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Iain Abernethy
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Cold Showers?

Anyone here a “fan” of cold showers? Any experiences or insights you’d like to share?

I’ve been having cold showers for the last week – after being sold on the idea on the basis of a trusted friend’s recommendation and a little research – and I have to say that I’m “enjoying” them. Very early days, but I’m finding them invigorating and energising.

At the end of every shower, I’ve turned the water as cold as it will go and then stayed under it for a minute or so. By keeping my breathing smooth and controlled, it quickly becomes bearable.

There’s a meditative aspect as you need to focus on your breathing. If you lose control of your mind and focus on the discomfort, then the discomfort grows. Stay forced on the breathing and it feels a lot less cold.

The science suggests that cold showers can have the following benefits:

Improved mood (studies have shown it can help with depression).

Increased testosterone levels (so much for the idea of “taking a cold shower” to reduce romantic ardour!).

Increased white blood cells (good for the immune system).

Increase “brown fat” and reduced “white fat” (overall will aid weight loss).

Speed up recovery from training and reduce inflammation.

Less studied and more subjective benefits would also seem to be:

Increased energy levels (seems to be working for me)

Aids mental toughness (day starts dealing with discomfort; which set the tone for the rest of the day).

The negatives I can find is that the “shock” to the system should be avoided by people with heart disease, high blood pressure and those with a fever. This is because the restricted blood vessels that result from the cold can be problematic for folks with those conditions.

While the showers are not pleasant in and of themselves, the effects on my mood, focus and energy levels are most welcome. Indeed, it’s already got to the point where I’m looking forward to them.

Training under waterfalls is well established karate experience / photo op. This picture is of myself and James Freeman practising Pinan Shodan under a waterfall in Canada (there’d been a lot of rain in the preceding days!). Remaining focused while overcoming the cold is something we don’t need a waterfall for though. If our home, gym or workplace has a shower, this is something we can do every day.

I also found out that in Ian Fleming had James Bond take the same kind of showers in the novels i.e. the last few minutes being cold. So, it’s pretty cool to start the day in the same way as James Bond :-)

As I say, I’m very new to this … but already I can’t see me stopping it as I’m feeling the (immediate) benefits and enjoying the process.

Anyone else a “fan” of cold showers? Against them for any particular reason (aside from the fact they suck)?

All the best,

Iain

Les Bubka
Les Bubka's picture

Hi Iain

I take cold showers for about half year now,

I noticed that I feel better, getting less stress and don't get colds.

As you said, cold therapy starts to be recommended for people with depression and anxiety, as the shock of cold water is exactly the same as stress.

I seen program how the swimming in cold lake have helped girl with anxiety to take control over it

Interestingly Wim Hof was tested how his body can control illness via breathing, developed under cold.

Kind regards

Les

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Hi Les,

Les Bubka wrote:
I take cold showers for about half year now,

I noticed that I feel better, getting less stress and don't get colds.

Good to know :-)

Les Bubka wrote:
Interestingly Wim Hof was tested how his body can control illness via breathing, developed under cold.

Would you believe, I’ve just started following Wim Hof’s ten-week program … part of which is the cold showers. Kris Wilder recommend it to me and I’ve listened to “What Doesn't Kill Us” by Scott Carney on audio book. It was that combination that convinced me to give it a go. Too early to give any personal feedback, but I’m enjoying the process so far.

There seems to be a lot of good science behind it too. Scott Carney’s original intention was to debunk the method, and while he remains objective the book comes out in strong support of it.

Anything that had Wim, and Scott, climbing Kilimanjaro in record time; with no time for acclimatisation and in nothing but shorts obviously has some merit! https://www.climbkilimanjaroguide.com/iceman-climbs-kilimanjaro/

He, and people trained by him, have also been scientifically studied and on more than one occasion have done things thought to be impossible:

According to Maria Hopman of the UMC St Radboud Nijmegen, what Wim is capable of is viewed as scientifically impossible. Maria Hopman conducted a cold physiological experiment with Wim as subject and examined him as he stood in a cylinder filled with 700 kilograms of ice cubes. In these conditions, an untrained person would most likely die from hypothermia. Wim, however, has never had the risk; his body temperature remained constantly at around 37 degrees …

You can see that experiment here: https://youtu.be/aINSboYgr_g

There’s also this paper where Hof and 12 randomly people trained by him in a short course we injected with Escherichia Coli Endotoxin and then showed no symptoms other than a mild headache. The same cannot be said of the control group: http://www.icemanwimhof.com/files/pnas.pdf

Extract: Hitherto, both the autonomic nervous system and innate immune system were regarded as systems that cannot be voluntarily influenced. The present study demonstrates that, through practicing techniques learned in a short-term training program, the sympathetic nervous system and immune system can indeed be voluntarily influenced. Healthy volunteers practicing the learned techniques exhibited profound increases in the release of epinephrine, which in turn led to increased production of anti-inflammatory mediators and subsequent dampening of the proinflammatory cytokine response elicited by intravenous administration of bacterial endotoxin.

