Moderate evidence

Regular cold water immersion after lifting reduces the long-term muscle gains from that training.

In practice

Ice baths make you feel better and leave you with less to show for the work. If you're lifting to build muscle, save the cold for competition days or don't bother — an ice bath after every session is actively working against you.

What it doesn't say

This applies to strength and hypertrophy training. Cold immersion for acute recovery between same-day events is a different question with different answers.

Source

• Roberts LA, Raastad T, Markworth JF, Figueiredo VC, Egner IM, Shield A, Cameron-Smith D, Coombes JS, Peake JM (2015). Post-exercise cold water immersion attenuates acute anabolic signalling and long-term adaptations in muscle to strength training. The Journal of Physiology, 593(18):4285–4301. doi.org/10.1113/JP270570