Can’t bear the thought of having a cold shower? Neither could writer Charlotte Robinson until she undertook a two-week challenge. Today, she’s a firm believer in the power of freezing your bits off.
We’ve all, at some point, woken up in agony from yesterday’s workout with muscles stiffer than a vodka martini. Whether it’s because you really pushed yourself hard at the gym, or you’ve just returned from a short fitness break, the pain of sore muscles can feel inevitable.
Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) results from high-intensity or heavy exercise, which causes tiny little tears in our muscle fibres. Our bodies respond to this by increasing lactic acid production, and it’s this fluid that makes our muscles ache so much.
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Cold water vs warm water: what are the benefits?
The pain can last for a few days. It’s a great sign that you’ve worked hard and that your muscles are growing stronger, but that doesn’t mean that waddling around can’t interrupt our workout plans for the week. It can make the most simple of activities like walking down the stairs or sitting on the loo a difficult task.
The benefits of cold water therapy are widely known. Despite that, however, I’d never been tempted to go all Wim Hof and take the plunge… until I heard that taking cold showers might help to reduce muscle soreness and improve performance. I decided to see if a daily cold shower actually had any noticeable effect on my recovery and fitness. Here’s how I got on.
The benefits of taking a cold shower
There’s been plenty of research that’s found cold water numbs some pain, reduces inflammation and swelling and causes our blood vessels to constrict, which in turn helps flush away waste products such as lactic acid. That all sounds great, right? But as registered nurse and personal trainer Tara Allen tells Stylist, the benefits of jumping into a cold shower after exercising depend on the type of workout you do.
“Usually I recommend cold exposure to people who take on some sort of endurance training, like running. If you’ve just run a race or finisheda CrossFit competition, a cold shower can help to recover muscles quickly – helping you go again.
“If you get into a cold shower right after this type of training, studies have shown that the density of mitochondria will go up, meaning those muscles are able to take on more work and your endurance can actually improve long-term.”
However, Allen advises a different course of action for those who prefer weights and resistance exercises. “We might not always want our muscles to recover so quickly. With strength training, the stimulus that we get for our muscles to grow and strengthen actually comes after we go through the little bit of inflammation that we get from the workout.
“So if we are blunting the inflammatory process, by getting into a cold shower or bath right away, we are actually blunting some of the beneficial changes and adaptations that would come from the workout itself.”
The challenge
After a nice warm shower on day one, I turn the tap around to blue, it’s cold. To reap the full benefits of a cold shower, it’s recommended to stay under the water for two or three minutes, but I can’t stand more than a few seconds.
The next few days improve a bit; the initial shock slightly soothes, and I’m able to stay under the shower a bit longer each day. There’s a lot of deep breathing and funny noises emanating from my mouth, but I’m doing it and it feels good… although I still can’t wait to get out and dive back underneath my bedcover.
To secure the benefits of strength training, Allen recommends waiting for at least four hours before having a freezing soak. If you’re like me, you’ll want to jump into the shower as soon as you finish your workout, but after speaking to Allen I decide to delay my cold therapy to really reap the benefits of my session.
By the second week of the experiment, I don’t seem to have any aches or pains and notice that I’m getting in more reps. Is this because I’ve lowered my temperature prior to exercising or because the cold showers are helping my muscles to recover?
Cold water can help us push harder in our workouts
I’m also dreading the shower less and less. I might not actively be looking forward to it, but I do feel reinvigorated afterwards. I have lots more energy than I used to, and it’s clear that it’s somehow connected to freezing my bits off every day.
This isn’t just anecdotal; Allen says that regular cold blasts can push up our energy levels and prep our bodies for a killer workout.
“When our temperature is a bit cooler at the start, we’re able to perform more reps or run a longer distance because one of the factors that stops us is temperature,” says Allen. “We’ve got an enzyme in our muscles that’s heat sensitive, and it will notice that the temperature inside our muscles is rising, which can shut down performance.”
If you take a cold shower or bath before, however, you might lower your core temp by even half a degree, and that can allow you to cope with a heavier workload, Allen explains. That could mean you noticing an increase in endurance or performance.
For those of you still not keen on getting your freeze on, there are other ways that you can promote recovery post-workout. Instead of rest, movement can help; a light walk or stretch will allow your muscles to continue working at a low intensity, which will ensure that blood is continuing to flow to the worked muscles –allowing the lymphatic system to come in and do its thing.
Rest days are also still super important and will give your body the chance to fully recover and build strength so that you can go get that personal best next time.
Do cold showers boost energy and soothe muscle soreness?
By the end of the two weeks, I’d got into a routine with my cold showers. I’ve not had any DOMS since starting the experiment and on the days when I’ve had a cold shower pre-workout, I’ve been able to push harder in the gym (especially on the leg press). My energy levels are noticeably higher and my mood has been better.
Add to those anecdotal improvements the fact that the cold boots our immune system, lowers our cortisol levels (reduces stress) and improves circulation, and it’s no wonder that I’ve decided to carry in with the routine. No, you won’t find me swimming in Hampstead Health ponds on Christmas Day, but I’ll certainly keep with the daily two-minute cold shower.
For more health hacks, visit the Strong Women Training Club.
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