What Happens To Body After 30 Days Cold Showers (Science Explained)
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Published 2023-05-07
You’ll start experiencing the benefits of cold showers right from day 1. Exposing your body to cold seems to release 3 key hormones; norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine. Together these stimulate your “fight or flight” response. These hormones stay elevated for an extended period afterwards. Anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours depending on how cold the water was and how long you were in it. The benefit of this is improved mood, energy, and focus. But to experience these benefits, there are a few things you need to know.
First, the temperature of the water for your cold showers needs to be cold enough. Research suggests at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit or colder. To tell if it’s cold enough without a thermometer, it should trigger what’s known as the “initial inspiratory gasp”. But you also need to stay in the cold for long enough. The subjects in the study I mentioned earlier sat in cold water for an hour. I did find several studies showing benefits with shorter durations of even just 20 seconds of cold exposure. But in most cases, they used an ice bath instead of a shower. This doesn’t mean a 30 second cold shower won’t do anything though. Even if your hormonal increase isn’t significant by research standards, you will likely still feel a benefit and an increased mood. But over time, your body adapts to the cold and the hormonal response seems to die down. Once you notice this, here’s how to take a cold shower to continue feeling a benefit: try making the water colder or staying in it for longer.
Next, let's talk about fat loss. A 2021 study found that cold water immersion increased well trained athletes’ estimated daily calorie burn from 2,000 calories per day all the way up to 3,000 calories! However, there are two catches. First, subjects were immersed in the cold for over 3 hours. The average shower length is 8 minutes, and the amount of time you’d spend showering in the cold would be only a fraction of that. Second, the researchers assumed the subjects would continue burning calories at the same rate as when they were in the cold. Even if you crunch the data while being super optimistic, it likely wouldn’t end up anywhere close to enough to make a meaningful effect for fat loss.
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Now what about muscle recovery and growth? Well, Ice baths have been shown to reduce muscle soreness, fatigue, and inflammation after a training session. This is great for athletes who need to recover quickly between events. But if you're looking to build muscle and strength, this may actually be a problem since it reduces inflammation, which is part of your muscles’ recovery process to grow bigger and stronger. Three studies have now shown that post-training cold water immersion significantly decreases muscle growth. So, if you want to maximize growth and strength, either do it before the workout, at least 4- 6 hours after your workout, or on a separate day altogether. Now, the studies I mentioned all used ice baths where subjects stayed immersed for anywhere between 10-20 minutes. So they were pretty intense protocols. Based on that, I would speculate that a quick cold shower after a workout wouldn’t have any negative effects on muscle growth. But on that note, it also probably wouldn’t do anything meaningful for your recovery.
There’s one more benefit you should know about. Forcing yourself to mentally withstand a stressor like the cold activates an area of your brain that suppresses impulsivity. This can help you remain calm and not overreact whenever stressors come up in your life. But this also helps build tremendous resilience and grit that can positively transfer into other areas of your life. I’d recommend start with cold showers, work your way up to 30 seconds to a minute, and then overtime try to stay in it for longer or if possible make the water even colder. And to further intensify the benefits, consider investing in a cold tub for some of those recovery benefits.
All Comments (21)
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Hope you enjoyed this one! See below for a link to all the studies: EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURE OF A COLD SHOWER pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10751106/ TEMPERATURE SHOULD TRIGGER THE INITIAL RESPIRATORY GASP pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19945970/ EVEN 20 SECONDS OF COLD IMMERSION CAN BE EFFECTIVE bjsm.bmj.com/content/44/3/179?max-results=200 ATTENUATION TO COLD EXPOSURE pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19945970/ COLD EXPOSURE AND INCREASE IN METABOLISM pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21490370/ COLD WATER IMMERSION INCREASED METABOLISM BY 50% www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8561167/ COLD EXPOSURE AND REDUCTION IN WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE AND ABDOMINAL FAT pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36599485/ ICE BATHS HELP SPEED UP RECOVERY www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2018.00… pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27396361/ POST-TRAINING COLD WATER IMMERSION DECREASES MUSCLE GROWTH pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31513450/ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26174323/ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25760154/
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More focused More energy Better sleep Great recovery
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So many youtubers trying to explain the science behind cold showers,they all say different things and people are confused so I believe the best way to find out is by doing it yourself,I've been doing cold showers for more than 4 years,there is no ending or building of tolerance to cold showers,I feel energized everytime I do them,more motivated and overall happier,there are other benefits as well but these are what I find to be the best ones
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Its the mental health boost for me. The act of doing something uncomfortable everyday, building a habit of getting comfortable in discomfort, cultivating a mindset and lifestyle of "don't think, just so". I found that cold showers/rinses everyday really help you to become more of an action taker.
