The Cold Shower

By Kalil Zaky - Head Coach, Samsonite Training Systems

The cold shower is not for the faint of heart, but an incredible tool to bring your fitness to the next level. By taking a cold shower, you can increase your circulation, boost your immunity, and not to mention, increase your mental toughness.

When you are under that cold water, your body instantly tries to warm itself up. This happens in the form of shivering and hyperventilating. All of this momentarily causes your heart rate to go up and your blood pressure to spike. This is training your cardiovascular similarly to running a sprint. This new blood flow is also remarkable good for the skin, keeping it supple and elastic as hot water tends to dry it out. With all of this blood flowing to areas that have been stagnant, this happens to improve sex drive and muscle soreness.

Researchers have found that taking icy showers may heighten your immune system and make you more resistant to illness. A clinical trial in the Netherlands found that cold showers led to a 29% reduction in people calling off sick from work. Another study even connected cold showers to improved cancer survival.

You don’t want to take a cold shower. It isn’t comfortable. You like feeling like one of those models from the shampoo commercials. You will be suffering — and that is the truth. It is also the truth behind any other way to get better in life.

“Be comfortable with being uncomfortable”

When you exercise, your body literally thinks you are trying to kill it, that’s where the physiological response comes from to get stronger as you push your old limits. Remember that situation that was SO stressful when you were 18 and now seems like child’s play compared to your life now? You got mentally tougher and now you can handle bigger challenges. The same with these showers. This willpower in the shower will carry on to other facets of your life outside of the bathroom.

It isn’t easy to just take a large amount of ice cold water out of nowhere to the face. You may need to start off slow. I would recommend lathering yourself up in the shower with your normal temperature water. Follow this by taking 2-3 minutes rinsing yourself off under the coldest setting. After all of the suds are gone, proceed to warm yourself off and hop on out. Try to increase the time you spend “chilling” in the shower, until you can go all the way through for maximal benefit.