9 Big Benefits of Cold Showers – Part One
Don’t you just love a nice, hot shower? There’s nothing quite like the inviting warmth to make you feel good all over. And cold showers are like getting a needle, you can handle it, but you hate it.
There’s a reason why we love hot showers so much and hate cold showers even more. Water conducts heat away from our bodices faster than air. It’s why you could be comfortable outside without a jacket in 20°C/68°F weather, but you would freeze your #^*&s off if you jumped into water of the same temperature. Your body is programmed to protect your core temperature, so when the cold water hits, it kicks into defensive mode, which makes you want to jump out of the shower
Pity our ancestors who had no water heaters and were forced to bathe in a nearby stream or lake. Have you ever swam in a warm lake? Didn’t think so. The Greeks are credited as the first people to invent a water heating system, which they used in their public baths.
But guess what? It’s documented that many Greeks preferred to continue taking their “cold showers”. Why? Because the cold showers made them feel better.
Especially for those involved in strength training, bodybuilding and other athletics, cold showers deliver many benefits specific to their activities. It’s not that hot showers are bad, but cold showers help in so many ways.
1. Helps Manage Your Weight
Cold showers boost your metabolism so you burn more calories. When your body senses the cold, it starts burning stored fat to get the energy it needs to protect your core temperature.
2. Improves Recovery Times
There’s a reason why professional athletes have an ice bath after the game or an intense workout. The cold temperatures reduce muscle pain, inflammation, and they improve your blood and lymphatic circulation, which helps rid your muscles of lactic acid. Cold showers deliver similar benefits, if not to the same extent as an ice bath.
3. Strengthens Your Immunity System
Don’t you hate it when you catch a bug and just can’t deliver the performance you’d like, or even workout? Regular cold showers can help you stick to your program in many ways.
First, regular cold showers promote white blood cell production. White blood cells are those that rush to the site of an infection or cut to battle whatever nastiness might be trying to get into your body, like a flu bug.
Second, cold showers help to drain your lymphatic system, which helps remove impurities and waste from your cells, in turn reducing your chance of infections and pain.
One more way that cold water helps keep you healthy is by helping to strengthen your nervous system against stress. A cold shower submits your nervous system to slight oxidative stress. Over time it strengthens itself to counteract the stress. It leaves you better able to deal with your day-to-day stress, both emotional and physical.
4. Increases the Quality of Your Sleep
If you feel groggy when you wake up, or restless before you go to bed, a cold shower helps with both. In turn, by getting to sleep faster, and not feeling listless in the morning, your body is more awake when it should be and ready to sleep when the time comes.
In the end, there are two tricks to converting from your nice, warm bath to a freezing shower. First, suck it up and get in there. Second, stick with it, once you experience the benefits, you’ll not want to go back.
In 9 Big Benefits of Taking Cold Showers – Part Two we’ll look at five more great benefits of cold showers, including increasing your willpower, boosting your energy and making your hair and skin look better.