All of this makes me keen to know more which is why I purchased the 10-week program. I’ll let folk know how it goes.

All the best,

Iain

Les Bubka
Les Bubka's picture

Hi Iain, yes it's all very interesting, looking forward to your progress raport. Win method it might be an answer to how humans survived in harsh climate and through years of civilisation development we forgot. Kind regards Les

Cataphract
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In German "Warmduscher" (somebody who takes warm showers) is a tongue in cheek insult.

I've been showering cold for years now. Cold showers also activate the brown adipose tissue, fat cells that actually burn fat to keep you warm. It helps with varicose veins because it contracts the vascular muscle tissue. The downside is that especially in the cold season muscles can become spasmodic which can result in circulatory disorder, cramps and cricked joints. Alternating warm and cold is gentler on the body.

Wim Hof practices tummo yoga.

Kneipp hydrotherapy consists of cold showers and wading in cold water. It is a quite uncontroversial traditional healing method.

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Cataphract wrote:
In German "Warmduscher" (somebody who takes warm showers) is a tongue in cheek insult.

Interesting! I like it ;-)

Cataphract wrote:
I've been showering cold for years now. Cold showers also activate the brown adipose tissue, fat cells that actually burn fat to keep you warm. It helps with varicose veins because it contracts the vascular muscle tissue. The downside is that especially in the cold season muscles can become spasmodic which can result in circulatory disorder, cramps and cricked joints. Alternating warm and cold is gentler on the body.

That’s interesting and useful info. At the moment I am starting warm and finishing cold. Looking through Wim Hof’s workbook it shows alternating hot and cold in coming weeks. That intuitively seems right to me. Makes sense how you describe it too (avoids cramps, etc).

Thanks for that!

All the best,

Iain

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

After my morning stretch and breakfast I’m currently getting into a cold shower for 2 mins, switch to warm for a bit, and then cold for a final minute. Body and mind have got used to the cold and it’s no longer unpleasant. Indeed, I look forward to them. I’m finding it a great way to kick start the day and energy levels are high as a result. It seems to ease post training aches a little too (or blocks them out due to the body responding to the “shock” of the cold). Either way, it is proving a useful part of the day.

All the best,

Iain

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Coincidentally, there was a good interview with Scott Carney just before noon on BBC Radio 5 today. Scott wrote a book call “That which does not kill us” which set out to debunk Wim Hof and his method (he’s written several debunking books) and instead he ended up doing the research and becoming something of an evangelist for the method. I read the book, and was impressed with the objectivity of Scott Carney. He gives praise and endorsements when merited, and he is critical and sceptical when merited too.

After the interview there was a secondary one with a doctor, which gave a warning about how this was not for the elderly and those with cardiovascular issues as it can thicken the blood. There was also a refuting of the claim that the increase in brown fat cold exposure brings (used to generate body heat) can lead to a reduction in white far (the kind we get from eating too much).

Somethings I can say from my own three weeks with the method:

Cold showers don’t bother me anymore.

I’ve added 15 reps to my press up maximum with the breathing method (that I put down to increased ATP in the muscles and the oxygenised blood).

I seem to have more energy.

I have doubled the about of time I can hold my breath for (60 seconds to 2 mins).

The breathing leaves me feeling relaxed and energised.

I’ve noticed no increase in the rate of weight loss

There is some “hippy speak” in the instructional videos alongside the science which is off-putting to me.

I'm enjoying it overall.

I’ll see it through to the end where I’ll be in a better place to give a personal assessment.

