It’s been 2 years since I saw the first video talking about cold showers and the list of potential benefits that people were claiming to experience from undertaking this gruelling practice. The thought of cold showers instantly intrigued me. It wasn’t the health benefits that caught my attention (there was enough controversy about that anyway), but rather the mental resilience I hoped it would instil in me.
Now after 2 years, and 730 days of consecutive cold showers, was it worth the effort?
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN COLD SHOWERS AND ICE BATHS
It’s important to address this because this article (mostly) revolves around cold showers. Many people think of the two interchangeably however there are some subtle but important differences.
The main distinction is that, generally, ice baths are colder than cold showers due to the presence of actual ice. Additionally, you are fully submerged in an ice bath meaning that your body is always in contact with cold water. Contrast this with cold showers where the water may only contact specific areas of the body at a time.
The result is that most of the benefits in this article can be applied to ice baths but at a more extreme level. This is simply because ice baths are a more extreme version of cold exposure.
THE GOOD
After all, it’s been 2 years since I started so there must have been something worthwhile about the experience, right? Indeed there was. While some might scoff at you in their steaming hot showers, there is a good reason for it.
Mental Resilience
As you would expect, engaging in an activity that you otherwise feel resistant towards will strengthen your willpower and tenacity. A section of the brain, the anterior midcingulate cortex, is a structure responsible for the expression of tenacity and willpower. It has been shown that the size of this structure physically enlarges the more you engage in challenging behaviour. By partaking in cold showers, you will ‘exercise’ this part of the brain thereby improving your capacity for mental resilience in all facets of life.
Developing a sense of mental toughness and exercising your willpower is a crucial part of growing as a man. Being able to endure a difficult experience and enjoy it at the same time is a defining characteristic of masculinity.
Cold Tolerance
This may or may not be something you value, but living in England, it was a welcome benefit.
When you push your body to extremes that it’s never experienced before, it creates new adaptations to cope with the experience if it arises again. This is the same way resistance training works to increase muscle volume or build strength. In the same way, exposing yourself to cold intentionally will improve your body’s ability to respond to it in the future.
Apart from physical adaptations, it also trains you to deal with cold in the best way. The first time you immerse yourself in cold water, you may experience shortness of breath and a sense of panic. Over time, however, you will learn to slow your breathing, embrace the sensation, and control your physical response.
Knowing how to handle your response to extreme climates can be vital if you are ever placed in a life-or-death situation involving cold.
Mood And Cortisol
While the actual cold shower will spike your cortisol and adrenaline levels, after the exposure, your dopamine levels will skyrocket and cortisol will dip. This means you will experience improved mood, improved confidence and less stress.
The potency of these increases in dopamine is extremely profound. Dopamine increases to the same degree that people experience from consuming nicotine or addictive drugs – yet cold showers don’t have any of the negative side effects associated with these behaviours.
The best part? The increases in dopamine – and therefore in mood – persist for many hours after the cold exposure. Cold showers are a very real form of anti-depressants. It was noticeable to me how these hormonal changes carried forward, and impacted the rest of my day.
Alertness and Focus
Dowsing yourself with cold water first thing in the morning has a way of waking you up like no other. Your body naturally produces cortisol in the morning (this is a good thing) to wake you up and the cortisol released from stepping into a cold shower helps to support this process.
Because of this, cold showers can shortcut the period of grogginess after getting out of bed and propel you into a state of focus.
Testosterone Levels
Although highly debated, cold showers will have a testosterone-boosting effect to some degree. This is a result of its effect on improving mood and reducing cortisol. When you are stressed – and therefore producing cortisol – testosterone production is inhibited. Therefore, the reduction in cortisol attributed to cold showers will help with testosterone levels.
Another slightly more indirect benefit is its effect on the primary organ for testosterone production. The testicles. The testicles are located outside the body for a specific reason – to keep them cool. Too much heat is detrimental to the production of testosterone. Cold showers provide a cooling effect, contrary to a hot shower or bath, which can support testosterone levels.
Recovery
Cold showers have been linked to improved muscular recovery because they reduce inflammation within the body. This can be great if you need to recover quickly for an event, or if you are just feeling particularly sore. For this reason, Ice baths are popular with athletes who need to recover quickly.
After intense leg days, I sometimes direct the cold water onto the sore muscles for around 15-30 seconds. I find that this reduces the delayed onset soreness that usually accompanies leg training.
THE NOT SO GOOD
So what should you be weary of before diving into the icy water?
Diminished Effectiveness Over Time
If you are diligent with this practice and are progressively overloading, you will reach a point where your shower is unable to go any colder. At this point, continuing cold showers will not result in much further growth of any of the adaptations mentioned above. This is where I have been for a while now. Having said that this isn’t a reason not to partake in cold showers since you can still maintain all the benefits you have gained previously by continuing to take them.
In addition, I still find cold showers to provide a mood-boosting effect, although not as potent as before, and that is why they are still part of my daily routine.
Temporary Reduction In Mood
As you might expect, the period leading up to the shower can be quite a daunting experience, especially if it’s the first thing you do after getting out of bed.
If you are someone whose morning is completely ruined by the prospect of cold showers, then you may want to assess whether doing them every day is a good idea for you.
Headaches
Some experience this, others may not. What I’m referring to is an aching, ‘brain-freeze’ type experience when the head has been under ice-cold water for a while. I usually begin to experience this sensation after 30 seconds of keeping my head under the cold water. This won’t result in any harm if it’s just throughout the shower, but it can be unpleasant for many.
The solution is to simply move your head out of the path of the shower till the pain has subsided.
Potentially Dangerous
As with anything that pushes your mind and body to the limit, cold exposure can be dangerous if taken too far. The best way to approach this is to initially lower the temperature till it’s uncomfortably cold. Once this becomes comfortable, you should further lower the temperature in small increments. You should avoid lowering the temperature too far before your body has had time to develop the proper adaptations as this can be dangerous.
May Hinder Gains
Although reducing inflammation speeds up recovery, it can also mean reduced muscular hypertrophy. This happens because the inflammation generated from a workout is a primary signal to the body that adaptations need to be made in the form of new muscle tissue. When inflammation is reduced, this signal is diminished and therefore less muscle may be built as a result.
The solution is simply not to have a cold shower straight after a workout. Instead, have it in the morning when inflammation is likely to have already subsided naturally.
CONCLUSION
As long as you approach them safely, cold showers have much to offer in the way of health and mood benefits. While the friction of adopting this habit is high, that’s what makes it such a powerful tool, and if you can perceive this friction as a positive thing, then you will be adopting a mindset that leads to success.
