Annemiek showers for 60 seconds with cold water for thirty days after taking a hot shower. Does she notice a difference at the end of the month?
You are increasingly reading about the health benefits of cold showers. Research by the AMC even shows that people who take a cold shower have 29% less absenteeism due to illness. When my yoga teacher also starts talking about her good experiences with cold showers (fizzy with energy, super strong focus, beautiful skin and shiny hair), I'm done:I take on the challenge to take a cold 60 seconds every day after taking a hot shower for a month. to shower. Who knows, maybe I'll get used to it.
Dull head
Now the thing is, I really like my hot shower. When I get out of bed in the morning with my drowsy head, the first thing I do is waddle to the bathroom, stand under the warm jet and wake up very quietly there. I don't want to think about missing that good feeling forever. But hey, maybe that's my comfort zone and I just need to get out of there. The first day of my challenge I get up in good spirits:today it will happen. But when I'm in the hot shower, I can't seem to get myself to turn the head on cold. When I finally do, I gasp and have to suppress a scream. The stress shoots up in my body and after twenty seconds I give up, I really can't take it any longer.
Relax!
I'm not going to keep this up for thirty days. That's why I visit the Ice.club website for some support. If you register for their Cool Challenge, you will receive an email with useful tips. In this way I learn not to shrug my shoulders, but to let them hang relaxed. That conscious and relaxed breathing is important. That I don't have to turn the tap on cold all at once, but that I can do it in steps. And that not my whole head has to be under the cold jet, but only my face. During the second shower session I immediately notice the effect of those tips:it goes easier. Only after thirty seconds do I turn off the cold tap, which is ten seconds longer than yesterday.
Super fit
The days that follow are about the same:a warm shower to wash and rinse my hair, then the shower on cold for soaping and rinsing. The time that I take a cold shower is getting longer and longer and the temperature of my warm starting shower is also getting lower. So it actually went pretty quickly. And the promised energy boost is also there:I feel super fit and sharp after showering, even if I've had a lesser night.
By the way, I don't really notice anything about my skin and my hair. And I'm not often ill anyway, so I have no idea whether an effect is noticeable in this area. I am clearly out of my comfort zone after thirty days. I never thought I could stand standing under a cold jet for a minute, but I can! Still, I doubt this will become my daily routine. If I'm in a hurry, a quick hot shower is handy. And after working out, I also really long for a hot shower. And then it will also be summer, when it will be cold outside again later, I will not vouch for myself.
But:so far so good
I'm going to try to continue the cold shower, for thirty seconds instead of sixty if necessary (I read that it doesn't really matter for the effect). And then we'll see.
Text:Annemiek de Gier | Image:Shutterstock
