James Laughlin explains why daily cold plunges might actually hurt muscle growth. Studies show cold exposure after strength training blunts muscle adaptation, yet the internet treats it as a cure-all with far less evidence than heat exposure like saunas.
Cold plunge— cold plunging is a bit of a fad. I think it's a— the sort of internet prescription is a little bit ahead of the actual data, which I think is less well-developed than the sauna data and the heat— the heat physiology data. You know, my— in my mind, the jury's— jury's kind of out. But like, for athletes, I don't think it's the cure-all that, that many people seem to believe that it is, especially in terms of strength. After a strength workout, you know, it kind of— there's many, many studies that show that cold exposure kind of blunts muscle adaptation, muscle growth.
