icing......

ok. my legs are killing me. legs, ankles, knees everything.
i iced them the last couple of days. and they felt good the next day.
but i wanna know exactly how to do it. dont know if im doin it right

wanna instruct me here.....

This is what I do, and it seems to work everytime:

Get some type of container that holds a considerable amount of ice.
Fill your bathtub to what would be "waist deep" of the coldest water that comes out.
Get in the water.
It"ll be pretty cold.
Add some of the ice from the container.
It'll be colder.
Add all the ice.
It'll be freezing.
You'll go numb.
Wait until all the ice has melted, or 20 minutes.
Get out.
Stretch very, very slowly.
Should be feeling better the next day.

thanks. how often should i do this....... my legs hurt a lot lately until i adjust to training......

There isn't really a set amount to do this. I do it basically any day I'm hurting or am sore.

ok thanks.

No problem, just happens to be something I have to do pretty often, so I know the routine.
haha.

Do ice baths still work if there isn't actually any ice? I only use really cold tap water, but I feel like that's not really effective.
I don't understand how people have enough ice lying around their house to fill up a bathtub with.

hannah wrote:Do ice baths still work if there isn't actually any ice? I only use really cold tap water, but I feel like that's not really effective.
I don't understand how people have enough ice lying around their house to fill up a bathtub with.

My coach tells us to freeze up a couple dixie cups of ice and then peel off the wrapper. After that just press and roll the ice on your leg or whatever muscle is hurting

I LOVE ICE BATHS!

Jacked Fibraz wrote: I LOVE ICE BATHS!

O RLY?

whenhen wrote:

hannah wrote:Do ice baths still work if there isn't actually any ice? I only use really cold tap water, but I feel like that's not really effective.
I don't understand how people have enough ice lying around their house to fill up a bathtub with.

My coach tells us to freeze up a couple dixie cups of ice and then peel off the wrapper. After that just press and roll the ice on your leg or whatever muscle is hurting

yeah that's what our team did during track a lot. it doesn't really help it you are sore alll over but it definatly helped me heal my shinsplits and other things if you have hurts in just a smaller area.
we called them ICE CUP!!!!

Fill the tub up with lots of cold water. Get in, get a little adjusted, then add a bunch of ice, prepared beforehand. Wait for 10-15 minutes. And I wouldn't stretch after. Its seems like a good way to get injured. Stretching cold muscles isn't a good idea.

xc running gal wrote:

whenhen wrote:

hannah wrote:Do ice baths still work if there isn't actually any ice? I only use really cold tap water, but I feel like that's not really effective.
I don't understand how people have enough ice lying around their house to fill up a bathtub with.

My coach tells us to freeze up a couple dixie cups of ice and then peel off the wrapper. After that just press and roll the ice on your leg or whatever muscle is hurting

yeah that's what our team did during track a lot. it doesn't really help it you are sore alll over but it definatly helped me heal my shinsplits and other things if you have hurts in just a smaller area.
we called them ICE CUP!!!!

thats what i do too.

but yea i dont get ppl have enuf ice to fill up a bathtub..

If you don't really want to take an ice bath, then my coach says to just get some ice (or frozen peas) and put them on whatever you need iced. 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off, 20 minutes on. Also make sure you have something in between your skin and the ice bag...a thin towel works well.

haven't seen you here in a while

runlikethawind wrote:haven't seen you here in a while

Yea I've been busy and my computer broke...there were like 6 viruses to it... grr!

You should never ice for more then 15minutes. Stretching is not a good idea afterwards cause you don't want to stretch cold muscles
In regards to Ice Baths: 10mins at 5degrees Celsius (sp?) followed by a warm shower 30-60mins later. Any colder and you are risking getting sick.

Stretching cold and hurt muscles = bad idea

Also in addition to ice baths try to figure out what's going on that's causing your soreness. Perhaps you are running longer, harder, or on a new type of surface.