30+ Day Challenges | Health | Cold Shower
I Took A Cold Shower Every Morning For 35 Days & Here’s What Happened
If you think you have a big comfort Zone. Try taking cold showers. Unknown
I am super proud to say that my 30-day challenge journey started with drinking 3.78 liters of water, and now, after completing 20 challenges, I am always on a hunt for new challenges to build healthy and productive habits.
After all, life is all about enjoying new experiences.
Don’t limit your challenges; challenge your limits. Each day, we must strive for constant and never-ending improvement. — Tony Robins
Cold keeps your skin tight, vibrant, and radiant.
I am a huge fan of the outdoors; therefore, I chose to live in the mountains, a tiny hill station that is great for hiking. It’s winter and not too much for hiking.
Why a 30-day challenge???
The key reason behind a 30-day challenge is to help my reader build new habits by tracking progress with weekly and daily tasks to see the effect of compound results. That’s it!
Research shows that a challenge is more effective than a threat to achieve your goals.
We all know the history of cold showers. There is nothing new I am going to share except my experiential journey, and there may be a chance it will motivate you to do the same.
I grew up in a hot climate.
The cold shower for me was freshwater at 76.4°F / 24.7°C.
Yes, that’s right, 24.7°C.
Every summer, I spent a lot of time at the tube wells, taking showers many times a day to fight the heatwave.
Sometimes, I also kept watermelons in the tube well, like a fridge. I must say, I miss those days.
Why cold showers?
According to Google, there are plenty of reasons to start taking a cold shower:
- Alertness
- Concentration
- weight loss
- great hair
- great for muscle soreness
- It improves skin health.
- Boost immune function
- May help to reduce chronic pain
- It’s anti-inflammatory.
- Helps to increase brown fat, which means lower body fat (more metabolic rate)
Benefits of Cold Showers
The science-backed benefits of cold showers are:
- It improves immune function
- It may reduce chronic pain
- It may have neuroprotective properties because it stimulates RBM3, a cold shock protein.
- It’s anti-inflammatory
- It increases the amount of brown fat (having more brown fat increases metabolic rate and is associated with a lower body fat %)
Mr. Google also told me about this guy, Wim Huf, who is an extreme athlete.
He has Guinness World Records for swimming under ice and prolonged full-body contact with ice.
Whim Hof Method (WHM)?
Mr. Hof created this method with his son Enahm Hof to help you connect more deeply to your body.
Here are the three pillars of the WHM:
1) Cold therapy
2) Breathing
3) Meditation
Why did I experiment with taking a cold shower?
As I said, I spent my childhood in a remote village, and for a major part of my life, there wasn’t even power/electricity. If we go back, let’s say, roughly 100 years, there wasn’t anything:
- Not a great medical facility
- No hot shower, fridge, hair dryers
- And no bathrooms (very rare)
- Life expectancy — 53.6(M) and 54.6(F)
- There were hats, tho.
- And the list goes on.
Life is too sedentary nowadays compared to 100+ years ago.
Why Sitting Is the New Smoking?
Almost everything is at your fingertips.
I did this cold shower experiment to improve health and boost productivity.
Necessity is the mother of all inventions. — Albert Einstein
Cold shower Vs. hot shower
Before trying this experiment, I was a massive fan of long, hot showers.
Something is refreshing about taking long showers and also bringing new ideas.
But after taking cold showers, I must say it’s the best way to wake up early.
From an energy perspective, a cold shower will always wake up your body and increase your alertness.
Both cold and hot showers come with their own benefits. Dr. Green, Dermatologist
How to take a cold shower?
Ahh, I wish to tell you the ideal way to take a cold shower.
For me, it was a battle in the first 8–10 days.
You need to develop a habit in the long run.
I cheated by using warm water and lowering the temperature at the end of the shower.
But after two weeks, I felt confident enough to jump into the Atlantic Ocean.
I spend a max of 3–5 minutes under cold water because I start to feel uncomfortable if I stay longer than 5 minutes.
It’s not like a hot, steamy shower or bath to spend 10–15 minutes.
Tip: Try a warm/cold way to start!
Results — 30+ days of cold shower experiment
- Taking a cold shower for the first couple of days was almost impossible. But I must say my 30+ day challenges habit helped me a lot mentally to stick just for four weeks.
- I choose the cold shower experiment at the wrong time. It’s winter here, and the water temp is lower than 41F/5C. It wasn’t an easy task to accomplish.
Should I take a cold shower in winter?
Cold showers act as a wake-up call for your immune system. The shock of the cold prompts your body to produce more white blood cells, those little warriors that defend you against nasty winter bugs. It’s like a natural flu shot, but with water! — ONCQuest
- A cold shower helped me to strengthen my willpower.
- I had cold showers in the morning before work. I must say it helped me a lot to be more focused.
- I also felt my mood enhanced positively.
- I felt more energetic and used a cold shower as a stress reliever.
- Studies show that a cold shower helps improve the immune system. It might help, but I cannot say anything at this time. I might need to do pre and post-medical tests.
- I also learned that my hair health improved a lot. There could be two reasons:
1) Obviously, cold water
2) For 30 days, I did not use shampoo while having a cold shower.
- I’ve also noticed that the health and appearance of my eyes have improved. Maybe a cold can help relieve symptoms like swelling, dryness, and pain.
- I cannot comment on glowing skin because I did not notice anything. My skin is pretty healthy; in fact, once, I was eating at a restaurant, and a lady came to me and asked if I was a dermatologist.
The bottom line
Standing under freezing cold showers every morning — I did that. I got up to seven minutes most mornings, and it actually works; it immunizes your body, and your body starts getting used to the cold. It really works. — Liam Neeson
I did not hate the experience.
However, I am still thinking that taking a cold shower every morning in the long run is not sustainable, at least in my case.
I enjoyed my cold showers, especially in the last two weeks of the experiment.
After the cold shower, I was ready to handle the day like a boss.
I felt like my eyes were so fresh and light after each shower.
It just helped my body to put it in the right direction and overcome tiredness.
I also observed that it’s the simplest way to boost instant energy.
Book recommendation:
Beyond Cold Shower by Hunter Hazelton
As a new reader, please check my holistic health, productivity, and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and 30+ days of experiments (29 completed so far) to build a sustainable healthy lifestyle.
I also write about the general philosophy of life. For your convenience, here are the links.
Mental Health/Brain Damage, Hiking, Cofee (New Research), Technology, Healthy Lifestyle, Life Lessons, Productivity, Learning, Money
