Fact of the day

An umbrella review spanning 15 meta-analyses and 161 studies finds post-exercise cold-water immersion speeds recovery of power, jump performance and soreness, but does not aid strength recovery and impairs strength and muscle growth gains when used routinely.

Study design

Systematic review

Journal

Sports Med Open

Evidence

preliminary

⚠What it shows: The widest sweep of this evidence yet, covering 161 studies gathered through 15 earlier pooled reviews, and the pattern is consistent. The catch is that the authors rate the underlying evidence as low quality and inconsistent, so the exact sizes of these effects remain uncertain.Systematic review · Sports Med Open