Hydrotherapy has been known to man for a long time - in ancient times, Roman baths consisted of three rooms: warm room (tepidarium), hot room (caldarium) and the last room called "frigidarium" where there was a swimming pool with cold water. Nowadays cold showers is something that has gained a massive popularity. You can find hundreds of videos on YouTube of people checking out for themselves whether cold showers will really make you gain superpowers. So what benefits do the cold showers actually bring?
Awaken Your Survival Instinct
Nowadays people are used to living in secure and air-conditioned space. For this reason, such a simple thing as a cold shower can be a good way to put the human body into a state we do not experience on a daily basis anymore and push our body to its limits. It also makes you more alert, increases heart rate, blood pressure and elevates the respiratory rate which can help you wake up and makes a great addition to your morning routine.
Health Benefits
Health benefits of cold and warm showers.
A 2016 study in the Netherlands have found a link between cold showers and stronger immune system. As the research states: “A negative binomial regression model showed a 29% reduction in sickness absence for (hot-to-) cold shower regimen compared to the control group”. It is also believed that it might be successfully used as a supplement for depression treatment as they promote the increase of beta-endorphin and noradrenaline levels in the blood.
Another positive health aspect associated with better circulation induced by a cold shower is faster recovery after exercise due to the increased supply of oxygen to the muscles. It's a well-known and popular method among athletes used to help their body to perform at peak performance, prevent future injuries or reduce soreness of muscles after an intense training.
Contraindications
While increased heart rate and blood pressure during the shower might come with health-promoting benefits it’s not recommended for people with any heart related problems. This is because their body may struggle to cope with these difficult conditions.
How to start?
Of course, not everyone will be able to begin their adventure with cold showers by immediate jump under the freezing water. Scientists recommend starting with a few minutes of warm shower and then gradually lowering the water temperature to a level that is beyond our comfort zone. The good news is that we only need a temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius for the shower to be considered cold, you don't have to go ice swimming!
Questions:
1. Have you ever tried to adopt cold showers into your daily routine? If so, what were the results? If you haven't tried it before, are you going to after reading this article?
2. What is the one simple thing you would recommend adding to the daily routine in order to help with your wellbeing?
3. Are you a shower or bathtub type of person?
Sources:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325725
https://evolve-mma.com/blog/the-science-behind-the-benefits-of-cold-showers/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5025014/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030698770700566X
Photos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsSBBPeNNDY
https://www.prettydesigns.com/7-health-beauty-benefits-cold-showers/
https://adventurepedia.in/ice-swimming/
Comments
2. Well, I personally believe that number 1, the most important thing for wellbeing is getting enough sleep. Getting enough sleep solves problems with lack of focus, tiredness(obviously😅), headaches, productivity, hunger control, it helps with better performance in sports/school and so so so much more!
3. I'm 100% a shower person. And can not understand why in the past year everybody got so obsessed with bathtubs😅
I have tried mixed showers. I mean that after working-out you are taking shower with a while in cold water and a while in warm water. I think that I felt better, and I had less muscle sores than after the normal shower.
2. What is the one simple thing you would recommend adding to the daily routine in order to help with your wellbeing?
Walk, I think it's really a good way to relax and move our entire body. It's healthy, and it doesn't strain the joints as much as running. While walking you can think about a lot of things and catch some sunshine.
3. Are you a shower or bathtub type of person?
Shower type person for sure, I don't remember when I last had bath in the tub. As a child I used to do it from time to time, but as time went on, it happened less and less. Now I'm only taking showers. It's quicker and easier than bathing.
1. I believe that rinsing your hair with cold water might be a healthy habit. It closes the hair cuticle which is the last layer of the hair that is supposed to protect it. But I might be wrong, don't quote me on that :D
2. I also agree that getting enough sleep is a crucial element of well-being.
3. I was a little surprised that you prefer showers, because a hot bath and bathtub make a great combination!
@Przemysław Baka
1. I recommend introducing a sauna to your workout routine but maybe not on your training days, because you already get dehydrated during training, so adding a sauna would not be the best idea. Sauna combined with a cold shower after that is something that will relax you well on non-training days.
2. Walking is a great idea, especially when the weather is so visually pleasant.
3. A shower is without a doubt more effective for everyday use, not only in terms of the amount of water used, but also in terms of speed so I can definitely understand your choice.
2. My mood improved the most in the past when I switched from drinking a drinks with a lot of sugar to water. Water is healthier for our body, cheaper and helps to improve our well-being.
3. I use the shower because there is no bathtub at home. I think in the future I will use the bathtub and the shower alternately.
Honestly I have managed to do it in 2020, it was a bit tough at the beginning, but after 1 or 2 weeks I even started to enjoy it.
2. What is the one simple thing you would recommend adding to the daily routine in order to help with your wellbeing?
I want to add running to my daily routine, but there is always something that stops me from doing that.
