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Iced!: The Illusionary Treatment Option
“Topical cooling (icing) delays recovery.” -Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research/National Strength and Conditioning Association (2013)
“Ice is commonly used after acute muscle strains but there are no clinical studies of its effectiveness.” -British Journal of Sports Medicine (2012)
“There is insufficient evidence to suggest that cryotherapy [icing] improves clinical outcome.” –Journal of Emergency Medicine (2008)
“…Ice may not be the best treatment for aching muscles — in fact, it could even be detrimental to recovery.” University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (2011)
The American Journal of Sports Medicine (2004), The Journal of Athletic Training (2004), The Cleveland Clinic (2011) … the unanimous peer-reviewed results go on and on … But it is not just confined to research, as many athletes are discovering this in practice. In fact, in a 2008 Sports Illustrated article, two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum stated that he “never” uses ice after throwing. In sum, disparate studies from numerous reputable publications have collectively proven what professional trainers are now witnessing with their own eyes.
ICED! is the must-read book of the year for athletes, coaches, trainers, doctors, therapists, and even those who just have soccer-playing or knee-bumping kids. Far from a dull physiological text, it reads like an epic journey about the biggest and most flagrant medical misconception of modern times.
Gary Reinl brings America in from the cold and tells the unexpectedly entertaining story of how the world’s cold-hearted love affair with ice began, why it is based on nothing more than the largest instance of “physiological hearsay” in human history, the folly of the ice gurus’ gospel, and how he helped usher in the end of the “ice age” in professional athletics.
From professional athletic training rooms to outpatient physical therapy clinics, Gary has talked with literally thousands of different doctors, trainers, therapists, and athletes during his uniquely diverse experiences over the past forty years. During that time, he has witnessed the rise (and now fall) of icing from both the bird’s eye, as well as street-view, levels, and his accounts – coupled with his telling of how this all happened without any peer-reviewed evidence and his explanation of the physiological facts and related peer-reviewed scientific studies – are both groundbreaking and alarming.
No longer content to keep this information contained within pro training rooms as millions of people every year unwittingly damage and slow their body’s recovery process with ice, Gary explains the critical role that inflammation plays, why it is different than swelling, and how to achieve the actual goal of accelerated waste removal.
The seemingly harmless act of icing has grown to become the most common injury response tool in the world, and, in the process, has done great harm to people everywhere. In ICED!, Gary simply organizes and reports the related facts so that everyone can bring themselves in from the cold. When you see the incontrovertible facts that icing not only does not prevent swelling, but actually badly harms the healing process, you will never look at an ice pack the same again!
“Ice is commonly used after acute muscle strains but there are no clinical studies of its effectiveness.” -British Journal of Sports Medicine (2012)
“There is insufficient evidence to suggest that cryotherapy [icing] improves clinical outcome.” –Journal of Emergency Medicine (2008)
“…Ice may not be the best treatment for aching muscles — in fact, it could even be detrimental to recovery.” University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (2011)
The American Journal of Sports Medicine (2004), The Journal of Athletic Training (2004), The Cleveland Clinic (2011) … the unanimous peer-reviewed results go on and on … But it is not just confined to research, as many athletes are discovering this in practice. In fact, in a 2008 Sports Illustrated article, two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum stated that he “never” uses ice after throwing. In sum, disparate studies from numerous reputable publications have collectively proven what professional trainers are now witnessing with their own eyes.
ICED! is the must-read book of the year for athletes, coaches, trainers, doctors, therapists, and even those who just have soccer-playing or knee-bumping kids. Far from a dull physiological text, it reads like an epic journey about the biggest and most flagrant medical misconception of modern times.
Gary Reinl brings America in from the cold and tells the unexpectedly entertaining story of how the world’s cold-hearted love affair with ice began, why it is based on nothing more than the largest instance of “physiological hearsay” in human history, the folly of the ice gurus’ gospel, and how he helped usher in the end of the “ice age” in professional athletics.
From professional athletic training rooms to outpatient physical therapy clinics, Gary has talked with literally thousands of different doctors, trainers, therapists, and athletes during his uniquely diverse experiences over the past forty years. During that time, he has witnessed the rise (and now fall) of icing from both the bird’s eye, as well as street-view, levels, and his accounts – coupled with his telling of how this all happened without any peer-reviewed evidence and his explanation of the physiological facts and related peer-reviewed scientific studies – are both groundbreaking and alarming.