All the best,

Iain

Dod
Dod's picture

Hi Iain,

last winter I started taking quick dips in a cold pool after training because I had heard of rugby players doing it, and it seemed help in general with aches and pains, bruising, inflammation. It felt great afterwards and I looked forward to it. I also tried cold showers in the morning although I was doing cold then warm. I then broke my arm in December so later in the winter swimming was about the only upper body workout I could do, so I took pre-breakfast swims in the sea (I'm in the Middle East and the sea is cold in winter especially early morning) and then cycled home like a maniac to warm up again, but felt great.

There's definitely something in it - I will look up the Scott Carney method.

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Hi Dod,

Thanks for sharing that. The sea swims sound idilic!

Dod wrote:
I will look up the Scott Carney method.

Scott Carney’s book is well worth a read. It’s the “Wim Hof Method” he mainly focuses on though as opposed to any method of his own. Scott also writes about other ways in which we modern humans seek discomfort for enjoyment too i.e. extreme obstacle races.

Wim’s method is essentially a mix of incremental cold exposure, a breathing method (cycles of hyperventilating and breath holding) and physical conditioning (press-ups, yoga postures, etc). What I like about it is Wim’s willingness to put all he does up to scientific scrutiny. There’s some “hippy speak” that sneaks in from Wim himself though (the occasional mention of “cleansing toxins”, chakras, “inner power”, etc), but you can see past that when scientists are publishing papers on the method and putting him and the method to the test in controlled conditions. His mantra of “nature is merciless, but righteous” also appeals to me and gets away from the hippy idea of nature being benign and “loving”.

The breathing is energising as are the cold showers. I’ll be in a better place to asses once I’ve done the full ten weeks (currently on week 3).

There’s a video here of one of the scientists discussing their tests:

All the best,

Iain

PS While some have linked Wim’s method to Tummo meditation, Wim himself is quite dismissive of it in one of the “behind the wall” videos on his website. He says Tummo works, but it takes years. However, he claims his method works much more quickly and is better suited for westerners. Certainly, he has had people replicate some of the amazing things he does with only a very modest amount of training (as per the video above).

Dod
Dod's picture

Hi Iain, All very interesting. Look forward to your results after ten weeks!

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Dod wrote:
All very interesting. Look forward to your results after ten weeks!

Hi All,

So, I followed the course through and enjoyed the process. Here’s my brief conclusions:

1 – Cold showers and baths are something I will keep doing.

While the initial experience was not present, the gradual increase in time and intensity does seem to have worked for me. Cold doesn’t feel “cold” anymore. The argument is made that out bodies are not as good as dealing with the cold anymore because we control our environment to be “permanent summer”. The idea is that through cold exposure we allow the system that directs the blood towards the core to strengthen … and when we anticipate the cold, the body preparers itself. That seems to have worked for me. After the first few weeks I was getting into the water and it did not feel as “cold”. In fact, I had to ask my partner to check the water was indeed cold. On a few occasions, I’ve even had 10-minute-long ice baths (cold water and several bags of ice cubes) and it feels just fine.

There are claims are made that cold exposure can have several health benefits, but I can’t speak to those. What I can say it that it feels invigorating and energising. It feels great after hard training and doing something “unpleasant” first thing in the morning sets a good tone for the day.

At present, I start cold for a few minutes, use warm water to wash, and then finish cold for a few minutes.

2 – The breathing technique is something I will continue too.

Again, there are health claims made for the breathing. And it seems the scientific tests would support some of those claims, but I can’t speak to that. I’ve not has my physiology tested before and after so I don’t know if those claims hold true for me personally. What I can say is the breathing technique leaves me with a nice feeling of being both energised and relaxed. I have also found it to be effective in reducing fatigue (a good alternative to a cup of coffee).

The fact you are focused on your breathing and thoughts (don’t think about the length of the breath retention, but keep the mind neutral) makes it a form of “active mindfulness”. It is therefore good for stress relief too.

Breath retention times have increased significantly, but as to what that may point to mentally or physically I could not say. I also do think it’s have a slight positive effect on my anaerobic capacity, but I personally put that down to the fact the breathing method encourages you to breath actively rather than subconsciously, and as such I’m probably breathing a little more efficiently during high levels of exertion.

There is some “hippy speak” in the course which I found off-putting (“chakras”, “third eye”, etc) and which seems to jar against the scientific testing and explanations central to the method.

Early on, they mention “seeing lights” like a “stroboscope” during the meditation section, and I dismissed that as nonsense … until I started seeing lights :-) For me, they accompany a pleasant tingling sensation throughout the body so I put that down to the oxygenated blood.

