The Heartwood Review / Cold plunge
Peer-reviewed studies on cold-water immersion: recovery, inflammation markers, mood and cognition, cardiovascular response, and the practical questions of duration and temperature. 15 entries, newest first. Every entry links to its source.
Results are preliminary given the small, split sample (12 and 10 participants per protocol arm) and single-session design, limiting how broadly the findings can be applied.
Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 2025 · Dutra YM et al.
Results are preliminary and limited to one session in 28 young healthy women, so broader conclusions about long-term cardiovascular adaptation cannot be drawn.
Scientific reports, 2025 · Szafraniec R et al.
Small trial of 28 mostly male military personnel; findings may not generalize beyond this specific population or setting.
Military medicine, 2026 · Peterson MN et al.
Findings are directionally useful but rest on a small evidence base of just 214 participants across 13 trials, and notable heterogeneity across studies limits confidence in the jump-performance result.
Medicine, 2026 · Liu S et al.
This high-quality synthesis of 30 RCTs offers a nuanced picture: cold-water immersion helps some recovery markers but not others, and the benefit does not depend on whether the whole body or only part of it is submerged.
Frontiers in sports and active living, 2026 · Zhu Y et al.
This 22-trial meta-analysis offers the most comprehensive time-course picture available, but the soreness and creatine-kinase findings carry very low certainty after sensitivity analyses, limiting confident conclusions.
PeerJ, 2026 · Zhu Y et al.
This large synthesis (87 studies, 2,313 participants) suggests cold water immersion effects are highly dependent on exercise type, but most findings carry low certainty and the evidence base skews heavily male.
BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation, 2026 · Yu T et al.
Preliminary 60-person trial in a clinical MS population; between-group differences were limited and the authors flag sample size and study duration as reasons to treat results conservatively.
Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research, 2026 · Pawik M et al.
Findings are preliminary given the small sample of 26 participants, a single brief exposure, and a population limited to young, cold-naïve adults.
Military medicine, 2026 · Smith CM et al.
Reassuring but limited: only 20 participants, all self-selected cold-water swimmers, and the single-lead monitoring device captured only one arrhythmic event during immersion itself.
Journal of exercise science and fitness, 2026 · Merkt B et al.
Findings are directionally clear but come from a small, single-session crossover trial of just 16 healthy adults, limiting how broadly the results can be applied.
Experimental physiology, 2026 · Owen TF et al.
Moderately sized single-site study (n = 30) offering precise microvascular measurements, but limited to forearm immersion in healthy young adults and not designed to assess any real-world recovery or wellness outcome.
European journal of applied physiology, 2026 · Hagner-Derengowska M et al.
Findings are preliminary given the small sample of 15 participants, all endurance-trained, tested in a single controlled environment.
Journal of thermal biology, 2026 · Ferrari A et al.
Promising directional findings, but the very small sample of 15 players and the brief inter-bout window limit how broadly these results can be applied.
Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 2026 · Messai B et al.
This is a narrative review, not a new trial, so its conclusions reflect the weight of existing evidence rather than a single controlled experiment — and the authors are careful to frame outcomes as goal-dependent rather than universally good or bad.
Experimental physiology, 2026 · Tornero-Aguilera JF et al.