Earlier quoted context omitted.
You get used to that cold shock, I take a cold shower every day for many many years, and quite frankly I don't feel a "cold shock" anymore, even in winter. It's really just requires a bit of training to get less sensitive to cold; on the other hand I also have a tendency to get warm a lot quicker, which can be a bit annoying sometimes. I keep my house at 18C and no warmer, when many people I know want 21C or sometime…
What's the idea behind getting cold showers? why is it beneficial?
The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold
141–150 of 178 posts
Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
I grew up in The Netherlands, and so did my parents and my parents parents, etc... I hate the cold. I prefer to sweat from too much heat compared to shivering from too much cold. So I emigrated to a tropical country. Perhaps part of the reason why I hate the cold, is that it makes it harder for me to do my work. If my fingers are cold, typing is more difficult, for example. And in the cold I think too much about stay…
It's funny, I hate winter, not because it's cold, but rather because it's dark all the time. I like running in the snow, skiing, etc. I also don't like summer because I'm always too hot. I want a place that's always Sunny but doesn't get too hot. Ideally here you can ski in winter and climb in summer.
> I want a place that's always Sunny but doesn't get too hot
I feel similar and for me elevated cities (at ~2000m) in sunny climates are perfect. For example Mexico City, Bogota or Arequipa (Peru). I know, the total list of suitable cities is probably narrow but it is by far my favorite climate.
Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold
#143I do wonder how much of this is genetic. My ancestry is Celtic (Scottish on one side, Irish the other) and I have a high resistance to cold, until I lived with my partner I’d have the the windows ajar even in winter and rarely put the heating on, I’m rarely cold even when cycling long distances on days with the temperature around zero and I wear t-shirts year around, I find jumpers and shirts stifling in any normal t…
Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.
Why he left his home in the South to roam 'round the Pole, God only knows.
He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell...
Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold
#144I do wonder how much of this is genetic. My ancestry is Celtic (Scottish on one side, Irish the other) and I have a high resistance to cold, until I lived with my partner I’d have the the windows ajar even in winter and rarely put the heating on, I’m rarely cold even when cycling long distances on days with the temperature around zero and I wear t-shirts year around, I find jumpers and shirts stifling in any normal t…
I'm English as far back as I can find out, and I'm neither great in hot weather or cold weather. I think we're just genetically predisposed to complaints about the weather.
I do marginally prefer the cold to the heat though, for what that's worth.
Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
You get used to that cold shock, I take a cold shower every day for many many years, and quite frankly I don't feel a "cold shock" anymore, even in winter. It's really just requires a bit of training to get less sensitive to cold; on the other hand I also have a tendency to get warm a lot quicker, which can be a bit annoying sometimes. I keep my house at 18C and no warmer, when many people I know want 21C or sometime…
> You get used to that cold shock I'm currently only taking cold showers, this is the third time I've started doing so. The very first one was quite an experience: my vision turned gray for a few seconds, I couldn't breathe, and I nearly fell over. The next day's was a little jarring but tolerable, and it kept on like that, a little less each day. Then I fell out of the habit. My second and third times getting back i…
Do it gradually -- first one arm, shoulder; then the other arm, shoulder, then your front, then your head, then lastly your back. Don't dither about it, but don't dive into it either :-)
Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold
#146What's remarkable is how easily the human body will fail when exposed to cold, compared to many other animals.
Ducks for example will sleep on open ice as if it was nothing, then idly waddle over to a hole in the ice to sleep some more swimming on the freezing water, occasionally engaging in a bit of food gathering or social interaction.
But if a human survives those conditions with inadequate or compromised tools for more than a few hours we write long form about their feat! It almost seems as if to a human body deprived of tools (clothing, shelter, fire), a freezing cold environment comes surprisingly close to outer space in terms of deadlyness, hours of survival instead of seconds.
Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold
#147What's remarkable is how easily the human body will fail when exposed to cold, compared to many other animals. Ducks for example will sleep on open ice as if it was nothing, then idly waddle over to a hole in the ice to sleep some more swimming on the freezing water, occasionally engaging in a bit of food gathering or social interaction. But if a human survives those conditions with inadequate or compromised tools fo…
Cold kills a huge range of cold blooded or tropical animals. Humans fall into the second category, being well adapted to dissipate heat.
Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold
#148I do wonder how much of this is genetic. My ancestry is Celtic (Scottish on one side, Irish the other) and I have a high resistance to cold, until I lived with my partner I’d have the the windows ajar even in winter and rarely put the heating on, I’m rarely cold even when cycling long distances on days with the temperature around zero and I wear t-shirts year around, I find jumpers and shirts stifling in any normal t…
I read this story once about an Inuit fisherman on his death-bed telling his son that throughout his life he was always cold.
Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
On that point, I wanted to share something you may relate to: my Filipino wife is always freezing in SF. I'm from Scandinavian descent, I could live as naked as a jaybird in the Bay Area weather. Where can't I find a blanket thick on the left, thin on the right? :)
To be fair, I've never been so cold than on a windy September day in SF. I'm from The Netherlands and we get the occasional cold spell in the winter, but the cold wind coming from the bay on what seemed to be a very nice, sunny day just went right through me.
In Yorkshire we call that a lazy wind, because it goes through you rather than around you.
Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold
#150I do wonder how much of this is genetic. My ancestry is Celtic (Scottish on one side, Irish the other) and I have a high resistance to cold, until I lived with my partner I’d have the the windows ajar even in winter and rarely put the heating on, I’m rarely cold even when cycling long distances on days with the temperature around zero and I wear t-shirts year around, I find jumpers and shirts stifling in any normal t…
How does your body react when in tropical or 80F?
Horribly, 20C days are uncomfortable, 25C is into I want to die territory.
Went to Greece last year which was amazing but I spent a lot of time lurking in the AC areas because more than an hour at 34C and I felt exhausted.
No free lunch I guess :).