Today was my 31st consecutive shower…I’m pretty addicted to it. Back in December, I was reading a book called, “What Doesn’t Kill Us” by Scott Carney. I’ll have to do a separate book review on it, because it’s that good. I highly recommend it. He writes about an individual named, Wim Hof, who has scientifically proven amazing benefits of cold exposure.
I remember being in my bathroom and trying to imagine what it would be like taking an ice cold shower (keep in mind it’s winter in Idaho, too). At the time, I thought there would be no way I can do it. Around this time, I was also finishing up the inspirational book called, “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins. Both of these books compliment each other and I’ve never felt so inspired to really get out of my comfort zone and start pushing my limits.
Fast forward to the evening of January 1st, 2019. I was laying in my bed and right then made the decision to do a 30 challenge of eliminating, completely, the warm & really hot showers I’ve been accustomed to up until this point. I went into the bathroom and stared at the shower for about 2 minutes before building up the courage to do it. Shortly after the journey started…
Here’s a timeline of my thoughts, that I wrote along the way, as I moved through this challenge:
Day 1 (Jan 1st) – I started off this challenge by taking a cold shower about half an hour before bed. Because it was my first time, i didn’t know exactly what to expect. I turn the shower with pure cold water and jumped in. My body was shocked and I just rinsed off as quickly as possible. I took a shower earlier in the day, so I didn’t need to get out the soap. I just wanted to see what I was getting myself into. After the shower, my entire body was tingling for the next half hour and I had a hard time getting to sleep because of the adrenaline. I lasted 2 minutes before I got out.
Day 2 (3 min) – Today I washed my hair so was forced to stay in a little longer. There is nothing fun about this.
Day 3 (2:30 min) – Didn’t stay in as long as I wanted to, but again…not fun and very challenging.
Day 4 (3:30 min) – Longest I’ve stayed in. Making progress
Day 5 (3:40 min) – Today I was able to concentrate on my breathing over the pain of the cold for about 1 or 2 breaths. I got a taste of how you are supposed to control your mind and focus to overcome the external water temperature.
Day 6 (5:00 min) – On the 6th day it still sucks, but I stayed in much longer than I have the previous 5 days. I also really tried hard to focus on my breathing and I feel like I’m making progress. I felt a very small sense of dizziness, but that was from my deep breathing and trying to stay focused on that. Even though the suck-factor is very high, I still love the way I feel after the shower. I feel like I overcame something that sucked and that I didn’t want to do and it’s a feeling of accomplishment.
Day 7 (5 min) – It would be interesting to feel the cold difference with others showers or just a cold shower in another part of the year. It’s like pouring a continuous stream of ice water over my head. I feel progress with my breathing and becoming more aware of it. I’m really focusing on taking slow movements instead of rush through it, so I can hit that 5 minute mark. From now on, I will set a 5 minute timer on my phone, to ensure I go the whole 5 minutes.
Day 8 (5 min) – The last 5 days, while getting in the cold shower still sucks, it’s easier to hit that 5 minute mark. It’s interesting because I can feel the brown fat activating in my upper back, between my shoulder blades. When the ice cold water hits it, I can feel it in that area, but when I slightly shift and let the water get on my shoulders and in front of my body, I can feel every bit of coldness. I’m still a little bit hesitant the minute before getting into the shower and thinking about how much it will suck. This is what I’m still trying to overcome…that fear of doing something I don’t want to do.
Day 14th to 16th (5 min) – I’m actually feeling like cold showers are getting easier. I still look at the shower and procrastinate for a minute to get in, but I’m really hoping that will go away with time. Getting to the 5 minute mark is becoming pretty easy to do. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to set my timer for 6 minutes and do that for several days.
Day 17th to 19th (6 min) – Started doing 6 minutes. It’s not so bad. I wash my hair and body within 3 minutes, so the rest of the time is just chilling under the water. Another thing I noticed is that I’m not sweating as bad as I did before. For example, prior to doing this, I would wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat. I’ve always had the problem of sweating a lot. I just realized I’m not doing that. Ive even slept under a weighted blanket the past few days and not having the sweat issue.
Day 20th to 31st (6 min) – During these last days, withstanding the 6 minutes isn’t so bad…but these last few days, the weather has been especially cold and I can feel it in the water. Sometimes it’s so cold is stings on the skin. I’m sure that has something to do with it being the coldest part of the year in Idaho. I still hesitate for about 30 seconds or so before getting in. I’m still working on making that part go away.
Cold Shower Conclusion
I’ve decided to continue the cold showers beyond this challenge. I want to get to the point to where my brain doesn’t even hesitate and I can jump in the shower without thinking about it. Because it is so cold here right now, I’ve been doing 100 pushups and 100 sit-ups before getting into the shower to warm up. I feel like this really helps motivate me to get in the shower. Plus it’s a great mini challenge that ran parallel to this one.
The best part about cold showers is that it forces your mind to do something that’s uncomfortable. I take my showers first thing in the morning after my workouts and it feels great. It rejuvenates you and it gives you a sense of accomplishment. It’s great to challenge your mind and make it uncomfortable. Looking forward to seeing where this goes as I continue the cold showers.