The research on ice baths is a mixed bag, but one thing that shows up again and again is that if you feel like an ice bath makes your legs feel better then you should ice bath. However, something to consider is to save those ice baths for 1-2 days before harder workouts, long runs or races.
The goal, at least partly, with an ice bath is to suppress or reduce the inflammation created by harder workouts. The inflammatory response, however, is a good sign that your body is attempting to repair the damage created by hard workouts, and that repair process is what allows us to super-compensate and build back stronger than we were before. It’s possible, although this a mixed bag when it comes to the research, that an ice bath may lengthen the time frame of recovery by reducing the inflammatory response. However, if you need to bounce back quickly between two races in one week or are looking for a way to freshen up your legs before a hard workout or race the ice bath is an excellent way to do so.
