ice baths in Bangkok
Ice Baths are trending. In the past it seemed like only elite athletes and stern men with impressive beards did Ice Baths. Now celebrities like Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and Harry Styles are touting the benefits. So, what’s all the fuss about? Is it just a fad?
Ice Baths are nothing new. Their ability to aid in muscle recovery and leave you feeling elated and invigorated afterwards have long been known. However, more recently Ice Baths have been studied as a potential weight loss aid and a tool for learning how to deal with stress more effectively.
Despite there not being many places you can do Ice Baths in Bangkok, due to it’s hot and humid climate, Bangkok is probably one of the few places on earth where it might actually be desirable to do an Ice Bath even if there were no other benefits than that it effectively cooled you down..
This article is intended to give you a useful overview of Ice Baths including the benefits, risks and where you can do Ice Baths in Bangkok. If you’ve never taken an Ice Bath before here are some tips and tricks for doing your first ice bath.
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”The key is to aim for a temperature that evokes the thought, “This is really cold (!), and I want to get out, BUT I can safely stay in. For some people, that temperature might be 60°F, whereas for others, 45°F.” Andrew Huberman, Stanford University Professor
Essentially, as the name implies, Ice Baths are a combination of Ice and Water, in a large enough container that allows you to fully immerse yourself. We’ve seen a whole array of containers used, from bins to metal troughs to chest freezers!
How cold is cold enough? For this Andrew Huberman, a stanford professor, perfectly summarises it: ”The key is to aim for a temperature that evokes the thought, “This is really cold (!), and I want to get out, BUT I can safely stay in. For some people, that temperature might be 15.5, whereas for others, 7 degrees.” Normally at Bangkok Ice Baths the temperature range from between 4 degrees to 10 degrees. It might be cool to boast to your friends that you did an Ice bath at 0 degrees, but there’s little added benefit to doing so, and risks of hypothermia and frostbite are much higher.
The benefits of Ice Baths are actually the benefits of Cold Exposure in general. This means that you could theoretically take a cold shower or cold plunge. However, taking a cold shower or doing a cold plunge in Thailand is a bit like trying to gain muscle from lifting very light weights. It’s possible, but will take a lot longer, since in most cases the water just isn’t cold enough. Therefore, Ice Baths are probably the most effective, affordable and feasible way to get your dose of Cold Exposure.
Below are the main benefits to Ice Baths:
Boosts Energy, Motivation and Mood
Plunging into cold water triggers a burst of adrenaline and norepinephrine. These brain chemicals make you feel instantly more alert and invigorated. After spending about 5 minutes in the ice you can boost your dopamine levels by up to 250%. This boost in the "feel-good" neurotransmitter can uplift mood, making you feel more positive and motivated.
Strengthened Willpower
Resisting the urge to immediately jump out of the cold water strengthens mental resilience. Over time, this can help in building grit and determination, allowing you to handle discomfort better.
Enhanced Stress Control
Ice Baths are stressful. When you go into the Ice Bath, you activate your sympathetic nervous system or fight or flight response. By deliberately putting yourself in a stressful situation and then calming yourself down with deep breathing, you learn how to manage your body’s stress response better.
Metabolic Boost
You burn extra calories from the body struggling to warm itself back up again after an Ice Bath. Repeated cold exposure can also activate more brown fat, which boosts your metabolism further.
Muscle Recovery
Perhaps the most well-known benefit of Ice Baths, athletes have been using Ice Baths to aid recovery for forever. Ice Baths are thought to speed up recovery by reducing inflammation in the muscles. If you’re a runner or practicing a martial art like Muay Thai reducing inflammation and speeding up recovery is desirable.. However, if you are looking to gain muscle, it might be better to have your Ice Bath at another time, since this may have a small but not insignificant impact on your gains.
Ice Baths can be a very intense experience for some. Anyone who is unsure about their health status should consult a doctor before jumping into an Ice Bath. That being said, for generally healthy people, ice baths are relaively there are two main risks of extreme and prolonged cold exposure, namely frostbite and hypothermia, especially when precautions aren't taken. Frostbite occurs when skin and underlying tissues freeze due to prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures. Hypothermia happens when the body loses heat faster than it can produce, causing a dangerously low body temperature. Symptoms might start with shivering, but as it progresses, you may experience confusion, drowsiness, and difficulty speaking or moving.
