Athletes usually sit in an ice bath for as few as five minutes to over an hour. Don’t try to break any records with your first time in an ice bath - acclimate yourself by starting with smaller increments of time, like five or ten minutes. Once this feels comfortable, then you can work up to longer amounts of time. The real ice bath challenge is enduring the first minute. The initial shock to your system is why the first minute is the most difficult, but if you breathe through it, your muscles become numb, and it gets much easier.