Why Even Super Athletic Tennis Stars Have Ice Baths

If you have an image of visiting spa pods and fit pods as being all about hot stone massages and warm thermal pools, you may be in for something of a cold shock.

However, this could be a very beneficial one, as having an ice bath can have some wonderful benefits for your muscles and circulation.

The people who know this best and trust this practice most tend to be professional tennis players. After hours of sprinting back and forth around a court, many of the top stars will take an ice bath after the match. The recently-retired Andy Murray did this even with the Wimbledon trophy in his hand!

Ice baths after a lot of exercise help in healing because the cold causes the blood vessels to contract. This causes a lot of waste products to be flushed out of the muscles. Then, as you warm up afterward, the vessels expand, the blood flow speeds up and your body delivers everything it needs to ease recovery.

The upshot of this is reduced soreness, less inflammation and faster recovery. Small wonder tennis stars at the Australian Open will be using it.

Murray’s long-time rival Novak Djokovic, who he now coaches in a surprise twist, is another fan of the technique, as was another recently retired superstar, Rafael Nadal.

You won’t be in there very long, so don’t worry about getting hypothermia. Until you are used to it, a couple of minutes will be enough. But the benefits will soon become apparent, even if you haven’t been running around a tennis court all afternoon.

Indeed, the whole experience can actually feel quite exhilarating, so while you might not fancy plunging into a bath full of ice at first, you will soon not just get used to it, but be very glad you did it and make it a regular part of your post-exercise routine.