XPT, Wim Hof, even instagram… everyone is pushing it.. Ice Baths. The Post Workout or Lifestyle trend happening now by many top athletes and influencers where you submerge your body in a trough of ice and water and love it. If you haven’t tried it, chances are you know what i’m talking about. You’ve probably taken a cold plunge in a lake or river at some point, quickly losing all feeling in your limbs and jump out with a renewed sense of love for warm clothes. The trends now are pushing mental fortitude (which is a real thing) and recovery. But a new study has come out which may disprove some of the benefits that are being touted. Lets dive in !
First lets talk about inflammation. Inflammation happens when we train and play sports. We break our muscles down and the natural response to rebuilding them, is heat and inflammation at the injury site. Some inflammation is good (sore muscles after a good workout) and chronic inflammation (poor nutrition for instance) is bad . Inflammation is also what happens when you sprain your ankle and you are told to ice it.. The ice decreases blood flow, the products of inflammation and swelling.
The science is sound. Apply ice, decrease swelling and reduce the inflammatory response. But athletes DO need some level of inflammation in order to repair and build muscle after training.
A new Study published by The Physiological Society found that the application of constant ice baths lead to a decrease in protein synthesis when testing a group of athletes that were on a strength training program. The group tested some of the athletes with intermittent ice along the study and the other group of athletes were dunked in ice after every workout. The results showed that the uptake of amino acids in muscle tissue was dramatically reduced in the group that used ice as recovery every day.
SO…. why is this important?
Well, there has been 2 camps in the training world , Ice or Heat. Some trainers really push the icing of muscles at any sign of inflammation and there are another group of trainers that push heat and mobility to help reduce inflammation. The interesting and cheeky FAD of Cryotherapy (which I dont put much faith in) comes out of the camp of freeing the shit out of the muscles to help build muscle. This study basically proves (through muscle biopsy .. OUCH!) that freezing the muscle after training can inhibit muscle development.
What this study Does point to is that moderate heat, stretching and good nutrition is the best way to keep muscles growing and repairing themselves after training. I would then infer that Hot Yoga on Rest days is probably the best to aid in muscle development.
Save the Ice Baths and dips in freezing lakes for days those fun days when you are out on the trail with your friends and avoid overdoing it. I also suggest using ROCK TAPE on affected areas of the body that you fear may have been overtrained. Go Forth and train hard my friends. Stick to the science and keep building!
Love
Eric
Programming Notes 2/10-2/14 ***Continuing the Strength Interval work from last week, along with some sprint training on Thursday. Squatting day on Wednesday will be a repeat form last week. Up the load or keep it the same depending on how you feel. Look for the PRIMER work on Monday and Friday before the workout to be a great way to boost performance .
2/10
Baseline:
500m Row
3X
10 PVC Pass Thru
8 Divebomber Push Ups
6 Plyometric Push Ups
4 V Ups
Primer:
4 Rounds ,
*Each round to be completed at high heart rate.
10 Cal Row
10 Lateral Rebounds over the rower
Max Rep Ring Dip
:15 Ring Support after the last ring dip is completed!
-Rest 3:00 Between sets-
Aerobic Conditioning:
2 Rounds @80%
30 Cal Row
25 Box Jump Overs
20 Toes to Bar
15 Kettlebell Snatch 70/53
2/11
Baseline;
5:00 Easy Biking
2X
8 Elbow To Instep / Reach
8 Bootstraps
8 Barbell Good Mornings
Clean and Jerk Warm Up:
7@ Each
-Barbell Deadlift
-Shrug+ High Pull
-Muscle Clean
-Front Squat
-High Hang Clean + Strict Press
-Mid Hang Clean + Push Press
-Clean and Jerk
Clean Complex:
Every 2:00 for 8 Rounds
-Clean Deadlift
-Power clean
-Hang Squat Clean
-Clean and Jerk
*Building Each Set.
Anaerobic Intervals:
Every 4:00 For 5 Rounds (20 mins total)
12 Cal Bike
9 Bar Facing Burpee
6 Power Clean and Jerk 135/95
2/12
Baseline:
3X
200m Run
8 Elbow To instep Lunge + Reach
10 Squat Therapy
8 Side Lunge
10 Hip Swivel Kicks
Squat Flow: Squat Flow: Kang Squat, Internal Rotation, Ankle Roll Out, Bootstraps, PNF Stretch, Squat W/ T Spine Stretch
Strength:
Build Up To 85% of 1RM Front squat .
EMOM 18
Odd- 1 Front Squat @ 85%
Even- 2 Back squats + 50#
Aerobic Finisher:
2 Rounds @ Cruisy Pace
800m Run
35 Thrusters 75/55
*Bar Should No Be Put Down.
2/13
Baseline:
Agility Warm Up @ 10m Each
High Knee Pull
Quad Pull
Squat 180 **stepping the leg high over hip, swing opposite leg to 180, squat
High Knees
Butt kickers
Marching High Kicks
Groiners
Straight leg shuffles
A Skip
B Skip
Fig 4 Drill
Lateral Shuffle
Carioca
Lateral Bounding
Sprint W/ Change of Direction
Sprint Work:
5 X
400m Sprint - Rest 5 Mins Between
5X
200m Sprint -Rest 4 Mins Between
2X
100m Sprint - Rest 3:00 Between.
*Go frickin all out.. Make sure you follow the warm up completely and go into these at peak levels.
2/14
Baseline:
3X
200m Run
10 Scapula Pull Ups
10 Hollow Rocks
10 Single Leg Lateral Hops @ Each Leg
10 Wall Squats
Shoulder Prep:
10 @
Banded Pull Aparts
Banded Pass Thru
Banded Bench Press
Banded Press and Rip
Banded Reverse Flys
PRIMER:
3X
:45 Banded Barbell Overhead Hold (Bamboo style)
15 Hand Release Push Ups
10 Jump Lunges
:15 Chin Over the bar hold
-Rest 2:00 between-
WOD:
3X
21 Chest to Bar Pull Ups
50’ Handstand Walk
21 Wall Ball Shots
50’ Handstand Walk
