Is it better to take a cold bath before or after strength training?
Avoid taking a cold bath immediately AFTER strength training if muscle growth is your goal: it measurably inhibits muscle fibre hypertrophy. Schedule it before your training session, or use it on recovery days after endurance training.
A cold bath taken AFTER strength training measurably inhibits muscle fibre hypertrophy. After 7 weeks of training, men who took a cold bath after every session showed clearly less growth in muscle fibre thickness than the control group. After 12 weeks the difference was even sharper: isokinetic work capacity rose by 19%, the number of cell nuclei per muscle fibre by 26%, and fibre thickness by 17% in the active-recovery group, whereas the cold-bath group showed no measurable growth on any of these points.
The mechanism appears to lie in the molecular processes that drive muscle growth. A cold bath suppresses the activity of cells that help muscles grow and recover, and dampens the internal growth signals within the muscle cells themselves (the so-called mTOR pathway). In addition, it blocks the temporary rise in testosterone that normally occurs after strength training and that contributes to muscle recovery and adaptation.
Notably, maximum strength (measured as the maximum weight a person can lift in a single attempt) was barely affected in several studies, even though muscle fibre growth lagged visibly behind. The brake on strength is therefore real, but smaller than the brake on muscle volume. Ten studies combined show a small but statistically detectable negative effect on strength development, particularly when only the trained limbs are cooled. With a whole-body cold bath that effect disappears in the statistics.
For endurance athletes the picture is different. A cold bath after endurance or interval training actually increases the production of proteins that contribute to endurance capacity and blood flow. Anyone focused on building strength and muscle mass is better off scheduling the cold bath BEFORE strength training, or keeping it entirely separate from the strength session, and certainly not taking it immediately afterwards.
This answer is based on multiple randomised studies in men (with 11 to 21 participants per study) and a summary of ten comparable studies. The direction is remarkably consistent: a cold bath after strength training inhibits muscle growth. However, the studies are small and conducted almost exclusively in young men, so how this plays out in women or older people has not yet been adequately investigated. The finding regarding endurance training comes from a single small study and should be considered preliminary.
Does the sauna help with weight loss?
The sauna makes you sweat, not slim: the weight you lose is fluid and returns as soon as you drink. Whether regular sauna use actually causes lasting fat loss has not yet been well demonstrated, and for now there is more evidence that it does not work than that it does.
Can you remove microplastics from your blood vessels?
There is still too little research to answer this question.
Can stem cell therapy slow down or cure rheumatoid arthritis?
Stem cell therapy may be able to slow the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, but it does not cure it. The research is still too limited for firm conclusions, so if you are interested, discuss it with your rheumatologist.
Does strength training work better against high blood sugar than cardio?
Strength training appears to work better than cardio alone in people with diabetes and a normal weight, but in overweight individuals that advantage is less clear and a combination of exercise with diet helps the most.
Does strength training help with healthy ageing?
Strength training is one of the best-supported interventions for healthy ageing: training two to three times per week with progressive resistance demonstrably improves muscle strength, mobility and independence, even at an advanced age.