Cold Showers

r0llinstoned · Jul 13, 2013

Are quite invigorating!!!

I can only take them during summer though for the most part. Except the time I was in Mexico during winter and the hot water wasn't working.

They really wake me up and give me tons of energy.

Anyone else take cold showers?? why or why not?

Frieden · Jul 13, 2013

No, because they're cold.

Piaf · Jul 13, 2013

I pretty much finish with a quick cold shower everytime I shower.

daisymae · Jul 13, 2013

I like a cold finish, too, but not in winter.

roamy · Jul 13, 2013

i lov cold showers when its to hot

Pressed_Rat · Jul 13, 2013

Fantastic article on the health benefits of taking cold showers.

http://fitness.***********/sites/fitness/archive/2012/04/27/cold-water-immersion-benefits.aspx

Why a Cold Shower May Be More Beneficial for Health than a Warm One

By Dr. Mercola
When you’re stressed or just finished up a hard workout, jumping into a warm shower probably seems only natural.

The warm water promotes blood flow to your skin, helping to soothe tired, achy muscles and helping you to relax.

However, there may be good reason to turn the faucet to cold when you shower,both after a workout and on an intermittent basis.

Exposure to cold temperatures via cold water and ice baths, otherwise known as cold water immersion or "cryotherapy," is a popular technique among amateur and professional athletes, but it may offer health-boosting benefits for virtually everyone.

Why Take a Cold Shower After Exercise?
Cold works by lowering the damaged tissue's temperature and locally constricting blood vessels.

Using targeted cold therapy, such as an ice pack, immediately after an injury helps prevent bruising and swelling from the waste and fluid build-up.

Cold also helps numb nerve endings, providing you with instant, localized pain relief.

On a whole-body scale, immersing yourself in a cold tub of water brings down your heart rate and increases your circulation, minimizing inflammation and helping you recover faster.

In fact, cold-water baths appear to be significantly more effective than rest in relieving delayed-onset muscle soreness, which typically occurs one to four days after exercise or other physical activity.

In one study, after analyzing 17 trials involving over 360 people who either rested or immersed themselves in cold water after resistance training, cycling or running, researchers found the cold-water baths were much more effective in relieving sore muscles one to four days after exercise.

Just how cold does the water need to be?

In this case, most of the studies involved a water temperature of 10-15 degrees C (50-59 degrees F), in which participants stayed for about 24 minutes. Some of the trials involved colder temperatures or "contrast immersion," which means alternating between cold and warm water. This study did not show a significant benefit compared to rest for contrast immersion, but some experts do believe that alternating hot and cold water helps drive oxygen and nutrients to your internal organs, while encouraging detoxification. Research also shows it may help reduce pain and speed recovery by decreasing blood lactate concentration.ii

Cold Water Might Increase Your Body’s Tolerance to Stress and Disease
Ever since reading Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Body last year, which first introduced me to the concept, I have been experimenting with this concept. I now go into the shower without allowing it to warm up. I also jump in the ocean without a wet suit on when no one else is in the water. I have found that if I hold my breath it really helps adjust to the shock and I rapidly acclimate to the cold. I have come to enjoy it and now view it as a healthy stress very similar to exercise.

Exposing your whole body to cold water for short periods of time is used to promote “hardening.” Hardening is the exposure to a natural stimulus, such as cold water, that results in increased tolerance to stress and/or disease. This was demonstrated by a study involving 10 healthy people who swim regularly in ice-cold water during the winter.iii

Following exposure to the cold water, researchers noted a:

“Drastic” decrease in uric acid levels: High levels of uric acid are normally associated with gout, but it has been long known that people with high blood pressure, kidney disease and people who are overweight, often have elevated uric acid levels. When your uric acid level exceeds about 5.5 mg per deciliter, you have an increased risk for a host of diseases including heart disease, fatty liver, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease and more.

Increase in glutathione: Glutathione is your body's most powerful antioxidant, which keeps all other antioxidants performing at peak levels.

Can Cold Water Help You Burn Fat?
Drinking cold water is known to speed up your metabolic rate, as your body must work to raise the temperature of the water. But cold showers and other types of cold-water or ice therapy may also help boost your fat-burning abilities.