No longer content to keep this information contained within pro training rooms as millions of people every year unwittingly damage and slow their body’s recovery process with ice, Gary explains the critical role that inflammation plays, why it is different than swelling, and how to achieve the actual goal of accelerated waste removal.
The seemingly harmless act of icing has grown to become the most common injury response tool in the world, and, in the process, has done great harm to people everywhere. In ICED!, Gary simply organizes and reports the related facts so that everyone can bring themselves in from the cold. When you see the incontrovertible facts that icing not only does not prevent swelling, but actually badly harms the healing process, you will never look at an ice pack the same again!
- GenresNonfictionHealth
186 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2013
31 people are currently reading
170 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 9, 2014
I only give this 2 stars because I agree with the need to stop icing. However, the useable information in this book could have (and has been by the author & Kelly Starett) been confined to a blog post. The majority of the book is listening to a blowhard brag about all the professional athletes he knows & training rooms he has been in while vaguely pretending not to claim to practice medicine.
November 13, 2019
So one of my all time favorite writers is Shirley Jackson who happened to write my all time favorite short story that also happens to be the most anthologized short story ever.
"The Lottery" is a chilling tale that speaks to the darker side of tradition. The story begins with what appears to be preparation for some sort of seasonal celebration. Yet little by little the reader begins to understand the true sinister nature of the event called "the lottery." As part of this longstanding ceremony the people of this community draw straws to see who in the small, simple, little community will win the privilege of being stoned to death by their fellow citizens.
As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that many of the townsfolk are beginning to tire of the strange observance, most completely oblivious to the origin of the ritual, but no one particularly motivated to question its existence, let alone abandon it.
Interestingly, the story was so provocative, as is much of Jackson's writing. that when it was first published in 1948, the New Yorker was inundated with letters from readers wanting to know if the community in question was a real place and this bizarre "lottery" an actual celebration. Others, excepting it as fiction, simply wanted to know what the story meant.
Shirley, however, refused to break it down, stating only that the story spoke for itself.
In the end, I believe she was commenting on all the things we do, from the silly to the downright barbaric, that have no real justification other than they have always been done.
And that is essentially the premise of "Iced" which speaks to the unsupported use of ice to treat injuries.
According to the author, the practice not only lacks any real scientific support, its origin, using ice on an injury, had nothing to do with controlling swelling, pain, or treating acute injury. It came about as a means to preserve a severed limb so as to allow a reattachment.
And like many things that have no scientific basis but are nonetheless perpetuated, the practice of icing quickly caught on, eventually becoming the go-to treatment for any acute injury.
Reinl argues that not only does ice not help, it may actually be detrimental in that it retards healing, and he bases his argument on our understanding of how the body heals. He claims we use ice to reduce swelling, but all we really accomplish is to delay the inflammatory response (an essential component of healing) and make it harder for the lymph system to get rid of swelling (or the back up of waste that is associated with the inflammatory response). The only way to promote healing and to increase circulation and lymph drainage is through muscle activation. In that regard it would seem the advice to "walk it off," is more than simple conventional wisdom.
As a PT and as a person who hates cold, I've never been a big fan of icing, and I have always been an advocate of movement. That said, ice is everywhere in the rehab world, except, thanks to Reinl, in professional team training rooms around the country.
He makes some good arguments against the use of ice. Unfortunately, his alternative is muscle stimulators, as it appears they are the next training room panacea. He spends a lot of time offering useless protocols that seem like a waste of space as they are all pretty much the same, and basically offer little to the reader who wants to know why they shouldn't use ice. I wish he would have spent more time providing the science for his stimulators so as to distinguish it from unsubstantiated treatments like cold.
.
The book is long-winded with way too much fluff, boasting, and name dropping, so let me sum it up and save you a few bucks and a few hours. Just because we do something and have done it for a long time, doesn't mean it is the right thing to do. Throw your ice packs away. Icing an injury works against the healing process, is neutral at best and harmful at worst. Buy stock in muscle stimulators because if Reinl has his way and ice is no longer so nice, trainers around the world are going to have to fill their now empty training rooms with something.
