Today, everywhere you turn, you’ll find ice baths and saunas being promoted for recovery. Instagram, TikTok, podcasts…you cant avoid it.
Unfortunately, thinking of these as a method for recovery is a bit of a misconception. You see, the problem is that they don’t get rid of stress, they actually add it.
Defining Stress
Stress is a natural part of life and is experienced by everyone to some degree. Stress is the body’s response to any demand or challenge, and it can be physical, mental, or emotional.
In small doses stress can be helpful. It can help people perform at their best and stimulate adaptation.
However, excessive stress can be harmful to the body and can lead to a variety of negative outcomes, such as decreased performance, illness, and injury.
There are two main types of stress: distress and eustress.
Distress
Distress is a type of stress that is harmful to the body and can lead to negative outcomes. It is the type of stress that people usually think of when they think of stress. It is often associated with feelings of anxiety, tension, and overwhelm.
Distress can be caused by a variety of factors, including physical, mental, or emotional stressors.
Eustress
Eustress is a term used to describe a type of stress that is beneficial to the body. It is a stress that helps people adapt and build more capacity to handle stress.
Eustress can be thought of as a positive form of stress that helps people grow and develop.
Ice baths and saunas are two examples of activities that can induce eustress in the body.
When you expose your body to extreme temperatures, your body has to adapt in order to maintain homeostasis.
For example, when you take an ice bath, your body has to work hard to keep your core temperature stable. This is a physiological stressor, but it can also be beneficial. It can help improve your body’s ability to regulate temperature and boost your immune system.
Similarly, when you spend time in a sauna, your body has to work hard to cool itself down. This process can help improve blood circulation and boost the immune system.
Both ice baths and saunas can be useful tools for inducing eustress and helping the body adapt to new challenges. However, it’s important to be careful and not overdo it, as excessive stress can be harmful to the body.
Stress and Recovery
Recovery is the process of returning to a state of balance or homeostasis after experiencing stress or challenge. Stress can affect different systems and functions in the human body. (Learn about the Four Pillars of Stress and Recovery HERE)
In physiological terms, recovery involves a number of physiological processes that help the body repair and rebuild itself after being subjected to stress.
The general adaptation syndrome (GAS) is a model proposed by Hans Selye in the 1930s. It describes the body’s response to stress. According to the GAS model, the body goes through three stages in response to stress: the alarm stage, the resistance stage, and the recovery stage.
- Alarm stage: During the alarm stage, the body is alerted to the presence of stress and activates the fight-or-flight response. This involves the release of stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, and the activation of the sympathetic nervous system.
- Resistance stage: During the resistance stage, the body continues to respond to the stress and tries to cope with it. This may involve the activation of additional physiological responses, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure.
- Recovery stage: During the recovery stage, the body returns to its baseline state of homeostasis. The physiological responses that were activated during the alarm and resistance stages begin to dissipate.
Overall, recovery is an important part of the stress response and is necessary for maintaining optimal fitness and wellness
Adaptability
Aadaptability refers to the body’s ability to respond and adapt to various types of stress and challenges. Adaptability is important for fitness and wellness because it helps the body maintain homeostasis and improve its ability to cope with stress.
When the body is subjected to stress, it has to adapt in order to maintain homeostasis. This can involve a variety of physiological responses, such as changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and hormone production. These responses help the body cope with the stress and return to a state of balance.
For example, when an athlete strength trains, muscles are subjected to a level of stress to move heavy objects. This stress can cause microtrauma to the muscle fibers, which leads to inflammation and muscle soreness. However, as the muscles repair and rebuild themselves, they become stronger and more resilient. This process of adaptation helps the body improve its ability to cope with similar challenges in the future.
Overall, adaptability is an important aspect of fitness and wellness. Because it helps the body respond to stress and challenges in a way that promotes growth and improvement.
By exposing the body to stress in a controlled and healthy way, individuals can improve their adaptability. Which subsequently continues to improvements in overall fitness and wellness.
Saunas Aren’t Recovery, They Are Stress
Sauna use, also known as sauna therapy or hyperthermia, is a recovery technique that involves exposing the body to high temperatures in a sauna. This can be a traditional high temperature sauna, or an infrared sauna.
A sauna session is often recommended as a way to help improve recovery and overall wellness.
