Feel the heat if you want to go faster
Research says a long hot bath after training is the best thing for your body, so you can put away the ice cubes
I remember when I first started running marathons way back in the mists of time, I read that after a hard training run you should sit in an ice bath for 10 minutes to help your muscles recover. I did it once. Never again.
I decided I just didn’t want it that badly. After pushing myself hard on a run, the last thing I needed was an additional dusting of torture on top. No, I’d take the consequences, but I was sticking to a warm bath or shower after training.
This week I stumbled on some research that says that not only was I doing what felt best deep in my soul, but that it really is better - scientifically! - to have a hot bath after a run. In fact, regular hot baths has been found to have a similar impact on the body as going on a high-altitude training camp: increasing VO2 Max, and a whole host of other benefits.
Ice baths, meanwhile, have been largely debunked as having a positive effect on muscle recovery - which was the key reason they were recommended.
(Note: cold plunges/ice baths do have many health benefits, it’s just that improved muscle recovery after a long run is not one of them.)
If you want a detailed breakdown of the research, rather than listen to me try to regurgitate it, I recommend this thorough article on the Marathon Handbook website (or going straight to the source article in The Journal of Physiology). The main takeaway for runners is that the benefits to fitness and speed occurred after five weeks of regular hot baths (five baths a week), each lasting 40 minutes. Oh, and the bath needs to be 40C or hotter.
