Cold water Therapy

[TylerDurden]

Here's an article on cold-water therapy which is very palaeo :-
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/43477/cold_water_therapy_cold_showers_arent.html

[SkinnyDevil]

Yeah!

[jessica]

interesting article
however i am so paleo i cannot imagine showering daily, or more then once a week
do you think those that spend time being cold, or exposed to the elements each day reap the same benefits besides circulatory?
also it suggested to have the cold water run over the top of the head...thats probably the only thing i dont agree with, i think the face, neck, back etc is fine but for whatever reason feel the top of the head should have minimal exposure(brain freeze?)

[SkinnyDevil]

interesting article
however i am so paleo i cannot imagine showering daily, or more then once a week
do you think those that spend time being cold, or exposed to the elements each day reap the same benefits besides circulatory?
also it suggested to have the cold water run over the top of the head...thats probably the only thing i dont agree with, i think the face, neck, back etc is fine but for whatever reason feel the top of the head should have minimal exposure(brain freeze?)

Interesting. However, not all things paleo are good, any more than all things natural are good (remember that poison berries, uranium, and man-eating beasts are natural, too).

Also remember that humans originate from warm, water rich climes. Getting wet a lot is part of our human heritage.

[ForTheHunt]

Did this today.

Exercised hardcore for 90 minutes. Endorphine high right there. Then I took a steam and meditated inside the steam for 15 minutes. Then an icy shower afterwards.

It was so cold that I could feel my hair was super stiff like it was frozen.

Once I got outside it was like I had taken an ecstasy pill, felt great.

[wodgina]

I spent two months in Norway and loved the sauna then freezing shower repeat. Felt stoned!

[William]

interesting article
however i am so paleo i cannot imagine showering daily, or more then once a week
do you think those that spend time being cold, or exposed to the elements each day reap the same benefits besides circulatory?
also it suggested to have the cold water run over the top of the head...thats probably the only thing i dont agree with, i think the face, neck, back etc is fine but for whatever reason feel the top of the head should have minimal exposure(brain freeze?)

On a warm summer day in the Yukon, I thought to wash my head in the Tatsenshini river within sight of the glacier whence it comes.
You might duplicate this experiment by dunking your head in a bucket of ice water. Not recommended.

[jessica]

yeah i probably wont be trying that experiment...i even renig what i said about the neck..just to keep these from being as submerged not totally out but just not as intense.

i do think hot and cold water therapy is super powerful though, when i used to have access to a sauna at the gym i would do 30 minutes hot then a two minute cold shower and then repeat a few times after exercising....totally intoxicating just as wogdina and forthehunt experienced!  it made me feel imperviously warm even in freezing temps and made my skin extremely smooth and free of blemishes

[wodgina]

Those showers were seriously freezing and I would stay in the sauna until it was unbearable.

[TylerDurden]

Yes, I've done that sauna-then-cold shower thing. Unfortunately, I got so addicted to the sauna that I didn't do as much exercise as I should have done at the gym.

[tnlcrossfitter]

Just fill up a clean garbage can with ice and water and jump in after an intense workout session. I have seen this done, but have not got up the nerve to do it myself yet. Those who do it swear by it. They say it really helps with recovery. Maybe I get some of the other guys at the CrossFit facility talked into this, but I don't think I have the nerve to do this on my own. Burrrrrr!

[Roselene]

Just fill up a clean garbage can with ice and water and jump in after an intense workout session. I have seen this done, but have not got up the nerve to do it myself yet. Those who do it swear by it. They say it really helps with recovery. Maybe I get some of the other guys at the CrossFit facility talked into this, but I don't think I have the nerve to do this on my own. Burrrrrr!

For sixteen years I like ice on my legs.  Took a cold bath today, but no ice added.  This garbage can thing sounds like an idea!

[Sitting Coyote]

This isn't shower therapy per se, but for the last few years I've started swimming earlier and earlier in Lake Champlain, in northern Vermont, which is a reasonably short walk from my house. 

This year I jumped in April 2.  According to NOAA, the water temperature was 38 F (4 C).  The water was so cold it hurt my skin when I jumped in, but after ten seconds or so that passed and I swam until i started to shiver (which admittedly only took a minute or so).  I swam earlier this evening and the water temp has risen to 56 F (13 C) and could stay in for about ten minutes, although I was the only one at the crowded beach that was in the water at the time, and people were looking at me funny...

I think the coldest water I've swam in was about 34 F (1 C).  It was in the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming.  It was a warm day in late May but there was still a fair amount of snow on the ground, and i found a deep pool while hiking and fishing and decided to strip down and jump in.  COLD!  I stayed in for less than a minute before i had to jump out and dry off, and even made a little fire to make some tea so i could regain my body temperature.  After i felt good again i fished in the pool and caught two brook trout.  I've never tasted fish that were so sweet and fresh!  Didn't eat them raw, though.  This was a few years ago, before I got into the raw paleo thing.

[donrad]

I swim for an hour in a cold pool once a week. I also do a one hour very intense hot sweaty workout. Very good for the skin. My body adjusts quickly to temperature extremes even without clothes. Very Paleo.

