Cold Plunge for Beginners; Benefits and Best Practices

Deliberate cold-water exposure and cold-water immersion ( “Cold Plunges”, “Ice Baths” and “Cold-Water Therapy”) have been used for, quite literally, thousands of years – long enough that there is a commonly held belief, backed by science, that cold water therapy is good for us. Different cultures view deliberate cold-water exposure differently. For certain cultures – like the Scandinavians, for example, cold-water immersion is as routine in daily life as showering and brushing your teeth; whereas in other cultures, such as in the United States, cold-water exposure is often something reserved for only elite athletes after competition. What is it about cold water that makes it good for us, and in what circumstances should cold water immersion be utilized?

The benefits of deliberate cold-water exposure are numerous – whether you are an office warrior, professional athlete, or somewhere in between, cold-water immersion is a powerful tool to support a healthy life. Cold water therapy has significant mental and physical benefits, which can be achieved with a surprisingly minimal time commitment.

For anyone looking to sharpen their mind and operate at a higher mental state, consistent cold-water immersion is a must.

Mental Benefits

1. Increased Mental Energy
2. Heightened Alertness
3. Increased Focus
4. Enhanced Mood
5. Increased Resilience and Grit
6. Improved Discipline

The most immediate benefits of cold-water immersion include the rapid increase in mental energy, alertness, focus, and mood. The initial shock of cold water releases adrenaline, dopamine, cortisol, and a host of other chemicals or “neurotransmitters” in your brain which immediately work to give you more mental energy. The result is also an increased state of alertness – a natural response to the short-term stress of the cold water and your brain placing itself into a heightened state of awareness.

The burst of those neurotransmitters circulating within your blood and brain provide for an environment conducive to enhanced bouts of focused work – the acute stress of the cold water is the perfect trigger to sharpen your focus and help improve concentration immediately and over time. Additionally, the increased presence of dopamine in your blood stream leaves you in a positive mood which can last  all day.

Cold water immersion is not easy – consequently, by doing this uncomfortable thing time and time again, you increase your resilience and build grit. The impact of continual cold-water exposure strengthens your resolve against doing hard things, and your brain and body begin to adapt by dealing with adversity better – whether that adversity comes in the form of the cold water, or life’s other challenges. By continuing to push yourself outside your comfort zone, and by making deliberate cold-water exposure a routine protocol, you increase your levels of discipline. Finally, after continued exposure to the cold, you’ll begin to better reign in your reflexive response to the cold and you’ll continue to build a mental tolerance for that pain, and the rest of life’s daily discomforts.

The mental benefits are not limited to the short term, either. Your body carries forward those benefits throughout the day. More importantly, your capacity to sustain mental energy, ability to focus, remain alert, and carry yourself in a generally better mood improves over time.

Further, our appetite for doing hard work – that discipline and grit – continues to compound over time.

The mental benefits alone are well worth adopting a deliberate cold-water exposure practice. However, even those of us lucky enough to already be operating within our peak mental states stand to gain from a cold-water therapy regimen thanks to the numerous physical benefits the practice offers.

Physical Benefits

1. Surge in Physical Energy
2. Increase in Metabolism
3. Increased Circulation
4. Increased Muscle Recovery
5. Reduced Inflammation
6. Supports Immune Function

During the initial shock of the cold water, the release of cortisol and adrenaline provide an immediate burst of energy, one that can be sustained for a significant portion of the day. While generally we perceive the stress hormone cortisol as damaging to us (which is true when cortisol is present at elevated levels over the long-term), the presence of cortisol in short, intermittent bursts, which can then be turned off – like that which is experienced during a cold plunge – is beneficial for us. The combination of cortisol and adrenaline released during the initial phase of cold exposure can act as a performance enhancer as the body is flooded with those energy-producing chemicals.

Our bodies react to the cold by ramping up our body’s thermogenic effect – that is, by generating heat to help keep our bodies warm. This increase in thermogenesis ramps up the metabolism your body burns calories to maintain your core body temperature. This increase in metabolic activity is not limited to the duration of the cold immersion, either. Rather, the increase in metabolic activity is sustained over the next few hours as your body works to raise your core body temperature to its baseline.

The body’s natural response to injury, infection, or stress is inflammation. Inflammation ultimately leads to pain, stiffness and soreness. Cold water immersion can help speed up recovery from challenging physical activity or prolonged stiffness resulting from overuse, surgery, or under-utilization through increased blood circulation. This increase in blood circulation shuttles nutrients throughout the body, clears away the “junk” in our cells, and helps reduce inflammation and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), leading to a faster recovery.

Finally, cold water immersion has been shown to increase the body’s resilience to infection. Adrenaline and cortisol can significantly boost immunity, and as a result, an individual leveraging cold water therapy is likely to have a more robust immune system and a more effective immune response to sickness and infections.

When to Use Cold Water Immersion

While it is clear a deliberate cold exposure practice supports an overall healthier lifestyle, your practice should be structured based on your needs and goals. An athlete mid-season, or an endurance athlete in the middle of competition will have a drastically different cold water immersion protocol than an individual focused on building muscle or adding strength because their recovery needs are different.

