Rick Rubin is an extremely influential music producer. He is the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings and founded American Recordings. He also was the former co-president of Columbia Records. He has worked with a number of different artists including Johnny Cash, Jay-Z, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Linkin Park, Shakira, Adele, Lana del Ray, Lady Gaga, the Beastie Boys, Eminem and Kanye West. He also helped to popularize hip-hop music. MTV has called him “the most important [music] producer of the last 20 years.
Rick Rubin has an insane ear for music. He also takes incredible care of his body through sauna and ice bath sessions. When discussing what he does to take care of himself he describes exercise and meditation, but that “the ice bath is the greatest of all. It’s just magic”. He describes how he goes from the sauna to the ice bath, and then back and forth. He says this routine is very cleansing for him and after the “fifth or sixth round of being in an ice tub, there is nothing in the world that bothers you”.
“I’ve always heard of football players and gymnasts using ice baths to help with sore muscles and recovery, but had never done it myself, even during my college athletic days. A couple weeks ago though, I was really sore from going to the gym and then working a 10-12hr shift bartending. When my boyfriend suggested an ice bath, I almost instantly said no.I already hate the cold and shower in the hottest water possible, but decided to give it a try anyway. It took me impossibly long to just get into the tub and then I realized I had to lean back to get my back and shoulders in. It was an extremely intense experience. When you’re trying to get as far into the water as possible and actually stay in, everything inside of you is telling you to get out, it’s way too cold, but you keep breathing and pushing through. In those moments, when I was completely in the ice bath, I literally COULD NOT focus on anything else and it completely cleared my head. Once I got out, my body felt amazing and refreshed. I can truly say that Rick Rubin is onto something with ice baths. I don’t think I could do them as often as he does or so many cycles of them, but if you haven’t done it before, I highly recommend trying it at least once”.
-Rukmani, Marketing Manager
Let us know in the comments below if you’ve ever done an ice bath and what you thought!
Ferriss, Timothy, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers HMH Books, 2016.