Ihsan et al. 2021, Adaptations to post-exercise cold water immersion: friend, foe, or futile?

Review of how regular post-exercise cold water immersion affects training adaptation. Resistance-training adaptations (strength, hypertrophy) are diminished by routine CWI. For endurance and high-intensity training the picture is equivocal: effects on aerobic capacity, threshold and time-trial performance are mixed, and although CWI can up-regulate some mitochondrial and angiogenic signalling, this does not translate into improved endurance performance. So CWI does not clearly impair aerobic adaptation, but neither does it enhance it. Moderate.