Tim Ferriss also reviews the concept of activating your brown fat to boost fat burning by exposing yourself to frigid temperatures. He claims you can increase your fat burning potential by as much as 300 percent simply through adding ice therapy to your dieting strategy. This is based on the premise that by cooling your body, you're essentially forcing it to burn much more calories by activating your brown fat.

Brown fat is a heat-generating type of fat that burns energy instead of storing it, acting more like muscle than fat. Research has shown that brown fat can be activated to burn more fat by cooling your body.iv Ferriss’ suggestions, from easy to 'hard core,' include the following. If you want to give his technique a try, make sure you advance slowly. It may be inadvisable to go straight to the ice bath if you're not used to frigid temperatures:

Placing an ice pack on your upper back and upper chest for 30 minutes per day (you can do this while relaxing in front of the TV for example)

Drinking about 500 ml of ice water each morning

Cold showers

Immersing yourself in ice water up to your waist for 10 minutes, three times per week. (Simply fill your tub with cold water and ice cubes)

Most studies on cold water immersion report benefits with minimal or no side effects, so if you're willing to spend 20 minutes or so in a cold tub of water, this may be another simple and inexpensive tool to support optimal health and longevity. Of course, common sense is advised. When you immerse yourself in cold water, it will shock your body to some degree so you need to make sure the water is not too cold, and that you do not stay in it for too long. As always, listen to your body and work up to the more advanced ice-therapy techniques gradually.

References:

i The Cochrane Library February 15, 2012

ii Journal of Science and Medicine in SportVolume 10, Issue 6 , Pages 398-402, December 2007

iii Free Radical Biology and Medicine March 1994

iv New England Journal of Medicine 2009 Apr 9;360(15):1518-25

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roamy · Jul 13, 2013

very interesting rat:2thumbsup:

*MAMA* · Jul 13, 2013

Frieden said:

No, because they're cold.
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Agreed. I hate hot weather, but showers must be scalding hot.

Jo King · Jul 13, 2013

I do summer and winter

LetLovinTakeHold · Jul 13, 2013

Frieden said:

No, because they're cold.
Click to expand...

This. I like it hot and steamy no matter what the weather is like

SpacemanSpiff · Jul 13, 2013

had to do some emergency cold showers a few times ...made it just in time before i would have passed out

other than that i just like to make it colder and colder at the end until i cant stand it anymore ..i have one of those equalizing things that keeps the pressure the same you just keep turning clockwise for colder

deviate · Jul 13, 2013

I take showers hot as fuck. But when it's super hot outside I go to warm showers, which honestly might be hot to some people.

I've lived at a few places where the water heater broke or runs out super fast.. not fun. But I might try some cold showers to see if that article is true.

r0llinstoned · Jul 13, 2013

Nothin like taken a cold shower at 6am to get fucking jacked up for the day

Paulwenz · Jul 13, 2013

Yep!

Puts you in a serious mode for life!!

FreshDacre · Jul 14, 2013

yea once ina blue moon because I enjoy variety haha.

AmericanTerrorist · Jul 14, 2013

I love cold showers and baths (not freezing cold though but cool cold) in the summer...

also it is really healthy to take a shower and switch the water back and forth a few times between hot and cold.

Meliai · Jul 14, 2013

Piaf said:

I pretty much finish with a quick cold shower everytime I shower.
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me too. I take super hot showers then stand under the cold water for a couple of minutes at the end.

AmericanTerrorist · Jul 14, 2013

^^^^It makes your hair really nice too when you do that.

Meliai · Jul 14, 2013

AmericanTerrorist said:

^^^^It makes your hair really nice too when you do that.
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that's why I started doing it...my hair wants to dread and rinsing in cold water is pretty much the only thing that keeps it from tangling

AmericanTerrorist · Jul 14, 2013

Haha cool... yea that's not why I started doing it but I was happy to discover it makes my hair very nice and smooth

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Cold Showers

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Cold Showers

r0llinstoned Gute Nacht, süßer Prinz

Frieden Senior Member

Piaf Senior Member

daisymae Senior Member

roamy Senior Member

Pressed_Rat Do you even lift, bruh?

roamy Senior Member

*MAMA* Perfectly Imperfect

Jo King wannabe

LetLovinTakeHold Cuz it will if you let it

SpacemanSpiff Visitor

deviate Senior Member

r0llinstoned Gute Nacht, süßer Prinz

Paulwenz Banned

FreshDacre Senior Member

AmericanTerrorist Bliss

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