In early 2019 my number 2 son, did a week's work experience with my brother at JK Therapy, a neuromuscular sports injury therapist and running coach. On the week's itinerary and, don’t ask me why, were Wimhof breathing and cold water sessions everyday after lunch! Sure No. 2 thought this was a thing for Jason's clients but he soon got the message when told to bring his swim shorts and a towel everyday. Every lunchtime the boys would do their Wimhof breathing and jump into a barrel of cold water filled with ice. To my surprise my son said he was able to get to over three minutes and when he got out didn’t feel cold but invigorated as long as he kept to the breathing technique.

Jump forward over a year later to October and we’re into our second Covid-19 lockdown when a friend of mine, Gavin, announced he was starting a 30 day cold shower challenge. My interest piqued for this one so I joined in. Now five months on and I’m still going Cold. Are cold showers good or bad? Do they make any point at all apart from bragging rights? Are they for you? Well let me tell you how it all went for me.

The shower I normally use, an on suite in my bedroom, didn't have a cold only switch, much to my surprise. You can turn the shower from hot to less hot but not cold. What a shocker to learn after twelve years in the house using that very shower. I wasn’t prepared to jump out and head to the other ensuite to use the electric shower, so Day 1 of the challenge was a total flop except if you count wanting to do it, at least. Day 2 and there were no surprises this time and after learning how to use the electric shower I was up and running. I did my normal morning routine or washing and shampooing and then when ready and psyched up, switched the shower to cold. Oh boy, you know when you jump into the sea and you can’t catch your breath and you sound like you’re caught up in a real fit or deep emotional crying? Well that’s what happened in less than a second and what a shock to the system. I lasted about 30-40 seconds before I had enough. The following day I did the same but it was harder to hit that cold button and I stood there a while before I got the courage, dreading what was to come. Again the cold was so intense but I persevered and continued in this vein for a few days. But each day it was getting harder to hit that cold button and I knew I would need to change it up or I would quit. So, Instead of having a hot shower first I had a tepid kinda warm shower and although it was a bit uncomfortable at first the switch to pure cold didn’t seem as bad and I was able to stay under the cold water a bit longer. 

I had found the plan that worked for me and I was rocking this cold shower thing with ease now. Well that’s what I thought until perhaps into the fourth or fifth week when I started to get disenchanted, you see, I wasn’t feeling I was making much progress or seeing or feeling huge benefits. I needed to change things up a bit to feel some benefits. So I suggested to my partner in Cold, Gav that Thursdays should be known as “Extreme Thursdays” and “Operation Frostbite”. Just so we make further strides with our challenge. Then every Thursday we would stay in the cold shower until we couldn’t take it any longer and jump out before we got frostbite or hypothermia. On December 3rd 2020 I did my first extreme Thursday and I lasted 3 minutes 01 second in the cold water before I had to get out as my hands and arms started to get pins and needles and my head was screaming with brain freeze. Interesting too that I started to emit steam from my whole body towards the end of the 3 minutes. After another few weeks of “Operation Frostbite” we were fast tracked into loving the cold therapy and on the way to real results, we hoped. Soon after I dispensed with the tepid kinda warm shower and jumped right into the cold shower from the get go. Yes and not something I believed I would ever do and now would you believe I just have cold showers. Are cold showers for you? Here’s my process and the pros and cons to date that I’ve observed.

My Process:

1. I was jumping between two on-suites, one to shower and one to shave, put on deodorant etc as that’s where my toiletries have always been. I found that I wasted time in the morning or forgot to shave some mornings. So everything is now moved to the cold shower room. Doing this will also ensure I stay with my new habit and aligns with James Clears approach from Atomic Habits, one place for one activity.

2. To combat the cold shock in the first 5 seconds I sing a song, mine is Funiculì Funiculà by Pavarotti. Now God forbid if anyone heard me! but that’s not the point, its a distraction tactic and it bloody well works.

3. When you get that initial shock and it's hard to breathe, before your body learns how to get used to the cold it helps if you have a deliberate breathing routine. So long breaths out and slow breaths in really helps calm the body shock.

