Post: #76

(06-16-2014 10:52 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  I'm gonna do the thirty day cold shower challenge starting today.

30 Days, 5 minute cold showers.

Who's with me?

If nothing else it will be a great exercise in self discipline.

How's it going? I've been doing it every day, sometimes twice, but probably not the full 5 minutes.

I can report feeling great and have more testosterone and increased horniness. It feels like I've been lifting heavy even though I've been slack and only gone to the gym once in the last two weeks.

Post: #77

It's going well. It still pretty much sucks at first when that cold ass water hits me. Then I get used to it wash and get out. I haven't been staying in the full 5 mins either... I didn't really take 5 minute showers before I started this anyway.

I feel great once I get out and towel off. Alert and ready to go for sure. I haven't noticed a huge difference in testosterone and horniness that I can say is cause of the cold showers. I am on TRT and have been working out, eating healthy, lifting, taking zinc and other supplements more and more for the past few months so I can't pin point the elevated feelings on just the cold showers. I'm still sticking with them and have a feeling I may be sold on cold showers for life after this initial 30 days.

Post: #78

(07-03-2014 06:39 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  It's going well. It still pretty much sucks at first when that cold ass water hits me. Then I get used to it wash and get out. I haven't been staying in the full 5 mins either... I didn't really take 5 minute showers before I started this anyway.

I feel great once I get out and towel off. Alert and ready to go for sure. I haven't noticed a huge difference in testosterone and horniness that I can say is cause of the cold showers. I am on TRT and have been working out, eating healthy, lifting, taking zinc and other supplements more and more for the past few months so I can't pin point the elevated feelings on just the cold showers. I'm still sticking with them and have a feeling I may be sold on cold showers for life after this initial 30 days.

It's kind of a problem when you make a lot of lifestyle changes and you can't be sure which ones are actually giving your the results.

But I'm 100% sure that cold showers are great because I've done it at a low point when I was depressed, and it worked, and then again just now when I haven't been going to the gym. Cold showers for life. Ice baths next.

Post: #79

Let me know how your ice baths turn out. I would be willing to try them. Honestly being summer here the cold showers aren't really freezing cold. I haven't been able to bring myself to take ice cold showers in the winter.....

Post: #80

I've been trying a variation which isn't as harsh as the cold shower. I fill up the tub with very cold water and sit in it but I have the shower on a warm setting. This makes it more bearable. The lower part of the body is very cold but the other part is not. You can soak that way for a long time. Eventually the water warms up slightly, but not much, actually. Quite relaxing. Helps with sore feet and leg muscles, too.

Post: #81

(07-03-2014 07:14 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  I've been trying a variation which isn't as harsh as the cold shower. I fill up the tub with very cold water and sit in it but I have the shower on a warm setting. This makes it more bearable. The lower part of the body is very cold but the other part is not. You can soak that way for a long time. Eventually the water warms up slightly, but not much, actually. Quite relaxing. Helps with sore feet and leg muscles, too.

I used to do the opposite of this. I have a Jacuzzi tub in my house and I used to get it filled up with damn near scalding hot water and sit in it for 5 or 10 minutes then stand up and turn the shower on cold. It always felt pretty amazing to me, not sure of any health benefits it had other then feeling amazing.

Post: #82

Maybe the ancient Romans were on to something... Their baths had pools of different temperatures (caldarium, tepidarium, frigidarium).

Post: #83

Started doing this.

Damn, it's a shock to the system! I came out the shower shaking like a bitch.

I'm actually kinda dreading my next shower haha. Do you ever get used to it?

Post: #84

(07-03-2014 11:04 PM)dreambig Wrote:  Started doing this.

Damn, it's a shock to the system! I came out the shower shaking like a bitch.

I'm actually kinda dreading my next shower haha. Do you ever get used to it?

To some extent, yes. You get tougher and I barely flinch from the water in the warmer months (it's generally 18-23C). But in winter the water always gives you a real shock.

You will find a point after showering for 3-4 minutes when you get accustomed to it. Make sure you are reaching that point, if you chicken out every time before then you won't get the benefits or toughen up.

Post: #85

I posted about this. /thread-36129-...#pid729653

I lost 50lbs with nothing but cold ass water, no changes to diet (though I did make sure I didn't start eating 'more'), no new exercise program, no drugs/surgery. It's still off today, well over a year on, still no changes to diet. I do exercise, but nothing intense enough to explain the results. I used the advice from this ex-NASA scientist: http://hypothermics.com/

It never stops sucking. I think you can lose a fair bit of heat quickly from convection by getting out of the cold water without drying off and standing in the blast of a fan.

Post: #86

50lbs? That sounds like BS.


Anyways. For people that want to start with cold ass showers you can try the following:

1. Start with hot water, get used to the warm water.

2. Turn of the water and apply soap/shampoo.

3. Once you are all covered in soap, turn on the water again (same temperature).

4. When you have washed completely, starting changing to cold water gradually. When the water stops being hot/warm but not extremely cold, it wont be difficult to bear.

5. Keep making the water colder gradually until it reaches max cold. This should be done in aprox. 3 minutes.

6. By this point you are probably be crying like a bitch, hold. Make sure you get at least 2 mins in (max cold)

You may experience a weird sensation in your chest/lungs, it feels sort of like being unable to breathe. Keep calm and breath deeply and slowly. Inhaling and exhaling.

