Cold showers - terrifying

Voodoomelon

So after an evening of watching videos and reading up on the benefits of cold showers last night, I gave it a go this morning.

For those not in the know, they improve circulation, eradicate skin dryness, improve hair and skin softness, combat depression and anxiety, massively improve alertness, can contribute to fat loss, testosterone increases etc etc etc.

The idea is also to take you out of your comfort zone, actively force yourself to do something that is really difficult to accomplish at the very start of your day. We're talking 3-5 minute jaunts here, and just cold. No starting hot and giving a blast of cold at the end. There's a great TED talk on the topic too.

Holy Jesus is all I can say! I rolled out of a warm bed, ran the shower cold, looked at myself in the mirror still nearly asleep and asked "what the f*** are you at?". I stepped in and nearly had a heart attack! I couldn't breathe, starting gasping for air, cold water hitting my skin like it was burning, my body was panicking and all i felt was fear. I only managed a minute max and it was awful, genuinely terrifying and uncomfortable but what a feeling afterwards! It puts you on a high for the rest of the day, coupled with crazy warmth and ludicrously soft skin.

Anyone else perform this torture?

My name is URL

Tried it once. Thought I was gonna die

I'll put up with the dry skin meself!

Fr_Dougal

Yeah, during the summer.

HeidiHeidi

Haven't tried it, apart from one or two occasions where there was no other option, and have no intention of trying it again any time soon.

But your post gave me a right laugh

wijam

Always finish with a cold shower, about 1 minute, changed recently to 30 seconds cold, 30 seconds hot then finish with another 30 seconds cold

Great way to wake up in the morning

Poor Uncle Tom

Like a plunge pool after a sauna, very invigorating....

Call Me Jimmy

jesus that's an impressive list of cures for a cold shower, ill give it a go so

HeidiHeidi

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Like a plunge pool after a sauna, very invigorating....

There's a world of difference between jumping into a cold pool, and having a cold shower.

Well I think there is anyway! Maybe it's all in my head.

Beyondgone

Our shower is playing up, so it's Russian Roulette as to whether you get to have a hot or a cold one. Or possibly a sneaky combination of the two to keep you on your toes. With scalding interludes.

Grayson

I have that reaction to cold water. I start hyperventilating and have to get out as soon as I can.

Voodoomelon

Apparently you loose out on the mental discipline side of things with plunges and hot/cold techniques. A kind of "you're a worthless piece of s*** if you can't force yourself to take 3 minutes of straight cold!".

Remains to be seen, day two is tomorrow and i'm looking forward to it.

osarusan

Don't think I'll try it.

Certainly not just getting into a running cold shower.

I might be able to do it by turning down the temperature bit by bit over a long period, but that probably defeats the purpose.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I personally think, having lived through an era where hot running water was not available in the home, the whole 'cold shower' philosophy is hogwash. The invigorating affect is short lived. The calm pleasure of a hot shower also reaps benefits. And anybody who spouts the 'in my day all we had were cold showers and we were healthier' is away with the fairies. We suffered more ailments, developed more rheumatic complaints etc.

Enjoy the luxury of a hot shower!

Voodoomelon

Grayson wrote: »

I have that reaction to cold water. I start hyperventilating and have to get out as soon as I can.

Exactly the same, but you can learn to overcome it which is one of the reasons I want to keep at it. And hopefully transfer the same skills into daily life.

Jack the Stripper

It don't be long putting a kibosh on a hard on.

learn_more

For those not in the know, they improve circulation, eradicate skin dryness, improve hair and skin softness, combat depression and anxiety, massively improve alertness, can contribute to fat loss, testosterone increases etc etc etc.

Those really in the know know that those are you benefits you get when you eat healthy and exercise.

Never been one for showers in the morning hot or cold myself. Too much like hard work when one has just awoken.

bodhrandude

Voodoomelon wrote: »

So after an evening of watching videos and reading up on the benefits of cold showers last night, I gave it a go this morning.

For those not in the know, they improve circulation, eradicate skin dryness, improve hair and skin softness, combat depression and anxiety, massively improve alertness, can contribute to fat loss, testosterone increases etc etc etc.

The idea is also to take you out of your comfort zone, actively force yourself to do something that is really difficult to accomplish at the very start of your day. We're talking 3-5 minute jaunts here, and just cold. No starting hot and giving a blast of cold at the end. There's a great TED talk on the topic too.

