About the cold showers

I'm pretty sure our external environment makes it close to torture.
(when you have to warm the pipes to then cool the water deliberately)
But, completely understand

 

I'm gonna start doing these again. I did them a few months ago and i got a long streak going and starting working out and getting shit done (not sure about the chicken and the egg here though. Now I'm a bit lazy again.

I also go swimming/dipping in the ice-cold water, but there is a sauna there too so you guys would probably call it cheating.

But hey, guys! Look up the documentary about the "Iceman" Wim Hof!
This guy is like the Cold Shower God...

 

The coldest mine go is mid 40s. I stand in the shower then turn the water on, the first blast isn't as cold since it's been sitting in the pipes a bit.

 

Other people already shared there cold-shower rituals here, I will share mine, too. Not because everyone else is doing it wrong - rather I'd like to point out, what exactly makes the whole thing worthwhile for me.

To me, the cold shower routine has two main benefits.

1. I feel refreshed and awake afterwards. It reduces urges, albeit short-term. When I'm about to slack off, after a cold shower I usually reconsider and I'm instantly more motivated to actually get out and do something. Just for that reason, I take cold showers sometimes at rather random times.
2. It's a way of learning to cope with stress and anxiety. The cold water is a sort of shock - but a shock under my control. The reaction a person has when in cold water is quite similar to a state of fear: Heavy breathing, a flight reflex, a feeling of discomfort close to pain. The good thing is: By learning to endure the cold shower, you are teaching yourself to cope with stress anxiety. You breathe deeply but calmly, you remain calm instead of leaving the situation, you realize that it's not a big deal: regardless of the way your body reacted, you are fine. It's just water.

Ways to ruin an otherwise good cold shower:

• Jumping in and then jumping out: I.e. fleeing. Rather find an endurable temperature and enjoy the unpleasant feeling in the beginning and the following phase of calming down.
• Actually catching a disease by undercooling. I usually avoid getting my head wet at all, when taking a cold shower. Also: Make sure that you warm up afterwards when you took a long cold shower. Make sure that you feel warm and comfortable (no wet hair!) afterwards. This way, a cold shower shouldn't be a problem, not even in winter. Get warm clothes, or, if necessary: end a cold shower with a hot one. Otherwise you reinforce the bodily flight reaction from the cold water.

So these are my steps:

• Unless you know your shower well, test the water before.
• No need to go ice cold right away. But make sure to find the lowest temperature that you can endure. I feel a luke-warm "cold" shower especially on a hot day doesn't help that much at all.
• Make jumping into the shower a conscious act: Don't jump in and out, try not to hesitate. If you like: turn on the shower above you for additional courage (I don't like that, because you never know the exact temperature of the water)
• Breathe deeply and calmly. In the beginning, some involuntary reacting to the cold water is normal (I make funny noises), but aim for a calm and relaxed state. Don't even breathe to heavily, if you can.
• Every time you manage to take cold shower nice and calm, increase the difficulty. Even if the water doesn't get colder, you can increase the amount of cold water. Also there might be specific parts of your body (for me: the back) where the cold water feels particularly uncomfortable. For that reason I let the cold water run down my back several times, until I can do it without hesitation.

 

does cold showers increases the testesterone?If yes ,must it be fully cold?

 

I like what @franco216 and @Chappo030891 said. But I'll go against the grain a bit here. I'm not a fan of cold showers on their own. But I am a huge fan of something called hydrotherapy. You can check it out here: https://healthfree.com/incurables_program_hydrotherapy.html

The basic idea is, you alternate between the hot and the cold, gradually extending your range. By taking small steps you can eventually endure both the hottest and coldest settings in the same shower. You gain a lot of flexibility this way.

Here's what I do. On a scale of 0 to 10, I go into the shower at 5/10, lukewarm. Then I move down 5->4->3, cold. Then I come back up from 3 to 7, hot. Then I work my way down from 7 to 0, freezing, then up from 0 to 10, burning. I keep going between the extremes as long as I like. Eventually I come back down to cold and finish.

Freezing - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - Burning

By alternating the hot and cold you're actually creating what's called a pump in your circulation. I learned that from the link above. The movement of blood between the core and surface of the body gets much stronger, 'like an accordion'. This is supposed to have big health benefits. Just cold or just hot showers won't create the same pump.

There's actual scientific backing for it. Our body doesn't just respond to the temperature of the water but also to changes in temperature. Here's a place I found that explains this: https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/absolute+temperature Jumping straight into a cold shower from room temperature is like giving your body one huge shock and then keeping that steady. The hydrotherapy approach creates a constant state of change from hot to cold and back. This is like constant stimulation for your body. It's giving your brain a lot more to process and adjust to than a cold (or hot) shower on its own.

The basic contrast here is between rigidity and change. My goal is to create a constant state of change for my body and get used to this. A freezing shower on its own will give me a huge rush and shock, but it will not create that state of change. On its own it is just as rigid as a hot shower. The point is to get inside the space between the hot and cold extremes and to constantly be moving towards each extreme. Then you enter a state of becoming. I think this has great benefits for the ability to let go of old habits and form new ones.

I'm also into breathing exercises and I do the same with alternating between ocean breath and breath of fire. It's an amazing feeling to get that oxygen rush from the fire breath (where I'm breathing in and out 3-4 times a second), then work my way down to the ocean breath (where my breathing is so slow and long that it almost disappears). And then repeat. I make sure to do it gradually and take my time in between though, that's the most important thing! I don't see a need to push myself to extremes before I'm ready, I think this can actually hurt me. I don't want to shock and jolt my body anymore. (This is what PMO was all about. I'm over that now.) Instead I want to listen to my body and get there on my own pace. The 0-10 scale above helps me keep things gradual. I think it's perfectly fine not to hit 0 and 10 in the beginning. Where I am at any given time doesn't matter that much. What's important is being in a state of constant change, even if the changes are small. Always be moving - I believe that.

 

Cool story bro! Started cold showers 2 days ago and I gotta say that it is the shit but it makes me wanna scream like Dave Grohl lol

 

Nice post, I enjoyed reading that. Inspiring! Thanks.
Makes me think of the Finland sauna-culture. Sit in the hot room until you sweat, then go out naked in the snow and roll around, repeat ad libitum

 

Cold showers are some of the best ways to train your mind to be with the logic, you just think of yourself and let the cold be cold. It cannot harm you, so why should you be harmed by it?

"but you might die"

It takes 30 minutes to die from hypotermia. 5 minutes is enough to feel effects

"But it's cold"

Yeah

"I don't want to do this"

Well don't, nobody is forcing you. I'm not doing that everyday, but I know I can do that. If I get any doubts I get back in.