Transition to cold showers

[Giant48]

Hey guys. İ started like taking cold showers on the summer of 2021 but stopped taking them after the winter arrived in december and had been feeling pretty comfy taking hot showers lately. Since i had been on a good nutrition plan and had started exercising daily now i want to incorporate cold shower's back in to my life cause i know the benefits of them. But i think if i just flip the switch and go cold tomorrow morning i feel like im gonna get sick or maybe hell no and go back to lukewarm etc.
Checked the guides and other sections but couldnt find a recent post .
İs there a method/ program that can help me achieve this goal in like 1 week to 10 days can also be any advice that made it easier for you

 

[Fremen]

Maybe @TheLibrarian can give you some advice

 

[TheLibrarian]

as @thinman already wrote: Wim Hof is a great source to get back into the cold shower. You will find a lot of it for free on youtube.
It also helped me to get it done.

@Fremen thanks for the tag. I have a view cold shower days on my list and know one or two things. ;-)

Well, there is no right or wrong to approach this thing, to get back into it.

And there is also nothing wrong with luke-warm to start with.

So, depending on your body - I will just write down what comes to my mind right now:

Maybe start with lukewarm, and slowly working your way to the cold side of life.

Another thing I find quite helpful is: Do not go fully into the cold shower. Start with your legs, than the other one, than the both arms, and working your way up to your heart and head, therefore your body gets accustomed to the stress of the cold. Leave the head for the last.

And another important thing: Start a cold shower either after a breathing session = for example one of Wim Hof (you find the technique on youtube), therefore your body heats up quite a lot. Or, after a nice workout when your body is already warm.

Another thing you can try is: Start your shower warm (as long as you like), than switch to cold (or work your way up . lukewarm, etc. . for a set time like 20seconds or more as you like), than go back to warm again, than switch to cold again. You can do that as often as you like, but finish your shower with „cold“. It works. Your body will get easily accustomed through it.

Time is also of the essense. Dont try to go for 5 minutes straight or something like that! Its work in progress. Start with 20-30 seconds, thats more than enough, maybe adding each view days 5-10 seconds atop. Maybe set yourself a goal of 2 minutes for the start and work yourself up to it.

And as written above: dont underestimate the lukewarm setting, slowly but steady you will automatically reach the cold side.

Last but not least and very important: continue breathing. For me personally it helped a lot to just continue breathing, I closed my eyes and breathed and tried to stay in that moment. Also: its just water, its wet, yes, but cold? no, water is only wet ;-) Mind over matter. ;-) Your body will automatically heat up.

Well, at least something that comes to my mind, not especially in a right or wrong order, but I hope I could at least help a bit. I would be interested to know more about your cold-shower journey.

In that sense: Happy shower, and remember the cold is your new warm friend, but you already know the great benefits.

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Just a warning as I previously (well, in the previous forum, years ago probably) stated : hot-to-cold showers can be very hard on your body, mostly the heart. Hard as in dangerous. Folks here have lots of good advice, and cold showers have lots of benefits, but alternating temperatures is something to be very thoughtful about. Sorry to be a bit of a downer, but I have to make this statement, in memory of someone.

 

[Giant48]

@Fremen @TheLibrarian @thinman @PetiteSheWolf thank you ladies and gentlmen for your replies and good advice.
İ've seen some wim hof on social media/youtube thought it was interesting and was planning on exploring abit.
As i have stated that i want to get back to cold showers,
*Started my shower with usual warm/hot stayed under water for a while then rubbed my body on lukewarm water. Switchd to a bit colder water(still lukewarmish but a tad bit colder) while rinsing and finally went full cold for the last 20-20 not sure might be 15-20 or 10-15 seconds
*Started with my legs for a few seconds than took the shower head and quickly exposed my whole body to cold water
After that tried staying under the showerhead while breathing but guess it was a bad idea to start directly with my head and i felt my breathing was getting quicker so i stopped the water and took my towel and dried my self up.
İ think i stayed too short on my legs and didn't do arms before going under shower head Gonna try to expose my legs and arms a bit longer and maybe my back as well before getting under shower head for tomorrow

 

[Giant48]

@TheLibrarian Hey have you tried the breathing exercises on wim hof ? the 3 round one ? with the retention's. Thinking of triying it tomorrow early in bed .
Also gonna try cold shower after gym tomorrow should help with the muscle recovery as well after the workout

 

[TheLibrarian]

The Breathing exercise is now a daily routine in my life, but sometimes I fail of course, because life happens from time to time.

Atm I do it in the mornings, directly after I wake up when I still lie in bed. After that I directly go into the cold shower.
So far it works quite nicely for me.

Regarding the breathing exercise I may have something for you, especially combined with a nice Darebee challenge (lets say 50 push-ups in one go, etc.) or maybe just doing it for fun, or for meditation, or in the warm-up phase of your workout, etc.

