This is a great question and one I'd like to hear moe on as well. Instead of ice baths, I sit in my 52 degree pool and soak for 15 min following long workouts. Feels great. Usually about 15 min later, however, I can extremely cold extremeties which last for about 1/2 hour. My understanding is that you should avoid going to take a hot shower too soon following the ice.

I've always done a warm, not hot, shower a half hour or so after an ice bath. The additional time between lets the blood vessels open naturally as the body slowly warms up-- less double shock to the system. I've also read and it seems to work for me, that the warm shower helps to keep the muscles from tensing back up during 1st day recovery.

What do you do with that half hour or so in between? Jump under the covers and catch up on the latest tri mag.:)

Letting your blood vessels open up naturally, like someone posted earlier is the most effective way to "warm up". Although it can be very cold and miserable for about 30-45 minutes, that is the most effective. So, not hot/warm shower, just a bit more suffering....

My feelings on this matter seem to be slightly different to the opinions posted here....I get striaght out of the ice and into a warm shower!!

For me the theory "is" to shock the vessels into rapidly opening from their shutdown state producing a very large and rapid influx of blood, oxygen and nutrients, and a rapid efflux of degradation products.

The way I look at it imagining its like someone has damned up a river, if you let your legs slowly warm up then the its like the water in the river following through a crack in the damn.....slow flow, doesn't move much water, but if the damn was opened a massive flow of water occurs, fast flow, moves a lot of water or nutrient carrying blood in and waste product carrying blood out. Isn't this explosive reaction what we are after??

Would be interested to hear what people think about that as this is just my "theory"!!

A rapid influx of blood and oxygen will also rapidly increases the size of the muscle reopening the miniscule muscle fiber tears that you've just knitted back together with the ice bath traetment.

It's kind of the same logic as icing an injury to reduce inflamation, heat or warmth on the other hand will increase blood flow to the muscles, increasing inflamation and intercellular pressure, resulting in slower recovery and stiffer muscles.

A warm shower, really not much more than tepid, a half hour or more later is more to stabilize core temp and get blood flowing more easily to the extemities. Just my pencil logic though.

I do an ice bath, and jump in for a few minutes and then get out for a few minutes. I just stand outside the bath until I feel comfortable to get back in.
I repeat this cycle for about a 1/2 hour.
I use the outside temp to warm me up gradually.

Just my .02 :D