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!