(CNN) -- High-intensity training can often be a cruel master --
capable of provoking a mixture of sweat and tears, as well as
occasional mishap and mental frailty -- but how much worse must
it be when knowing that the worst part comes at the end? That's
when an exhausted athlete, after hours of physical exertion, has
to clamber into a vat of iced water -- perhaps giving new
meaning to the phrase 'on the rocks'. During her heyday, Paula
Radcliffe, who still holds the world record for the marathon she
ran in 2003, revealed how she dreaded the baths, which the
Briton termed "absolute agony". So Radcliffe may have mixed
emotions about a recent report which pours cold water on the
efficacy of a concept already quite literally swimming in the
stuff. The European Journal of Sports Science suggests the
benefits of the ice bath -- a technique which has been used in
numerous sports disciplines (track-and-field, soccer, NFL,
cricket, rugby and tennis to name but a few) -- are highly
questionable. More worryingly still,