How Cold are Cold Showers?

Ya they're ice cold I would have to bargain.

I've never held a thermometer under the water while taking one however.

 

I think we should pinpoint this.

Couple links to get started. Maybe we can make a list of varying temperatures in their exactitudes for differing timezones and seasons.

How cold is ice water? - Quora

How cold is ice-cold water? | Yahoo Answers

 

Wearing nothing but a speedo and a swimming cap Lewis Pugh plunges into freezing cold water. He pushes the limits both physically and mentally swimming in temperatures no human body should be able to withstand. Will he be able to break the world record and make it to the finish line or will the freezing cold temperatures win this battle of both body and mind?

 

Oh crap that blows my theory. I've switched back to the Scottish shower (short cold shower after warm shower) after taking nothing but cold showers for about 3 months because the intense cold of winter water is giving me brain freeze. In my skull in particular the pain after a few seconds is extreme. This problem didn't start till mid-December. Now I was thinking just yesterday: those guys who go swimming in ice water: how come they don't have the same problem? And I came up with a nice answer: they aren't holding their heads underwater. But now looking at this guy. His head is in the water most of the time. Even dipping in and out to mimic his breathing under the shower I could not last... and he is definitely swimming in water below freezing... seeing he is in salt water... and my pipes are not frozen with fresh water...

So is this another pain-barrier I have to get through? This summer I was convinced I was going to die in the shower and I got used to it and started enjoying it. This seems more physical than mental though...

These cold brief painful showers are not giving me the benefit of the longer slightly warmer ones last summer and fall.

BTW I was in Germany last year and the hotel had a digital shower head where you punched in the temperature. I was thinking about getting one of those to mix in just a little warm so it's cold but not freezing cold...

 

it's like spicy food for your skin

take it at a level you can until it feels GOOD

 

Me before taking a cold shower.

 

Ah found those digital temperature controllers for showers... yeah they ain't cheap... lot of other things I would do with that money... like a tropical vacation

I forced myself to stay under the icy blast a little longer... it seems like the brain freeze occurs when I get out rather than during... perhaps the pain is constant and doesn't increase with the length of exposure... going to be a little braver tomorrow morning...

I guess I could just mix in a tiny bit of warm... I don't really trust myself with that though... seems like mixing a tiny bit of porn into my life...

 

If you do a combat sport or even if you don't try visualize yourself sparring with someone. Don't know why but it makes it a lot more bare-able, almost enjoyable. That's just my advice.

 

I would not take cold showers if the water is "arctic water", I always take cold showers, but I happen to live in a tropical country.