Cold Exposure Therapy

Anyone doing this?

Cold showers, ice baths, winter cold exposure?

I found a YouTube video about 4 months ago when I was home with a cold that was about the health benefits taking cold showers. There were so many other videos claiming the same thing with a whole host of website blogs stating the same thing. I started doing it and never looked back.

The way you feel and rush you get in the morning is incredible. You’ll never need coffee ever again.

There’s a lot of evidence that it can significantly help with depression, anxiety, seasonal disorder, dry skin, and the list goes on.

Personally I don’t have any of those issues but the little bit of dry skin I always get in the winter is nonexistent.

I don’t want to go on and on but I just thought I’d pass on a little tip. Let the jokes begin…

I get cold exposure therapy every day at work…

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But in all seriousness, how in depth do you go with your ‘therapy’? Do you go all out with ice baths?

Haven’t done the ice bath yet. I would like to take a swim this April at a local lake as the ice is going off.

Since I heard about this I tried to research as much as I could about it. Cold weather adaptation is another benefit. We all go through this in early winter. By mid or late December our bodies have drastically changed how we are affected by the cold. I read a summary of a bunch of studies on this and found it quite interesting. I’ll see if I can dig it up.

As I was researching cold showers I came across Wim Hof. I’m guessing there are others familiar with him. He has a meditation, breathing technique, cold exposure and yoga program that is supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced spam.

I encourage you to google or YouTube this stuff. Pretty cool.

biggill wrote:

Since I heard about this I tried to research as much as I could about it. Cold weather adaptation is another benefit. We all go through this in early winter. By mid or late December our bodies have drastically changed how we are affected by the cold. I read a summary of a bunch of studies on this and found it quite interesting. I’ll see if I can dig it up.

Found it. Enjoy.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4861193/

Wim Hof
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Hof

Whatever works for ya.

I’ll stick with coffee <—-actually used for coffee lol

I did ice baths twice a day in college playing football and it was amazing how much better and quicker your body would recover. I actually started bc I was getting shin splints and it cured/prevented them in short order. I can’t do a cold shower now, and really enjoy my coffee so…

Cool showers feel great when it’s 85 degrees and you’ve been working outside all day. But a cold shower or a *shivers* ice bath in the winter in MN? Screw that! I’ll stick with a warm shower or bath with bubbles and salts, thank ya.

I read somewhere that a key trait of some of the world’s super successful (not sure what the measure of “successful” was) is cold showers to start the day. I tried it, but by day 3 I was back to hot showers. Guess I’m destined for mediocrity.

Sharon wrote:

Cool showers feel great when it’s 85 degrees and you’ve been working outside all day. But a cold shower or a *shivers* ice bath in the winter in MN? Screw that! I’ll stick with a warm shower or bath with bubbles and salts, thank ya.

Sharon is on to something here. Once upon a time I read (don’t know how scientific it was) but that warm temps and or warm/hot water opens your skin pores.

What we may not all know is that your skin pores ooze many toxins accumulated in your body, when they are expanded or open. Warm means the pores are open and oozing. Cold temps and cold showers will force your pores to close up…sealing the poisons in. Dry winter skin also contributes to blocked pores. Your skin closes up and prevents your body’s natural oils to keep your skin soft.

Add salt and warm water and your pores are free flowing, like the industries along the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland back in the 1950’s, draining all the toxins into the water.

I did ice baths in college as well for baseball. Kept my shoulders and elbows from getting sore. Now I just sit in the sauna at the gym for ten minutes then jump in the pool and repeat. That cold flash gets you completely revitalized.

Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

Warm means the pores are open and oozing. Cold temps and cold showers will force your pores to close up…sealing the poisons in. Dry winter skin also contributes to blocked pores. Your skin closes up and prevents your body’s natural oils to keep your skin soft.

I think there a slight misconception here. Or maybe just a different theory. First of all, the cold shock will drive the blood from your skin to your organs, creating a positive increase of blood flow. Then my theory is that the cold will contract your skin pushing out toxins, if anything.

Either way, there is definetly some benefit to reducing dry skin.

I’m glad some people have commented on this from with experience with ice baths. I knew that this was a thing for athletes but never seen or done it myself. I will say with 100% certainty that when I wake up after a night of hockey, I crave a cold shower and afterward 90% of any sorenesss is gone. Especially at the ripe old age of 38.

Another claim about this is a strengthened immune system. I will say, I’m sure there will be critics, that I have been less sick than I have been the last 3 years. I have other theories on this relating to my health but that’s another thread.

Sharon wrote:

Cool showers feel great when it’s 85 degrees and you’ve been working outside all day. But a cold shower or a *shivers* ice bath in the winter in MN? Screw that! I’ll stick with a warm shower or bath with bubbles and salts, thank ya.

