Does dunking in cold water help sore muscles?
Effects of cold-water immersion at different body regions on post-exercise muscle damage recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Partial immersion impairs explosive performance much more than whole-body immersion.
Most assume full-body exposure would have stronger effects—positive or negative—but here, only partial immersion caused a major drop in jump performance.
Practical Takeaways
Use partial cold-water immersion after intense training to reduce next-day soreness.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Partial immersion impairs explosive performance much more than whole-body immersion.
Most assume full-body exposure would have stronger effects—positive or negative—but here, only partial immersion caused a major drop in jump performance.
Practical Takeaways
Use partial cold-water immersion after intense training to reduce next-day soreness.
Publication
Journal
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
Year
2026
Authors
Yang Zhu, Lele Yang, Tao Liu, Fuya Yao, Qilong Wang, Zheng Yi
Related Content
Claims (6)
You don’t need to dunk your whole body in cold water after a workout—just cooling the sore muscles works just as well for recovery.
Taking a cold-water bath after exercise probably helps reduce muscle soreness, especially in the first day, and the effect seems real even when accounting for biased studies.
Taking cold baths or cold showers after working out might slightly lower a marker of muscle damage in healthy people, but the benefit could be smaller than studies suggest because of biased reporting.
Taking a cold-water plunge after exercise might make your jumping power worse right afterward, especially if only part of your body is in the water — but soaking your whole body doesn’t seem to have much of an effect.
Taking cold baths or cold plunges after exercise might make you *feel* better, but it doesn’t actually help your muscles get stronger faster in the first 72 hours.