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I've taken a shit load of ice baths. It's actually pretty nice
once you get used to it. I used to have an ice bath every
single morning in high school after I had my knee worked on.
Alternating hot and cold is nice, especially if it's already a cold
day you're starting on. It's just like a hot tub though, other
than the hot part...you just have to go all the way in and stay...
in a little bit of time, you can't really feel it much anymore.
It's way easier starting out if you have a TV or something around
to keep your attention off the cold. And it's really not the same
as just taking a cold bath. If I'm not mistaken, I would do about
15-20 in the ice, then switch. Don't stay in too long, or it can
be detrimental instead of beneficial.
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Put it this way, I take 8 classes a week at my gym on top of 2 at another gym, on top of 3 times at a friends house. I also do cardio every night before class mon-fri. I take a cold shower right when I come home, once I warm up again I take another, and if I'm really sore I'll take one more. I feel 100% by the next class.
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ice baths are great and most definitely work for recovery, I've been having some problems with my hamstring and knee being overstretched, since Im training 6 days a week, i dont get enough days to allow for full recovery, ice baths speed that shit up and pretty much solved my problems.. Also works for fat loss if you're interested in that.
I do the hot cold therapy, 5mins in a hot shower, jump straight into a ice bath for 20 mins total, no more, jump back into a warm shower, slowly increasing heat till hot.
first 10 mins - ice up to mid waist only
10-15mins - ice up to neck, arms out of water
15-20mins - ice up to neck, arms in water
works great for me.
As StephenG said, get a TV or a book to read while ya in there and you wont notice the cold as much. Don't do more then 20 minutes tho