It maybe a nice addition from now and than, or to test onselfs development. Here is the link to the "Wim Hof Push Up Challenge" combined with the Power of the breath.

In that sense: happy breathing and maybe happy pushing as well ;-)

3 rounds is great for the start, who knows where your journey takes you in the end. Maybe you like this guided breathing exercise by Wim Hof.

I would be interested how your breathing exercise works and if you like to share it.

And a personal suggestion: if you plan on doing it more than once: than try to make some notes: Something like: How long in the first round, how long in the second round, or even how long and when doing the showers. Its nice to see progress and maybe you find better ways of adapting to your time-shedule when something is amiss, maybe when time is tight for 3 rounds, etc.

 

[feilan]

@TheLibrarian already told you pretty much everything, so I'll share my experience with you for what it's worth.

I have the same problem as you - in the Summer, it's easy to get cold showers, but when the winter comes, our bodies become colder as well, especially if you're not heating your place like crazy (we are keeping the temperature in our flat at 19/20 C most of the time). Last year, I stopped with cold showers over the winter, I didn't "FEEL" like doing them.

I'm working from home as a programmer, so I spend a lot of time sitting, and I'm often not warmed up, which makes cold showers even harder. That's why I'm taking them after the workout. After I cool down, I go straight for the 2-minute cold shower. It is essential that you don't do it overheated and that you take it easy!! I've taken quite some cold showers in the past, and I started with 15 seconds, and now I'm staying at 2 minutes which is more than enough (2-3 minutes).

The first 10 seconds are the "worst," but remember this - mind over body! Enjoy the cold getting over your body. Feel how it brings you to life, how it covers you in a cold, warm blanket. Smile, sing, dance (don't fall!!), it's all fun

NOTES

• If you don't feel like doing it, it's OK. Cold showers are not something to force
• Don't do it overheated or on a full stomach.
• Increase the time gradually.
• Mind over the body (getting stressed about it will make it harder than entering the cold shower with a smile on your face)
• Listen to your body (if you're shaking, getting dizzy, or not feeling well, stop it)
• BREATHE

And now it's time for my cold shower!!

Let us know how it goes!

 

[Giant48]

@thinman @feilan Thank you guys for your contributions @TheLibrarian couldnt do the breathing exercise today think i need to change my sleep schedule a bit more maybe if i can tke it back to like 6.15-6.30 am i can have a bit more time

Today hit the cold shower as i woke up first thing in the morning without working out warming up or anything
Just started with exposing my arms and legs to the direct cold water at first did it like for 30-45 seconds maybe even 1 minute out side the shower. while also taking some water and moving it over my belly /chest.
Than got in the shower. floor was full of cold water and i slowly worked up my body with cold water slowly while trying to keep my long breaths.
after that i slowly got under the water leaving my head out and working on my chest and my back than got under water full body. at this point my breathing got a bit faster but managed to cool it down. But i coudlnt manage to come to my muscles being relaxed mode for the whole shower. Think there is a bit more to go
i got in the bathroom around 7.25-30 i think and i was out by like 7,40-45 mark so i spent quite a while i think.

Also another unrelated question i also do my cleaning like shampoo/rinsing with cold water but does it effect anything ?
Maybe i can do my bath with lukewarm water and then switch to cold just for the exposure instead of cleaning-etc
Maybe just do cold showers after gym sessions 3-4 times a week ?
time will show how it goes but today i think i made good progress maybe too much will see if i get sick today ^^
Also this early is a bad idea to check in to darebee i think im taking from my meal prep time and getting late to work ^^

 

[TheLibrarian]

I know what you mean, finding the right time-shedule is quite essential and can really be a hard journey finding it. I will keep my fingers crossed that you find something that suits you.

Thanks for letting us know about your cold-shower journey so far!

About your cleaning question. Well. that depends on your liking. Some find it easy to clean out shampoo under warm water than under cold water, others don´t. So, maybe just try it out what best serves you.
I once read that at least one should not do it with too hot water, especially washing the hair, since too hot water is not good for the hair, it leaves the hair dry, makes it brittle and porous. Well, I do not have any scientific proof, only what I read about it. It may also vary how long your hair is, i do not know, but maybe its not bad to keep it in mind with the hot water, maybe "normal warm" will suffice.

I like your idea of going from warm to cold (or at least the point your body finds as cold in that moment / on that day because that can vary too), therefore you can wash with warm and finish with cold.

And regarding on the frequency: Well, that would be a plan, doing it on specific days. More or less, I want to repeat what @feilan nicely wrote: listen to your body and don´t force it. Its totally ok when it is a warm shower, or if a week is without a cold one entirely. Every day is differnt, sometimes its easy, sometimes it is not.

