Community post
Cold Showers - 1 year update
As the benefits I have mentioned before, I have not noticed too much of the benefits that many articles promised.
Which is:
- Improving circulation
- Fat burning
- Reducing muscle soreness
- Alertness (although it does wake you up in the morning.)
I have completed a full year of showering in the cold, throughout winter and when I was traveling overseas in Hong Kong and Japan.
What I have noticed is from showering only with cold water is that the time it takes to shower is a lot quicker since I am not waiting for the shower to warm up and I do not shower for extended periods of time. What I can vouch for is that my skin and hair is a lot healthier since I rarely use lotion or any skin products, I noticed that have not had any problems with dry or itchy skin. During the winter months, that tap water was really cold and I measured it to be 55 F (12.8 C) resulting in a redness to my skin similar to taking a really hot shower.
Pros:
- Water efficiency
- Healthy skin/hair
- Cold tolerance
- I haven't been sick since starting the experiment
(not sure if it is due to my overall health has improved from diet and exercise.)
Con:
- Less comfortable than a warm shower.
Now the decision is up to you if you want to try this. I probably would continue showering this way until I get sick and when I do I promised to let you guys know!
Replies (10)
Bugger that! Good experiment but not my cup of tea! Brrrrrrrr
Haha yeah, I wanted to see for myself if the articles about cold showers were true.
Damn, I would hate to shower with cold water. I try to use lukewarm water instead of very hot water, but I could never go ice cold.
Thank you for posting
That's what I thought too. It's funny how your body soon gets adapted to it after the first 5 seconds. It helped my breathing since the first couple times doing the cold shower resulted in restricted breathing similar to jumping in cold water, but after 5 days I stopped having that reaction to the cold water.
No worries, hope you enjoyed the results from my experiment.
I prefer swimming in mountain river water when I hike whenever I come across a rock pool big enough to submerge my body, even in Winter. Very invigorating
Nice, maybe I should try that next time!
Great post, thanks for sharing your experience! I've read several sides on benefits of cold showers and namely how it increases circulation and promotes better blood flow, thus increasing energy. I find it awesome that you haven't been sick since starting the experiment! Prehaps another benefit of cold showers is immune boosting properties? Thanks for sharing!
Yeah maybe, that's why I will continue this until I do get sick to see if has actually improved my immune system. Thanks for reading!