The Negative Effects of Cold Plunges for Building Muscle

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM · January 5, 2026 · Volume 71

Cold plunges following strength training are discouraged since they substantially attenuate long-term gains in muscle mass.

Discuss

Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

In my last video, I talked about how the benefits of cold plunges appear to be due to the placebo effect. But cold-water immersion isn’t just futile, but may be a foe when it comes to our muscle mass. A key take-home message is that if the goal of training is to build muscle mass and strength, regular cold plunges after exercise may not be beneficial.

It all started with this study in 2006, showing that cold-water immersion of muscles may actually interfere with regenerative processes, and retard rather than support the desired improvement of muscular performance. Since then, independent corroborating evidence has continued to accumulate that post-exercise cooling diminishes muscle adaptations to strength training, leading to punny click-bait titles like “Cryotherapy: Are we freezing the benefits of exercise?”, “Is the ice bath finally melting?”, “The cold truth”, “Cooling down the use of cryotherapy.”

Here’s a typical study showing that cold plunges substantially attenuate long-term gains in muscle mass and strength. Twelve weeks of strength training with just typical active recovery led to a significant increase in muscle mass in the quads, but the same amount of training with cold plunges barely moved the needle. And this manifested in significantly less strength, whether we’re talking maximum leg press strength, knee extension, isometric torque, or rate of force development.

Note that smaller muscles don’t necessarily lead to less strength. In this study, the blunted muscle fiber growth didn’t translate to impaired strength development, but post-exercise cold plunges should be avoided if you do actually want bigger muscles. But there are folks, like long-distance runners, who may not want that extra bulk; so, cold plunges may be a way to keep their muscles smaller.

This is probably the most rigorous study involving measuring muscle mass using the gold standard––MRI imaging––and actually taking muscle biopsies before and after. And, while both groups gained muscle mass and strength following training, these gains were significantly smaller in the cold-water immersion group compared with the active recovery group. And the cross-sectional area of fast-twitch muscle fibers also increased only in the control group.

There have been all sorts of published points and counterpoints about the cold-water dampening effect on hypertrophy gains. Here’s a systematic review with meta‑analysis of all such studies. A harmful effect of cold-water immersion was verified for every single strength parameter measure: one-rep maximum, maximal isometric strength, strength endurance, and ballistic efforts all reduced by cold plunges. So, it appears useless for endurance training and deleterious for strength training. Why are people still doing it? Here’s a 2024 meta-analysis, and the title says it all: Throwing cold water on muscle growth.

This may be because cold water immersion puts the chill on muscle protein synthesis, both in the hours immediately following exercise and during weeks of strength training. Another explanation for cold-induced reductions in strength is that cold-water immersion constricts the arteries and causes a reduction in blood flow, which is important for muscle strength and development. A 50 percent drop in femoral blood flow compared to warmer water or control. Reductions in muscle blood flow reduces the oxygen supply, which plays a role in the decreased muscle mass, too. Cold plunges also blunt the testosterone response. So, the impaired testosterone response may be another reason for the attenuated strength and muscle growth.

So, cold plunges following resistance exercise sessions should be discouraged, but they are said not to impair aerobic training. That’s not always the case, though, as some studies show a reduction of aerobic fitness as well. This study found that muscle warming was better than cooling, thought due to the slowing of glycogen resynthesis in the cold. Mean power output was better preserved hours after an all-out arm-cycling exercise. The cold did worse than control, and after the muscle heating, there was hardly any decrease in power output at all?

So, wait, should we instead be like taking a warm bath or sauna after exercise instead of an ice water bath? Regardless, cryotherapy is apparently not as cool as it seems.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Motion graphics by Avo Media

Doctor's Note

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 corld 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-dosen’t-kill-us-makes-us-stonger 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 and Are the Benefits of Cold Plunges and Cryotherapy Just a Placebo Effect?.

If you haven't yet, you can subscribe to our free newsletter. With your subscription, you'll also get notifications for just-released blogs and videos. Check out our information page about our translated resources.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This