Cold water swimming

BogMonkey

Adaptation to cold temperatures has been proven to increase brown fat, which is a type of fat tissue that actually burns fat, its main function is to generate heat for the body, but it has various other health enhancing properties, like regular fat tissue, it produces its own hormones and enzymes.

Anyhow, do any of you here swim in the sea throughout the winter? Do you swim even in the coldest months like February? How long do you stay in the water when its really cold? Has your body adapted to the cold temperatures over time? I find my hands feet and hands go numb, that freaks me out a bit as I feel like that could turn into frost bite, thats the main reason I don't stay in very long. Yesterday was 5C outside, coldest day in a while, but the water wasn't actually that cold, it was not much colder than it is on days when the air is 10C.


I only really started swimming before the summer. It used to be an extreme shock for me getting into the water, but since I started this daily meditation practice, that shock doesn't seem to happen anymore. Do any cold water swimmers here meditate daily? If not, I really recommend it, not so you can get into cold water easier, but because this principle extends into all areas of life, its often the inner resistance that causes the problems, not whats being resisted.

Doeshedare

I try to swim once a week all during winter including Feb March when its coldest. I do it in a group of 20-30 swimmers, same time, same place every Sunday. Being in a group is important for safety, we all watch out for each other. In the group there is a full range of cold water abilities from channel (north and English) swimmers and trainees to retirees who swim several times a week. I have very little body fat and have been doing it for 3 years so at the moment I last maybe 15 minutes and when it is down at ~7c I'll last a couple of minutes.
I have adapted to some extent (i no longer hyperventilate when I get in!) but reckon I'd need to be doing it more often to properly adapt.

I dont meditate though the whole experience certainly focuses the mind!

If you want to learn more check out http://loneswimmer.com/cold-water-swimming-articles-index/

promethius

i need to get a few cold ones in soon so i can do some skins swimming in the summer