#45 The Science of Cold Water Therapy and Deciphering What is Fact, Fad and Fiction - Dr Tom Buckley

Season #1

Tribes around the world have been implementing variations of cold water therapy (CWT) for centuries. And recently cold showers, swimming in chilly water, ice baths, and cryotherapy have exploded in popularity. Andrew and Dr Tom do a deep dive on the research (in some cases the lack of) about all things cold. Learn about different types of cold exposure, experimentation swimming in cold, the science behind brown fat, recovery protocols and treating injuries, and a 3-step graded CWT protocol. 

Andrew and Dr Tom Buckley have been working together for close to 20 years, with a mutual interest and desire to bridge the gap between the science of human performance and the reality of the human experience. They co-wrote the best-selling book MatchFit and have discovered a fine dance between pushing the body’s physical and psychological resources to stretch and not snap, to bend and not break.

In this episode Andrew and Dr Tom discuss:

4:45 Different types of cold exposure and how it effects your body

10:30 Andrew’s English Channel swim and how Dr Tom started with cold therapy

16:45 Dr Tom’s cold water practice

20:45 Adapting to the cold

26:15 The science behind cold therapy and the use and abuse of research

33:15 The difference between rodent and human studies and understanding brown and white fat

41:00 Cold therapy and testosterone

47:50 Cold therapy and recovery

56:35 Icing sports injuries and Dr Tom’s personal experience with ice and heat on injuries

1:06:40 Athletes dealing with pain and the psychological effects of cold therapy

1:22:30 Andrew’s graded 3-step cold water protocol

 

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