During the last two years, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with cold showers. I love them because of the myriad benefits I’ve experienced. But I’d be lying if I said I don’t experience the temptation every morning to turn the nozzle a few degrees more counter-clockwise. Cold showers are something I tolerate because I know they make me better. And I have no intention of going back to my old regimen.

There’s one benefit of cold showers that I have yet to address–and it surprisingly has to do with meditation. A few months ago, I published an article on the three important life skills of meditation—concentration, clarity, and equanimity (emotional stability). Nothing will make you concentrate and think clearly faster than a cold shower. And, when you take them regularly, you learn to be less reactive to physical and emotional pain and discomfort. It follows that cold showers are meditation in the same way that exercise is meditation.

Recently I was feeling distracted as my mind wandered from this responsibility, to that chore, to the other commitment. Being my own doctor, I knew that a solid cold shower was just the prescription I needed. The longest cold shower I had ever taken was on January 2, 2019. It lasted 20 minutes–a lot longer than the usual 2-3 minutes. I had just completed a workout that day and the water didn’t even feel that cold. I learned a long time ago that no two cold showers are alike. There’s the subject’s body temperature prior to entering the water (did you just hop out of bed or did you just finish working out or sunbathing?) And then there’s the temperature of the water itself (is it cold, frigid, or downright icy?). I would place my typical cold shower somewhere between cold and frigid (I’ll get back to you when I invest in a water thermometer). I have found that the colder the shower, the easier it is to be mindful — and the more caution and common sense you should exercise.

Back to the cold shower itself. I knew I wanted it to be on the longer side to see what I was capable of and to experience maximum therapeutic effect. I started with the nozzle in the cold range and slowly turned it clockwise. As always, the first few minutes were the most uncomfortable. But in the midst of that discomfort there was a fascinating side effect: supercharged mindfulness. Within seconds of my skin touching the water, I wasn’t thinking about the assignment I had to complete for university. I wasn’t thinking about my car that needed fixed. I wasn’t thinking about the research I’ve been working on. I wasn’t thinking about relationship problems. I wasn’t thinking about what’s for dessert. In fact, I wasn’t thinking about anything–except being there in that shower under that cold water. And it was powerful in the most down-to-earth, die-hard fashion.

Fast-forward several minutes and I felt like I had got what I came there to get. I could have stayed in the water longer and pushed the envelope on my previous record, but at that point it would have been more about ego than therapy and I wasn’t feeling particularly ego-driven that day. The mindfulness effect of my cold shower carried over into the rest of my evening. My brain knew that I had accomplished something and generously rewarded me with endorphines. And the experience sharpened my conviction just a little bit more that mindfulness was possible in every moment.

Stress has more to do with perspective than it does circumstances. The human mind has the power to make a mountain out of a molehill and a molehill out of a mountain–and it does it all the time. Sometimes life experiences empower us to see this crystal-clear. People who have near-death experiences commonly come away with a whole new outlook on life. Suddenly the worries that consumed their mind don’t mean as much in the conscious light that death is imminent. Cold showers similarly minimize the important ascribed to the petty disturbances of life. But the most beautiful thing is the fact that anyone can change their perspective right where they are with no outside help.

If a single cold shower can contain so much insight, imagine taking one every day for an entire year.

Hard work doesn’t end when you leave the gym. The hardest part is often the next 72 hours after a workout. Your muscles are sore. You don’t feel like moving. And you’re itching to get back in the gym so you can do it all over again. Fortunately, there are a number of steps anyone can take to accelerate the time it takes to get back to 100% after a workout. And, in fact, you’ll actually be at more than 100% since your body will have adapted to your last workout.

1. Do Cardio

My high school soccer coach always used to prescribe cardio for muscle soreness. I know a lot of people today who swear by cardio for faster recovery. They do cardio whether the initial workout responsible for muscle soreness was aerobic or anaerobic. The logic is that cardio gets blood and nutrients flowing to the muscles thereby decreasing the time it takes to heal. And it might be dead on.

Researchers at California State University ran a study on 26 women and found that those who performed moderate-intensity cardio immediately after a strength workout returned to greater than full strength a day sooner than those who did light cardio or no cardio at all. Moderate activity may ironically help you recover faster than passively waiting for your body to recover (Don’t just sit there, do something!)

