Cold water and recovery: timing changes the picture
A large review of 68 studies found cold water immersion can help or hinder performance depending on when you measure, and on the exercise and conditions beforehand.
Worth knowing: Indexed as 2022 (Journal of Sports Sciences, volume 40); Crossref also shows a later online-publication date, 2 March 2023, for the same DOI. That later date is not a newer version of the review.
The short version
This review combined 68 studies on cold water immersion and physical performance, looking separately at different times after immersion. In the first hour, cold water was linked to better recovery of endurance performance, but to worse sprint and jump performance. From 24 hours onward, it was linked to better jump performance and strength, alongside lower muscle-damage markers, less soreness and a better sense of recovery. Some of these patterns depended on the exercise beforehand and on how warm or cool the surroundings were, so a single, one-line rule does not fit every situation this review covered.
Keep in mind
The pattern changes by the hour and by the exercise and conditions beforehand. This is a summary of averages across 68 varied studies, not a fixed schedule to copy.
What they found
In the first hour after immersion, cold water was linked to better recovery of endurance performance, but to worse sprint performance; by six hours, jump performance was also lower.
From 24 hours after immersion, cold water was linked to better jump performance and strength, together with lower creatine kinase (a muscle-damage marker), less muscle soreness, and a better sense of recovery; several of these patterns were still visible at 72–96 hours.
The endurance-performance benefit held after exercise in warm conditions, but was not clearly there in temperate conditions. Strength recovery improved after endurance exercise done in cool-to-temperate conditions, and sprint recovery improved after resistance exercise. The pattern depends on what came before, not on cold water alone.
What this means for your practice
If you compete or train again within an hour, this review’s pattern suggests cold water may not be the moment to reach for if sprint or jump power matters most then. If your goal is feeling recovered a day or more later, the pattern points the other way.
This does not establish one water temperature, immersion time or schedule to follow. Cold water used for exercise recovery is also a different practice from a brief, relaxed dip after a sauna.
Methods and limitations
What the researchers did
Researchers combined 68 studies on cold water immersion and later physical performance, and grouped results by how long after immersion performance was measured: under 1 hour, 1–6 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and 96 hours or more.
They also checked whether the type of exercise beforehand (for example endurance work versus resistance training) and the surrounding temperature (warm versus cool or temperate) changed the pattern.
This review revisits a question that two related reviews (also covered in our library) have asked in similar ways; the underlying pool of small trials is likely to overlap between them.
How much can this tell us?
Sixty-eight studies is a large pool for this field, but they used many different exercises, temperatures, immersion times and performance tests; a pooled average across such variety will not describe every situation equally well.
This review, and our companion articles on cold water and recovery, ask closely related questions and likely draw on many of the same small trials between them. Treat them as one evolving body of evidence on cold water and exercise recovery, not as several independent confirmations of each other.
The review says nothing about immersion for reasons other than performance, such as a cool-down after a sauna session, and nothing about repeated use over a training block.
What makes it useful
- 68 studies, a large pool for this specific question
- Separated results by hour, not just one snapshot in time
- Checked whether prior exercise type and temperature changed the pattern
What limits it
- Wide variety of exercises, protocols and tests across studies
- Overlaps with related reviews on the same general question
- No combined participant total given in the abstract
- Says nothing about repeated use over a training block
Where this study fits
Where this study fits
We score claims, not single studies. This one is part of the evidence for:
Cold water after exercise eases muscle soreness. Well supported
Moderate certaintyMedium effectHow you feel or perform
Cold water speeds up recovery of performance. Some support
Low certaintySmall effectHow you feel or perform
Read the original
Choo HC, Lee M, Yeo V, Poon W, Ihsan M. The effect of cold water immersion on the recovery of physical performance revisited: a systematic review with meta-analysis. J Sports Sci. 2022;40(23):2608-2638.
DOI 10.1080/02640414.2023.2178872 · PubMed 36862831