This video explains the benefits of switching from warm to cold showers and the best way you can do it.
Video by Better Than Yesterday
Key Takeaways
Back in the day, hot water was a luxury. People had to live near hot springs in order to enjoy a hot bath, so for most of human history we bathed in cold water. But even when the Ancient Greeks developed heating systems for their baths, they continued bathing in cold water for the health benefits.
You’ve most likely been taking warm showers for your entire life and there’s nothing wrong with that. This video explains the benefits of switching from warm to cold and the best way to do it.
Benefits of Cold Showers
1. Energy and Alertness
An ice cold shower is going to wake you up. If you have trouble getting up for the day, cold shower is a good cure for your sleepy morning.
- A change in body temperature sends your body into a slight state of shock, which instantly boosts your alertness and the feeling of being awake.
- The freezing water is going to get your heart pounding, lungs pumping and eyes wide open.
- When you get hit by the cold water, it forces you to start breathing more deeply and you’ll get more oxygen in to your body. It’s like entering a meditative state.
- Your heart rate will also increase and it’s going to feel like drinking a cup of coffee.
- You’ll have extra energy to be more productive and tackle the rest of the day.
2. It Can Boost Your Willpower
By doing something you are resistant to doing, you make your willpower stronger. Kind of like a muscle. To make a muscle bigger and stronger you have to push yourself to move more weight than the last time. Willpower works the same way.
- By exposing yourself to something that takes some serious self discipline, you start building that willpower muscle. And one of the best ways to build it, is to do something as hard as taking a cold shower.
- By building willpower in one area of your life you will end up having more mental strength overall. That means if you build enough self-discipline to take a cold shower every day, you will have more self discipline to hit the gym, quit smoking and overall make better life decisions.
- Imagine a cold shower as an obstacle you have to overcome every day. By getting over that initial obstacle, every other obstacle becomes easier to overcome.
3. It Improves Circulation
If you’re not motivated by feeling better or doing better, then at least be motivated by becoming healthier. Good blood circulation is vital for overall cardiovascular health. It also speeds up recovery time from demanding exercises and work.
- When the cold water hits your body, your arteries pump blood more efficiently, therefore boosting your overall heart health. Alternating between hot and cold water also works.
- Cold water causes your blood to move to your organs to keep them warm. Warm water reverses the effect by causing the blood to move towards the surface of the skin. Thus improving circulation.
- What’s more interesting is that in one study they found that even 30 seconds of cold water exposure can improve your immune system. The participants of the study who took cold showers for 30 seconds or more, were less likely to get sick.
- So not only do cold showers improve circulation, they also make you more immune to diseases.
How To Make Cold Showers a Habit
1. Gradually Decrease the Temperature of the Water
If you’ve spent most of your life showering with warm water, suddenly going cold, can be a pretty big shock for your body. You don’t want to start off too cold right away, as this can come be a big surprise for your immune system, and it might actually make you sick.
- Gradually decrease the temperature of the water, so your body can slowly adapt. So you don’t have to jump straight in to ice cold.
- Start your shower with warm water. Enjoy yourself. Then make it slightly colder. After a few seconds you’ll get used to it and then you can go even colder. Keep on making it cold until you reach a temperature you can handle for about 30 seconds. It doesn’t have to be ice cold, just cold.
Experiment:
- Turn this into a 7 day challenge.
- Take a cold shower tomorrow morning for just 30 seconds and see how it makes you feel.
- Remember the first cold shower is the hardest one. Every single day you do it, it gets easier. You just have to condition your body to get used to the cold, just like with any other training.
- For example, Wim Hof aka “The Iceman”, can stay in an ice bath for 2 hours without freezing. He also holds many other world records, such as climbing the highest mountains in the world, in only his shorts.
- So even if the cold showers don’t make you the next Wim Hof, you should still experiment with them and see how they make you feel.
- Do they make you more energized? Or do you feel like they do nothing for you?