Deirdre Reynolds: 'Roy Keane needs to chill out about ice baths'

As Finnish-style saunas pop up all over the country, a sweaty steam followed by a bone-chilling dunk is fast becoming the new Sunday morning mass for health- conscious Millennials.

But the former footballer is having none of it after rubbishing ‘cold water therapy’ as “a waste of time” during last week.

On an episode of podcast series The Overlap on Tour, true to form, the 53-year-old didn’t pull any punches when presenter Gary Neville revealed: “I’ve got an ice bath at home”.

Also chatting with Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright, the Manchester United legend explained how he takes freezing tubs for recovery: “I go in it, legs, six minutes, I think it’s about five degrees – cold, really cold.”

Not that it impressed his former teammate, who blasted cold water immersion, as it’s also known, as “the new garlic bread”: “Everyone gets an ice bath, it’s the new thing. I done my homework on it, I don’t just throw comments out there like a lot of people. Trust me – leave it.

“Were you having ice baths the last two, three years of your career,” he continued slagging Neville. “But you were finished! What benefit was it? People were running past you. ‘I’ll have an ice bath’, f*** sake. I’m telling you, it’s a waste of time.”

Long since used by sports people, plunging into a tub of icy water after intense training or competitions is said to ease muscle soreness and relieve swelling.

Amid heated debate over the supposed benefits of cold therapy, which also includes increasingly popular cryo chambers, one systematic review published in the journal of Sports Medicine, at least, found that it does work.

Still, and since I’m not about to pick a fight with the Corkonian, Roy’s not entirely wrong, as other studies have found there may be a psychological effect at play too among those who boast of the better sleep- and mood-boosting effects also associated with the ultimate in ‘chilling out’.

Science aside, I think we can all agree with the sportsman about the insufferability of these cold water converts, with even those of us who dip a toe in every now then bragging about it on social media, as I myself did last weekend after wading – freshly toasted by a hot box – into the sea at Rosses Point.

Although, like many, I’ve fallen hook, line and sinker for the wellness trend, I do wonder when all this ‘cold water shock’ malarkey began, as if we all suddenly woke up one day and realised that we live on an island strewn with over 15,000 rivers and lakes.

Dryrobe has a lot to answer for after the British brand segued from a practical solution for keeping sea swimmers snug into an acceptable form of outerwear.

You know an activity has been well and truly gentrified when you’re splashing €55 on a matching towelling robe for your dog.

Is it strictly necessary to fancifully refer to it as ‘cold water’ therapy in Ireland, though?

It’s not like there’s a body of water on or around the isle that wouldn’t freeze the snowballs off Olaf, any time of year.

In any case, with Kim Kardashian and Lady Gaga just two more celeb fans of cold plunging to “feel better”, the plug isn’t about to be pulled on the craze any time soon.

So maybe Roy should channel another Frozen character, Queen Elsa, and ‘Let it go’.