The Negative Effects of Cold Plunges for Building Muscle

Cold plunges following strength training are discouraged since they substantially attenuate long-term gains in muscle mass. When I read something like this in the literature, it absolutely astounds me that people can get away with continuing to promote something that may have the opposite of its intended effect. What a topsy-turvy world we live in. I didn’t think it would come out to be so clear-cut. But this research definitely makes me much more skeptical about proclamations coming out of the sports medicine world. And I thought the nutrition could be bad! Now, cold plunges don’t only benefit from their reputation as a recovery aid, albeit an undeserved one. Even if they impair muscle growth, what about the possibility that this that-which-doesn’t-kill-us-makes-us-stronger cold stress can have other potential benefits, like helping our immune function? I cover that later in this series, coming out in a couple months. If you missed the previous videos, check out Best Temperature, Timing, and Duration for Cold Plunges for Athletic Performance Recovery (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/best-temperature-timing-and-duration-for-cold-plunges-for-athletic-performance-recovery) and Are the Benefits of Cold Plunges and Cryotherapy Just a Placebo Effect? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/are-the-benefits-of-cold-plunges-and-cryotherapy-just-a-placebo-effect). New subscribers to our e-newsletter always receive a free gift. Get yours here: https://nutritionfacts.org/subscribe/. Have a question about this video? Leave it in the comment section at http://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-negative-effects-of-cold-plunges-for-building-muscle and someone on the NutritionFacts.org team will try to answer it. Want to get a list of links to all the scientific sources used in this video? Click on Sources Cited at https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-negative-effects-of-cold-plunges-for-building-muscle. You’ll also find a transcript and acknowledgements for the video, my blog and speaking tour schedule, and an easy way to search (by translated language even) through our videos spanning more than 2,000 health topics. Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution! -Michael Greger, MD FACLM Captions for this video are available in several languages; you can find yours in the video settings. View important information about our translated resources: https://nutritionfacts.org/translations-info/ https://NutritionFacts.org • Subscribe: https://nutritionfacts.org/subscribe • Donate: https://nutritionfacts.org/donate • Podcast : https://nutritionfacts.org/audio • Books: https://nutritionfacts.org/books • Shop: https://drgreger.org • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NutritionFacts.org • Twitter: https://twitter.com/nutrition_facts • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutrition_facts_org