Recoverypreliminary · human dataDiscovery of the day
Applying cold packs to worked muscles made no meaningful difference to soreness or strength recovery after damaging exercise — whether cooling started immediately or 24 hours later. Both cooled groups tracked the same recovery curve as controls who received no cold at all.
What it shows: One RCT, n=48 healthy young adults (39 women, 9 men, mean age 22), local gel packs on one muscle only; findings may not extend to whole-body cold immersion, colder protocols or trained athletes.Study · Int J Environ Res Public Health