2. Get Better Sleep

Sleep is when the body does the majority of its recovery. Sleep is the best way to optimize hormone levels and give the body adequate time to recover from exercise. And sleep is about depth as well as length. If you’ve worked out for any length of time, you’ve probably already noticed that quality of sleep correlates with recovery time and athletic performance.

A study of 10,125 Chinese universities students found that men who slept at least 7-8 hours had more muscle strength than those who slept less than 6 hours (this same difference was not observed in women). Another study detected a 10-15% decline in daytime testosterone levels in test subjects whose sleep was restricted to no more than 5 hours. This decline was after just one week of sleep deprivation.

Check out my article on 8 Natural Ways to Get a Better Night’s Sleep. They are 1) exercise; 2) reduce stress; 3) get light exposure during the day; 4) eliminate blue light exposure at night; 5) install blackout shades; 6) use white noise to drown out sound pollution; 7) practice meditation before bed; 8) take a Zinc or Magnesium supplement.

3. Optimize Vitamin D Levels

Vitamin D is the king of testosterone. I like to call Vitamin D steroids from God owing to research that discovered double and triple increases in testosterone upon male exposure to UV light. Another study observed a 20% decrease in stress fractures in female Navy recruits who supplemented Vitamin D.

Vitamin D plays a vital role in overall health in both males and females. It is important for mood, energy, protein synthesis, and muscle recovery. It follows that optimizing Vitamin D levels may be the easiest and most powerful way to accelerate workout recovery time and maximize gains. Some things in life are free, and energy from the sun is chief among them.

4. Supplement Zinc or Magnesium

Researchers have observed increases in testosterone after Zinc and Magnesium supplementation. In a study conducted on ZMA supplementation (Zinc, Magnesium, and Vitamin B-6), men who took 30 mg of Zinc and 450 mg of Magnesium over an 8-week period observed a 25% increase in free testosterone levels. More testosterone=faster recovery. This is why bodybuilders on steroids can workout 4 hours a day and be ready to go the next morning. Unlike steroids, which can absolutely wreck health and lead to premature disease and death, Zinc and Magnesium are natural alternatives.

Another 12-week study on elderly women found that 12-weeks of Magnesium supplementation increased physical performance. Magnesium supplementation is commonly recommended to reduce recovery time in both men and women.

For more on Zinc, Magnesium, and ZMA, check out 4 Researched Benefits of Supplementing Zinc and 4 Researched Benefits of Supplementing Magnesium.

5. Take a Cold Shower

Researchers conducted a study in which they discovered that cold hydrotherapy reduced delayed onset muscle soreness after a workout. (Note: Caution is advised due to the possible safety risks of cold water exposure.)

The authors included 17 small trials involving 366 people in their review. Participants were asked to get into a bath or container of cold water after running, cycling or resistance training. In most trials, participants spent five to 24 minutes in water that was between 10ºC and 15ºC, although in some cases lower temperatures were used or participants were asked to get in and out of the water at set times. In the studies that compared cold water immersion to resting or no intervention, there was a significant reduction in soreness one to four days after exercise.

Source: ScienceDaily

Cold showers are a personal favorite. I have taken cold showers for almost two years now. In another article, I documented 7 benefits of the discipline. One benefit that I didn’t document is decreased muscle soreness. As soon as I enter the cold water, the last thing on my mind is how sore my muscle’s feel from yesterday’s workout. And, based on research and personal experience, cold showers can have a more lasting effect on muscle recovery.

Conclusion:

A hard workout is not a sentence to multiple days of pain and inactivity. In addition to getting in better overall shape, there are simple steps anyone can take to reduce muscle recovery time.

There are two types of people in the world. Those who take cold showers and everybody else.

Cold showers have become a fad in recent years. An increasing number of people are adopting the ancient art of cold hydrotherapy as a means of self-improvement. They claim that an act as simple as turning a nozzle clockwise in the morning can bring life-transforming benefits. About 18 months ago, I made the move and ditched warm water for good. Here I outline the benefits I have personally experienced that have left me with zero intention of ever taking a hot shower again.

