The (Becoming) Popular Ice Bath/Cold Shower Trend

[brian64]

Me and cold showers:

 

[olkofri]

I'm never that drunk that such an idea would occur to me, or that I'd need to be sobered up so quickly!

 

[jackattack]

Saunas supposedly do all the same things. YMMV

 

[mingc]

Have any of you guys tried it yet? I recommend at least trying it once!

No. And why? You made it sound absolutely miserable!

Not related to work out, but when I was growing up in S. Korea, public bath was still in use. Most of the houses, even relatively new houses back then didn't have showers.

So, mostly do hand washing with bucket at home, and on the weekends it's the public bath.

You go in naked. There's shower to wash up. Then go in this humongous hot tub in the middle of the place. You soak up for awhile. Then sometimes, you jump in a ice cold water tub. Now, it can't be healthy. Heard stories of old people getting heart attack on occasions. Then there are people who will rub dead skin off of you for tips. You shower again and come out.

Now, if you are a kid, you can go to women's bath with your mom.

This is Japanese, not Korean, but did your childhood experiences look anything like this?

Sometimes titled, "Quarrel at the Bathhouse."

 

[Servant King]

your still in the suck zone.

Man, this has got to be one of the greatest insults ever concocted! Can I use this?

it could also double as something amorous to say to wifey, provided I'm wearing a cup at the time. Just in case.

 

[bullet08]

No. And why? You made it sound absolutely miserable!

This is Japanese, not Korean, but did your childhood experiences look anything like this?

Sometimes titled, "Quarrel at the Bathhouse."

Yupe. Korea and Japan share a lot of similar culture. Especially after the occupation. But I don't remember any cat fights.

 

[kcghost]

The whole idea of ice baths leaves me cold.

 

[OzPiper]

I grew up in Malaysia in houses with no running hot water - not needed in the equarorial heat.
Once I experienced hot showers in Oz, there’s no going back to cold showers and baths

 

[BingBong]

In the British Isles, we sail dinghys and yachts for our cold water torture instead. Trying to stay alive in a storm keeps your mind off it, I suppose.

 

[gervais]

Update: just stepped out of another glacier cold shower. I can barely type this I'm shivering so hard
I feel good though! I feel like I can wrestle with one of them polar bears!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Done plenty of cold plunges after a sauna or steam room. Not for several decades, though.

 

[workman]

I have a tub outside with water in it. Most mornings I'll do some workout and then get in the tub for 3-5 minutes, depending on the temperature. At the moment the water is about 10 degrees celsius in the morning and in winter it drops to around zero, sometimes with a little ice in it.
It's a kind of selftorture, but it makes me feel good afterwards. More focused, calmer yet more awake.
I like it, but I'm sort of an agnostic on whether it can provide any measurable health benefits. Don't know about that.
As long as it makes me feel good, I'll keep doing it.

 

[Hillcrest]

Warm to get wet; cold to rinse soap/shampoo off; since childhood.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Cold showers suck ! ️

 

[JOHN72]

Now that I've taken up whiskey again, I've found that I like it without ice. As for getting into a spittoon full of ice, I think I'll do it tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, or better, for Christmas, which is when it's coldest. But what do you think, that I am a Norwegian salmon?

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

As a kid, Red Cross lifesaving (which I had to have junior and senior by age 13 to teach swimming lessons and make money in addition to mowing yards) always started early mornings and right after our municipal pool had been filled in the spring - that was all the cold water I ever wanted in my life, lol.

No cold showers here!

 

[fireground_piper]

Not I. I only use cold if there’s swelling I want to keep down. Otherwise I fall into the camp that keeping muscles full and warm is the way to go.

 

[Sigmund]

Im a bit jaded and I wonder how much real science is behind these trends. Sure, its great for athletes that have to get up again tomorrow and hammer their body to hell but for normal folks Im not so sure. For older folks...they should definitely talk to their physician first. The internet has people doing all kinds of things to their body. A good percentage of it is to get more clicks and cash. A lot of it is unhealthy. Some of it is just insane. Im not saying this is. Im only saying its not wise for eveyone and the problem is that you wont know its a bad idea until something bad happens (i.e. cardiac event)

 

[geoffs]

I tried this for a while. I could see the benefits, particularly noticeably lower inflammation. But it sucks. And I could only subject myself to it for so long. Respect to you if you can hack it, but I decided to take it easy on myself in the shower. I'm hard enough on myself the rest of the day.

 

[sablebrush52]

Got curious so I did some reading on it and found an article about it at at Johns Hopkins that suggested the ice baths offer some mild therapeutic benefits within limits. So it’s not self suggestion and popular bullshit.