I wanted to comment on this separately. I don’t expect many to read that scientific summary I posted earlier but basically, your body will very quickly adjust to the cold exposure. If you shiver the first time or two doing this, it certainly wouldn’t do it by the third of fourth time you do it. Personally I have only shivered once after doing this.

Let me also note that I am not talking about a 100% cold shower. I do a cold finish. Normal hot shower followed by 2-5 minutes of cold. I’d love to see people try this on a Saturday or Sunday morning and tell me what they think.

I’m surprised no one has hear of Wim Hof.

I was going to say I am one of those people who can’t just jump into a pool. I slowly work from shallow to deeper water and there would be no way I could do this. However I could finish showering with a cold 2-3 minutes.

I’m out, coffee is good

I heat my house with wood, by the time I get up in the morning the fire is about out or just coals. When i crawl out from under the covers it’s about 55 degrees and I am goose bumps head to toe. That’s my cold therapy for the day.

I have heard of Wim Hoffs work. I do it as well as a finish to my shower. Plan on increasing the duration. Its one of those things where we as a people become complacent with comfortable and can be down right afraid to be uncomfortable. I do it to become more comfortable with being uncomfortable. Cold water in a controlled environment will not kill you so why treat it like it will. Not dogging on anyone that does not see it that way just more so a mental exercise for me.

“do it to become more comfortable with being uncomfortable” – Aaron Kalberer

That’s belongs in a self empowering meme.

nhamm wrote:

“do it to become more comfortable with being uncomfortable” – Aaron Kalberer
That’s belongs in a self empowering meme.

Somebody needs a self-empowering hug!

Oh, and a motivational poster with an eagle never hurts either.

Grouse

We take a sauna a few nights a week and frequently go outside to cool off with a flop in the snow….. it is slightly shocking, but not uncomfortable at all. And always finish a sauna with a cold water washdown….. it makes a guy feel like a million bucks.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Grouse

Hmm, that explains my life.

This kind of cracks me up and I certainly don’t buy it. Your taking a hot shower and raising your core temps and then a 2 minute cool down in a 50 degree water and calling it cold exposure therapy? Every single guy on here that works outside all season long is laughing their butts of at that even being considered cold exposure.

I will say that at this point in the season when it was 28 degrees out yesterday I had just a sweat shirt with an undershirt on and wasn’t cold by any means. First weeks of winter I would need a couple sweatshirts and a coat but after working in sub zeros for a few weeks 28 feels like a heat wave.

Wallscalls wrote:

This kind of cracks me up and I certainly don’t buy it. Your taking a hot shower and raising your core temps and then a 2 minute cool down in a 50 degree water and calling it cold exposure therapy? Every single guy on here that works outside all season long is laughing their butts of at that even being considered cold exposure.

I will say that at this point in the season when it was 28 degrees out yesterday I had just a sweat shirt with an undershirt on and wasn’t cold by any means. First weeks of winter I would need a couple sweatshirts and a coat but after working in sub zeros for a few weeks 28 feels like a heat wave.

The impact of water temp on the body is significantly greater than the impact of air temp. You can easily hold your hand in a 400 degree oven for several seconds without any ill effect. Hold your hands under 140+ degree water for even a second or two and you will think you burnt all the skin off.

Wallscalls wrote:

This kind of cracks me up and I certainly don’t buy it. Your taking a hot shower and raising your core temps and then a 2 minute cool down in a 50 degree water and calling it cold exposure therapy? Every single guy on here that works outside all season long is laughing their butts of at that even being considered cold exposure.

I will say that at this point in the season when it was 28 degrees out yesterday I had just a sweat shirt with an undershirt on and wasn’t cold by any means. First weeks of winter I would need a couple sweatshirts and a coat but after working in sub zeros for a few weeks 28 feels like a heat wave.

OK, I’m not quit sure how to respond to that. First of all your first paragraph discounts cold adaptation theory but your second perfectly confirms it.

Second, people that work outside in the cold will definitely be more adapted to cold weather. I don’t have that privilege and very few do.

Third, cold adaption is only one benefit to cold showers. It only takes a couple minutes of your morning to see a benefit.

You also need to understand that water conducts heat 25 times better than air.

Also, you are not necessarily raising or lowering your core temperature in a hot or cold shower. You’re training your body to adjust so your core doesn’t change.

sticker wrote:

I’m out, coffee is good

I heat my house with wood, by the time I get up in the morning the fire is about out or just coals. When i crawl out from under the covers it’s about 55 degrees and I am goose bumps head to toe. That’s my cold therapy for the day.

It’s funny you say that because in the link I posted it talks about cold adaptation studies that were performed on people while they slept.

Sounds like you may have something in common with George Costanza from Seinfeld. LOL

carnivore wrote:

Sounds like you may have something in common with George Costanza from Seinfeld. LOL

I don’t get it…

He peed in the shower.

Found this.