1. Increased Energy

Energy is arguably the most important benefit of taking a cold shower. Like many of you, I am not a morning person. My energy peaks in the evening and stays elevated into the wee hours of the night. The most expedient way I have found to overcome low morning energy is to subject my body to a cold shower. Cold water acts as a shock to the whole system and puts the mind to work to restore homeostasis. The end result is an organism that is highly energized and ready to move about the day. I challenge everyone reading this to take a cold shower and fall asleep immediately afterwards — it simply can’t be done. (Give it at least 15 minutes, but you get the point.)

2. The Release of Happy Hormones

Nothing is free in nature. Our brain rewards us with happy hormones only when we have achieved something that contributes to our survival. A cold shower is a surefire way to get the endorphines and dopamine flowing early in the morning. After taking a cold shower, you will not only have greater energy but will feel good as your brain’s pleasure reward system is activated.

3. Greater Resilience

Resilience is something that does not come easy. On the surface mental strength is nothing more than a mind game. In reality, however, our brain takes past behavior and outcomes as hard evidence of how it should act in the face of new challenges. Taking cold showers is a proven way to build mental toughness. No matter how many cold showers you take, there will always be the temptation to feel instant gratification by turning the nozzle counterclockwise. With experience, you will learn to silence this voice, callous your mind, and acquire the stoic demeanor vital to navigating other life challenges.

4. An Antidote to Depression

Cold showers are an effective tool that everyone suffering from depression should have in their toolkit. While the benefits outlined above are sure to lift anyone’s state of mind, particular studies have been carried out on those suffering from depressive symptoms. Take this study, for example, in which cold showers relieved depressive systems in a group of test subjects. However, you don’t need a peer-reviewed, double-blind study to tell you something you can test on your own within a few minutes. If you are suffering from depression, why not give cold hydrotherapy a try. Commit to taking a 3-minute cold shower every day for a week. It costs almost next to nothing and may supply the boost you need to move forward with your day.

5. Improved Male Reproductive Health

Wet heat exposure is a well-known cause of low sperm count and infertility. The decision to implement a cold shower regiment is usually accompanied by the decision to abandon hot showers altogether. In this study, infertile men who gave up their hot baths, hot tubs, and Jacuzzis experienced a mean increase in total motile sperm counts of 491%. The author of the study concluded that the toxic effect of hyperthemia on male reproductive health may be reversible in some men. Whether you are in the baby-making business or not, as a man you should think long and hard about continuing a habit that has such a damaging effect on your vital reproductive organ.

6. An Increase in Testosterone

It is conventional wisdom among guys who take cold showers that they increase male testosterone levels. I have yet to come across a study that confirms (or refutes) this claim, so I will instead focus on my personal experience. After years of paying close attention and getting lab work done, I have a good general sense of where my testosterone levels are at any given moment of time. That said, I do believe that cold showers increase my testosterone levels over the course of an hour or two after exposure. I experience increased energy and feel eager to hit the weights.

Russian powerlifters, known among other things for their astronomical testosterone levels, seem to agree with me. Russian powerlifters have been known to ice their balls prior to competition. The routine is based on the fact that the optimal temperature for testosterone production is lower than the body’s overall temperature (hence why the testicles sag away from the body). Exposing the testicles to cold temperatures is believed to optimize this process and increases testosterone production. What science has definitively shown is that hot water has a negative effect on male hormonal health. As someone who has taken cold showers for 18 months, I believe the opposite is also true.

7. Save Time and Money

Hot water is rare in nature and takes technology to sustain. Even during the summer months, natural water rarely ever reaches the temperature of your average suburban shower. This is because the cool temperature at night does not allow the water to remain as hot as it would be if it remained under the midday sun 24/7. In short, by taking cold showers you will save money on your gas bill. You will likely also save on your water bill as most people who take cold showers stay under the water for only a few minutes. Cold showers will also save you valuable time in the morning and give you a head start on your day. In my experience a three-minute cold shower is sufficient for reaping all of the benefits. The length of time may vary for you, but I have found that any amount of cold exposure is better than nothing.

In this article, I laid out a case for the benefits of taking cold showers based on my experience and research but the jury is still out until you experiment for yourself. No two people are alike, and everyone’s experience will be different in meaningful ways. Let me know in the comments what your experience has been with cold showers and any questions or insights you may have gained from the discipline.