81–90 of 163 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder what the compliance rate was? I've found a cold-shower regimen hard to stick to - effect might actually be larger if there was a way to verify and sort out anyone who was sneaking in a bit of warmth.
It's in the paper, first paragraph.
> 79% of participants in the interventions groups completed the 30 consecutive days protocol.
We did this in our entire house for about 6 months once when our water heater broke and we couldn't afford to get it fixed quickly. UPSIDES: We nearly halved our water bill as all of us (kids and parents) took far shorter showers because it was so cold. This also meant we had to clean the shower much less often. I would also be more awake and alert in the morning after a cold rinse. DOWNSIDES: I noticed I was getting…
I've tried it before as well (because of studies), but I found it tensed my body up so badly I could barely move. I wonder if there's a way to condition oneself to somehow ignore it and not lock every muscle up? I'm not necessarily talking about Wim Hof, but it would be nice if I weren't so easily affected by cold.
I think the main issue of Wim Hof vs. regulars like us is whether you're able to maintain near skin blood pipes open in the cold water. These pipes shutting down immediately upon cold contact isn't really a good thing, it hits heart, near skin muscles get not enough blood, etc. On the other side, if your blood pipes keep pumping the blood while you're getting into cold water that is very healthy, that is the effect you're really after - the body starts to pump even more actively through these pipes to maintain the temperature in the near skin tissues and that pumping is really good for those tissues and for the heart and for the whole body. The hot shower/sauna is what makes my and other regular people's near skin blood vessels to not collapse upon entering the cold shower/pool immediately after.
People who take cold showers are just as sick, but call off work less? Maybe it's because the misery from the cold water masks the misery from the illness?
Or maybe it masks the misery of going to work? ;)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could that induce a heart attack? Like drinking a glass of ice water after mowing the lawn in hot weather.
Yep. It's a stressor, which is the point. Strenuous exercise is also a well-known cause of heart attacks, but you should definitely strenuously exercise if at all possible.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seattleite here. I am skeptical people look at you funny, at least more than every once in a while. Plenty of people dress that way in inclement weather.
You may be right and it's just how I perceive myself in the world. :-p
But not a reduction in how many days people felt ill. I wonder if this speaks more to self-help style "leaders take a cold shower in the morning to get their day started" jump-start to your day than to any health consequences.
I needed frequent sick days back then when I started (it was long term bad health state).
TLDR; 3000 participants study that asked them to do cold showers for 30-90 seconds each day for 1 month. Main difference shown was ~30% reduction in sick days they took. On a side note, has anyone here tried wim hof method?
Important to note that it did not find any reduction in illness days. Meaning, they examined both whether participants got sick and whether they took the day off from work, and only found a reduction in the latter. “The contrast between the results of both primary outcome parameters is suggestive of the fact that the intensity rather than the duration of symptoms is modulated by the intervention.” My conjecture is th…
I also handle cold much better. I need less warm cloth to feel good. Where I was shivering and needed something warm before, I wear t-shirt now and feel good.
We did this in our entire house for about 6 months once when our water heater broke and we couldn't afford to get it fixed quickly. UPSIDES: We nearly halved our water bill as all of us (kids and parents) took far shorter showers because it was so cold. This also meant we had to clean the shower much less often. I would also be more awake and alert in the morning after a cold rinse. DOWNSIDES: I noticed I was getting…
I can offer my anecdotal experience. Been shutting off the hot water at the end of my morning showers and enduring the cold for a few minutes for the past 3 years. I have noticed that I get fewer colds. And with the colds I do get, their symptoms are lighter, and they go away much quicker, often gone in a day or two. And I haven't caught anything real bad, like a flu, since.
Competing anecdote: I once dunked for a few minutes into a very cold bath at a Budapest bathhouse, and the next few days suffered one of the worst flus I’ve ever had. Keep doing whatever works for you, but I don’t think either of these provide especially convincing general evidence. (Note I’m not blaming the cold bath; for all I know I would have had identical symptoms either way.)
TLDR; 3000 participants study that asked them to do cold showers for 30-90 seconds each day for 1 month. Main difference shown was ~30% reduction in sick days they took. On a side note, has anyone here tried wim hof method?