I have mixed feeling about Reinl's claims. I agree with the idea that icing may actually work against the inflammatory response. It's like taking ibuprofen or Tylenol when you have a fever. You may feel better, but you ultimately interfere with the body's natural response to an infection or virus. The reality is if you can bear it, in many circumstances you may be better to let your body do what it has evolved to do. But taking Tylenol when you have body aches so that you can get some rest doesn't necessarily mean you won't get better. In fact, the rest you get might be critical to your recovery, despite the meds having suppressed the fever. It's sometimes the lesser or greater of two evils. Likewise with ice, there are times where I think the pain relief ice offers may actually support more movement which is ultimately a good thing. Basically, I think Reinl's argument is just a little too simplistic and idealistic. And of course, that means it will spread like wild-fire in the fitness community. All the fitness gurus seem to love debunking one "fad" to make room for another. Trainers will gladly ditch their ice machines for muscle stimulators and the guys peddling the ice paraphernalia will switch gears and be happy to sell it to them.
Ironically, Reinl repeatedly reminds us that the who's who of the sports world is on board with his anti-icing mantra, as if that somehow means anything when you consider these are the same elite group of guys who bought into icing, even perpetuated it, in the first place. I'm not sure their stamp of approval means squat.
There you go.
"The Lottery" is a chilling tale that speaks to the darker side of tradition. The story begins with what appears to be preparation for some sort of seasonal celebration. Yet little by little the reader begins to understand the true sinister nature of the event called "the lottery." As part of this longstanding ceremony the people of this community draw straws to see who in the small, simple, little community will win the privilege of being stoned to death by their fellow citizens.
As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that many of the townsfolk are beginning to tire of the strange observance, most completely oblivious to the origin of the ritual, but no one particularly motivated to question its existence, let alone abandon it.
Interestingly, the story was so provocative, as is much of Jackson's writing. that when it was first published in 1948, the New Yorker was inundated with letters from readers wanting to know if the community in question was a real place and this bizarre "lottery" an actual celebration. Others, excepting it as fiction, simply wanted to know what the story meant.
Shirley, however, refused to break it down, stating only that the story spoke for itself.
In the end, I believe she was commenting on all the things we do, from the silly to the downright barbaric, that have no real justification other than they have always been done.
And that is essentially the premise of "Iced" which speaks to the unsupported use of ice to treat injuries.
According to the author, the practice not only lacks any real scientific support, its origin, using ice on an injury, had nothing to do with controlling swelling, pain, or treating acute injury. It came about as a means to preserve a severed limb so as to allow a reattachment.
And like many things that have no scientific basis but are nonetheless perpetuated, the practice of icing quickly caught on, eventually becoming the go-to treatment for any acute injury.
Reinl argues that not only does ice not help, it may actually be detrimental in that it retards healing, and he bases his argument on our understanding of how the body heals. He claims we use ice to reduce swelling, but all we really accomplish is to delay the inflammatory response (an essential component of healing) and make it harder for the lymph system to get rid of swelling (or the back up of waste that is associated with the inflammatory response). The only way to promote healing and to increase circulation and lymph drainage is through muscle activation. In that regard it would seem the advice to "walk it off," is more than simple conventional wisdom.
As a PT and as a person who hates cold, I've never been a big fan of icing, and I have always been an advocate of movement. That said, ice is everywhere in the rehab world, except, thanks to Reinl, in professional team training rooms around the country.
He makes some good arguments against the use of ice. Unfortunately, his alternative is muscle stimulators, as it appears they are the next training room panacea. He spends a lot of time offering useless protocols that seem like a waste of space as they are all pretty much the same, and basically offer little to the reader who wants to know why they shouldn't use ice. I wish he would have spent more time providing the science for his stimulators so as to distinguish it from unsubstantiated treatments like cold.
.
The book is long-winded with way too much fluff, boasting, and name dropping, so let me sum it up and save you a few bucks and a few hours. Just because we do something and have done it for a long time, doesn't mean it is the right thing to do. Throw your ice packs away. Icing an injury works against the healing process, is neutral at best and harmful at worst. Buy stock in muscle stimulators because if Reinl has his way and ice is no longer so nice, trainers around the world are going to have to fill their now empty training rooms with something.