When you expose your body to high temperatures in a sauna, it has to work hard to regulate temperature and maintain homeostasis. This process involves a number of physiological responses, including:
- Vasodilation: When the body is exposed to heat, the blood vessels in the skin dilate in order to increase blood flow and help dissipate heat. This process can help reduce muscle soreness and inflammation by increasing blood flow to the muscles.
- Increased heart rate: When the body is exposed to heat, the heart has to work harder to pump blood and help
Heat Shock Proteins
Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are a group of proteins that are produced by the body in response to various types of stress, including heat stress.
Using a sauna can affect the production of HSPs in the body, as it exposes the body to high temperatures, which can be a form of stress. According to some research, sauna use may increase the production of HSPs in the body, particularly HSP70 (Siriwardena et al., 2003).
The effects of HSPs on wellness and adaptation are not fully understood, but some research suggests that HSPs may play a role in the body’s adaptation to stress.
For example, HSPs may help protect cells and tissues from damage, and may promote the repair and regeneration of damaged tissue (Morimoto et al., 1998).
Sauna use can be stressful, but it can also be beneficial, as it can help improve your body’s ability to regulate temperature and boost your immune system.
Some potential benefits of sauna use for recovery and wellness include:
- Reducing muscle soreness and inflammation: Sauna use can help reduce inflammation and muscle soreness by increasing blood flow to the muscles and promoting the release of endorphins.
- Boosting the immune system: Sauna use can help boost the immune system by increasing the production of white blood cells, which help fight infection and disease.
- Relaxation: Sauna use may impart a physiological stress, but it simultaneously reduce mental or emotional stress by promoting relaxation.
Overall, the sauna imposes strong physiological stress in reaction to the heat. While this is a form of stress, in the right doses it stimulates positive adaptations. Sauna use can be considered a form of eustress because it challenges the body in a way that promotes adaptation and growth.
Ice Baths Cause Stress Not Recovery
Ice baths, also known as cold water immersion or cryotherapy, are a recovery technique that involves immersing the body in cold water for a short period of time.
Cold plunges are often used by athletes and fitness enthusiasts to help reduce muscle soreness and inflammation, improve recovery, and boost the immune system.
In the model of eustress, ice baths can be considered a form of eustress because they challenge the body in a way that promotes adaptation and growth.
When you expose your body to extreme cold, your body has to adapt in order to maintain homeostasis.
This can be stressful, but it can also be beneficial, as it can help improve your body’s ability to regulate temperature and boost your immune system.
Benefits of Ice Baths
Some potential benefits of ice baths for performance and wellness include:
- Reducing muscle soreness and inflammation: Cold water immersion can help reduce inflammation and muscle soreness by constricting blood vessels and reducing blood flow to the muscles. This can help reduce swelling and pain, and improve recovery time.
- Boosting the immune system: Cold water immersion can help boost the immune system by increasing the production of white blood cells, which help fight infection and disease.
- Improving recovery: Ice baths can help improve recovery by reducing muscle soreness & inflammation, and boosting the immune system. This can help athletes and fitness enthusiasts feel fresher and more ready to train or compete.
- Increasing mental toughness: Cold water immersion can be a challenging experience, and many people find that it helps to build mental toughness and resilience.
Overall, ice baths aren’t recovery, they can be a useful tool for athletes and fitness enthusiasts looking to improve performance and wellness.
However, it’s important to be careful and not overdo it, as excessive stress can be harmful to the body. It’s also important to listen to your body and avoid ice baths if you have any underlying health conditions or injuries.
Its Not recovery, Its Adaptation
There are clear benefits from ice baths and saunas. However, its not so much due to recovering from stress.
Ice baths aren’t recovery. Neither are saunas. At least, not directly.
In fact, ice baths & saunas create eustress to stimulate adaptation and greater capacity for handling future stress.
You can think of them more as a training modality than a recovery modality. They aren’t training for strength or endurance, but for greater systemic adaptability. And ultimately, that leads to better recovery.
References:
Meyer, T., Stohr, H., & Henschler, D. (2000). Heat shock proteins and the immune system. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 54(2), 81-87.
Morimoto, R. I., Tissieres, A., & Georgopoulos, C. (1998). Heat shock proteins, molecular chaperones, and the
Selye, H. (1950). The stress of life. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Selye, H. (1976). The stress of life (Rev. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