What about the feeling after the shower? Do you feel a difference? If not, try to go out of the shower when you are finished, maybe put a towel on your head and stay still and try to listen to your body. You should feel the machine warming up from the inside, maybe even some tingling. Its nice to try listening to the body how he reacts.

Eitherway, I wish you lots of fun on your journey. Enjoy your day.

 

[Giant48]

@TheLibrarian
İ felt tingling on my arms and legs as i was exposing them at the start of the shower.
İm living in a relatively cold region in turkey in ankara its around -2-4 celcius these days so tap water is probably around 1-2 degree's celcius
Going in to raw cold water today was a bit hard but it felt really good afterwards i saw my self smirking/ laughing out of no where after the shower.
İ did dry my self up quickly tho especially my hair. tho i can say is with just my t-shirt and shorts on didnt feel any cold during like first 45-50 minutes as i was meal prepping for the day. Usually its a struggle after a hot shower feeling like im freezing after i get out of the shower.
And ofcourse feeling a lot more energetic and focused for the past 2-3 hours. Usually it takes a while for me to feel this good especially on work days. Feeling alot more sleepy usually.

We got an olympic swimming pool right behind my work campus with sauna's and showers as well. İ'm thinking of starting there next week.
My plan for the next week is like
GYM -Monday wednesday and saturday
Swimming - Tuesday thursday and friday
Maybe i can take regular luke warm showers in the morning and just take my cold showers after working out on gym days and after a swimming and sauna session in the swimming days.

But early in the morning it really has its benefits too ^^ gotta see how it goes first i guess

 

[TheLibrarian]

i saw my self smirking/ laughing out of no where after the shower.
İ did dry my self up quickly tho especially my hair. tho i can say is with just my t-shirt and shorts on didnt feel any cold during like first 45-50 minutes as i was meal prepping for the day. Usually its a struggle after a hot shower feeling like im freezing after i get out of the shower.
And ofcourse feeling a lot more energetic and focused for the past 2-3 hours. Usually it takes a while for me to feel this good especially on work days. Feeling alot more sleepy usually.

Marvelous what a cold shower can do to the body. I know exactly what you mean. Have fun on your journey! "The cold, your new warm friend"

 

[Giant48]

Just found out that the swimming pool i mentioned is over its capacity and they are not taking any new enrollments's so swimming goes down the drain for now

Maybe i'll fill the empty days with some workout's from Darebee
Darn i missed swimming and the sauna tho ^^

 

[morganalefay]

Cold showers, I love them! I've been doing them for years. I started slowly, gradually turning the temperature down until I got to completely cold. And I still start by putting one arm under first before the rest of me goes in.
There are few better feelings than a good hard workout followed by a nice cold shower. Saves water, too.

 

[Giant48]

@morganalefay Thank you for sharing.
İ also decided to go with progressive method rather than just going under cold shower. İnstead of exercising my mind decided to work on cardiovascular system first.
İ am taking my shower's early in the morning usually.
Today started with cold like lukewarm water should be around 15-18 degree's probably shampoo/soaped my body.
Turned the water a bit colder10-12 degrees celcius. probably and rinsed my body.
Finally turned the hot nob down and just stood under the water for like 1 minute i think(5 to 6 degrees celcius) . As i looked to turn off the water i realized that hot nob was still abit open and turned it off completely which made the water colder enough to numb my skin( Probably around 2-3 degrees celcius) stood a bit more like 30-45 seconds maybe and got out finally

 

[Giant48]

@TheLibrarian
Tried to do the Breathing technique from wim hof but i find my self losing focus/maybe conciousness after like5-6 breathes .
Tried to do 30 but dont think i ever got there did no breath hold for like 30 seconds i think after that took a huge breathe and kept holding it for like 20-30 seconds as well.

What about the feeling after the shower? Do you feel a difference? If not, try to go out of the shower when you are finished, maybe put a towel on your head and stay still and try to listen to your body. You should feel the machine warming up from the inside, maybe even some tingling. Its nice to try listening to the body how he reacts.

Tried to feel my body after the shower today before drying up. İ could feel my core glutes/hamstrings warming up like crazy and as usual the smirk/uncontrolled laughing following as well.
Also with the breathing, as i was laying down i felt some tingling and changes inside my blood vessels/digestive system on the no breathe and holding the breathe parts . it really was weird gonna try to do it before bed again tonight . First goal is doing the 1st rotation

 

[TheLibrarian]

losing focus is quite normal, I posted a video above with a guided breathing technique. For me it helps from now and than to follow his voice while doing the breathing technique, and therefore keep my focus. Maybe it helps you as well!

