It may seem like cold plunging is all the rage these days, but you won’t catch five-time Classic Physique Olympia winner Chris Bumstead taking a chilly dip after his bodybuilding workouts.
“I have always tried to be vocal that I do not cold plunge to benefit my hypertrophy training,” said Bumstead.
Cold plunges come with a variety of alluring promises, but there’s one important drawback for the muscle-minded: They may diminish your ability to build muscle in the first place. It may sound like we’re throwing cold water on one of the hottest new health trends, but for competitors like Bumstead, every gram of mass matters.
Why Chris Bumstead Doesn’t Cold Plunge Post-Workout
Cold plunges are the new ice bath. A cold plunge involves spending 5 to 15 minutes in any tub or basin filled with water at or below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. In the last couple of years, this health and wellness trend has really taken off according to Google Trends:
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Leading scientists and modern-day health gurus alike have boarded the cold train as the next big thing in muscle recovery and mental soothing. Dr. Andrew Huberman has called the cold plunge a method of, “positively affecting brain and body health.”
Cold water immersion (CWI) has been found to help flush lactic acid and other waste products out of your muscles. (1)
A 2017 systematic review found that plunging may also help athletes feel recovered more quickly. (2)
With less than two months until the 2024 Olympia, cold plunges are right up the alley of a pro bodybuilder like Bumstead who needs every advantage he can get. But Bumstead is very particular about the timing of CWI relative to his bodybuilding workouts:
“I [cold plunge] away from training for inflammation, blood flow, autoimmune [factors], etc,” Bumstead wrote on his Instagram story on Sep. 1, 2024. Why should you not dabble with CWI right after a strength training session?
Cold Plunges May Affect Muscle Growth
“In my opinion, post-training, you should not cold plunge,” remarked rehab specialist and performance coach Justin King. King is working with Bumstead on the finer details of bodybuilding contest prep ahead of the ’24 Classic Physique “O”.
“There is both good and bad inflammation in the body,” King explained on social media. “Post-training, there is an extremely anabolic inflammatory response that occurs and an up-regulation in hormones associated with hypertrophy.”
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He’s right. King also referenced a landmark study from 2015 in The Journal of Physiology. Authors Roberts et al. offered that cold plunging, “attenuates acute anabolic signalling and long-term adaptations in muscle to strength training.” (3)
In plain English, cold plunging post-workout reduces the benefits you’d receive from your strength training session — at least, according to these data. Other studies have put forth sharper criticisms, saying that CWI may not even be more effective than a placebo. (4)
If you enjoy cold plunges and don’t want your hard-earned weight room gains to waste away, don’t fret. You aren’t going to wither away if you take an ice bath after the gym once in a while.
If you’re trying to really optimize your health habits, though, you should probably separate your cold plunge sessions from your bodybuilding workouts.
The men and women preparing for the 2024 Olympia need all the help they can get. Bumstead will share the stage from Oct. 10 to 13 in Las Vegas with some of the best bodybuilders in the world.
If Bumstead wants to bag his sixth Olympia title, there’s no time for cold feet after a hard workout.
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References
Morton R. H. (2007). Contrast water immersion hastens plasma lactate decrease after intense anaerobic exercise. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 10(6), 467–470.
Higgins, T. R., Greene, D. A., & Baker, M. K. (2017). Effects of Cold Water Immersion and Contrast Water Therapy for Recovery From Team Sport: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 31(5), 1443–1460.
Roberts LA, Raastad T, Markworth JF, Figueiredo VC, Egner IM, Shield A, Cameron-Smith D, Coombes JS, Peake JM. Post-exercise cold water immersion attenuates acute anabolic signalling and long-term adaptations in muscle to strength training. J Physiol. 2015 Sep 15;593(18):4285-301. doi: 10.1113/JP270570. Epub 2015 Aug 13. PMID: 26174323; PMCID: PMC4594298.
Broatch, J. R., Petersen, A., & Bishop, D. J. (2014). Postexercise cold water immersion benefits are not greater than the placebo effect. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 46(11), 2139–2147.
Featured Image: @cbum / Instagram
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