I curiously tried this out last week and have since stuck to the idea. I have only been taking cold showers, at minimum water temperature, for the past whole week. I've found the benefits to be quite real and it's a great tool for me as someone who does NoFap, as it does temporarily relieve sexual tension.
I'm going to stress this later, but this has to be done in the morning if one wishes to experience the expected benefits. If you shower at night, take another one then if you want. I'm someone who needs to take a shower at least a few hours before I go to bed as well, so I take two cold showers a day. The nightly one is of course optional and you can take a warm or hot one at that time if you want, but for cold showers to have their desired effect, you must take them in the morning, before you have breakfast.
What are the benefits of taking cold showers?
These are the commonly reported positive effects of taking cold showers routinely:
- Reduced Stress
- Alleviated Depression Symptoms
- Increased Mental Toughness
- More Emotional Reslience
- Less Anxiety
- Higher Energy Levels
- Improved Sleep
- Ameliorated Hair and Skin Quality
- Stronger Immune System
Here is the science behind some of these effects: Benefits of Cold Showers: 7 Reasons Why Taking Cool Showers Is Good For Your Health
From my experience, what I've found psychologically is that cold showers are a great exercise to overcome anxiety. Every time you take a cold shower, you'll be a little nervous to get in. I still feel a little nervous and anxious before I plunge in, even though I know exactly what to expect and am mentally at ease with the idea. So if you commit to doing this every morning, you'll essentially be starting out each of your days with a habit that forces you to fight a little anxiety and nervousness, which I've found sets the tone for the day.
Then, I believe there's also merit to plunging right in. I started off by easing into it with individual body parts, which is fine as a beginner. But plunging right in allows me to feel that amazing shock of coldness that I've learned to embrace. This is another psychological benefit. You learn how to deal with and embrace adversity. Granted, it's a minor adversity, but still, I've found that it sets the tone for the day.
After a few minutes of rinsing my body under cold water, I feel this indescribable mental clarity. The first time I took a cold shower and still when I take them, I've found that it almost feels as if my mind has been wiped or reset from residual emotional stress, at least temporarily, which as you can imagine is a huge positive in many cases.
Finally, I feel an air of confidence after taking the cold shower - that I'm able to put myself through that consistently everyday. It's highly likely you'll feel the same. It takes a considerable amount of self-control, discipline, and strength to especially shortly after having gotten out of a warm, cozy bed and being super sleepy and tired on a cold morning, to plunge into what feels like freezing cold water everyday. Every time one successfully does this, he or she should in most cases feel proud and as a result, start the day with an extra bit of confidence.
As a bonus, I've found that doing things that make you feel uneasy are a part of living a fulfilling life. I think this is why this can alleviate depression symptoms to some extent. If you're not "feeling it" a lot of the time, it's often because you're not doing enough things that make you feel uncomfortable. Society is in part to blame for this. Modern civilizations continue to center around the ideal of making things as comfortable and ideal as possible, but it's necessary to break out of that and put yourself in difficult or uneasy situations to a significant extent as that's how you grow and keep your life interesting. This cold shower exercise, again, I've found seems to just set the tone for the day in this respect as well.
These are all psychological phenomena that I personally felt, without much scientific backing, although many have reported the same and there is scientific evidence for a lot of these. Again, if that's what you're looking for, click on the link right after the list of benefits and/or do some additional research beyond the scope of this take. One scientific aspect of this that I will mention is that it improves the blood flow which is another cause of why one may feel great after a cold shower.
How cold should my shower be?
This is a pretty subjective question. In most cases, your shower should be at the minimum temperature you can set it to.
You want your water to be under 75°F definitely, if you can. In my opinion, if you want to call whatever you're taking a "cold shower", it cannot be over 75°F. The ideal range is between 50°F and 70°F, and if you're seasoned with this, you can try going even lower than that if you want.
*You can measure the temperature of your shower by filling a glass with about two inches of shower water at the desired temperature, and then inserting a calibrated meat thermometer like this inside the glass:
That said, just because your shower doesn't go quite as low is not an excuse to not do it. Do the best with what you have. My showers themsleves aren't super low at the moment at their minimum temperature, ranging between 66°F and 74°F depending on the shower and time of day.
Although I will say if it's your first time taking a cold shower, don't hesitate to start out with only moderately cold water. The first time I took mine, I started out with about 25% heat on the knob and then later went down to minimum temperature, and since only took mine at minimum temperature. Don't hesitate to start out with just a little heat and then gradually working your way towards minimum temperature.
As a side-note, the best time to start is fall because the minimum temperature of the water should be decreasing in general gradually as the days get colder, but at the moment the water still won't be super cold at the lowest setting, so this is a great time for acclimation, the process in which an individual organism adjusts to a gradual change in its environment (such as a change in temperature, humidity, photoperiod, or pH), allowing it to maintain performance across a range of environmental conditions.
How long should my cold shower be?
If you're simply looking to experience the benefits mentioned earlier in the take, 2 to 5 minutes is optimal, especially when you're first just starting out. Mine on average last about 4-5 minutes. As you get used to it, you'll be able to go for longer, but start out with no more than 5 minutes. And in general, 2-5 minutes, regardless of your experience, should be sufficient.
Honestly, I've found that there's not much difference between two minutes and five, after a while. Really, it's the first half-minute or so that should be the toughest.
