I swim all winter round in Australia. It probably doesn’t get as cold as in other parts of the world, but it becomes pretty addictive, and I miss winter when it’s gone.
Can’t tell you what health benefits it has, but Wim Hof has shown some incredible feats under scientific testing, and has even taken people through his method and demonstrated the feats with them.
I always take a “normal” hot/warm shower first with soap and shampoo to get clean then switch to cold water — as cold as it’ll go, which depends on the climate — for the last couple of minutes, and I’ve been doing that for two decades at least.
I’ve no idea whether that affects the supposed health benefits, but I remember reading ages ago that the cold water exposure has some cardiovascular benefits as well as helping close the pores. I feel it’s good for waking me up and also makes me feel less cold when going from a hot shower to a normal-temperature room (as surprising as that might sound — this latter effect was confirmed by a Peruvian ex-girlfriend struggling to cope with the UK winter climate).
It’s a bit more of a jolt when the outside weather, and thus the water, is cold like in Taipei at the moment, but I find it manageable irrespective of the climate. It’s nice in the summer here when it’s hot and humid outside. I usually go directly to a cold, air-conditioned room after anyway — I don’t like sweating immediately after leaving a hot shower.
I’ve occasionally taken entirely cold showers when forced to, e.g., when staying in places in Spain and Laos that didn’t have hot water, but I didn’t like it as I feel it’s a lot more difficult to get clean using only cold water. Not really enjoyable either, IMO.
Yeah I thought of saying this earlier. During summer I can’t really take a cold shower because the water isn’t really really cold.
Public swimming pools, sportscenters, hot springs, etc. have cold dip pools. Some of them were like only NT$50.
Mix it up with sauna at least 3 time a week and live longer.
Cold baths are all the rage the last year or two especially with podcasts and TicTok and gurus.
It isn’t something new.
Long-term real benefits are unconfirmed but short-term like mood boosters and pain relief and muscle recovery and a couple other things seem to be confirmed.
I’m scared to use saunas. I got told that guys try to pick up each other in them. A guy I worked with went in one and a guy started wanking next to him. I can handle unwanted attention to a degree but I can’t be going to places where the guy next to me is having a wank.
You have a choice of where to go. Maybe pick another neighborhood.
The cold dip pools at public centers are not cold enough. My young son plays in them sometimes. I used to go to a good pool where the water was refrigerated for the cold dip pool. Hot sauna. Quick rinse off. Then into that cold water for a while, ending with dunking your head under the surface. Then all over again. What a rush. I really miss that pool (it’s closed now).
I used to take kids to the sports center so they could swim. I spent quite a bit of time in the sauna with old men sitting and standing around me. They would spank themselves sometimes in weird ways, but not in that way. Better not sit if you do not want to get rashes.
I did it when I was in England and I enjoyed it.
Definitely get a high afterwards, although if you do it everyday you kind of get used to it. But it always makes your skin feel nice and smooth. I had to blast some death metal to get myself in the mood for it though.
I don’t like doing it here in Taiwan because in summer it wasn’t cold and my bathroom is a typical shite Taiwanese bathroom, so its impossible to get a health benefit from it.
I have tried the breathing too, pretty much everyday for around a year. I did sometimes help rid me of a headache, but besides that I have no idea if it had any benefits. I still got covid and had it pretty rough.
I really, really did not want to get into cold water this morning but I did it anyway. I should have tried putting on some death metal!
Do you mean Wim Hof breathing? I tried that for the first time last night. It really relaxed me. I think I’ll continue that for a while. I’ve tried meditation in the past but it never did anything for me and I never could do it correctly. Like the method of trying to think of nothing but your breathing kind of thing. My mind would always wander after about 30 seconds and I couldn’t keep it up. I like the breathing, though, as there’s some holding of the breath going on and I’m into that already from snorkeling (my amateur attempts at free diving).
The swimming pool at my local sport centre is 100NT. I heard of another one in Taipei that charges 90NT (or that was the price years ago). Is there any swimming pool that charges only 50NT? I’m genuinely curious.
I tried having a cold shower this morning, 6am. Thought I was really hardcore, then I checked the temperature later on, it was a balmy 16 degrees. Wouldn’t say I’m ready for the Antarctic yet.
I stared in the face of cold water for a while. After I was diagnosed with mild gerd , I had decided to try a few things to spice up my body physically and mentally. Although my gerd was not a difficult one at first but after a while, the condition worsened and I almost got a surgery in us. Then, by pure chance , met a wonderful specialist in Italy, who suggested I should try a few things first, including cold showers wholly. I had gone cold turkey with this shower business. Did not even start with hot or warm watering. And after 14 months, my inflammation in body and bodily functions are better than before. The gerd is completely gone and no more medication to gouge over inside the body.
I must tell yo all, that I don’t drink or smoke, except for inhaling pollution in a few cities. Prato, my fella ,if ye are reading this, you should talk to your doctor before doing any stuff like this. Just to be safe.
At the gym, after exercising I always go to the sauna and the cold shower after it. So around 2-3 times a week.
I did something like that today. Swim, 15 minutes of dry sauna, then my usual cool water shower followed by 3 minutes of cold water. It felt good but I still feel the morning cold showers give you the biggest rush.
Generally speaking, I’m feeling great after 12 days of cold showers. I never look forward to the cold water. But regardless of how bad the initial shock is, I’m finding I adjust in 30 seconds. And I ALWAYS feel fantastic afterward.
The water for my shower was freakin’ cold this morning. A couple of more days of this. Not complaining because it felt great. But man, there was definitely a greater initial shock.
There’s a river that is blocked off to make a 60m pool not far from where I live. I plan to try that out next month. Too cold right now.
I’m doing the Wim Hof breathing every day now. I’m at the intermediate level, which involves 4 rounds and holding your breath for 2:30 for the last round. It really makes me feel great. Not so much in the beginning, but for the last week or so with the harder level, I feel totally relaxed and even a bit euphoric during and after each breathing session. I highly recommend it.
As for my cold showers, it’s been tough the last few days with the cold morning temperatures.
The cold showers aren’t feeling that cold anymore. I think I’m somewhat cold water adapted, and it’s just not that cold anymore.
So today I bought 10 bags of ice and added that to bath water. 14 degrees for 10 minutes. Felt great. It’s been 30 minutes and I’m still a bit cold and shivering slightly. Next week I’ll buy more ice. I think 10 degrees for the water temperature would yield better results.
Did you pay for the 10 week course?