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I once got like a 4 month streak and this is what i noticed: -less bodyfat -more immune to cold -more motivation -more energized -amazing warm feeling when you get out of the shower -you feel like you got struck by lightning (in a good way) -workout after cold shower
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I’ve been having cold showers for the past 3 months and It’s the best thing I’ve ever done, doing something I don’t want to do everyday gives me a massive buzz after I have done it. I feel less tired and ready to start the day, highly recommend it !
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I’ve been taking cold showers for like a year now. Here’s my insights: 1) It never failed helping me recover motivation after downfalls. 2) if after few months of cold showers you feel they are losing effects start taking hot showers for like a week and the effect restarts. 3) combine it with deep breath and try to calm down. That will help you with anxiety, just do the same whenever you feel it. You will noticed you ve became good at calming yourself
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cold shower because I'm too broke to afford water heater
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Been taking cold showers (started in winter) for more than 6 months now. Started seeing benefits on the 3rd months. The apparent one is that I no longer have inflamation & this is the best benefit being an ultra marathon run.
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Cold shower taker here and ive noticed a huge improvement on my discipline
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My man's bulking
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Jeremy, thank you for the clear, concise, and easy to use information. This makes watching worth the time spent.
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I started "for fun" the challenge from Wim HOF : 30 seconds cold shower for 30 days. It's been 1 year now and I still take cold showers every mornings and evenings. It totally changed my life : - I never get any cold anymore or any throat ake - I'm more resilient to the cold temperatures - I sleep much better and deeper after a cold shower - I used to have migraines twice a week minimum. Now it's only once a month. - my mind is stronger and I can handle stress easier
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I’ve done pure cold showers for 10 minutes everyday for months. I see my mind, muscles, and energy improve drastically. Trust me, this won’t take a day to achieve, it takes time to get used to the cold. Take Wim Hoff for example, he’s been doing it for years. If you want to start taking cold showers, start with 10-30 seconds after a warm shower and then add more time once you start getting used to it.
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I'm in Canada, and I've always hated the cold. So the cold-resistance benefits is what attracted me about cold showers (alongside immune system, mental toughness benefits etc.) Turns out after 1-2 years, so far I've found that I'm able to be outside at -15C temps with winds, no sun, in just tshirt and pants for several minutes. No real discomfort or shivering whatsoever. I never need gloves anymore, and my heels don't crack anymore either. AMAZING.
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Yeah. I am feeling the difference for a long time now. Every time I take a cold shower I feel more active, less sleepy and a better mood and quite the opposite in case of having hot shower
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Thanks for emphasizing the importance of looking critically at papers including the need for a control group
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I've been doing cold exposure (50°F/10°c) for over three months now and it has really changed my life for the better: - massive energy boost in the morning (which I desperately need) - more motivated to do anything - feeling more "comfortable" doing things that make me uncomfortable (turning off that "Noo, I really don't wanna do thaaat" -voice inside my head lol) - having a clearer mind (not worrying as much, feeling more "in control") - body has an easier time adapting to temperature changes Since I'm doing it in a natural stream I have no control over the temperature but I'm curious how cold the water will get during the winter months!
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Bro this video is lit ! Everything explained very clearly and you actually show the sources of information.
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Adding cold showers changed my productivity and focus ability quite substantially the past few months. I've been looking into cold plunge options recently since the coldest shower setting doesn't get nearly as cold in hotter seasons, a real bummer.
