Cold exposure could train the brain find exercise more enjoyable, study finds
Miami, United States, (EFE).
A new study suggests that exposing the body to cold and discomfort before working out may help train the brain to tolerate exertion better and even make exercise more enjoyable, according to Brazilian researchers at Florida International University (FIU).
The study, published in the journal Stress & Health, found that sedentary adults who submerged their hands in a bucket of ice water for up to three minutes before exercising reported higher tolerance and greater enjoyment during a subsequent high-intensity cycling session.
Professor Marcelo Bigliassi and graduate student Dayanne Antonio monitored the brain activity of 34 healthy participants aged 18 to 35 who did little or no regular exercise. Using electroencephalography and artificial intelligence to interpret the data, the researchers also measured participants’ heart rates and asked them about their physical tolerance.
“The more pain, discomfort, and physical stress participants experienced during the cold-press test, the more positive and less painful the exercise felt afterward,” Bigliassi, who directs FIU’s kinesiology program, told EFE. “It’s counterintuitive, but when you manipulate your reference points for pain, everything that comes after feels a bit better— a bit easier.”
The findings come as US health authorities warn that nearly three in four Americans, about 73.6 percent, are overweight or obese, while fewer than one in four get enough physical activity or exercise. Half of Americans also say they don’t enjoy exercising, according to a survey by the fitness app Freeletics.
Antonio believes the research could help shift public attitudes toward fitness and exercise. “If we start changing how people think (about their bodies and movement,) they can start changing their habits,” she told EFE. Gradual exposure to discomfort, she added, may help foster a more positive relationship with exercise.
The study also comes amid the growing popularity of ice baths on social media. While cold plunges are often promoted as a recovery method after workouts, the FIU team emphasized that their experiment focused on cold exposure before exercise.
“We use cold pressure as a controlled laboratory test to study its psychological effects,” Antonio said, adding that by adjusting the environment, it can be seen how the brain responds, and maybe to find new ways to make exercise something people actually enjoy.