I waited until this section to say that cold showers can also be a viable method in losing weight. I did not want to mention this in the main list of benefits because a) not everyone wants to lose weight and b) those require you to take longer cold showers if you want to see substantial benefits - 10-20 minutes about three days a week, which is something you'll have to work up to. Don't immediately go in for 10+ minutes as I said earlier, but if losing weight is a goal of yours, gradually work your way up to 10-20 minutes and do that for three days a week or so. My source for this is a video which will reiterate these points:
Will this make me sick?
Obviously, if I am writing this take, the answer is "no". Cold showers will not make you sick.
However, it is true that cold shower will temporarily induce stress on your immune system, so if you are sick or have the potential to catch a cold, or for whatever reason feel like you have a compromised immune system, do not take a cold shower. Take a break and go indulge in warm and hot ones until your immune system is back to normal.
Routinely doing cold showers though in normalcy will, as mentioned earlier, overall strengthen your immune system. This is a nice introduction to the next question:
Under what conditions should I avoid taking a cold shower?
- sickness, potential to get sick, or otherwise compromised immune system
- high blood pressure
- heart problems
- pregnancy
- immediately after a workout (recommended you wait at least 30 minutes or so
- immediately before sleep - cold showering increases internal energy for a short while afterwards, so if you're going to take one at night, take it 1-2 hours before you go to bed
- immediately after ejaculation for men - as you're body will be struggling to replenish the sperm count so it's preferable to wait some time (~20 minutes or so) if you have recently ejaculated
Regarding the last one, as some of you may know, I'm an advocate and participant of NoFap (for both guys and girls), and in actuality, cold showers for me are just a supplement for that practice, which comes with its own benefits. It's an excellent combination and if you're doing NoFap, you should absolutely be adding this to your repertoire as again, this will temporarily ease sexual tension and overall does a good job of reinforcing the NoFap benefits.
That said, if you have any uncertainty regarding this practice or your specific circumstances, consult with a doctor or medical professional to make sure this is all okay for you.
Is shivering or chattering okay?
Shivering and chattering are normal bodily responses to coldness or a challenge to the body's internal temperature. You should not be worried about these symptoms in and of themselves with regard to hypothermia.
However, it's a good idea to have in the back of your head, what to look out for with respect to hypothermia in order to gauge whether things are getting serious and you should tone it down: Hypothermia Symptoms
This is why my recommendation is if you're just starting out, go with 2 minutes. Even shorter if you need to. Start out with 1 minute if you have to. Don't start out with absolute minimum temperature on your first try, even. However, your water should be under 75 degrees F by your second or at latest, third session.
Then work your way up with the time, although there's not much you need to work up if you're not looking for fat loss.
Aren't these also sometimes referred to as "Spartan Showers"?
Why certainly they are. I included this section because the context of this practice is actually quite interesting to note.
The Spartans were a warrior society in Ancient Greece, rivals of the Athenians. The Spartan society was all around based on the ideals of strength and toughness. Boys were sent to the military at the age of 7, which the conditions of were extremely harsh. Girls were still expected to be physically fit and strong, however, and took part in plenty of exercise and workouts. At birth, "weak babies" were thrown off a cliff (executed); the babies passing this "filter" were bathed in wine. Overall, this society was constructed so as to only consist of "strong" and "tough" people in all respects and the "weak" were either ridiculed and ostracized by society or in many cases, were killed or died due to the rigor of the military.
One of the beliefs of the Spartans was that warm or hot showers are for the weak, and thus the Spartans only bathed in cold water. Hence, cold showers are also alternatively called "Spartan showers".
Will this replace my morning coffee?
It certainly can. This practice in and of itself may be more effective than any cup of coffee you ever have. In fact, recently I went a night without any sleep at all and instead of having coffee, I just relied on my cold shower to keep me somewhat awake, and it worked fine enough. In general, I wasn't performing too well that day, but even in normalcy, I think this is quite a clever substitute for coffee, tea, or other sources of caffiene if you need the extra alertness and something to wake you up.
There are other side-benefits of this practice. You'll also reduce the costs in your energy bills. One thing you won't need a source of potential energy for anymore will be taking a shower, which is quite a significant portion of consumption when talking about solely the cost of heating all your water per month in general. Warm or hot showers are of course one of the largest sources of consumption of that in and of themselves.
Never will you again "take too long" out of reluctance to stop showering, which is quite prevlaent for me at least when I'm taking a hot shower. Cold showers are an excellent deterrent to taking too long.
Also, no more steamy or muggy rooms! And never will you have to deal with feeling cold after turning off the hot water. You'll instead in some sense be glad it's over and have a comfortable end, so there is some compensation here!
Overall, this is an excellent way to start your day and a great habit you can add to your lifestyle to feel better about yourself and perhaps alleviate the symptoms of some mental health conditions, to some degree. Do not get discouraged if it's too much for you at first. Stick with it. For some it takes longer to adjust and start reaping the benefits. You just have to be open-minded, curious, positive, and optimistic about it; I personally find it fun, and you should view it that way too if you want to reap the most success out of this. Treat it as a fun challenge or test for yourself.
*If you would like to read more in-depth about a person's personal experiences with this practice, check out this blog: How I Crushed “The 30-Day Cold Shower Challenge” & The Great Life Secret It Unveiled
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