Holy Jesus is all I can say! I rolled out of a warm bed, ran the shower cold, looked at myself in the mirror still nearly asleep and asked "what the f*** are you at?". I stepped in and nearly had a heart attack! I couldn't breathe, starting gasping for air, cold water hitting my skin like it was burning, my body was panicking and all i felt was fear. I only managed a minute max and it was awful, genuinely terrifying and uncomfortable but what a feeling afterwards! It puts you on a high for the rest of the day, coupled with crazy warmth and ludicrously soft skin.

Anyone else perform this torture?

I suppose it would be like that morbid feeling you would get when trapped in a sinking ship.

MilesMorales1

I love a cold shower. Wakes me right up.

Rjd2

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Exactly the same, but you can learn to overcome it which is one of the reasons I want to keep at it. And hopefully transfer the same skills into daily life.

I did a few years ago for a good few months, never looked forward to one, and rarely spent more than 5 minutes in there, but was glad to do it and definitely felt it was worthwhile. I probably will go back them sooner rather than later.

gramar

Funny you mention it I watched a youtube video about it last night. Seemed like a good idea from the comfort of the couch with the fire blazing.
It didn't seem like such a good idea at half 6 this morning when I ran the tap.

Parchment

I love to use a sauna but never partake in jumping into cold water after. It just seems like too much of a shock to the system - like the warnings given out about those Xmas day swims. It has to put a strain on the heart!

Ill skip the cold showers - thanks!

Voodoomelon

gramar wrote: »

It didn't seem like such a good idea at half 6 this morning when I ran the tap.

Haha, I was the same, I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do less. Standing there shaking before you even get in!

RayM

I do this every now and then. It helps if you don't give it too much thought - dive straight in and don't just stick your head or your toe in first. It can help psychologically if you use really bad language. After a minute or two, the shock should have subsided. I always feel quite good after it. Healthy, almost.

If a warm shower won't wake you up, nothing will:-)
just stepping out of a warm shower into a cold room blows the cobwebs off

Why torture yourself in the morning?

seamus

People have been claiming all sorts of physical and mental benefits from masochism for aeons.

I'd like to see actual scientific evidence of the supposed benefit of this, otherwise it's no more valid than self-flaggelation or that crazy cutting ceremony the Muslims do.

I have taken cold showers on a number of occasions and I can safely say the only good part is putting on warm and dry clothes afterwards.

MilesMorales1

I never want to get out of a warm shower, its just so nice and toasty warm. Cold showers are invigorating and it makes me wanna get out and get dressed quick as possible.

chakotha

Reagan on Jimmy Carter:

"If a man tells you he takes a cold shower every morning and enjoys it, he'll lie about other things as well..."

Beasty

Do it properly next time - ice bath FTW!

It's a bit daunting to start off but once you properly submerge it's not too bad

SEPT 23 1989

The Ministry of Hardship approves

Voodoomelon

chakotha wrote: »

Reagan on Jimmy Carter:

"If a man tells you he takes a cold shower every morning and enjoys it, he'll lie about other things as well..."

If there's one common theme to cold showers from what I've read, is they don't get any more enjoyable and no one likes them.

Esel

I usually carry an umbrella if cold showers are forecast.

Spanish Eyes

Swimming in the sea is always fecking freezing in this country but you do warm up after a little while and feel so virtuous and revived don't you? That's before you shiver and shake to change into outdoor clothes and you are Never dry enough for that be honest right?

Cold showers are VERBOTEN except for the masochists amongst us. No need and they are unnecessary. Unless someone else has used up all the hot water FFS.

gifted

Have a breakfast instead...sets you up for the day...

Cold showers my arse...next thing you'll be walking barefoot ..2017 for the love of God.

Bambi985

I'll never understand the need some people have to torture themselves in the morning in the name of "health and wellbeing". Cold showers, long runs, kale smoothies, warm water with lemon etc etc. jesus like. I usually wake up homicidal and fantasising about my boss falling under the tube or a major terror attack stalling public transport around the city. Getting out of my warm bed a moment earlier than absolutely required to do something positively torturous would push me right over the edge.

