The FastDay Forum

There's some links to research papers on cold hormesis in the 5:2 lab (use the google search box to find the threads). From memory, 15 mins in light clothing at a temp of 18degreesC (so not cold showers but cold exposure) was enough to see activation of brown adipose tissue.

oooh, standing in the 18° room sounds much more pleasant than a cold shower! I might give it a try!

Well I'm up to 2 minutes now and it is definitely getting easier.

My breath no longer comes in short pants until I'm about 60 seconds in - and then it's much more controllable. I no longer have to jig around like a banshee as did at the beginning. I'm now quite confident that I can do much longer - if it wasn't for the sheer tedium of the thing. I've always been a wash, rinse and get out sort of bloke, so standing there just letting water wash over you I find quite boring.

Now it's confession time, Michael. When I read that your temp was 60F, I thought, well, that sounds easy, mine will be well below that. :smuggit:

I measured mine - and would you believe, it's 66F! Can't get it below that, ATM. It'll be interesting to see how quickly the temperature drops as winter approaches - I'll keep measuring it and feed back on here any changes.

So, respect to you, Michael, well done!

Cheers, B&W

Oh, thanks B&W, but as I actually don't suffer as much as you do, perhaps you're entitled to feel more heroic.

I still have to build up some resolve to get into the shower, but when I'm there it's just mild discomfort and a bit tedious as you say. But hey, at least the strengthening of your immune system is well documented and makes it worth it.

I can't say I feel as euphoric afterwards as I did originally, it's more of a routine, and I just feel, well.., accomplished and ready for anything.

Another obvious effect, my skin has become so soft and smooth it's almost silly, I'm a middle age hairy man dammit, with the skin of a little girl.

My fat percent at last started dropping when I began this routine. It could be the brown fat kicking in, or the fact I work out harder. But, this tendency to push myself more, I figure this routine toughens me up. When I get tired, telling myself I'm a tough bastard and thinking about these showers, like a mantra, makes me carry on. I feel I'm training my willpower.

The other benefits, they might be there or not. Extra bonus if so.

Nice to hear of your experiences, don't hesitate posting about it!

Hello, everybody I'm new to the forum, but I'm really grad that there are people who have done the cold shower challenge!
If anybody has any questions about it, you can read my post on explaining what it is and some statistics of different people from countries around the world who have done it. You can read it he Crushing the 30-day Cold Shower Challenge and I have also made myself a journal - writting a line or two about how the shower felt each day of the 30 days. If you are doing the challenge right now, maybe this is going to be interesting for you and give you motivation to continue, you can read it here: Journal: 30-day Cold Shower Challenge.

I'll be happy to answer to any of your questions!
Sincerely yours,
Stoimen Iliev

Do you shower 100% cold, when I do it hurts my skin and goes numb, I can cope with 90% cold but full on cold is painful, can only do that for 30 seconds but 90% cold longer.

Hi " Manly Michael" thanks for this info...will try it tho shudder at the thought really..but i have suppressed immune system due to health probs,so will give it a go.actually i heard about this years ago but i thought,noooooooooo and put it to the back of my mind,but youve brought it back to the forefront so i am gong to go for it ( she says,bravely..may be a lot different when i am under that lovely hot shower ready to switch the dial..brrrrrrr! ) x

Hi Stoimen, read your blog! Interesting approach, even though I originally didn't see it as a 30 day challenge, just thought that since there were actual benefits.., OK I'll do it.

Zamale, don't know if you asked Stoimen or me, but I do 10 minutes 16 Celsius/60 F water with the water all over my head and body.

If you're trying it, be aware that the pain goes away rather quickly, probably in less than a minute. Your nervous system interprets the cold water as a life threatening situation, which it is not, and tries to make you get out of it. If you relax and let it happen, focus on counting the seconds out loud, you'll probably be fine. It's getting into the water that's difficult, not staying in it.

I wish I knew how long you're supposed to stay in the water to activate the brown fat, is 10 minutes better than 3 or 5? I also notice I experience more discomfort and shiver more from the showers when I've been running earlier in the day, but less if I do it immediately after working out, when my body is still warm.

Every time i see this thread I shiver at the thought.

anyhow this is an interesting read http://muscleevo.net/cold-showers-weight-loss/#.Ui_FVD9FrbM

seems to question some of the reported amazing results of cold water therapy


thoughts?

So how many calories are in a cockroach?

I figured by now that you might know.

only 12. they are yummy, roasted with garlic

I never really gave much thought to what happens after my cold shower, first time I tried, I got instant warming after, but 8 days later, I just cannot get warm, I enjoy the cold shower, I find that strange to say, the concept is worse than the actual activity. Though I cannot get warm today. It is 13'c outside at 1.10pm. Am I supposed to be cold many hours after the cold shower? On a warmer day, its not as cold after the cold shower. My hands were aching with pain as well, they were freezing, this was an hour later of the said very cold shower.
Thanks for reading.

That was the problem I had also. I came across the cold shower idea in February, and I tried it like twice before I decided there are plenty of other ways to boost my metabolism. The cold shower just isn't the one for me. Had I tried in August maybe I would have lasted longer. But, I knew it was something I would never stick to outside of a possible July/August time slot. It will be interesting to see how many polar bears we have who will keep at it all winter. I will gladly sit this one out and cheer you on from the sidelines.

Every time i see this thread I shiver at the thought.

anyhow this is an interesting read http://muscleevo.net/cold-showers-weight-loss/#.Ui_FVD9FrbM

seems to question some of the reported amazing results of cold water therapy


thoughts?

Yep, I've read it, and of course there isn't much quality research about the BAT activation. The author here talks about 30 seconds, huh? I would be pleasantly surprised if it was that easy to activate BAT and induce increased fat burning. That's why I do it for 10 minutes until I can't help shivering, also for some time after.

Cold showers making you hungry? That was surprising. Most cold water people rather talk about reduced cravings in general.

I definitely don't feel like eating more after showering. Of course it would be nice to eat or drink something warm, but if you want to activate BAT it would seem highly counterproductive. If you want BAT to do it's thing it would seem better to let the body warm itself.

Anyway, why would adults have BAT at all if it didn't have some purpose? Why would evolution let us keep it? And from what I know the only thing BAT actually can do is to produce heat from fat. From what I've read I find increased fat burning from cold showers not proven, but quite plausible.

I never really gave much thought to what happens after my cold shower, first time I tried, I got instant warming after, but 8 days later, I just cannot get warm, I enjoy the cold shower, I find that strange to say, the concept is worse than the actual activity. Though I cannot get warm today. It is 13'c outside at 1.10pm. Am I supposed to be cold many hours after the cold shower? On a warmer day, its not as cold after the cold shower. My hands were aching with pain as well, they were freezing, this was an hour later of the said very cold shower.
Thanks for reading.

I noticed the same thing, when I started I took only three minutes, and felt this warmth afterwards. When I've increased to 10 minutes it can take an hour or two to feel warm again. Don't know if that's a good or bad thing. How long do you shower, what temperature?

Interesting.

I don't have any more weight to lose, so I'm just doing it to benefit my immune system.

I've also gone into consolidation mode - in that I only spend 60 seconds under cold water. And I find it much easier to soap and rinse under warm water before switching to cold - getting straight under colder water isn't for wimps like me!

But it's definitely becoming more tolerable! I figure once I can do this without my breathing rate increasing, I'll start upping the time I spend under there. And if I can do it standing still, instead of jumping around like a banshee, frantically massaging my head and shoulders as I go - as I used to do when I first began this lark, I'll regard that as progress.