At 0 degrees it would take less than 15 minutes to develop hypothermia. At the Bangkok Ice Bath events we limit the Ice Baths to around 4 degrees, and make sure that people don’t do more than 5 - 10 minutes per cycle. At 4 degrees, it would take between 15 and 30 minutes for hypothermia to set in. In terms of frostbite, given that none of our Ice Baths get to freezing point, and we restrict people from staying too long, this is a very low risk.
Bottom line is to be aware of the risks and symptoms, listen to your body, and always be cautious. You can enjoy all of the benefits of Ice Bath without pushing yourself to the extreme.
“Almost all the risks of cold exposure are from greater than 10 minutes and almost all of the benefits can be accrued from cold exposure less than 5 minutes.”
Now that we’ve discussed the benefits and the risks, the question remains, how long should you stay in an Ice Bath? Maybe you’ve seen people staying for 10-15 minutes and wonder if you should be aiming for that. The short answer is: no. Almost all the risks of cold exposure are from greater than 10 minutes and almost all of the benefits can be accrued from cold exposure less than 5 minutes.
The following suggestions assume that the Ice Bath is uncomfortably cold yet safe:
If you are primarily interested in Ice Baths for it’s invigorating and energetic effect, do a few short and intense plunges at very cold temperatures (less than 4 degrees) for less than a minute each time.
If you are interested in the dopamine release, 5 minutes should be sufficient to get a huge increase in dopamine. If you don’t experience increases of dopamine at 5 minutes then the Ice Bath isn’t uncomfortably cold enough. If it’s below 4 degrees and you still don’t feel uncomfortable enough - perhaps because your body has adapted to the cold - you can increase the difficulty by moving your limbs, circulating the water around you. This will significantly increase the intensity.
After reading about the benefits perhaps you’re inspired to do Ice Baths every day, However, for most people this is impractical due to the hassle and expense of ordering enough Ice. So, let’s instead look at the Minimum Effective Dose (MED). Huberman, a neuroscientist at Stanford University, having reviewed the scientific literature, suggests a total of 11 minutes deliberate Cold Exposure per week in total. He suggests that this 11 minutes should not be all in one session, but rather in 2-4 sessions lasting 1-5 minutes distributed throughout the week. Of course, you can do longer, but this is the minimum to enjoy the benefits of cold exposure and Ice Baths.
For many, Ice Baths are synonymous with Wim Hof. Many people come along to our Ice Bath events and are suprised to see we’re not all doing the special breathing techniques popularised by Wim Hof. Some of members do, some don’t. The benefits of Ice Baths we talked about earlier are seperate to any benefits you may get from doing the Wim Hof Method. If you’re interested in learning The Wim Hof Method and are based in Bangkok, check out Breath Inspired, the only certified Wim Hof Method instructors in Thailand. They are highly regarded, and boast probably the coldest (0 degrees!) Ice Baths in Thailand.
People have been combining hot and cold therapies for centuries. There are amazing benefits to sauna just by itself. A large study conducted in Finland found that going to the sauna 4 or more times a week for 20 minutes per session was associated with a 18% reduction in the risk of dying from any cause. That’s incredible! Putting these amazing benefits to one side, taking an Ice Bath after being in a hot sauna can be very refreshing and invigorating. We love doing several cycles of hot and cold therapy to get the benefits of cold exposure and the benefits of sauna. At our Wednesday and Saturday events you can warm up after your ice bath with a session in the sauna! Some people wonder if the extreme contrast from sauna to Ice Bath can be harmful to your health. Of course it is a shock to the system, and therefore anyone suffering from a heart condition or uncertain about their health status should consult a doctor first.
As you would expect in the capital of Thailand, there are several options in Bangkok for getting your Cold Exposure and Ice Baths. We’ve made a list of the best places for Ice Baths and Cold Plunge in Bangkok to suit different budgets and individual requirements.
BANGKOK ICE BATH
Bangkok Ice Bath is an Ice Bath Community based in Bangkok that meets regularly to take Ice Baths, meet like-minded people, and enjoy the many benefits of Cold Exposure. We have several community Ice Bath events a week in different parts of Bangkok. It’s a very supportive group, and we have beginners coming all the time. Experienced members are always on hand to give tips and support if it’s your first time.
Bangkok Ice Bath exists to make the benefits of cold exposure accessible to everyone in Bangkok and to build community. We want everyone to join in!
