I hate reading about small  studies. Here is the exercise news from the peer reviewed literature.....


"Among athletes, the opinion is widely held that ice baths shorten recovery time after workouts. But an international research team dispel this myth: according to scientists from Australia, Norway and New Zealand, the opposite is the case: ice baths reduce the success of strength training, they write in the "Journal of Physiology".

The researchers asked 21 physically active men to undertake strength training two days a week for 12 weeks. After workout, half of them spent 10 minutes in an ice bath at 10 degrees Celsius, while the others were assigned to a warm-down on an exercise bike. After the 12-week period, strength and muscle mass increases were higher in those who had an active warm-down than those who had endured an ice bath.

In a second trial, muscle biopsies were taken from men who had either spent time in an ice bath or had an active warm-down after performing single-leg strength exercises. In the ice bath group, the biopsies showed that the activity of satellite cells and the signalling pathways, which are required for building bigger and stronger muscles, were "blunted" up to two days. It is not yet clear why ice baths have this effect, but it could be caused by a reduction of muscle blood flow. For the time being, the study authors therefore recommend athletes to steer clear of ice baths - at least after strength training."

References

The Journal of Physiology