I have mixed feeling about Reinl's claims. I agree with the idea that icing may actually work against the inflammatory response. It's like taking ibuprofen or Tylenol when you have a fever. You may feel better, but you ultimately interfere with the body's natural response to an infection or virus. The reality is if you can bear it, in many circumstances you may be better to let your body do what it has evolved to do. But taking Tylenol when you have body aches so that you can get some rest doesn't necessarily mean you won't get better. In fact, the rest you get might be critical to your recovery, despite the meds having suppressed the fever. It's sometimes the lesser or greater of two evils. Likewise with ice, there are times where I think the pain relief ice offers may actually support more movement which is ultimately a good thing. Basically, I think Reinl's argument is just a little too simplistic and idealistic. And of course, that means it will spread like wild-fire in the fitness community. All the fitness gurus seem to love debunking one "fad" to make room for another. Trainers will gladly ditch their ice machines for muscle stimulators and the guys peddling the ice paraphernalia will switch gears and be happy to sell it to them.
Ironically, Reinl repeatedly reminds us that the who's who of the sports world is on board with his anti-icing mantra, as if that somehow means anything when you consider these are the same elite group of guys who bought into icing, even perpetuated it, in the first place. I'm not sure their stamp of approval means squat.
There you go.
Want to read
September 22, 2014So interesting, here's the viral version on Mobility Wod
April 13, 2016
You don't need to read the first four chapters. The science and recommendations are brilliant, however the first four chapters and significant portions of the rest of the book are more of a biography, and highly repetitive. I strongly recommend the book purely for its help in revolutionising physical rehab and preparation, but the waffling on was killing me. Also, the endless ice puns made me want to ice myself. Every page has at least a couple.
Thanks Reinl for writing this valuable book, worth the read.
Thanks Reinl for writing this valuable book, worth the read.
April 20, 2018
If you have ever iced your knee, ankle, elbow, shoulder...taken an ice bath, etc., please do yourself a favor and read this book. I can't believe how wrong I've been doing things in my 18 years of coaching. Thanks for opening my eyes Gary!
August 2, 2020
There’s about 10-20 pages of 150ish of useful info. The majority of the book is him talking/bragging about all of his experience and how he influenced soooooooo many people (doctors, sports organizations, etc) to stop using ice. Save your money and listen the the Squat University Podcast with Aaron Horschig. It’s about an hour long and it gets the point across.
July 8, 2020
Had to cringe when I thought back to how many times I have iced an injury. All I was doing was slowing down the healing. No more.
Not the best book you'll ever read, it's quite repetitive. But the message and the ideas are rock solid.
Not the best book you'll ever read, it's quite repetitive. But the message and the ideas are rock solid.
January 7, 2021
The info was good and I liked the message. Wish there would have been more to it as far as explaining the physiological aspects and then the alternative forms of therapy. It repeated a lot of the same things.
January 20, 2019
Don't particularly like when someone uses brand names of equipment in there books
January 8, 2023
A much needed paradigm shift in thinking on injury treatment. With supporting evidence from the man who first pioneered icing as injury treatment, saying that the science has developed
May 1, 2024
Very eye opening perspective on the history of Ice as a rehab modality, as well as the obvious importance of inflammation in the healing process!
January 19, 2026
not gonna argue with the premise (its legit) but save your time and read an article or two...maybe listen to a podcast or two with the suthor and you'll get it.
June 26, 2016
This book is mostly a man versus "ice gurus" autobiography. If you're an athlete or trainer looking for applicable information on the subject of ice, you'd do better to search the internet for articles/interviews featuring Gary Rienl.
While there is good information in this book, it's buried in chapter upon chapter of bad ice puns, ice conspiracy theories and endless self-aggrandizing. There was nothing of value before chapter 5 and only scattered bits of real info thereafter.
While there is good information in this book, it's buried in chapter upon chapter of bad ice puns, ice conspiracy theories and endless self-aggrandizing. There was nothing of value before chapter 5 and only scattered bits of real info thereafter.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews