This article came out a few days ago and has been making the rounds of the interwebs (yes, I said it…I know it’s internet). There has been a lot of reposting of this the past few days and I’ve been tempted to write about the article. I for one have iced in the past but don’t too often. I’ve never taken ice baths, but take a hot bath after a run instead if I feel I need it. I’m not certified in any way except being a Physical and Health Education teacher, so take what I say as you should with any advice and go with your gut or what your doctor tells you.
First of all I was unable to locate the study cited in the article without paying a huge sum of money…not gonna happen! Gretchen Reynolds who wrote the article suggests that RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) is the standard of dealing with sports injuries and than Ice is often used for “dealing with muscles that “twinge” but aren’t officially injured”. In my experience Ice is really only used for joints and not muscles. I know that soccer players sometimes rub ice cups on quads/hamstrings after practice or a game, but since that application is not continuous I wouldn’t call it traditional icing.
She goes on to take about how icing can also decrease power for up to 15-20 minutes if used before exercise and that it numbed the area. This information suggested to the authors that if an athlete ices mid exercise/game that their performance will be decreased. This is because the icing slows down how fast the nerves conduct the information making reaction times slower. The study’s volunteers couldn’t jump as high, hit/throw a ball, or run as fast after 20 minutes of icing. This study was conducted over in Ireland so it’s not known if professional athletes were tested or if volunteers from the University community were used. There could be a difference in the results depending on which group was used because athletes being more highly conditioned might not be as adversely effected.
The authors continues and wraps up the article saying how icing might be good for limited amounts of time after exercise, it probably isn’t good for use in the middle of exercise. While there has been no research done that suggests that icing is bad no benefits have been found other than reducing pain. The author supplies this quote
But relying on ice to get you back into that senior-league basketball game or onto the running track when you’re already sore is inadvisable.“Athletes should consider that pain is usually a sign that something is wrong with your body,” Dr. Bleakley says.
My experience and understanding of pain and soreness are two different things. Being sore from a strenuous weight training session is a sign that the muscles have been “damaged” and are repairing themselves. This is never usually a bad thing as this is the only way that muscles will grow and get stronger. Pain on the other hand is different that just being sore and the activity should be stopped to minimize further damage. It sounds like the author is using pain and sore to mean the same thing, which they aren’t.
While I can’t get all fancy with scientific talk like some people have in the comments (go read them, they have a lot of useful information). I do know that this article is misleading and it seems it is targeted at those who are new to exercising and might not take pain seriously. Unfortunately it is hard to tell if those people have read the article or if it’s just those that already know about exercise like those that chose to comment.
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What are your thoughts on the article?
Do you ice if you have muscle pain, joint pain, after every run or not at all?
Have a great Sunday!
This article came out a few days ago and has been making the rounds of the interwebs (yes, I said it…I know it’s internet). There has been a lot of reposting of this the past few days and I’ve been tempted to write about the article. I for one have iced in the past but don’t too often. I’ve never taken ice baths, but take a hot bath after a run instead if I feel I need it. I’m not certified in any way except being a Physical and Health Education teacher, so take what I say as you should with any advice and go with your gut or what your doctor tells you.
First of all I was unable to locate the study cited in the article without paying a huge sum of money…not gonna happen! Gretchen Reynolds who wrote the article suggests that RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) is the standard of dealing with sports injuries and than Ice is often used for “dealing with muscles that “twinge” but aren’t officially injured”. In my experience Ice is really only used for joints and not muscles. I know that soccer players sometimes rub ice cups on quads/hamstrings after practice or a game, but since that application is not continuous I wouldn’t call it traditional icing.
She goes on to take about how icing can also decrease power for up to 15-20 minutes if used before exercise and that it numbed the area. This information suggested to the authors that if an athlete ices mid exercise/game that their performance will be decreased. This is because the icing slows down how fast the nerves conduct the information making reaction times slower. The study’s volunteers couldn’t jump as high, hit/throw a ball, or run as fast after 20 minutes of icing. This study was conducted over in Ireland so it’s not known if professional athletes were tested or if volunteers from the University community were used. There could be a difference in the results depending on which group was used because athletes being more highly conditioned might not be as adversely effected.
The authors continues and wraps up the article saying how icing might be good for limited amounts of time after exercise, it probably isn’t good for use in the middle of exercise. While there has been no research done that suggests that icing is bad no benefits have been found other than reducing pain. The author supplies this quote
My experience and understanding of pain and soreness are two different things. Being sore from a strenuous weight training session is a sign that the muscles have been “damaged” and are repairing themselves. This is never usually a bad thing as this is the only way that muscles will grow and get stronger. Pain on the other hand is different that just being sore and the activity should be stopped to minimize further damage. It sounds like the author is using pain and sore to mean the same thing, which they aren’t.
While I can’t get all fancy with scientific talk like some people have in the comments (go read them, they have a lot of useful information). I do know that this article is misleading and it seems it is targeted at those who are new to exercising and might not take pain seriously. Unfortunately it is hard to tell if those people have read the article or if it’s just those that already know about exercise like those that chose to comment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
What are your thoughts on the article?
Do you ice if you have muscle pain, joint pain, after every run or not at all?
Have a great Sunday!