3. Are you a shower or bathtub type of person?
I can do both, shower is rather a morning process, and a hot bath perfectly suits after a long and hard day.
1. That's exactly how my first attempt to cold showers went. I recently started to try it out again but in a much slower fashion when it comes to the temperature. I don't rush it to get it as extremely cold as I can handle, instead I lower the temperature with every shower. Much easier to handle, and I might even call it enjoyable!
2. That's a great advice, sadly for me it's very hard to switch to water. I'm too big tea/coffee addict! :D
@Illia Kalinin
1. And how is it going? Did you stop or are you still taking them? Did you experience any beneficial effects?
2. I feel like the hardest thing about running is the beginning, just like with cold showers. Good luck!
3. That's the approach that I also like to follow.
2. My well-being is good, so I don't think I would change anything
3. I prefer a shower to a bathtub because you can wash quickly and most of all I use less water. Water resources are diminishing in the world.
Yes, I did, when I was a freshman at university, so about 5 years ago. I think I was doing it for something like six month, from summer to winter. I think it was something that helped me at that time, pushed me a little out of my comfort zone and feel refreshed and ready to conquer the world. I noticed however that cold showers increased my hairloss, so that's the reason why I stopped doing them.
2.
It's actually a meta-task but quite necessary for my wellbing, it's planning tiny tasks ahead. After starting using todo lists I was far less stressed, I thought I had my life under bigger control and I was definitely more organized.
3.
I'm a shower person, because I like the speed and convience it offers, but in the apartment I'm renting right now I have a bath. It's alright too - get's the job done.
2. Sufficient sleep is a very important factor in our well-being, but it is worth clarifying. Our internal biological clock is very sensitive to the time of day and night cycles. Nowadays, we don't have to worry about a lack of light, as prehistoric people used to worry about lighting in caves. We turn on the lamp and we can continue to sit even in the darkest night. However, even by subconsciously observing the sun and sky, our biological clock is set in some way. People are more dependent on the time of day than we think. When the time of natural sunlight is short during the winter season, it is worth taking advantage of every moment when it is bright and let the body feel the day. The sleep cycle then normalizes and we feel a little better. Personally, I felt much better. I get up in the morning refreshed and wake up without an alarm. I don't nap during the day, and I don't need coffee or energy drinks. It worked great for me.
3. Shower for washing up, bath for relaxation.
2. Besides the tips, I just gave, I strongly recommend at least a little exercise to you all. Especially in the time of quarantine when we sit most of the time, it is important to do anything sporty from time to time. Before Covid you would at least race to catch the bus, now, you probably just race for the last cookie on a tray. You don't have to start running marathons in an instant, but just take a walk from time to time, jump a rope or swing your hola-hop while watching your favourite tv shows.
3. I love bathtub but I don't have one right now. I miss it, especially in winter. I loved to fill a bath with bubbles, read a book and just relax. I yearn for it and so my muscles and joints... I started to go to the sauna after exercising at the gym, but those are close now so I feel like I can never warm myself enough.
I really smiled when I saw this particular post. Actually, since Wednesday I have started to have a cold shower in the morning. I have tried it a couple of times and it is really enjoyable, because it helps you to start your day on the positive note. It really does not matter how bad you are feeling or that you slept 4-5 hours the night before, because if you can have a cold shower for at least 90 seconds you quickly forget about it and have energy for the whole day. Unfortunately, for some weird reason I always stop having it after 6-8 weeks and then I have to come back and adjust to it again.
2. What is the one simple thing you would recommend adding to the daily routine in order to help with your wellbeing?
It might sound really simple, however I really recommend starting your day by waking up on the first alarm clock and then following it by drinking a big glass of water and 5-10 minutes of stretching before you start your daily routine. It really helps me to get up from the bed and not waste time in the morning by doing everything slowly and not efficiently. After 10-15 minutes you really do not want to go back to bad as you have already done something positive.
3. Are you a shower or bathtub type of person?
I am 100% a “shower type of person” as I just like to quickly have a shower and do not waste my time. I have a bath very rarely, but when I actually have a bath it is more just to relax and chill after a long day.
I started doing cold showers in the first lockdown - it was in march or april. Beginnings can be hard but even after the first time when you finish it you are just happy that you tried to break barriers and you did it. I still do cold showers. Maybe it is not every single time but it is quite often. I didn't find it in your article but I heard one more thing about it. Cold showers help you regenerate your muscles. If you are doing this immediately after training your progress will be lower.
2. What is the one simple thing you would recommend adding to the daily routine in order to help with your wellbeing?
I think it is quite simple. You should just observe what you are doing and just think is it good or not. If you need some examples I think giving up caffeine/coffee would be a great idea. Another thing is quitting cigarettes or drinking less alcohol.
3. Are you a shower or bathtub type of person?
Definitely I prefer to take shower instead of a bath.
