Cold training in 2014

[Projectile Vomit]

Over the past four years I've been developing my cold tolerance, and here in Vermont a warm snap has finally made the ice covering Lake Champlain start to break up. I managed to sneak into an open area between ice sheets for a swim earlier this afternoon, then lied out on the beach in the sun afterwards. The water temperature was just a shred above 34 Fahrenheit (1.2 Celsius). Left me feeling refreshed and limber!



The above photograph was kindly taken by a cyclist from shore with her phone. Not the best image quality, but she did the best she could without a zoom lens given how far out in the lake I was. My skin is so red it looks like I've got a severe sunburn, but I don't. When I'm in cold water my blood rushes to my skin, giving my skin a deep red hue. It goes away within a few minutes of exiting the water.

Anyone else partake? For those who are interested, I wrote up a more detailed blog post about cold training earlier this evening: Embracing the chill.

[CatTreats]

I don't have any personal experience, but I wanted to say that this is so cool! I feel like being indoors with heaters blasting and warm water during winter really takes away from "cold tolerance." Same can go for heat tolerance - we're always indoors, shaded and sitting under an air conditioner.

There are obvious times where we'd get out of extreme temperatures (like an animal getting into the shade during summer, or retreating into a cave/den during a blizzard), but we've definitely conditioned ourselves (or unconditioned) to not handle anything above or below a certain temperature.

[jessica]

Twice this past winter I dipped into a creek that runs from a higher mountain water shed.  It was after a run in 30-40 degree humid weather when I felt waay overheated, ii think humidity lends to that, so I decided to jump down and submerge in the creek. It wasn't as cold as I thought it might be and I was able to dunk a few times for a few minutes each, maybe 7-10 minutes max. 

I made sure not to dip my hands though as they still have horrible nerve damage and they would have been rendered useless.  also never dipped the top of my head, only face and neck. 

Afterwards, maybe 20 minutes later and through the rest of the evening, my body was like a furnace.  really good deep circulation and thorough circulation.  I went home each time and made copious amounts of hot tea and milk and then just sunk into some deep relaxation.

 I would suggest that you make sure you have done a good walk or hike or something physical before and after you jump into the water, and focus on deep breathing to get circulation waay down into your feet when you are in the water, no shallow breathing!

your water was probably waay colder, eric, mine was maybe in the upper 30's, Ive jumped in this same creek in the summer when its 90+ degrees out and HOLY SHIT, it feels much colder then

[Projectile Vomit]

I have fond memories of swimming in icy streams too. Some years back I went on a road trip with my father and grandfather to Wyoming, and went swimming in Porcupine Creek in the Bighorn Mountains. The water wasn't as cold as my recent swim, I recall measuring it at 39 Fahrenheit in June while we were there, but still pretty chilly. Everyone thought I was insane for wading in, but so it goes...

I'm lucky in that I don't have any nerve damage in hands, feet or elsewhere. If I did, or if I had a history of frostbite, I'd have to make adjustments in my cold training regimen. But thankfully I'm in good working order, so that opens up many possibilities.

[majormark]

I think the best person to learn cold training would be Wim Hof:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Hof

[Projectile Vomit]

He does offer workshops, but mostly in Europe. I've read his book, Becoming the Iceman. It's okay, the informational content is good but the writing and editing are terrible.

[PaleoPhil]

Impressive feat, Eric.

I did the Penguin plunge on Feb 8. The water was 32 degrees F, and air temp 21 F, with a lake breeze. I wasn't nearly as cold adapted as you obviously are. Standing out in the cold breeze afterwards was much worse than the dunk in the lake, especially while I was wearing the team t-shirt they gave me that became soaked during the plunge. I find wind chill to be the hardest cold to adapt to.

He does offer workshops, but mostly in Europe. I've read his book, Becoming the Iceman. It's okay, the informational content is good but the writing and editing are terrible.

True. I'm trying to follow Nassim Taleb's advice to not criticize other people's books and also focus more on content than writing/editing/style, but the portions of that book that featured the young American's story and were written completely by him were a difficult test of that advice, which I've now partly failed.

[RogueFarmer]

I lived without heat in Northern Mi from Feb first one this year. Lol.