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How Often Should You Be Using Your Ice Bath?
Ice baths | September 04, 2025
When you first start getting into cold plunges, you'll immediately notice the effect it has on your fitness, mood, energy levels and in minimising aches and pains. It's a powerful recovery tool that's quickly becoming the norm in everyday fitness routines. Naturally, many users will want to start expanding their cold plunge practice to enjoy more of these benefits. But can it be too much of a good thing? Are there diminishing returns of ice baths and what are the potential risks? We've put together the evidence to help you decide the right balance for your routine.
Know Thy Self
The first step in evaluating any changes to your fitness routine is checking in with your body.
Ask yourself:
- How does your body feel directly after a cold plunge?
- How does your body feel the day after a cold plunge?
- How is your mood being affected?
- Do you use it before or after your workout?
- Have you noticed a reduction in certain aches or inflammation?
- Do you have any underlying health conditions that come into play?
It may be handy to keep a fitness journal recording how you feel day-to-day to better understand your body's response. This will give you a solid foundation to build a routine around cold plunging that's connected to your body and your needs. We also recommend talking to your doctor if you have concerns about the effects it may have on your health.
How Much is Too Much?
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that ice baths are an effective tool for recovery that can dramatically boost your personal fitness. At the same time, some research has shown that too much can actually curtail the benefits of exercise. Namely, excessive cold plunging after a workout has been linked to reduced muscle growth and diminished strength and endurance performance.
That's why we recommend not making a habit of cold plunging before/after every single workout or every day. It's better to save your ice bath sessions for your intense exercise days. This can vary between people, but this shouldn't be more than a couple times a week, or maybe even just once a week. Again, your needs will be unique to you.
The Cold Shouldn't Bother You Anyway
Our bodies have a remarkable ability to adapt to our conditions and environment. This is one of reasons why cold plunging is such an effective tool. It teaches your body to maintain physical control over the stress to your system. Your circulatory system adapts to work more efficiently. You're also better able to control your breathing, which has a direct effect on several processes in the body. So, give it some time to see the full effect it has on your body and mind.
Advice for First Timers
A good tip for the ice bath neophytes out there is to start simply with some cold showers. This is an environment where you have complete control and can switch to warm water any second. It allows you to test the waters (literally) to see how your body reacts and to mentally prepare for a proper plunge.
Try to test yourself with these early experiments and see how long you can stay in the cold. You'll find there's a point at which your body adapts and the water no longer feels icy.
Once you've built the habit of regular cold showers, especially post-workout, you can confidently move on to the real deal.
The Perfect Dip
The duration of your ice bath can vary widely. For some, it's just a quick dip, while others like to get a proper soak for up to 30 minutes.
However, our recommendation is to aim for 10-20 minute sessions. This is enough time to enjoy the benefits of cold plunging without overwhelming your system.
How Cold is Cold?
Our Regen8 chiller units have the capability to chill and maintain temperatures as low as 2°C. While this is a great option to have, it may be slightly too cold for many users. If you're starting off, you'll probably be fine with 10 - 15°C. You can gradually lower the temperature if you feel you're ready for it.
Conclusion
So, a quick summary:
- 1. Take the time to understand your own needs, considering any health conditions that may be affected.
- 2. Start yourself off with cold showers for a few minutes at a time, seeing how long you can last.
- 3. Once you're ready for a proper cold plunge, start at around 15°C, getting progressively colder as you feel more comfortable.
- 4. Aim for sessions no longer than around 10-15 minutes, or shorter if you're just starting out.
- 5. Only cold plunge occasionally, preferably after an intense workout. You can eventually work up to a couple times a week.
- 6. Keep track of how your body is responding and adjust your routine accordingly.
Hopefully now you have all the info you need to start your own ice bath journey. It's an exciting new practice that promises some huge benefits for your fitness and wellbeing, so it's worth doing right.
If you have any questions about our range of ice baths and chillers, feel free to reach out to our team and we'll be happy to help you out.
Click here to read up on how to keep your ice bath clean.
References:
- Amir, NH, Hashim, HA & Saha, S 2017, 'The effect of single bout of 15 minutes of 15-degree Celsius cold water immersion on delayed-onset muscle soreness indicators', in F Ibrahim, J Cheong, J Usman, M Ahmad, R Razman & V Selvanayagam (eds), Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Movement, Health and Exercise (MoHE 2016), IFMBE Proceedings, vol. 58, Springer, Singapore, viewed 29 July 2025, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3737-5_10.
- Malta, ES, Dutra, YM, Broatch, JR, Bishop, D & Zagatto, AM 2021, 'The effects of regular cold-water immersion use on training-induced changes in strength and endurance performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis', Sports Medicine, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 161-174, viewed 29 July 2025, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01362-0.
- Moore, E, Fuller, JT, Bellenger, CR, Saunders, S, Halson, SL, Broatch, J & Buckley, JD 2023, 'Effects of cold-water immersion compared with other recovery modalities on athletic performance following acute strenuous exercise in physically active participants: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression', Sports Medicine, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 687-705, viewed 29 July 2025, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01800-1.
- Piñero, A, Burke, R, Augustin, F, Mohan, AE, DeJesus, K, Sapuppo, M, Weisenthal, M, Coleman, M, Androulakis-Korakakis, P, Grgic, J, Swinton, PA & Schoenfeld, BJ 2024, 'Throwing cold water on muscle growth: a systematic review with meta-analysis of the effects of postexercise cold water immersion on resistance training-induced hypertrophy', European Journal of Sport Science, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 177-189, viewed 29 July 2025, https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsc.12074.
- Roberts, LA, Raastad, T, Markworth, JF, Figueiredo, VC, Egner, IM, Shield, A, Cameron-Smith, D, Coombes, JS & Peake, JM 2015, 'Post-exercise cold water immersion attenuates acute anabolic signalling and long-term adaptations in muscle to strength training', Journal of Physiology, vol. 593, no. 18, pp. 4285-4301, viewed 29 July 2025, https://doi.org/10.1113/JP270570.
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