It is said that showering with both hot & cold water offers more benefits than just cold ass showers. This way will help you begin your shower and you will still get the benefit of cold
Ass shower at the end as well as the huge rush.

Post: #87

I'm a little over 2 weeks in now and I've noticed a very interesting correlation.
The fear/trepidation I feel when I'm about to get in the shower - I've felt it before.
When I approach.
The mentality and thought process is along the same lines: 'This is stupid, this is a bad idea, this isn't going to end well, why the hell am I doing this?'
It sucks for 5 minutes, but I towel off afterwards and go on as usual.
The cold ass showers will continue.

Post: #88

(07-07-2014 11:45 AM)Hardy Daytona Wrote:  I'm a little over 2 weeks in now and I've noticed a very interesting correlation.
The fear/trepidation I feel when I'm about to get in the shower - I've felt it before.
When I approach.
The mentality and thought process is along the same lines: 'This is stupid, this is a bad idea, this isn't going to end well, why the hell am I doing this?'
It sucks for 5 minutes, but I towel off afterwards and go on as usual.
The cold ass showers will continue.

I almost did a post on this after I watched that TED talk video posted on the last page. I can see the correlation between the two. Glad you found a way to implement it into your approaching. I'm sure you could really apply this theory to lots of things in life that give you the "This is gonna suck I don't wanna do it" vibe.

Post: #89

I'm in.

Every day for the next 4 weeks.
One cold shower in the morning right after waking up, one before heading out for office and one at night.

That's a grand total of 84 cold showers lasting for a minimum of 10 minutes each.
Will report back after each week.

Starting weight 82 kilos.

Post: #90

(07-07-2014 01:09 PM)Sharkie Wrote:  I'm in.

Every day for the next 4 weeks.
One cold shower in the morning right after waking up, one before heading out for office and one at night.

That's a grand total of 84 cold showers lasting for a minimum of 10 minutes each.
Will report back after each week.

Starting weight 82 kilos.

I'm in.

Every day for the next 4 weeks.
I'll have one cold shower every day at around midnight.

10 minutes.

Starting 102 kg.

Post: #91

Cold showers are for betas. Ice baths are where it's at.

Post: #92

I have well water so it's pretty darn cold but I think I will try putting some ice in it next time I soak.

Post: #93

(07-06-2014 09:57 AM)FretDancer Wrote:  50lbs? That sounds like BS.

My medically documented results (50lbs, ~12 weeks, still off one year later) are typical for people who use the program outlined at the linked website: http://hypothermics.com/home/

Post: #94

(07-07-2014 02:25 PM)MidniteSpecial Wrote:  Cold showers are for betas. Ice baths are where it's at.

I can't find enough ice here to do that...

Post: #95

For the first 35 years of my life I took scalding hot showers, but then I heard about the health benefits and slowly started switching and experimenting. Now my hair and skin look better than they have in years if not a couple DECADES.

I was so used to hot water however that it was a tough habit to break, and I even got sick a couple times because of it. But I perservered and now cold water is my preferred mode. Where I live it's almost always between 10 and 20C (50 and 70f), and even if I'm back up in N. America in the winter time, I tend to use cold water as my normal mode.

I don't have hot water where I live (on purpose) but when I'm travelling every now and again I may take a hot shower, but I can no longer tolerate it as hot as I used to.

Post: #96

This is working well for me so far.

Have been considerably more productive after having the cold shower. So much so that I might start taking 2 cold showers a day!

It's like a double espresso to the gut without the jitters later on. Pretty cool.

Post: #97

Been doing cold showers for two days now, not experienced any differences, but will report back when they start happening.

Post: #98

Few days on the cold shower grind now. Used to do it on a fairly regular basis but signing myself up for one everyday from now til I take a dirt nap.

I was listening to a Joe Rogan Experience podcast earlier and he mentioned he had tried "cryotherapy" somewhere in California. Apparently you go in a super cooled room(-240 degrees fahrenheit) for ~2 minutes and then return to room temperature. Your body senses the extreme cold and pumps your blood to the surfaces of your skin in an attempt to keep itself warm. When you return to room temperature it returns to normal. Helps with inflammation and recovery from workouts according to Joe. I'm sure there's more to it but I haven't done any research. He said he felt great afterwards and was looking forward to trying it again... LeBron, some MMA fighters, etc. do it on a regular basis. Kinda along the same lines as cold showers but obviously a bit more extreme.

Edit* Cryotherapy Wiki if anyone wants to read up on it. Works the same way as ice baths but at a much faster rate.

Post: #99

Ive been doing couple of times now that after gym I go to sauna (100C), stay there for like 5-10 minutes and then take cold shower for few minutes. Its good but actually I feel somehow that for body the extreme changes are quite hard, my heart starts going faster etc. On the other hand its tradition here even in the winter to go after sauna to swim in the frozen lake etc. So it must be the gym thats too much in the equation.

Post: #100

I have been taking cold showers since I read the health benefits of cold showers on Art Of Manliness. That guy also wrote about how cold showers can raise testosterone levels. So I started doing it since the beginning of the year.

My skin has improved a lot since I started taking cold showers. Also you FEEL better. Psychologically it's a great booster. Why? Because you know that you're doing something that most people (even men) are too afraid to do.

The only time I take warm showers is if I feel that I'm starting to get sick on something. Fighting a cold or flu is hard enough on my body so I take warm showers on those days when I feel that I'm getting sick. I take plenty of rest and usually can recover in a day or two without getting full blown sick.

I highly recommend cold showers.