Did people, say, 1000 years ago, for example, need to engage in all these contrived, precise behaviours (cold showers, vigourous exercise, eating a precise diet, maintaining a rigid sleeping regime etc...) in order to avoid feelings of depression and anxiety or is it only in the last 10 or so years that these psychological issues have become almost the norm, and if so, why don't we all acknowledge that it is features of the culture, living conditions, norms etc. of nowdays which is causing people to develop these mental states? If you are depressed or anxious, complex combinations of stuff caused it over a certain length of time and having a cold shower isn't going to fully mitigate those causes and cure your depression or anxiety, even if it does make you feel relatively invigorated for a short period of time and temporarily more able to actually feel emotions through the fog and numbness of the depression as the coldness of the water forces you to feel rather than think, like when you were a child, before you became depressed.

Arevaci

Voodoomelon wrote: »

For those not in the know, they improve circulation, eradicate skin dryness, improve hair and skin softness, combat depression and anxiety, massively improve alertness, can contribute to fat loss, testosterone increases etc etc etc.

It's Matty Hislop's first step in ridding yourself of pride

Surreptitious

I'd have one after the sauna or the steam room. Feels great.

Noddyholder

Deleted User wrote: »

Did people, say, 1000 years ago, for example, need to engage in all these contrived, precise behaviours (cold showers, vigourous exercise, eating a precise diet, maintaining a rigid sleeping regime etc...) in order to avoid feelings of depression and anxiety or is it only in the last 10 or so years that these psychological issues have become almost the norm, and if so, why don't we all acknowledge that it is features of the culture, living conditions, norms etc. of nowdays which is causing people to develop these mental states? If you are depressed or anxious, complex combinations of stuff caused it over a certain length of time and having a cold shower isn't going to fully mitigate those causes and cure your depression or anxiety, even if it does make you feel relatively invigorated for a short period of time and temporarily more able to actually feel emotions through the fog and numbness of the depression as the coldness of the water forces you to feel rather than think, like when you were a child, before you became depressed.

1000 Years ago people lived till they were about 30 so thinking about showers and there complexion were not high in the agenda :D

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Noddyholder wrote: »

1000 Years ago people lived till they were about 30 so thinking about showers and there complexion were not high in the agenda :D

Actually, if you lived beyond 5 years of age, your life expectancy in the British Isles in 1000AD was over 70.

corner of hells

Reminds me of the time a friend of mine appeared in the local with a black eye , the result of a cold shower.

His wife threwv a shampoo bottle at him after he ran the hot tap in the sink freezing the arse off her.

So cold showers are proven to be a bad idea.

SEPT 23 1989

Noddyholder wrote: »

1000 Years ago people lived till they were about 30 so thinking about showers and there complexion were not high in the agenda :D

But they really lived in those 30 years not sat like cabbages looking at a screen all day

andekwarhola

Is it like drinking raw eggs or other weird stuff lazy people do when trying to get healthy without doing any exercise?

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

I'd say people that engage in this sort of behaviour are mostly svelte gym types.

Hippos leave the immersion blazing whilst enjoying a four-course breakfast before attempting to step into a superheated shower. The main difficulty is soaping thoroughly between the folds so they don't cause offence at work.

Cupcake_Crisis

Mornings are rough enough, why would you do that?

MilesMorales1

Who the hell has a cold shower every single morning? Sounds bloody awful. Just occasionally. When you need waking up or its humid to ****.

I love a nice warm shower and it wakes me up fine. If I want to be invigorated I go for a run or a swim, I don't think sending myself into cardiac arrest-inducing hypothermic shock is quite as effective or as healthy.

Zaph

I always thought that cold showers were to rid you of "impure thoughts". Now why the fcuk would I want to do that?

Zaph

Zaph wrote: »

I always thought that cold showers were to rid you of "impure thoughts". Now why the fcuk would I want to do that?

Well if you want to disregard the consequences for your immortal soul, there's nothing I can say that'll help you.

Tsk!

PARlance

Zaph wrote: »

I always thought that cold showers were to rid you of "impure thoughts". Now why the fcuk would I want to do that?

I find it near impossible to rid myself of impure thoughts in a cold shower.

snowflaker

Why!!!! Showers are to be enjoyed, I like it just so hot its comfortable, but still tingles.

If I want soft skin I'll buy moisturiser

Noveight

One evening the showers in my gym didn't have hot water and I took a cold one. Felt like a steely, rugged mountain-man for about ten minutes afterwards and was nursing a head cold for the rest of the week :pac: no thanks.