Better known as an Ice Bath. Some runners swear by it, personally the cold doesn't suit me unless im strapped to on a snowy mountain. But for runners, this treatment is hard to beat for injury and soreness. Why not use simple ice packs over sitting in an ice tub for 10 to 20 minutes? Well, with ice packs the temperatures of your muscles increase instantly after taking them off, which doesn't help deep last pain that comes with injury or long runs. After an ice bath your muscles still continue to cool for some time.
What an ice bath does is constricts blood vessels and decreases metabolic activity, which reduces inflammation and tissue breakdown. Immersion up to the waist allows for even constrictions around all your muscles which closes damage that you can't feel and numbs pain you can. Another benefit of the ice bath is known as the "blood rush." To acheive this you have to overcome your mind and just get in the icey water (think Titanic). Here your body fights back the cold with rapid blood circulation that flushes damage-inflicting waste from your system allowing fresh nutrients to come in and treat your muscles.
Ideally ice baths are around 50 to 60 degrees F and last for 10 to 20 minutes. The water should come up almost to your waist. To make this experience go by a little quicker some suggest wearing a jacket and a beenie and getting a cup of hot tea, and leaning back to let your muscles relax.
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