4. When I exercise I turn off the shower once completely wet and leather up with the soap and shampoo. I give myself a good scrub first and then turn back on the cold shower. I find that just like a tea bag needs hot water to draw out the tea, the cold water makes it harder for the soap to draw out for a good scrub and harder again when a constant stream of cold water is hitting you.

5. When I first started I would rotate in the shower letting the cold water hit my back, then shoulder, front of the body, other shoulder etc. I would put my head under for a few seconds and out again but not too long as you can get very cold very quickly and its painful. You need to build up tolerance to be able to douse your head under the cold water for long periods of time.

6. Shaving in the sink before the shower while wearing as scantily clad clothing as possible does help acclimatise for the initial cold shock.

7. Get wrapped up well afterwards especially if you have a tendency to get cold hands or feet like I did for the first few months.

8. Try to enjoy it, it's much easier if you are positive. Try saying I’m getting to have a cold shower today, whoopee.

The Pros:

• Whether you had a great night sleep and are lethargic on waking or had a bad night sleep and are groggy the cold shower will whip that feeling of sorry sentiment out of you either way. You are most definitely alert and ready for the day after a cold shower.

• I have suffered from dry skin and psoriasis over the years so I am attuned to impacts on what water and washing products can do to the skin. My skin can get very dry especially on the forehead and legs after showering but the cold showers have helped greatly and my natural oils in the skin are not being lost so I have less issues with dry skin.

• Hot water opens your pores and if you’re hot like you are after exercising you might still be hot and sweaty when you get out of a hot shower. Where does this sweat go? Well it goes into your towel mixed in with the water and its why you need to change your towel frequently after taking hot showers especially if you exercise a lot. I noticed that my towel stayed fresher for longer and would never stink up the shower room.

• I’d like to think the cold helps with anxiety, stress, high blood pressure etc. just like the experts say but I don’t think I am doing it long enough yet to fairly judge. I do feel better and invigorated after a cold shower and because it's such an intense situation you are completely in the “Now” totally present, so it's hard to catastrophize and you get a break from you, from being in your own head. My blood pressure is normally good and recently it's a little lower which is great but it could be my lack of B12 too due to a vegan/fish diet.

• When you exercise it's way easier to get into the cold shower as you are overheating anyway and it helps cool you down not to mention eases the whole taking ages to dry off.

• I haven’t gotten sick or had a cold sore since I started having cold showers so fingers crossed and touch wood for it to last.

• After gym workouts it's good for the muscles to get some cold therapy but how much it benefits over a cold bath I’ve no way to tell.

• I can now have cold showers and stay in for a long time so it's amazing what the body and mind can cope with. However with the return of the cold weather recently I got an awful shock one Monday morning and had to get out before I got too cold. 

The Cons:

• Getting into the shower and thinking about switching it on is nearly as bad as the cold shower itself. Just like the anticipation of eating a bar of chocolate is nearly as good as the act.

• My hands and feet got very cold for the first few months and since it was winter they might not heat up for a few hours later especially if you are working at a keyboard or have flip flops on.

• Typically you have your back to the shower and it gets the brunt of the cold so your back might take a while afterwards to warm up. I didn’t get an all over glow of warmth a few minutes after getting out of the shower as some say you do? I needed to wrap up afterwards for sure.

• Cold water on the head is hard to take and you really do get very cold and sore if you try to do too much. I definitely got a runny nose and was probably a slight head cold from too much too soon on the old noggin. 

• The first 5-10 seconds still give me a shock five months on even though. With the warmer weather I expect this to get better.

• We know that with hot water it’s easier to get a good wash and draw out the soap and important after heavy exercise. It's harder with cold water to draw out the soap and noticed that if I didn’t give myself a good scrub I would get itchy when I overheated, like when walking the dog which never happened before.

• I got tinnitus recently and the cause could be one of four things, one of which could be cold showers. So I am starting a trial and error approach to see if the tinnitus will get better.

I will come back after another five months with an update on progress.

Stay cool,