If you’ve just started going to the gym, you may already be dealing with muscle soreness and fatigue after your workouts. So when you hear about cold plunging, it’s natural to wonder whether spending a few minutes in cold water can help your body recover faster. Many people use cold plunging to relieve post-workout muscle soreness and some research has also found potential benefits. But that doesn’t mean you need to start doing it as soon as you join a gym. First, it’s worth understanding whether your body actually needs it.

Let’s say your goal is to build muscle and get stronger. In that case, you should focus on your workouts, nutrition and sleep from the beginning. When you do weight training your muscles need time to recover and grow. Research suggests that regularly taking a cold plunge immediately after weight training may interfere with muscle growth. So if you’re working hard at the gym to build muscle, there’s no need to rush into cold plunging after every workout. Focus on following a proper training routine, getting enough protein and giving your body time to rest. These habits matter much more when you’re just starting out.

Now you might be wondering whether cold plunging is a bad idea if your muscles feel sore after a workout. Not at all. Some research suggests that cold-water immersion can help relieve post-workout muscle soreness. However, you don’t need to use it every time you feel sore. When you try a new exercise, muscle soreness is common during the first few days. Giving your body enough time to recover and choosing exercises that match your fitness level also make a real difference.

However, there’s one thing you should keep in mind before trying cold plunging. Suddenly immersing yourself in very cold water can cause rapid changes in your breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. So don’t take it lightly. If you have a heart condition or problems with blood circulation, consult your doctor first.

So should beginners who have just started going to the gym try cold plunging? In my opinion, there’s no particular need to start with it. Focus on building a consistent gym routine, eating well and getting enough sleep. Once these habits are in place, you can consider cold plunging based on your fitness goals. After all, you don’t need to try every new technique to get fit. What matters is understanding your body and consistently working on the habits that support your long-term fitness.

What Does Scientific Research Say About Cold Plunging? Key Findings From 6 Major Studies

1. The 2022 Study: Can Cold Plunging Help Relieve Muscle Soreness After a Workout?

After a tough workout, it’s common to experience muscle soreness and fatigue. That’s why many people like to take a cold plunge after exercising. They believe it can help their bodies recover faster. But does getting into cold water actually improve muscle recovery? To explore this question, Emma Moore and her colleagues published a systematic review and meta-analysis in the journal Sports Medicine in 2022. The research team included scientists affiliated with several Australian institutions including the University of South Australia, Macquarie University and Victoria University.

To investigate this question, the researchers reviewed studies published across seven scientific databases and analyzed the findings of 52 studies. These studies compared people who used cold-water immersion after strenuous exercise with those who recovered through normal rest. The researchers focused on muscle soreness, strength, power and how well participants felt they had recovered.

The results showed that cold-water immersion may help reduce muscle soreness around 24 hours after strenuous exercise. Some participants also reported feeling that their bodies had recovered better than before. However, the researchers did not find a clear benefit in terms of strength. This means that feeling more comfortable after a workout and actually improving muscle strength are two different things. So cold plunging may be an option for relieving soreness but it shouldn’t be considered a solution for every aspect of physical recovery.

2. The 2023 Study: How Much Relief Can Cold Plunging Provide From Muscle Soreness?

The 2022 research suggested that cold-water immersion may help relieve post-workout muscle soreness. But that raises another question: Does everyone experience the same benefits or do factors such as water temperature and the time spent in cold water also affect the results? To explore this aspect, Natanael P. Batista and his colleagues published a study in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. The researchers were affiliated with the Department of Physiotherapy at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil.

For this study, the researchers conducted a systematic review of studies available in scientific databases such as PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL and SPORTDiscus. They then included 44 studies in their final analysis. These studies compared the outcomes of participants who underwent cold-water immersion with those who did not receive this intervention. The researchers also examined the water temperature, how long participants stayed in the water and the types of exercise they performed.

The analysis showed that cold plunging may help reduce muscle soreness after exercise. However, the effects were not the same in every situation. This is one of the most important findings of the study. For example, the relief someone experiences after a particularly demanding workout may differ from what they experience after another type of exercise. Similarly, water temperature and the amount of time spent in the water may also influence the results.

That’s why it wouldn’t be right to assume that colder water or a longer plunge will automatically produce better results. It’s also important to remember that reduced soreness doesn’t necessarily mean your muscles have fully recovered or that they are growing faster. With these points in mind, it’s more reasonable to view cold plunging as one possible recovery method rather than a guaranteed solution.

3. The 2024 Study: Can Cold Plunging Affect Muscle Growth?

Research so far suggests that cold plunging may help relieve post-workout soreness. However, not everyone who goes to the gym is simply looking for relief from muscle pain. Many people train with weights regularly to build muscle size and increase strength. For them, it’s important to know whether taking a cold plunge immediately after a workout can affect muscle growth.

To investigate this question, Alec Piñero and his colleagues published a systematic review and meta-analysis in the European Journal of Sport Science in 2024. The research team included scientists affiliated with institutions such as CUNY Lehman College, Victoria University and Robert Gordon University. The researchers reviewed studies available in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science and included eight studies in their final analysis.

These studies involved healthy adults who had been doing resistance training for at least four weeks. The researchers wanted to understand the differences in muscle size and lean mass between people who regularly used cold-water immersion immediately after weight training and those who did not.

The results suggested that regularly taking a cold plunge immediately after resistance training may somewhat reduce muscle growth. However, it’s important to interpret this finding carefully because the analysis included only eight studies and the available evidence had its limitations. This absolutely does not mean that cold plunging stops muscle growth. Rather, it suggests that people whose main goal is to increase muscle size should consider the potential effects of cold plunging immediately after every workout.

