I've already stopped the breathwork on my 2 workout days a week because, after a few months of it, I found it a bit much doing both on the same day, one after the other. And so, as of a couple of weeks ago, I do the breathwork only 5 days a week. Further, I've read that cold immersion and its weaker cousin, a cold shower, immediately after working out may blunt a hypertrophic response. I came across a study with this conclusion a while back, but I put it out of mind. However, I recently looked into it some more, and it seems that this conclusion is fairly uniform across a number of sources and studies. And so, as with the breathwork, I decided to do the cold showers only on non-workout days. Not that I really expect much in the way of additional muscle growth at this stage in life, but I sure as heck don't want to actively blunt the process. Any thoughts on this?
I can't remember where I was reading, but I saw references to a study that indicated cold immersion before working out was beneficial, and as you found, after was not good after a workout.
-8 air / -34 wind chill here today, I told the wife I was going to walk the dogs in shorts and a t-shirt. I didn't, but did take them out for the morning pee in a t-shirt, shorts and sandals. It actually didn't feel as bad as getting immersed in cold water all at once.
That was just for the morning pee, I went with the layers for a very short walk. I worry about their paws freezing with this crap, so the walks are short for the next day.
From what I've seen and read cold immersion is indeed the wrong way to go for muscle growth. It should be done to stimulate the entire system in the morning and at least a couple hours before a workout.
Same here, I can't even get my pup to go out this morning. I was just out shoveling the driveway. A bit brisk. I'm about 30 miles south of Chicago.
Yeah, our 11 month old had no clue he was going to freeze, but the 2 yr old wanted to do business and get in, and he is usually a winter nut. About 100 miles north of Chicago here, we lucked out with minimal snow, so just slight drifting in these crappy temps and winds,
The water was 6.4 Celsius yesterday (43.52 Degrees Fahrenheit). I normally do the morning cold shower for 2 minutes and 15 seconds, but I barely managed 2 minutes yesterday. It was somehow both a bit painful and numbing. Today was a workout day so I was spared. I imagine the water will get colder still as we hit January and February. I just hope to hang on for 2 minutes for the duration of winter.