“Off-season”

While generally we tend to think of muscle inflammation as bad for us, there are certain instances where it is actually beneficial for us, and we would not want to reduce that inflammation. Specifically, if the goal of your training is building muscle size (”hypertrophy”), or increasing strength, then engaging in cold water immersion immediately after a bout of exercise would be counter-productive to those efforts. When a muscle is stressed and damaged, as it is during a hypertrophy or strength-based workout, inflammation is critical to the muscle growth process. Because muscle trauma and the related inflammation is a requirement for gaining muscle and strength, engaging in cold water treatment immediately after a bout of exercise short-circuits the growth adaptation by inhibiting that required muscle inflammation. So, if strength or hypertrophy is the goal, stick to hot water after training.

So, if the goal of your training is hypertrophy or strength, delay your deliberate cold-water exposure for at least four hours after your workout; the longer the gap between the workout session and the cold-water exposure, the more opportunity you provide for the muscle building adaptation to occur.

“In-Season”

Alternately, in instances where you need to recover quickly and you are less focused on muscle growth and more focused on preparing your body for the next challenge, immediate cold-water exposure is best. By reducing your muscle inflammation as quickly as possible, you give your body the best opportunity to repair itself quickly. Thus, in instances of multi-day competitions, or for an athlete competing in-season who is less focused on getting bigger and stronger and more focused on getting ready for the next game, the sooner you can subject yourself to the cold the more effective your recovery protocol will be.

Additionally, while cold water therapy supports a healthy immune function, cold water immersion temporarily suppresses the immune system and your resulting ability to fight infections – so you don’t want to engage in deliberate cold exposure if you are actively fighting an infection.

What to Expect During Deliberate Cold Exposure

Your body’s initial response to cold water immersion is a rapid increase in your heartrate – that’s the initial “shock” of the cold. After a few minutes, your body’s sympathetic system cools down and the parasympathetic system takes over and will actively start to bring your heart rate down. Depending on the temperate of the water and time in the water, you may notice a significant reduction in heart rate from your pre-immersion baseline.

Additionally, your water source will also dictate how cold the water feels and how long you can tolerate the temperature. You may already be aware of the impact that running water has on your perception of water temperature. Running water feels colder than still water. When you are in still water, your skin heats up a very small layer of water around your skin, called the “the boundary layer”, which acts as a layer of insulation from the rest of the cold water. When you start moving in the water, or when the water around you is moving, you lose that barrier your body naturally develops and you feel the actual effects of the cold water on your skin.

How to Structure your Deliberate Cold-Water Exposure Protocol

The key in structuring your cold-water regimen is to know what you are working towards – while the duration generally wont change much, the timing and frequency of your practice will be dependent on your goals. Generally cold-water immersion benefits are greatest when your entire body is under water, up to your neck. Further, the benefits you’ll see are cumulative, meaning the more frequent you practice deliberate cold exposure, the more the benefits will compound over time.

Included below are some general parameters to set the foundation for your practice:

If your goal is….

• Increase Recovery or Reduce Down Time During Periods of Competition – Practice deliberate cold-water exposure as soon as practicable after your activity, as often as needed
• Build Mental Resilience – Utilize cold water immersion as little as once per week for 1-3 minutes.
• Jumpstart Your Metabolism – Get cold a minimum of two times per week for 11 minutes in total time
• Improve Overall Well-Being while Training for Strength or Hypertrophy – Practice deliberate cold-water exposure a minimum of four hours before, or four hours after training, for 10-15 minutes as often as practicable

Water Temperature Matters

Generally, water within the 50-59 degree Fahrenheit range will be sufficient to achieve the benefits above. You can go as cold as you want, and the general rule of thumb is that the water should be cold enough that you really want to get out, but can stay in safely.

Don’t Jump into the Frozen Lake on Day One

Acclimating yourself to cold water takes time and happens gradually. Certain benefits of cold-water immersion come from the discomfort you experience in the cold, so you likely will have to gradually lower the temperate over time as you adapt and learn to manage the stress response to the cold. However, you need to slowly work your way down to lower temperatures and longer plunges.

How Should I Start?

Start your practice by ending your showers with cold water. All you need is 30-60 seconds.

After a few successful cold-shower endings, take a full-length cold shower. This will be a drastically different experience than ending a hot shower with 30 or 60 seconds of cold water, so do this as often as needed based on your goals.

Once you can tolerate a full-length cold shower, you’re ready to plunge. If you are fortunate enough to live near a cold body of water, that’s your best bet. Of course, safety is the number one priority and you never want to be in a position where you are compromising your safety around cold water and ice.

If access to a cold body of water is not available, then my preferred cold-water immersion tool is a portable cold plunge. I recently bought the Cold Pod which was recommended to me, and I have since recommended it to others as it is sturdy, inexpensive, portable, and effective. I use it on an almost weekly basis and when I can’t use it, I opt for the full-length cold shower as a backup option (see why I always opt for a cold plunge over a cold shower here).

Bottom Line

The benefits of deliberate cold exposure are numerous, and the practice should be a component of your overall wellness regimen. The key to a successful practice is to understand what you are optimizing for – quick recovery, increased resilience, or an overall healthier life – and structure your protocol accordingly.