I have to admit that I don't like cold showers because afterwards I just feel worse and I'm terribly cold. I am a person who definitely prefers hot showers. However, I think I might try to add cold showers to my daily routine.
2.What is the one simple thing you would recommend adding to the daily routine in order to help with your wellbeing?
I think one simple thing that would be nice to add to our daily routine is drinking water with lemon right after waking up.It really helps to wake up and gives you energy for the whole day.
3.Are you a shower or bathtub type of person?
Definitely I am a shower type of person.
I'm sad to hear that you didn't like the cold showers. Maybe you started with the temperature being too low for you?
Also I would love to hear what you do on daily basis that lets you stay sane! :D
@Viktor Ryś
Wow, hairloss is something that would never come to my mind as a side effect of cold showers. Thankfully I didn't experience that!
Doing to-do lists is something I benefit from as well, great way to keep yourself focused on the things you have to do.
@Karol Sołtysiak
As a person with constant problems with sleeping schedule I second what you said about sleeping wholeheartedly! I definitely need to take care of that in the following months because it's getting out of hand :D
@Adrianna Wróbel
That's exactly how I go about my shower as well. It's great that it's also working for you!
Despite the excercising I can't agree more. Sadly I can't go rollerblading just like I did before the winter came, I can't wait for the spring to come.
@Mikolaj Kaszubowski
It's great to hear that you recently started doing it yourself! You got me thinking, maybe the breaks are actually good for our body to "lower its guard" so the future cold showers have stronger effect?
I always admired people that are able to get up from the bed after the first alarm. It takes like 10 of those to get me going! :D
@Przemysław Witek
I didn't know that taking a cold shower straight after the training might hinder the progress and I don't think I've read about that in the texts I based my article on so it's great that you did let me know about that. Let's hope the rest of people reading the post will read your comment as well!
@Krzysztof Kopeć
That's what I thought about myself as well but I gave it a try and it was worth it. You should start very slow so you won't get discouraged easily and you can still take a hot shower before you do the cold one ;)
Thank you all for your input, that was a lot of comments to read and reply to!
I don’t do any sports, so if I were to recommend adding something to one’s daily routine it would be a short 15-30 minute walk. I usually do it after lunch break, as a kind of refreshment before getting back to work. I’ve also noticed that eating these mythical 5 small meals a day has positive impact on my well-being. I’ve used to eat 2-3 big meals before and I would always feel either full and sleepy or hungry and sleepy.
I usually take a warm shower. I am the type of person who prefers warmer than cooler temperatures. I happen to take a short cold shower for refreshment from time to time, but it is rather in the summer. However, it was never my routine, and even after reading the article I still think I will stay with warm showers.
2. What is the one simple thing you would recommend adding to the daily routine in order to help with your wellbeing?
One important habit that I have developed is drinking a large glass of water after waking up. Every evening I prepare a glass of water by my bedside so that I can drink it immediately after waking up. It helps me a lot with getting up, I start my day nicer.
3. Are you a shower or bathtub type of person?
I prefer to take a quick shower rather than lie in the bathtub. However, sometimes I like to lie down in warm water to relax. Before the coronavirus, I liked going to the swimming pool every now and then and relaxing in the jacuzzi.
I think this one thing should be drinking still water, which supports our immune system to process everything, the base thing actually which not everybody goes on with, I mean a lot of my colleges drink more coffee or tea for the whole day but not water.
I prefer a shower, it’s more common and faster if we are talking about spending time on it.
I play football or run a lot. I often take a hot hot shower after playing a football for warm up. I used to take a cold shower when I got up. It is cool because it stimulates the body a lot. I believe this is a good way to start the day well.
2. What is the one simple thing you would recommend adding to the daily routine in order to help with your wellbeing?
I think that people should be running in the morning. If not run at least any movement. It really excites you better than coffee and with a cold shower at the end. I think it's the best combination.
3. Are you a shower or bathtub type of person?
I am a person who plays football a lot. Then I like to bask in the bathtub. However I prefer to wash my shower on a daily basis. It is more hygienic and I use less water.
- But you were the one who called...
:)
1.Yes, I tried. Managed to make it click a dozen times but stopped. It is a nice thing if one wants to wake up quickly in the morning. Additionally it is useful for people who want to regenerate their body faster after e.g. workout. The circulation speeds up so at the same time our cells rebuild much faster. I think that not everyone will like it.
2.The habit of going to bed early and getting up early preferably at the same hour. I am a man who lives mainly at night and I prefer to sleep during the day, but this is problematic because I have to go to work, and my work starts at 8 o'clock, where on weekends I sleep until 12.
3.I like to sit in the tub but I also like to take a shower.
It all depends on my needs. If I want to wash myself quickly then a shower is a better choice. On the other hand, if I want to spend more time being in warm water and relaxing then I definitely prefer the bathtub.