Link and excerpt:
https://bengreenfieldlife.com/article/the-ultimate-guide-to-cold-thermogenesis-part-2-routine/"The right timing of your cold exposure depends on your workout and your goals.
If you're looking to increase strength or muscle mass, allow two hours for the body to mount an inflammatory response before taking an ice bath."
"However, if you must do an ice bath post-workout, there are certain instances where that's okay. It can reduce muscle pain and soreness after training sessions and competitions, according to a 2010 study. Aside from using ice baths post-workout as a means of recovery, you should also have a separate recovery plan of action, such as sufficient resting, stretching, a cool-down period vs. stopping abruptly, adequate fluids, etc."
"Right after exercise, you produce pro-inflammatory cytokines which are involved in tissue repair. These macro****es are the type of immune cell that can get produced and activated in response to inflammation including, you guessed it, exercise-induced inflammation. Now, what happens is that when these macro****es get released, they can increase satellite cell migration. Satellite cells are basically like stem cells, and they're associated with the same type of muscle hypertrophy that you get from strength training.
So, you exercise and you get inflammation. There's an anti-inflammatory response, and then anabolic hormones get released. But what's more important to realize here is that a lot of people are under the impression that if you do hefty amounts of cryotherapy you're going to shut down that satellite cell migration, the mitochondrial proliferation, and the IGF-1 (protein synthesis stimulant) response that should occur in response to exercise because you're getting cold and you're decreasing the amount of some of these inflammatory molecules. If you actually dig into the research, you need a 3% to 8% drop in muscle temperature in order for that to occur (learn more in the video at the end of this section). That's the equivalent of about 10 minutes of pretty cold water immersion. I'm not talking about a cold shower, I'm talking about a 10-minute ice bath, and doing that in an acute post-exercise state.
So, if you're doing super-duper cold stuff right after you exercise, there may be a blunting of the hypertrophic response, even though the blunting is pretty slight. You see a small decrease in muscle mass and a small drop in performance. But again, that's acute exposure to really, really cold, like ice baths or cryotherapy chambers."
Mitochondrial biogenesis is the process by which your body creates more mitochondria, and it is regulated in part by the protein PGC1-alpha. When exposed to cold conditions after engaging in physical exercise like running or playing tennis, there may be an increase of PGC1-alpha resulting in larger muscle size with better cellular survival. If you look at, for example, runners, 15 minutes of exposure to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which is not super cold, following running can increase PGC-1alpha in muscle tissue. Cold therapy has also been seen to blunt inflammation from cytokines such as TNF-alpha; not only leading towards improved performance but overall health too.
If you're looking to reap the benefits of cold therapy without taking extreme measures, there are many alternatives for post-exercise. A long swim in a pool kept cool or walking outdoors during cooler weather can provide similar effects with minimal discomfort. Rather than subjecting yourself to an icy tub every day, you may find that short bouts of colder temperatures strategically timed throughout your regular workout routine yield beneficial results.
