconstriction in the arms and other peripheral tissues means that heat is conserved better than in older men.<\/p>\n The point: Don\u2019t use someone else\u2019s plunge time as a benchmark for yours. Minson suggests starting with plunges of just 30 seconds, and building from there to his goal times of two to five minutes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There\u2019s an idea in the athletic realm that after a hard workout, you\u2019ve got to get in the ice. There\u2019s some evidence that doing so can make you less sore, depending on the type of workout you\u2019ve done. In a 2013 study<\/a>, high-level athletes felt less sore after a sprint workout when they did a post-workout cold immersion. A research review of 17 small studies<\/a> from 2012 found that a cold bath after a workout\u2014especially a running workout\u2014resulted in reduced rates of muscle soreness after exercise than in those who didn\u2019t plunge.<\/p>\n But if your fitness goal is to make yourself into a hot slab of beef, Arent says, jumping in the cold is a mistake.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because multiple studies have shown ice plunges throw cold water on muscle growth: After resistance training, ice blunts increases in muscle size<\/a>, and can also mess with the development of both strength<\/a> and power<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere may be a time and place for cold plunges,\u201d Arent says. \u201cFor example, if I\u2019m an athlete and I\u2019ve got back-to-back\u00a0matches, or if I\u2019m in parts of preseason and I need to continue to perform, maybe I\u2019m not as worried about the adaptation from my training session. So maybe there\u2019s an upside there.\u201d<\/p>\n But if you\u2019re hoping to get bigger or stronger, skip the post-gym chill.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On social media, cold plunging can smack of \u201calpha\/lone wolf\u201d energy. But cold plunging alone can be dangerous, McCormick says.<\/p>\n \u201cFor one, when you are in cold exposure, your dexterity is definitely affected. People think, \u2018it\u2019s all good. I\u2019ll just pop back out [if I get too cold],\u201d she says. But your muscles and coordination may not work as well after chilling. Add slipperiness to that, and there\u2019s a chance you could stumble or struggle to get out of a high-walled cold tub, like a converted trash can. Having someone on hand who can help you out of the pool, or keep you steady, is crucial.<\/p>\n The second risk, she says, is in how cold dulls your mind.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the cold exposure research came from an incident in the military in the 90s. They made a bunch of decisions that were poor because the officers in charge of a training protocol were also affected by cold exposure,\u201d she says. \u201cHypothermia affects how you think \u2026 and that\u2019s where the danger comes in.\u201d<\/p>\n This can especially be true if you\u2019re a really extreme or intense person, she says, because your dulled thinking might keep you in the pool too long. Your body size has some <\/em>effect on how cold impacts you, but it\u2019s not the only factor: In her studies, bigger men sometimes get dangerously cold very quickly and need to come out of the water sooner than others. That\u2019s not because they aren\u2019t tough. It\u2019s because of their unique physiology. Having someone to monitor how you\u2019re doing and if you start slurring or talking funny can keep you out of this danger.<\/p>\n One more reason plunging alone is dangerous is the way it impacts your breathing. In addition to the initial gasp, being in cold water makes people hyperventilate. That type of breathing can result in hypocapnia<\/a>, a condition where carbon dioxide levels are lower in the blood than normal. When you\u2019re in hypocapnia, you can suffer from symptoms that include dizziness\u2014which is not good when getting out of the plunge pool without help.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you think about the cortisol response, the catecholamine response, there\u2019s vasoconstriction, there\u2019s a stressor response,\u201d Arent says. \u201cFor people with existing cardiovascular conditions, this can have a massive impact on that system.\u201d<\/p>\n When you get into cold water, your body undergoes what\u2019s called \u201c<\/strong>cold shock.<\/a>\u201d In addition to making you gasp, cold shock results in an acute spike in your blood pressure. Cold plunges cause acute spikes in blood pressure. Cold immersion can also cause sudden, even fatal, heart arrhythmias<\/a>, even in healthy subjects.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re taking blood pressure medication or are at risk for cardiovascular disease, talk to your doctor before trying a cold plunge.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An icy plunge can improve sleep.\u00a0In one study of well-trained endurance runners<\/a>, spending ten minutes in cold water around three hours before bed slept more soundly, with fewer nighttime wake ups, and had more deep sleep in the first three hours of slumber\u2014the type and time of sleep\u00a0that recharges testosterone levels.<\/p>\n But jumping into a cold pool or taking a cold shower too close to your bedtime could actually disrupt your sleep, Minson says. That\u2019s because cold water really does wake you up a bit. The release of noradrenaline<\/a> makes you more alert. And cortisol, which normally drops off as you fall asleep, gets a boost when you\u2019re in chilly water<\/a>.<\/p>\n Minson\u2019s recommendation: Do your cold immersion in the morning if you can. If you\u2019d rather ice up in the evening, leave a few hours between your plunge or cold shower and sleep.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are just some people, Minson says, who are never going to enjoy cold plunging. And here\u2019s the good news: They don\u2019t have to!<\/p>\n The benefits of cold plunging are not so overwhelming or convincing that cold exposure is a must-have, says Arent. And they\u2019re not unique, either, meaning you can get them in other ways.<\/p>\n Want to improve your sleep? Exercising, making changes in your diet, and altering your bedtime routine can also help.<\/p>\n Looking for better fat-burning? The effect from cold exposure isn\u2019t even that strong, Minson says: \u201cYou\u2019d be better off going for a 15- to 20-minute walk, a jog, or lifting some weights,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019ll have more overall calorie burning than if you\u2019re going to do cold.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to reduce inflammation? Studies have found that ice plunging is not any more effective at triggering anti-inflammatory responses<\/a> after an intense workout than ten minutes of easy cycling.<\/p>\n Want to wake up or improve your mood? Saunas are associated with improved mood<\/a>, and the effects last longer than with cold immersion.<\/p>\n Looking for more autophagy? Heat stress and fasting both improve it.<\/p>\n The bottom line: Cold immersion isn\u2019t a must-have. If you don\u2019t like it, don\u2019t do it! And if you do, like it more<\/em> (and keep it safe) by avoiding the other eight mistakes above.<\/p>\n <\/div>\nWhat We Know About Cold Plunges (and What We Don\u2019t)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
Mistake 1: You dive straight into icy plunges.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mistake 2: Your water\u2019s too cold to stay in long enough for you to reap the benefits.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mistake 3: You\u2019re trying to match others\u2019 times in the water\u2014even if you\u2019re a woman.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mistake 4: You\u2019re cold plunging while trying to gain muscle.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mistake 5: You\u2019re cold plunging alone.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mistake 6: You\u2019re at risk for cardiovascular disease.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mistake 7: You plunge (or take cold showers) too close to bedtime.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mistake 8: You think you <\/strong>have <\/em><\/strong>to cold plunge.<\/strong><\/h2>\n