Here’s one thing worth understanding. Reducing post-workout soreness and maximizing long-term muscle growth are not the same goal. That’s why you should consider whether a recovery method fits your actual fitness goals before making it part of your routine.

4. The 2024 Study: How Does Cold Plunging Compare With Other Recovery Methods?

Cold plunging isn’t the only method people use to recover after a workout. Some people alternate between hot and cold water while others choose different methods such as cryotherapy. So it’s natural to wonder whether cold plunging is better than all these alternatives or whether different methods work better in different situations.

To explore this question, Ruohan Chen and his colleagues published a network meta-analysis in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders in 2024. The research team included scientists affiliated with Chinese institutions such as the University of Science and Technology of China and Beijing Sport University. The researchers reviewed studies published across five scientific databases and analyzed the results of 57 studies involving a total of 1,220 healthy participants.

These studies compared different recovery methods used after resistance training, high-intensity interval training and other physical activities. Along with cold-water immersion, the researchers evaluated methods such as contrast water therapy, hot-water immersion and cryotherapy. They examined how these methods affected muscle soreness, strength and indicators such as creatine kinase levels in the blood.

The results showed that different recovery methods did not perform equally across all measures. Contrast water therapy appeared more effective for some outcomes while cryotherapy showed potential benefits for other recovery indicators. This helps explain why performing well in one area does not automatically make a recovery method the best choice in every situation.

For example, a method that provides greater relief from muscle soreness may not restore strength just as quickly. Similarly, a method that helps reduce soreness is not necessarily the best option for long-term muscle growth. That’s why it’s important to consider the specific outcome you want to improve when comparing cold plunging with other recovery methods.

5. The 2026 Study: How Reliable Is the Scientific Evidence on Cold Plunging?

Although individual studies have identified some potential benefits of cold plunging, an important question remains. Is the evidence strong enough to recommend cold-water immersion to everyone? Looking at individual studies alone isn’t enough to answer this question. It’s also important to understand the quality of previous research and how reliable its findings are.

To address this issue, Erfan Berjisian and his colleagues published an umbrella review in Sports Medicine – Open in 2026. Instead of directly testing new participants, this type of review evaluates findings from previously published systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The research team included scientists affiliated with Edith Cowan University, Griffith University and United Arab Emirates University.

The researchers searched eight scientific databases and included 15 systematic reviews in their final analysis. These reviews covered findings from a total of 161 original studies. To assess the quality of the evidence, the researchers used evaluation tools such as AMSTAR 2 and GRADE. This helped them understand how strong the available findings were and which areas still needed further research.

The review found that cold-water immersion may help relieve muscle soreness. Some studies also showed signs of improved power and jumping performance under certain conditions. On the other hand, there was no clear benefit in terms of muscle strength. The findings also raised concerns that regularly using cold plunging immediately after resistance training may interfere with muscle growth and some strength-related benefits of training.

However, the quality of the studies included in this review ranged from low to very low. Therefore, these findings shouldn’t be treated as final or conclusive proof. The importance of this research lies in the fact that it highlights both the potential benefits of cold plunging and the limitations of the available scientific evidence.

In simple terms, cold plunging may help some people feel less sore but the current evidence does not confirm every potential benefit. Rather than assuming it’s necessary after every workout, it makes more sense to decide whether to use it based on your needs and training goals.

6. The 2023 Study: How Quickly Can Cold Plunging Help Restore Physical Performance?

Feeling less sore after a workout is a good thing. But for athletes and people who train regularly, another question matters just as much: Can they regain their previous levels of strength, power and physical performance by their next training session? You can’t answer this question by looking at soreness alone. You also need to examine how well the body actually performs after exercise.

To explore this aspect, Hui Cheng Choo and his colleagues published a systematic review and meta-analysis on recovery of physical performance following cold-water immersion in the Journal of Sports Sciences in 2023. The research team included scientists affiliated with the Singapore Sport Institute, National Youth Sports Institute, Edith Cowan University and National University of Singapore.

The researchers systematically reviewed previously published studies to understand how physical performance changes after cold-water immersion. They compared the available findings based on factors such as the type of exercise, the recovery period and the methods used to measure performance. Their analysis considered not only muscle soreness but also strength, power and other aspects of physical performance.

The findings suggested that the effects of cold-water immersion are not the same across all types of exercise and physical performance. It may provide benefits in certain situations but the results depend on how demanding the exercise was and how long after exercise performance was measured.

This means that even if someone feels lighter and more refreshed after a cold plunge, that feeling alone doesn’t prove that their strength and power have fully returned. These are two separate aspects of recovery and should be understood independently. So when deciding whether cold plunging is useful, it’s important to look beyond whether it makes you feel more comfortable and consider whether it actually improves the specific aspect of physical performance you want to work on.

Conclusion: What Does Research Tell Us About Cold Plunging?

• Cold plunging may help reduce post-workout muscle soreness and improve the overall feeling of recovery.

• Feeling less sore doesn’t necessarily mean your muscle strength has returned more quickly. These two outcomes can respond differently.

• The effects of cold plunging depend on factors such as water temperature, time spent in the water, exercise intensity and the recovery period.

• People who want to increase muscle size should consider the potential effects of cold plunging before using it immediately after every weight-training session.

• Different recovery methods can have different effects. So it wouldn’t be right to assume that cold plunging is the best option in every situation.

• Cold plunging is not essential for beginners. When you’re just starting out, proper training, enough protein, a balanced diet and good sleep are more important.

• Research suggests that cold plunging may offer certain benefits but more high-quality scientific studies are needed to confirm many of its potential effects.

• Most importantly, choose cold plunging based on your fitness goals. If your main aim is to build muscle and increase strength, it may be better to use it according to your recovery needs rather than after every workout.