It's the first question people ask us: "how cold should the water be, and how long do I stay in?". The good news is that you don't need to suffer to get the benefits. The less good news is that there's no magic number that works for everyone. Here are the benchmarks coaches and strength staff use, and how to adapt them to you.
The right temperature: between 3 and 15 °C depending on your level
Most protocols used in sport sit between 10 and 15 °C. That's cold enough to trigger the response you're after (vasoconstriction, that "fresh legs" feeling, a mental jolt) without turning the session into an ordeal.
If you're new to it, start around 12 to 15 °C. Your body needs a few sessions to learn to handle the cold shock, especially the breathing that races during the first thirty seconds. Once you're used to it, you can go down to 8 to 10 °C. Below 5 °C you're in experienced territory: sessions get very short, and colder doesn't necessarily mean better recovery.
How long should you stay in?
The colder the water, the shorter the session. Studies on post-exercise cold water immersion most often use 5 to 15 minutes at around 10 to 15 °C. For daily use at home, these benchmarks work well:
| Level | Temperature | Duration |
| Beginner | 12 to 15 °C | 2 to 5 minutes |
| Regular | 8 to 12 °C | 4 to 8 minutes |
| Experienced | 3 to 8 °C | 2 to 5 minutes |
A Danish study published in 2021 in Cell Reports Medicine, carried out on regular winter swimmers, points to a total of around 11 minutes of cold per week, split into several short sessions. It's a useful reminder that consistency matters more than endurance.
Your body is still the best indicator. If you're shivering hard, your hands stop responding or you feel dizzy, get out. It's not a competition.
When to do it: after training, in the morning or in the evening?
After a cardio session, a match or a combat training session, an ice bath within the following hour is the classic. That's when it helps most with feeling less sore and backing it up the next day.
After strength training, it's more nuanced. Research carried out notably at the University of Queensland (Roberts et al., 2015) suggests that an ice bath right after the session may blunt part of your long-term muscle gains. If building muscle is your main goal, leave a few hours between the two or take your bath on days without strength work.
In the morning, plenty of people use it to wake up and start the day with energy. In the evening it works too, as long as you leave at least an hour before bed so your body can warm back up gently.
The mistakes that ruin the session
Getting in all at once while holding your breath. Ease in, breathe out slowly through your mouth and focus on long exhales. After a minute, the feeling becomes much more manageable.
Trying to beat your record every time. Staying in longer doesn't mean recovering better. A short, regular session beats a heroic one once a month.
Jumping straight into a hot shower afterwards. Dry off, dress warmly and move around a bit. Letting your body warm up on its own is part of the exercise.
Letting the water go off. Water that sits for days with no filtration or treatment quickly becomes a hygiene problem. Change it regularly or use a system that keeps it clean.
Precautions to take
Cold raises your heart rate and blood pressure during the first few seconds. If you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, Raynaud's syndrome or you're pregnant, ask your doctor before you start. Never do your first session alone, and avoid ice baths after drinking alcohol.
Keeping the water at the right temperature without ice
The hardest part of an ice bath isn't getting in, it's keeping the water at the right temperature day after day. With ice, you need a lot of it and the water warms up fast. A chiller solves that: you choose your temperature, between 0 and 42 °C, and it stays stable without you having to think about it.
Have a look at our ice baths and our chillers, or read our guide to choosing your ice bath. And if you're not sure which setting suits you, message us on WhatsApp, we reply within minutes.
The short version
Start at 12 to 15 °C for 2 to 5 minutes, go colder gradually as you get used to it, and aim for consistency rather than performance. Listen to your body, follow the precautions, and the ice bath will become one of the simplest and most effective moments of your recovery routine.
