The energy crisis of the last year made me reflect on how I consume energy, mainly ‘harmful’ energy like gas. My appartment is heated using gas and due to the insane prices of the past year, I too lowered my heating. I spent a big part of december with the heating turned off but once it got to 8 degrees Celsius in my appartment I figured that I should turn on the heating. It was set to 13-15 degrees Celsius throughout the winter. It made me realize that I don’t mind living in these temperatures. With a sweater on and underneath a blanket, it was actually quite comfortable. I also slept better in these temperatures than winters with the heating on.
So now that it’s getting warmer again, I felt like I might as well have cold showers. To save on gas (note: it’s not like I’m living in extreme poverty or anything, I just like finding ways to consume less), but also to see if the claimed health benefits are true. People like Wim Hof made a fortune selling books and courses on how to make your body adapt to cold temperatures and ice baths, making sometimes outrageous claims about its health benefits.
While I do know there are studies on the topic, I am also curious to see if you guys have any experiences taking cold showers and what effects it had for you.
I pretty much always take cold showers in the summer. Not like ice cold, but nice and cool I find refreshing especially mid day. No chance that I’m getting into a cold shower at 6am in the winter when it’s pitch black and -35 C outside tho
Yeah I figured that I would take warmer showers again in the winter
Yeah cool showers in the summer lower your skin temperature. I like to progressively lower the temperature of the shower until it gets very very cold.
I sometimes lower the temperature after the gym too year-round, for the same reason.
I do the same… By the end, I usually speed up trying to get out faster because it’s cold lol.
I think some of the health benefits of cold showers don’t require you to stay cold for too long.
Same for me. After the gym, shower as usual, then slowly turn off the hot water and stand in the cold water for as long as possible, with the water aimed directly at the day’s muscle group. I find that my legs, especially, get red hot for hours after training them. A cold shower definitely helps to stay cool and comfortable afterwards. Seems to help recovery, too, although this may be anecdotal.
An actual cold shower is horrific, but I can stand cold water on one or two body parts for a surprisingly long time. (Still only talking a minute or two, but I couldn’t stand 20 seconds under cold water unless it’s 30°+ outside.)
I’m not even doing it for any health benefits haha, it’s just that my skin gets really hot after the gym or in summer and it helps bring the temp down. I don’t even feel the water as being cold if I bring it down gradually. Then I get out of the shower and the air feels much crisper than before when it was suffocating.