One of the regular components has you doing push ups following a few cycles of the breathing exercise. You do a few cycles of the breathing, breath out, and then do as many push up as possible before you need to breathe again. What’s odd is you do way more than you think you’ll be able to … indeed I was doing more than normal!

I put this down to the ATP being fully replenished because of the hyperventilation, but apparently the resulting alkalinity of the blood interferes with system that would normally cause the burning sensation. I am currently doing roughly the same number of push ups normally and as part of this process. I’m doing more than I was though, so that’s another improvement.

There are a few videos online that proport to teach the breathing … but they generally don’t do it right. Wim’s own videos go into much more detail.

The basic idea is:

1) Hyperventilate deeply for 30 or 40 breaths. Do it somewhere safe (in case you pass out) and force nothing.

2) Breathe out and then hold your breath for as long as you can without forcing it. You can time this in the early days so you can see the time increasing with practise.

3) Breathe in when you need to, and hold that breath for 10 to 15 seconds (feels really good!)

And that’s one cycle.

You start doing 3 cycles, and then build up to 5 with the last one having the push ups during the breath retention.

HOWEVER, there is lots of subtlety to the method that most of the YouTube videos miss. The videos in the program touch on these details all the time. There is a free three-week course on Wim’s website, but I’ve not done that. I did the paid for 10 week one.

3 – The Yoga postures have an accumulative effect.

There is a nice progression in these throughout the course and I do feel it’s had a positive effect on increasing my flexibility. It’s not the kind of intensive stretching we MA types are used to, but that daily gentle stretch does seem to move things in the right direction without it seeming like “work”. Additionally, my headstand is now rock solid and I do a really mean “raven pose” too :-)

4 – The improved immune system claims aren’t something I can speak to.

During the course, I picked up a bad chest infection (which seems to start with a combination of jetlag and aeroplane air) which took some shifting. Three rounds of antibiotics and numerous blood tests, x-rays, etc because the doctors were concerned it was not shifting as they would expect. It’s gone now, but I was sick for most of the course. Good old western medicine fixed me up in the end. So, I can’t personally report feeling like my immune system has enhanced.

5 – Brown fat activation method

In one of the later weeks (week 7 I think), there is a “brown fat activation technique” added. I’m not aware of any scientific backing for the claim this breathing technique triggers the metabolising for brown fat. There’s a lot of scientific backing for the other claims and Wim, to his credit, has sought to put claims to the test under scientific conditions as he believes it is the best way to convince people as to the benefits of his method. There was no scientific papers presented for this claim though. To me, it did make me warmer, but it felt exactly the same as forcing my blood pressure up through a combination of muscle tensing and breath holding. I won’t be using this method going forward.

Conclusion

It’s a well-structured course with some very good stuff in it. The cold exposure is invigorating and I will keep doing it. It’s also always satisfying to see and feel yourself improve at something. As I said, cold is no longer “cold”. The breathing is relaxing and energising. It also is pretty pleasant to do. That I will keep doing. The yoga postures are achievable and the progression well-paced. They don’t take long and I will keep doing them each morning too. I can’t speak to the health claims. I’ve certainly not personally experienced any noticable boost to my immune system.

I hope that’s of some use.

All the best,

Iain

Les Bubka
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Thanks Iain

Very detail explanation as always

Kind regards

Les

Paul_L
Paul_L's picture

Reading this I wonder if running the shower cold for a bit is something I should try. As a kid I would leap carefree into a cold outside swimming pool. These days on the rare occasion that I go swimming I find myself teetering pool edge with trepidation and that's with an indoor swimming pool...

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Paul_L wrote:
Reading this I wonder if running the shower cold for a bit is something I should try.

I’d generally recommend it. If a person is in good health and they build up gradually, I think they will get a lot out of it. Very invigorating. Yesterday I was exhausted and it was a busy day. So, during my lunch break I had a 10-minute cold shower and I went back to work feeling great! It works for me.

All the best,

Iain

OhioMike
OhioMike's picture

Fasinating topic, 

Doing more digging on the subject it seems that there is some good solid statistical evidence that cold exposure does help build brown fat, can't say that the this method is the best since most of the research is aimed at avoiding the need to jump into ice cold water.  But here is a good article on the state of the research in general and some of the more current, more promising studies. 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/supercharging-brown-fat-to-ba...

Good luck,

Mike

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Interesting! Thanks for sharing. Much appreciated.

All the best,

Iain