Cold therapy is know as a hormetic stressor. A hormetic stressor is something that you do in the short term that causes a bout of stress, but makes you more resilient in the long term. There are many hormetic stressors, but today I’m going to focus on cold therapy. Cold therapy is the process of using showers, ice baths, and cold plunges to train your nervous system to be more resilient to stress. This does just not relate to cold temperatures, but this will carry over in other areas of life.

History of Cold Therapy

Cold therapy has actually been around for a very long time. Around 400 BCE, Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine used it for a variety of ailments. Around the 18th century, cold water became novel because it was usually replaced with heated water because it was more readily available. During the 20th century it was largely replaced with pharmaceutical interventions, with the exception of athletic therapy. All throughout history, cold water has been used to strengthen the mind, body, and spirit. Ancient solders, like the Spartans have used cold water to be more adaptive in battle. For thousands of years, monks have integrated this into their spiritual routine.

Benefits of Cold Therapy

1. Circulation

This practice dramatically improves circulation. It improves the health of the blood vessels, and the flow of blood through the body.

2. Fat loss

Cold therapy supports the conversion of white adipose tissue into brown adipose tissue. Brown fat is a type of fat that burns fat. It’s brown because it’s so dense in mitochondria. Mitochondria are the power plants of the cells. This type of fat also generates heat, supporting fat loss, and improving your metabolic rate.

3. Immune function

Short term cold therapy can actually improve your immune function. This happens by increasing your white blood cells, or your immune cells. This study shows how that happens: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8925815/.

4. Blood glucose regulation

Cold is probably the most potent tool when it comes to blood glucose regulation. This is do to the white, to brown adipose conversion. Brown adipose tissue regulates blood glucose.

5. Recovery

This tool can be great for recovery. After exercise, you have an inflammatory response, followed by an anti inflammatory response. Cold thermogenesis can aid in both of these processes. Research shows that if you are recovering from endurance training, then it would be wise to integrate cold therapy afterwards. If your doing strength training, then it actually can blunt the hormetic response to exercise, or reduced recovery. The acception would be to wait 2 hours after the session, or do a quick session of 2-5 minutes afterward. So, it depends on the training, and the amount of time doing it. You can incorporate a short bout of cold, 2-5 minutes after all training for recovery.

Methods

1. Cold shower

A cold shower is something that pretty much everyone has access to. This is the practice of turning the shower all the way to cold for 2-5 minutes. This accomplishes all the benefits above. To start, you can take your warm shower, then the last 30 seconds turn it all the way to cold. This is a great starting point. You can work your way up from there in time, and temperature.

2. Cold water Immersion

Cold water immersion can involve ice baths, natural bodies of water, and a done for you cold plunge. The traditional ice bath is going in a bath, and filling it with ice. Going in a cold natural body of water like a lake, or stream can be very beneficial. Your also getting the added benefits of being in nature. There are many companies who have made done for you cold plunges. I believe Morozko is the best one because it cleans the water with ozone and UVC light.

How to Approach the Cold

Approach the cold with a mindset of resilience. Try to relax in the cold. When you first get in, you will experience something called the mammalian dive reflux. This is that shocking feeling, and the urge to take a breath. When you relax in the cold, you are training your body to be more adaptable. If you have a hard time getting in the cold you can use a method called the Wim Hof method. This is a powerful breath work technique to warm up the body: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tybOi4hjZFQ. Try to enjoy, and have fun with the practice. You can anchor something at the end of the practice to look forward to, like a hot beverage. When your done, take a note on how you feel, and savor the effects. Congratulate yourself, and acknowledge your becoming a greater version of yourself.