Cold muscle recovery

Athletes have always placed ice packs on their muscles to relieve pain. In addition, the cold helps with muscle regeneration and therefore allows you to return to physical activity much more quickly. New techniques and processes have been developed in recent years, including cryotherapy. But is the power of cryotherapy real? What are the different methods to apply it? We tell you everything.

The effects of cold on muscle recovery

It's no secret. More or less intense physical activity that is prolonged in duration creates aches and pains. These painful sensations are due to microtears in the muscles. To relieve them, doctors recommend applying ice packs to the painful areas. The local thermal shock leads the brain to send a nerve impulse promoting blood circulation and the recovery of damaged tissues. Muscle regeneration by cold works by eliminating acid lactic acid and the supply of carbohydrates and proteins to the areas that need them.

cryotherapy is also used for:

• Reduce the feeling of fatigue
• Reduce muscle spasms
• Limit the spread of tissue inflammation
• Reduce edema
• Treat tendonitis, lower back pain and osteoarthritis

Some people report feeling better after cold muscle recovery treatment. They describe an improvement in their mental acuity and feel invigorated. Undeniable advantages for any athlete wishing to excel in their discipline. Among the athletes who use cryotherapy, we can cite the boxer Floyd Mayweather and the basketball player Stephen Curry. Another important advantage attributed to muscle regeneration by cold is the quality of sleep. Indeed, cryotherapy helps you sleep better.

Cold recovery methods or cryotherapy

There are several ways to treat sore muscles.

Simple treatments

To apply cold easily to optimize your recovery, you have several ways:

• Fill an ice pack
• Pour ice water over painful areas
• Wrap ice cubes in a cloth or cloth

Kneipp's method

The Kneipp method is also a simple cold regeneration technique, but it requires following some recommendations. First of all, you should know that you can do this method in the shower. To do this, alternate hot and cold water 5 to 8 times for 30 seconds. Make sure your body and the bathroom are warm before pouring cold water on yourself. You should also not be in contact with him for too long. Catching a cold wouldn't be very productive.

After applying cold water, switch to hot water and back to cold water. To dry yourself, do not use a towel. Instead, rub your hands and wiggle your limbs. Your body will warm up naturally. Note that this method also strengthens the immune system.

Immersion in cold water

As you might expect, to perform this recovery technique, you must immerse your entire body or part of it in cold water. The recommended water temperature should be around 10 or 11°C. As for duration, specialists indicate that an ideal immersion in cold water should last between 11 and 15 minutes. Around ten minutes would still be enough to see results.

It is also advisable to adopt a standing position and be deeply immersed to benefit from high potential recovery. However, if the sport practiced mainly involves the upper part of the body, a position lying on your back is more than possible.

Cold massage

Many athletes also praise the merits of a massage session to optimize their regeneration. With current techniques, it is possible to combine a massage with cryotherapy. This is exactly what recovery objects like themassage cryosphereoffer. Jolt Dolt.

The cryotherapy chamber

This is undoubtedly the method that treats the entire body in less time. It is a method which consists of entering a cabin diffusing dry air having a temperature between -110 and -180°C. You stay there for a maximum of 3 minutes, during this period the skin temperature reaches 10°.

Although the cryotherapy chamber is safe, a few measures must be respected. Before entering the cabin, you must stay 30 seconds in a swimsuit in a pre-chamber at a temperature of -60°C. You must also wear socks and gloves to avoid cold sensations on the extremities. Additionally, after 4 minutes in the cabin, you must spend 30 seconds in the pre-chamber again.

Muscle recovery through cold: contraindications

Although cryotherapy can be effective in reducing recovery time, it is not recommended for everyone. People with the following cases cannot use it without medical authorization:

• Allergy to cold
• Pregnancy 4 months and over
• High blood pressure
• Epilepsy
• Pacemaker
• Anemia
• Respiratory infection