A Year’s Worth of Cold Showers
Here’s what I discovered — results, pros, cons, and tips.
On the 28th of April 2020, I started taking cold showers. It was a challenge I was putting to myself that I was only going to keep up for 30 days but ended up doing for well over a year now ( and still till this day).
Due to doing this challenge for so long, I was able to experience the pros to the fullest and the cons. I was able to see the maximum result and find out some hidden tips to help with taking a cold shower.
If this is a habit you’re interested in, looking to add to your routine or just want to know the results, then read on.
The Story
Over the past couple of years, cold showers have been a big trend. People have been talking about it in the health department, self-development, habit building, on YouTube and even on the news.
I came across the habit on YouTube and decided to take up the challenge. I had taken the 1 cold shower in the past before this (many years ago), but nothing to this extent.
The first cold shower that I took was great, I felt excited and motivated. I noticed some benefits straight away I felt more energised and awake; I felt almost ready for the day. These benefits stayed throughout the whole time I was taking cold showers. Even on days when I didn’t have as much sleep, taking a cold shower would give me a surge of energy for the day ahead.
Other than an increased energy boost, however, I didn’t really notice anything else for the first week and a half/ two weeks. It was at this point though, when I started to notice the difference in my skin. I noticed that my skin was clearer, I didn’t have nearly as many blemishes and I wasn’t really getting any either. The cold water was keeping my pores closed and preventing any dirt from getting into them, keeping my skin clear. Alongside this, I did notice that if I went to the gym, I wouldn’t feel as sore if I progressed my exercises (Increased weight or time spent doing an exercise).
“If you think you have a big comfort zone, try taking cold showers.”
The next time I noticed another benefit of the showers was roughly after one month. In the UK the weather tends to fluctuate, even in the summertime, one day it could be the hottest day in the year and the next it could be the coldest day in summer we have had in years (literally). So on one day near the begging of June, it was chilly and windy outside and it made inside cold when the windows were open. My family mentioned how they were cold and asked if I was, I wasn’t. I had gotten out of the shower approximately 15 minutes prior, that’s when I put the two together and realised I had built up a resistance to the cold to some extent. I was showering in water colder than the temperature outside, so the weather didn’t affect me. This is a benefit that I had not seen online before.
The final time I noticed a new benefit was after the 4-month mark. The benefits had sort of plateaued from there. What I had noticed is when my family had caught a cold and sore throat, I was unaffected by it. Before starting the cold showers, I had read that one of the benefits was a strengthened immune system.
Since taking the cold showers I have only been ill once and that was in November (7 months after starting). Even though the benefits had plateaued, I still noticed them clearly, and they didn’t ever seem to go. The only thing is that I didn’t notice anything else new.
From the first time I took a cold shower, I noticed that I was taking quicker showers. After I noticed an increased resistance to the cold, I started staying in the showers a few minutes longer (till around the 7 or 8-minute mark) to build my endurance to make the showers easier on the days when I didn’t feel like getting in. On some days, I would feel heavy resistance to taking cold showers and would find myself procrastinate getting into the cold water, so the days like this is when I would stay in for longer.
Although I didn’t notice these benefits after a while, it doesn’t mean that they were not there. The cold resistance may well have arrived in the first week, along with tightening my skin and improving my immune system, however, I only noticed them when I was placed in different circumstances to notice them.
At around the 6/7 months mark, however, is when I noticed one of the biggest disadvantages of taking cold showers. It was at the beginning of November. Winter was just coming into play.
On one of the mornings when it was frosty out the water was colder than usual. Though the water was cold than it had been before, it felt freezing and bitter. I pushed through the shower, but it was at this point used tip I saw online saying to put the heating on a few minutes before getting into the shower. I did this the next morning along with turning off the shower between soaping up and washing off, allowing my body to warm up slightly, making the rest of the shower easier.
After discovering these tricks, I would use them on colder days where I would struggle. Turning the shower off mid-shower is a practice that I kept up all throughout winter. In March is when the showers began to get easier again as the weather started to warm up gradually.
Pros:
- Quicker showers: Due to not wanting to stay in the cold for long, I would end up taking quicker showers. I would go from taking a 10-minute shower (with warm water) to taking a quick 5-minute shower. My shower time would be halved as the cold would make me speed everything up.
- Healthier/ clearer skin: A really clear noticeable benefit was the clearer skin. This was due to the cold water tightening up my skin and close my pours so they would not get dirt throughout the day.
- Improved immune system: After starting the cold showers, I only became ill once, and that was after around 7 months. It has been reported that cold showers can improve your immune system by up to 30%. I read about this was a benefit however I didn’t notice it until family members would become ill, I wouldn’t catch anything.