Maybe try to see it as a guideline. Its like stretching, 2minutes are great to stretch for example. But the stretch also works with 30 seconds. Maybe try to reach 10, than 15, than 20, and than 30.
Maybe also try to just doing "one" round, not multiple rounds, maybe than time will be better stretched.
Its we and our body that makes the rules after all ;-)

20-30 seconds is too much after the round of breathing. 15 seconds is good and a nice guideline to go, try to do that instead. but 10seconds work fine too.
Another thing: when you feel the urge to breath again, do another full breath and hold it again, feel your belly and chest expanding, than let go. Maybe also for 4-15 seconds, depending on you and your body.

Eitherway, nicely done, looking forward to your next try.

Regarding the body: its nice to play the observer sometimes. Warming up and feeling happiness: I would say. you did it right and did the right thing ;-)

That tingling is quite normal because of the breathing and therefore the changing of oxygen levels. Its like feeling the body, or especially body parts more detailed, more present. It feels like magic, or a secret power is moving through you. Light headiness can happen too, smirking as well, and everything gets calm since you are quite present for the moment.

Wow, thanks for your review, I would be interested to hear more about your journey in the future, what you like about it, what you dislike, what you quit, what you added, and maybe what you adapt for yourself, maybe I can learn some stuff too I havent thought about before.

 

[Giant48]

That tingling is quite normal because of the breathing and therefore the changing of oxygen levels. Its like feeling the body, or especially body parts more detailed, more present. It feels like magic, or a secret power is moving through you. Light headiness can happen too, smirking as well, and everything gets calm since you are quite present for the moment.

İ just did 1 round on breathing.
During the breathing what i felt was if i were to try and metaphor it better maybe İ felt like i'm re-opening some underutilizied parts in my body to service again ^^
Even like unclogging a choked pipeline/ re-activating some jagged gears.
gonna watch the video on breathing guide again and gonna try the guided breathing later on this weekend

 

[Giant48]

Today tried breathing in the morning early bed but think i fell a sleep
Had my cold shower again with the progressive method as well but started a bit colder water compared to yesterday.
@TheLibrarian tried the guided breathing during lunch break but guess i was not relaxed enough on my chair my breathes were not as powerfull (couldnt fill my belly and chest )compared to when im lying on my bed. Also guided one felt a bit fast for me i think

 

[Giant48]

Just found out that my gym doesnt have the option to change water heat. İts standardized push option only with fixed heat which is on warm right now
Had been planning to take the cold shower after my workout but ended today with no cold showers.

 

[Giant48]

Took my cold shower first thing in the morning today started again with around 17-18 degree's i think took it down to like 3-4 degree's thru the end

 

[Giant48]

Took my cold shower first thing in the morning today started again with around 17-18 degree's i think took it down to like 3-4 degree's thru the end

been doing this for the past 3 days taking the progressive version but my start it still feeling cold enough to wake me up not enough to start the tingling or the shocking but its ok for now

 

[Giant48]

@TheLibrarian @morganalefay @Fremen @Henry @feilan @PetiteSheWolf

Hey a little update since its been a while. Transitioned to cold showers smootly.

Still start by turning the hot water valve a bit but its negligible maybe its just plasebo for me not sure ^^ The water is still pretty cold i think around 6-7 Degrees celcius. Usually i soak my arms first as @morganalefay does than i go in completely.
when i'm done shampoo/ soaping my self, i turn the hot valve completely down it gets a tad bit colder and rinse my self.
After cleaning part is done i stand a bit more under showerhead usually around 1-2 minutes while moving alot and trying to control my breathe. the whole process lasts around like 4-5 minutes with some down time during shampoo and soaping my self but it should amount to like 3-4 minutes at least.

After the shower i only dry my head/hair and for the rest of the body i let the water evaporate its self mostly.
At one of Andrew Huberman's pod casts i heard him mentioning that letting the body dry by it self after a cold shower/plunge increases the metabolic rate due to our body activating some heating systems to warm the body up even tho its not for the whole day its a good short spike in metabolic rate i think.


İ would like to thank you all for great advice, guidance and sharing your experiences with me ^^.

 

[TheLibrarian]

 

[Giant48]

havent tried the weather one yet its also around minus 7 Celcius around here

 

[vibegallo]

I see from the discussion in this thread that probably a lot of people take a cold shower.
Personally, I also think about it, but I really don’t know if my body is ready for this ... in general, I used to have a lot of colds before.

I'm just thinking of one thing I tried before I found the Darebee project. I used to try Muller's gymnastics (I mean Jörgen Peter Muller's gymnastics, it's an old gymnastics program and it has a cold water pouring, I liked it), I started from that ... now I don't continue, I chose a few programs that I found here , in the Darebee project, and for now this is enough for me, but perhaps in the future I will find another program for hardening (or maybe there are such programs in the Darebee project, but I haven’t found it yet) or add gymnastics to my exercise plan again Muller's gymnastics.

Are there similar systems now, but more modern?