A Tip For Anyone Terrified of Cold Shower

I've been ending my cold showers with warm water. Still tough getting in but it allows me to look forward to and reward myself for accepting the daily challenge (actually 2x a day). The hardest part is getting under the cold water at first. It is so cold though with the winter so that's why I turn it warm after a few minutes (3-5 minutes). It warms me up so I'm not shivering for the next hour.

Good luck!

 

The real trick with a cold shower, or a cold bath, for the powerlifters, is that the hardest part is surviving the first few seconds. After that initial shock goes away, it feels really good.

If you need any other tips or want to talk about your experience I'm glad to be of any help.

Cred: Have been exclusively showering/bathing in cold water for 6 months

 

It may sound goofy, but my way of steeling myself for a cold shower is to visualize/imagine that I'm some badass action hero like Rambo or Goku or whoever before bracing myself to get hit by the cold water. I use the same technique before a heavy deadlift, etc.

 

Have found that works myself.

 

That's bloody genius man!

 

I unfortunately don't take cold showers any more because for some unknown reason they give me incredibly dry skin (like to the point that my hands are completely red and cracked all over, even if I put moisturiser on post shower.) - but when I did take them, I had a simple strategy to get comfortable with them:

If you can't lift x amount of weight in the gym, what do you do? Not go to the gym? No, you just lift an amount you can, and gradually improve over time.

Same goes for cold showers. Can't get yourself to stand in the cold water for long? Then start with just 15 seconds of cold water after your regular warm shower (going from hot -> cold in the same shower also has circulation benefits.). Next time do 30 seconds, then a minute or so.. and so on.

Also, if you've heard of Tummo, it's a style of meditative breathing that can be used to warm up your body. If you do Tummo before and during a cold shower the water is 1000x more bearable. Also even if you don't do Tummo long enough to really warm up, the focus on your breathing kind of takes your mind away from the coldness.

 

I have done 100% cold showers for about 6 months... but I have to concede that water where I live gets insanely cold in the winter ...it's all pain in my bones now, like brain freeze pain, but at whatever part of my skeleton is under the water... I keep moving around to reduce the pain but it's getting to be too much ...and I am, for the next few months, back to the scottish shower: start warm and end with cold... I had been doing that for a few years before switching to 100% cold last summer...

 

What about it?

 

I've done the opposite of cold showers by doing scolding hot showers. They've worked very well with getting rid of the urge to PMO.

PMO Urge

 

I didn't notice any improvement with cold showers. They are widely touted for numerous physical benefits but honestly if I wasn't looking for some energetic effect of the cold shower there are better ways to build self-discipline and willpower.

I have to say this should be thrown under the 'folk remedies' category for self-improvement.

 

The trick here is to be brave and embrace the feelings as is We were all afraid once, I'm still, yet I do it every day.

And isn't that the point of it? To show yourself you can walk in the valley of death, fearing no evil...

 

I think it would be a little extreme of anyone to say cold showers are what give him his youthfulness. Most of it is good genes.

 

One trick I learned which is very useful in the winter time is slowly bringing parts of your body underneath the shower head before submerging yourself in the cold water. In the summer time, I could do cold showers without moving in slowly, but in the winter time, it's much harder. I would place my hands out, then my arms, legs, shoulders, and so on. Finally, when I'm ready, I would do a full body shower. Trust me, once you get pass the arms and hands, it gets easier and easier. Other than that, I think I need to get off my lazy ass and start doing cold showers again. Haven't done it for over 2 weeks.

 

Cold showers could be risky enough to kill you, cold showers are not for everyone, anyone, take extreme caution if you are not a very healthy athlete, or you didn't pass heart tests... it is not fun if ended up dead.

 

Cold showers can kill you? Are you serious?