- Increased energy: From the first cold shower that I took I noticed that my energy was increased. I found doing a task before the shower we longer and more sluggish compared to after the shower. They weren’t rushed after the shower, I just found that I would have more energy so the task would be done more efficiently.
- Less pain (Gym, work etc.): A well-known benefit from the workout side of thing is that it reduces pain. If you’ve ever seen athletes taking ice baths cold showers, this is why. After working out or doing a task that involved much manual labour, taking a cold shower reduced soreness or got rid of it completely the next day. Even if you already have sore muscles, taking a cold shower can reduce the pain on the same day.
- Cold resistance: I started my cold showers mid-spring, so I didn’t notice this straight away. After nearly 2 months, I noticed resistance to the cold. this was due to my natural resting body temperature being lower, so I didn’t feel the cold as much. I would still feel cold in the shower, but not really when outside. This benefit was felt most in winter when I would be out, and people would say they were freezing, and I wouldn’t feel the same due to being used to being in the cold.
“I always take a cold shower to wake me up and close my pores. Then I moisturize my face.” — Audrina Patridge
Cons:
- Cold showers in the winter: Taking a cold shower in the winter is the worst time of the year to take one. The water isn’t just cold, it’s bitter. The shower feels harsher. If you need to add a little hot water to push through winter showers, then do so. There are a few tips that you can use to help with this (Read tips section).
- Procrastination: Procrastination can be a big thing when it comes to the showers. Some days you don’t feel like getting into the cold and so, you may end up putting it off for hours. The best thing to combat this feeling is to get moving to warm up your body (Read tips section).
- A test of endurance: While testing your endurance is a great thing to do, it can also not be good if it is unexpected. If you jump straight into a cold shower, and you haven’t ‘gotten ready for it’ in a sense, such as building up your endurance by gradually adding more cold water to your hot/warm showers, warming up beforehand, being ready/able to control your breath etc., it can make you want to stop taking the showers altogether on the first day.
Tips:
1. Build up to the cold shower.
jumping straight into a cold shower can be hard at first. Try taking a hot shower, and gradually turn on the cold tap more and more and the hot tap on less and less. This will allow your body to adjust to the cold, after doing this for a few days, you should be able to take a cold shower a lot easier.
2. Turning off the shower while soaping up.
It can be tough standing in a cold shower, try turning off the shower mid wash. This will allow your body to warm itself up slightly while you soap yourself up, then turn the water back when you’re ready to wash again. The shower will not feel as cold when you turn it back on because you have warmed up.
3. Get moving.
Before getting into the shower, try to get moving. Doing quick light exercises to warm yourself up such as press-ups, jumping on the shop or star jumps, to get your heart moving and blood flowing will help you get warm and make the shower easier. Even stretching and doing yoga can help.
4. Breathing.
When you first get into the shower, your body will tense up and go into a state of shock due to the sudden temperature change, try focusing on controlling your breathing this happens. Just take deep breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth to get your body under control, within about 10–15 seconds of doing this your body should start to settle down and not shake as much.
5. Get a bathmat.
Take some safety precautions and get yourself a bathmat to prevent yourself from slipping in the shower. Although you may think you won’t because you don’t in a normal shower, you are not taking a normal shower. When the cold water first hits you, it can cause you to jolt because of the unexpected temperature change. When this happens, you don’t want to unexpectedly slip and lose your balance.
I have almost slipped, so I know other people have too. Out of all the videos and articles on cold showers, I have never heard anyone talk about getting a mat for safety. Don’t take the risk, put your safety first.
6. Turn the heating on.
Turning on the heating can make all the difference, especially on winter mornings. Just knowing that when you get out of the cold, that the warm air will greet you from the radiators can give you just the motivation you need to keep going.
7. Music.
The same way you can put on music in the gym to get you ‘pumped’ and motivated, can be used for cold showers. Because the water being cold, you won’t have to worry about steam getting into a speaker or your phone. If you need to put on some music to get you moving, do it, it can help you get through the experience.
8. One step at a time.
Don’t tell yourself you are going to take cold showers for a year or a month, tell yourself you will just take one today, and tell yourself that every day. When you are feeling unmotivated, know that you have x amount of day, week or months to go can make you just want to give up. Take it one day at a time.
The story of actually taking the cold shower isn’t long because they are just showers. Although I have been this for over a year, other than what I have discovered (Tips, Pros, Cons) there isn’t a lot to talk about, that is why it isn’t pages and pages long. If anyone has any questions regarding anything about the article or any advice feel free to leave a comment and I will reply to you.
Small progress every day…
Thank you for taking the time to read my article. If you found it helpful and think it could help someone else, then please share it with them.
I write mainly on self-development. I occasionally write on personal experiences, interest, business, criminology, books and places. If you are looking for a way to try and better yourself, then please feel free to read some of my other articles (linked below) as you may also benefit from and enjoy them.
