Cold water after strength training trimmed strength gains across ten studies
The 2023 meta-analysis in the European Journal of Sport Science pooled 10 studies with 170 participants and split them by whether the trained limbs or the whole body went into the water.
The paper
Effects of post‐exercise cold‐water immersion on resistance training‐induced gains in muscular strength: a meta‐analysis
Grgic J. European Journal of Sport Science, 2023;23(3):372-380.
See the study at a glance
- Design
- Meta-analysis pooling 10 studies
- People
- 10 studies, 170 people
- Who they were
- Participants in 10 resistance-training studies. Men made up 92% of them.
- What they did
- The studies compared resistance training followed by cold-water immersion with the same training alone. Some immersed only the trained limbs and others the whole body.
- How long
- Varied by study
These numbers came out of it
−0.23
The pooled effect size for strength gains with cold water was −0.23. Its plausible range (95% CI −0.45 to −0.01) stayed below zero, so the drop was statistically significant.
−0.31
When only the trained limbs went into the water, the effect size was −0.31.
−0.08
With the whole body in the water, the effect size was −0.08 and not statistically significant.
92%
Men made up 92% of the participants.
The researchers did this
The analysis looked for studies that followed strength training with cold-water immersion and compared them with the same training alone.Source 1 · Meta-analysisEffects of post‐exercise cold‐water immersion on resistance training‐induced gains in muscular strength: a meta‐analysisGrgic J. European Journal of Sport Science, 2023.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ It found 10 studies with 170 participants, and men made up 92% of them.
Across the 10 studies, cold water trimmed strength gains, with a pooled effect size of −0.23 (95% CI −0.45 to −0.01, P = 0.041).Source 1 · Meta-analysisEffects of post‐exercise cold‐water immersion on resistance training‐induced gains in muscular strength: a meta‐analysisGrgic J. European Journal of Sport Science, 2023.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ Studies that immersed only the trained limbs found a larger effect of −0.31 (−0.61 to −0.01). With the whole body in the water the effect was −0.08 (−0.53 to 0.38), and that result wasn't significant.
A 2021 review of 8 studies found a larger strength effect (−0.60) and no effect on endurance gains.Source 2 · Meta-analysisThe Effects of Regular Cold-Water Immersion Use on Training-Induced Changes in Strength and Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review with Meta-AnalysisMalta ES, Dutra YM, Broatch JR, et al.. Sports Medicine, 2021.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ A 2024 Bayesian analysis looked at muscle size and put the probability that cold water reduces growth at 0.957.Source 3 · Meta-analysisThrowing cold water on muscle growth: A systematic review with meta‐analysis of the effects of postexercise cold water immersion on resistance training‐induced hypertrophyPiñero A, Burke R, Augustin F, et al.. European Journal of Sport Science, 2024.Read the paper ↗
The study can't tell you these things
- All 10 studies together enrolled only 170 people.
- Nearly all the participants were men.
- The whole-body estimate has a wide plausible range (−0.53 to 0.38). It leaves room for anything from a moderate reduction to a small gain.
- It looked only at strength. A separate 2024 analysis covered muscle size.Source 3 · Meta-analysisThrowing cold water on muscle growth: A systematic review with meta‐analysis of the effects of postexercise cold water immersion on resistance training‐induced hypertrophyPiñero A, Burke R, Augustin F, et al.. European Journal of Sport Science, 2024.Read the paper ↗
People quote it like this
The split between limb and whole-body immersion matters for home plungers, because a plunge tub immerses the whole body. In this analysis whole-body immersion had no significant effect on strength.Source 1 · Meta-analysisEffects of post‐exercise cold‐water immersion on resistance training‐induced gains in muscular strength: a meta‐analysisGrgic J. European Journal of Sport Science, 2023.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
We cited these sources
- 01Grgic J. Effects of post‐exercise cold‐water immersion on resistance training‐induced gains in muscular strength: a meta‐analysis. European Journal of Sport Science. 2023;23(3):372-380. doi:10.1080/17461391.2022.2033851 PMID 35068365
- 02Malta ES, Dutra YM, Broatch JR, Bishop DJ, Zagatto AM. The Effects of Regular Cold-Water Immersion Use on Training-Induced Changes in Strength and Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine. 2021;51(1):161-174. doi:10.1007/s40279-020-01362-0 PMID 33146851
- 03Piñero A, Burke R, Augustin F, Mohan AE, DeJesus K, Sapuppo M, et al.. Throwing cold water on muscle growth: A systematic review with meta‐analysis of the effects of postexercise cold water immersion on resistance training‐induced hypertrophy. European Journal of Sport Science. 2024;24(2):177-189. doi:10.1002/ejsc.12074