Muscle Recovery

[Eden]

Hot water really doesn't work the same way cold does....
You can't do it for a long time - about 5 minutes at a time.
The theory goes you are sore because when you do a hard workout you are creating all sorts of little micro tears in your muscles. All that damage causes swelling and soreness. Soaking in cold water is like icing an injury. I can vouch that it really does work. I do a 3 day stage race in June. I've tried the cold water soak inbetween the days and I've started the last day without sore legs. I don't find it pleasant enough to want to do it all of the time though....

As far as the 30 minute window goes - its pretty well agreed upon that immediately after exercise to 30 minutes is the best time to refuel. You don't have to get fancy - you can use chocolate milk if you want to, just be sure what you use has a mixture of carbs, proteins and a little fat. I'm not sure what this will do for the soreness, but it really should help with tiredness and the heavy leg feeling.