cold shower

I thought it was shown that immersion in very cold water (ie. polar bear club) bolstered the immune system. Here's an article (one of many) that discusses it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,1953162,00.html

 

Dowsing is good.

I like to turn the water really cold and jump into it first thing (all the better in winter). I'm a sucker for punishment. I'll turn it back to warm after a minute then near the end alternate cold and hot. I don't know why I do it but it makes me feel good and if nothing else I can take the cold.

 

Hmmm, maybe I'll give it a go tomorrow. I got up at 6am this morning to go for a run before work. Ran in the rain, then got home and all I wanted was a hot shower...and I got one. I'll try ending tomorrow morning's shower with cold

 

shrinkage=hahahahhahahahahaha
loving this thread already.

 

Polar bearing is fun too. Couple friends and I were at camp, so we got up around six and had a mile-ish hike up to this stream. Well, there's one spot where the stream has a mini waterfall, only about 6 feet tall and the water's knee deep, and the challenge was to go and stay in it while you say your ABC's. It gave most of us a headache from being so cold, I'm guessing it was probably around 40 degrees or less. Felt great afterwards though, and I was warm the entire hike back.

 

I take cold showers 15 minutes after my workout because

Brings blood to the capillaries, therefore increasing circulation throughout the body.
Cleans the circulatory system.
Reduces blood pressure on internal organs.
Provides flushing for the organs and provides a new supply of blood.
Strengthens the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.
Contracts the muscles to eliminate toxins and poisonous wastes.
Strengthens the mucous membranes, which help resist hay fever, allergies, colds, coughs

I got this info from:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Benefits-of-Taking-a-Cold-Shower&id=326786

 

Of course cold water is good for you! Just watch any martial arts movie ever and you'll see a master underneath a waterfall of cold goodness... Cold shower is our equivelant.


::Sits on floor of shower in flowering-lotus pose:::

 

To echo earlier posts - Contrast showers are better than simply cold ones. IF you have the facility (unlikley), jump between an ice bath and a hot bath - just like the pro-rugby guys do...
explanation:
"The hot water causes vasodilation, the cold water causes vasoconstriction. The net effect is that blood is pumped in and out of the muscle, the increased circulation brings oxygen and nutrients while removing metabolic waste products which helps speed up recovery. Additionally, the cold water may help reduced inflammation following a workout."

Here's an article that mentions recovery in general, scroll down for the shower.: http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showexcerpt.cfm?excerpt_id=3600

another:
http://www.robertsontrainingsystems.com/articles/ironev3.html

one about rugby:
http://www.pru.org/media/EDocs/Post_Game_Recovery_Strategies.pdf

There is a youtube video on it (is that wierd??!) here:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FSBC6jOidQ"]Contrast Shower (Recovery) 15s/45sx4 - YouTube[/ame]

 

ROTFLMAO!!!

Hilarious and accurate!!!

 

AHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAHAHAH
lmao i wasnt expecting that
omg this made the rest of my day
lmao

 

Here's an old thread on cold showers

http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41061&highlight=cold+water+dowsing

That video is pretty good

Kind of reminds me of myself every morning. I have to psyche myself up for the cold blast at the end...usually that prolongs the shower for at least 5 mins extra before I get fed up of being such a wuss and just switch it on.
Now if I get out of the shower without my cold blast I feel pretty sleepy.

 

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
that video on pg 2 was freakin
hilarious. Wonder if that guy
talked about why he screamed
like a little girl in another
video. lol

 

Give me a warm shower over cold any day, I hate cold water. Only time its ever acceptable is when sailing or other watersports.

 

Well Wanderlei silva jumps in a wheelie bin full of ice cold water after training and apparantly it decreases recovery time. TBH unless your some top class athlete I dont think wether you have a cold shower or not is going to affec your training or training results.

 

I know a couple of people, one an ex-college level (American) football player said after training they had to stand in wheelie bins of iced water for 10-15mins. Somehow it reduces injury, muscle tears etc. (fix the biology as necessary, I'm tired). The other person is a distance runner and swears by a 15min ice bath after running. Same thing: Reduces pain & swelling/inflammation from micro-tears.

Now... I got pretty badly worked over sparing and took her advice the other week: 10lbs of ice in cold water, sat in it (waist deep) for 15mins. It was one of the most shockingly unpleasant things I have ever done. It did little for my self-esteem either.

...point being: did it reduce the swelling and pain in my shins: I think it did. Would I do it again... if need be, but it's not something I do after every workout.


and this...
Brings blood to the capillaries, therefore increasing circulation throughout the body.
Cleans the circulatory system.
Reduces blood pressure on internal organs.
Provides flushing for the organs and provides a new supply of blood.
Strengthens the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.
Contracts the muscles to eliminate toxins and poisonous wastes.
Strengthens the mucous membranes, which help resist hay fever, allergies, colds, coughs


is just pseudo-science. It doesn't flush toxins, increase blood flow, strengthen your nerve system or mucous mebranes, reduce pressure on internal organs or produce new blood... in fact, none of the above. and in fact again, some of them are the opposite of what cold water would do.

It increases your blood pressure by causing massive vasoconstriction. It's call the cold-pressor effect. What any potential medical benefits of this might be, I don't know. But that list above is kind of nonsense. Same kind of stuff a homeopath sells you with your $60 bottle of "medicine" water...