Cold Showers: Lots of benefits apparently...

[Gammmmo]

A quick Google to give you the idea:

"Taking cold showers instead of hot showers provides surprising health benefits — from burning fat to depression relief — for our skin and body.

Increases Alertness. ...
Refines Hair and Skin. ...
Improves Immunity and Circulation. ...
Stimulates Weight Loss. ...
Speeds Up Muscle Soreness and Recovery. ...
Eases Stress. ...
Relieves Depression."

....anyone tried it? I'm on day 4 of just reducing the temperature over the course of ~3mins and it does make you feel great.

[Rowan McSheen]

There was a programme on the BBC a while back looking at various sports nutrition and recovery theories. One was the ice bath after training or a race. They set up shop at a 10K run and got three sets of volunteers to take a hot or very cold or room-temp bath afterwards, and checked over a couple of days for doms and other issues. Both the hot and cold bathers reported relief, about equally.

Not scientific or peer-reviewed academic research of course, but good enough for me and I like having my prejudices confirmed.

You carry on with your cold showers, chap ... let us know how you get on when you're down to freezing

[Gammmmo]

There was a programme on the BBC a while back looking at various sports nutrition and recovery theories. One was the ice bath after training or a race. They set up shop at a 10K run and got three sets of volunteers to take a hot or very cold or room-temp bath afterwards, and checked over a couple of days for doms and other issues. Both the hot and cold bathers reported relief, about equally.

What were the "other issues"? I'm not doing it to reduce DOMS - don't really get that with biking/rowing in quite the same way as with running.

You carry on with your cold showers, chap ... let us know how you get on when you're down to freezing

haha...I'm a sucker for an experiment. If it does work I won't be telling you though

[Steve1960VA]

... If it does work I won't be telling you though

Lol !!

[quickstepper]

Hi,

I've tried this and it seems to have worked for me in the past.
I'm not sure if it's my mind playing tricks on me but I find that it opens my lungs and increases my cardiovascular results (running, rowing, cycling, elliptical).

At the end of my workout I would take a shower and for the last minute to minute and a half I would lower the temperature. Not to the point where the water is so cold that it's painful or hurts (Like when you're doing that test where you stick you're hand in an ice bucket to test you're pain threshold) but just to the point where you think to yourself.... Sheesh, This is freaking cold! and you start to gasp due to the change in temperature.

Keep in mind that I am not an expert in this area and this is completely anecdotal evidence so take this for what it's worth... Probably nothing

Marco

[lindsayh]

Shawn is seriously into ice baths - I am sure he has written about it here somewhere

[hjs]

Wim Hof, "the iceman" is trendsetter here.

[Anth_F]

Wim Hof, "the iceman" is trendsetter here.

Watched a documentary on him couple years ago... a real eye opener.

[Rowan McSheen]

What were the "other issues"?

Nothing specific as I recall, just general creakiness and fatigue after a race.

Tbh I was surprised that the hot and freezing baths had the same effect, I thought cold would win. I think the only problem with the freezing treatment was reported by the gents ... (ahem) retraction.

[Shawn Baker]

I take multiple cold showers every day, I just go straight to cold-I will do ice baths from time to time- generally a few time a month- the research for is somewhat mixed for athletic purposes- cold showers are no where equivalent to ice baths- cold shower helps skin, it generally is mood elevating, but for most it is insufficient to produce much of a response as the dose is pretty low with regard to cold- ice baths directly after a hard workout seem to attenuate muscle growth in a few studies, thus I generally reserve them as their own event- generally I spend 20-30 minutes in the ice water submerged to my chest- this generally will provoke a fairly profound shiver response, and lead to a fairly high level of euphoria- I feel it has a role in mitigating chronic non- exercise induced inflammation

[bisqeet]

I take multiple cold showers every day, I just go straight to cold-I will do ice baths from time to time- generally a few time a month- the research for is somewhat mixed for athletic purposes- cold showers are no where equivalent to ice baths- cold shower helps skin, it generally is mood elevating, but for most it is insufficient to produce much of a response as the dose is pretty low with regard to cold- ice baths directly after a hard workout seem to attenuate muscle growth in a few studies, thus I generally reserve them as their own event- generally I spend 20-30 minutes in the ice water submerged to my chest- this generally will provoke a fairly profound shiver response, and lead to a fairly high level of euphoria- I feel it has a role in mitigating chronic non- exercise induced inflammation

my respect for you has doubled...

something i would like to do - i just hate the cold.
hashimoto's means i'm generally cold most of the time and thinking about cold showers just makes ernie and bert creep back to somewhere warm...


maybe i can ween myself to them. heard positve things about them

[Gammmmo]

just as a follow-up, this is the sixth day I've had a cold shower (or started with a hot one and reduced the temp to cold over the course of 2-3mins). I feel better afterwards and have categorically noticed an increased tolerance to them already. It's much less of a shock now. I see it as a biohack that works. Sorry Rowan xx

[jackarabit]

The stuff about the bennies of post-exercise vasoconstriction vs. vasodilation has me scratching my head. Immersion in cold water cools the outer surface of the body first. The veins are closer to the surface than the arteries and should cool and constrict first. Could vasoconstriction (decreasing veinous surface area and volume) initially slow rather than expedite a drop in blood and core temperature but increase rate of flow? Might not the important polar bear effect be expedited extraction of depleted blood from the veinous return system?

[Edward4492]

There's some discussion that cold showers/baths reduces inflamatiom; which begs the question...is that a good thing? Because the follow up becomes that imflamation is a necessary part of the healing process. I'll stay with my warm showers....I suffer enough on the erg and in the boat.

[Cabby]

I do cold showers after my lunch break workouts, not because of the apparent benefits, but because if I don't, I'm still sweating when I get back to the office.

I am more awake after a cold shower than after a warm one though.