Cold water immersion (CWI) post-exercise reduces perceived muscle soreness and accelerates recovery compared to passive rest or active recovery, though it may temporarily impair high-intensity performance if used immediately before subsequent intense bouts.

These reviews conclude that cold water therapy reduces and delays the onset of muscle soreness in comparison with the effects of both passive (rest) and active recovery (low intensity exercise)... Stanley et al. (2013) reported that cold water immersion, between high-intensity exercises... slowed VO2 on-kinetics and reduced muscle O2 utilization. Consequently, there was an increase in the anaerobic contribution during subsequent exercises... cold water immersion has detrimental effects on high-intensity exercise... that seems to persist ~45 min.