Once I read an article about European explorers seeing indigenous people well adapted to very cold conditions naked. The missionaries forced them to wear clothes. The clothes stayed wet in the elements which made the natives sick and contributed to their extinction.

In the U.S. pacific northwest the native american men would sleep outside nude in all weather conditions using logs as pillows. Real men.

[Roselene]

nature, are you practicing paleo or primal diet?  Are you still doing water therapy?  If so, how often?

[magnetic]

Interesting. However, not all things paleo are good, any more than all things natural are good (remember that poison berries, uranium, and man-eating beasts are natural, too).

Also remember that humans originate from warm, water rich climes. Getting wet a lot is part of our human heritage.

The article made me imagine ice age humans fishing with spears in ice cold rivers and streams.

[p0wer]

I'd suggest you be careful with these cold showers. It's something I started practicing 5-6 years ago, after a couple of months (maybe half a year) my immune system started going crazy, and it still is. After taking a shower, swimming, or even sweating a bit from exercise my immune system overreacts and I'm all with runny nose, sneezing and tearing eyes, like I'm having some allergy reaction. So be careful and don't overdo it.

[raw]

I believe in cold water therapy. I put my child on more cold water shower then warm water.  Also it is proven that people in villages in Asia usually have lean body and live longer , 'cause they swim in cold water all year round. much more advantages...

[RawZi]

    Eating a good diet with lots of raw saturated fats I love cold water.  Otherwise I had a hard time with cold water.

[PrimiFit]

I've done contrast baths, meaning alternating between extremely cold and as hot as your skin can endure. I don't do it in the winter as it's cold enough in my apartment . I sometimes do it for my forearms and hands though.

[PaleoPhil]

Tonight I was feeling a bit more chilly than usual. I put my feet in the cold river until they got really cold, then took them out and within a few minutes I was feeling warmer than I did before the cold foot bath.

[Adora]

I've been adapting to the cold all winter putting my hands and feet in the snow. Then I progressed to very cool showers. Then cold showers for longer intervals. I was past 20 min in cold shower so I decided to try a cold bath again. (1ft cold bath was extremely short and unpleasant). Yesterday I took a 2O min cold tub. No ice just from the tap. It was tough for the first  2-3 min but it was fine after that. I fooled on my belly and dunked my face lots. I dunked my head on back. The water felt cool not cold any more so I added more cold water. I did notice it was colder, but. Of unPleasant. Another big change is that my feet and hands stayed flexible. If I can improve anybody can. I really love it though. Not just for health goals, but I appreciated the cold experience itself.
     It has been warmer here 65F and I've been wearing shorts and tanks to keep cooler. The wind is still hard to take. I still shiver. I like shivering more it is part of the adaptation.
     My BS aren't better and I'm still carb hungry, but I hope those improve with time.

[Projectile Vomit]

I live in Vermont and swim in Lake Champlain all year long provided I can find open water. This year it was easy, I only had one day when my attempt at going for a swim was thwarted by ice. Just this past Sunday my partner and I walked to the beach, and she watched me dive in for a few minutes while she rested on the beach. The water temperature was still cold (33 degrees Fahrenheit), but I'm used to it enough now that I don't even have a shock response when I first get in. I swam around for a few minutes before getting out.

My experience post-immersion is much like Phil's. The air temperature was probably 40 degrees on Sunday down by the lake, but after getting out of the water I was able to comfortably rest on the beach wearing nothing but my Speedos while I air dried. My partner was stunned that I was able to do this, as she was wearing quite a few layers, but I explained that after immersion in cold water I always feel very warm.

Since I started cold-water swimming a few years back, I've noticed that I rarely get sick. And this winter when I swam about once a week I never even had a hint of a cold, or any cold-like symptoms at all. I think there are a wealth of immune benefits to cold water swimming.

[Adora]

Very motivating. Thanks Eric.

[PaleoPhil]

Not just for health goals, but I appreciated the cold experience itself.

Wim Hof reported the same thing, and I've experienced it a bit too. The first time I noticed it was after I had gone zero carb and was eating lots of animal fat, which was warming me much more than I had been in decades, and on a cold day in which I didn't have gloves, I noticed that the "pain" on my hands from the cold was paradoxically pleasant, so that I left my hands exposed and enjoyed it, whereas in prior years I would have pushed my hands as deeply into my pockets as I could manage.

The wind is still hard to take. I still shiver.

I've noticed that too--I haven't adapted as much to cold wind as to cold  temperature. I think it's in part because the wind is so rapidly variable, so that the body doesn't have time to adapt, whereas one has weeks and months to adapt to the relatively consistent cold temps of winter.

  My BS aren't better and I'm still carb hungry, but I hope those improve with time.

That has been one of the slower metrics to respond to healthy diet and lifestyle for me too.

Since I started cold-water swimming a few years back, I've noticed that I rarely get sick. And this winter when I swam about once a week I never even had a hint of a cold, or any cold-like symptoms at all. I think there are a wealth of immune benefits to cold water swimming.

Yeah, I suspect that Todd Becker and Stephan Guyenet are correct that it's a hormetic effect. You're way more advanced with the cold than me. Quite impressive. I think it's a sign of good health when one can withstand temperature extremes on both ends of the spectrum, long spells without food, water or sleep, extraordinarily long runs (a la the Tarahumara), etc.