06/10/2025
WHAT?! So you're saying the one thing that absolutely slows down the body's metabolism inhibits muscle building? I'm shocked. 🙄
A study published in The Journal of Physiology tracked physically active men over 12 weeks of strength training to compare cold plunges versus active recovery. The goal: to measure how each recovery method affected muscle growth, strength, and cellular adaptations.
Beyond just performance metrics, the study revealed that cold exposure disrupted the body's internal muscle-building machinery. Satellite cells-crucial for muscle repair and growth
—barely activated after cold immersion. The mTOR pathway, a key driver of hypertrophy, was also significantly less active.
This isn't just about short-term recovery-it suggests cold plunges can interfere with the biological signals your body needs to grow muscle.
This research challenges a growing fitness trend. Cold plunges may help with soreness, but if you're chasing long-term gains, they could be doing more harm than good. Recovery should support adaptation, not suppress it.
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