How To Make Cold Showers Easier

By now, we’ve all seen or heard about some benefits of cold exposure, whether it’s the new cryotherapy place in your neighborhood, some random influencer, or articles like this.

There is no question that cold showers are great for reducing inflammation, strengthening your immune system, and waking you up. Cold showers can even help you lose weight and fight depression.

All that is great, but it doesn’t make it any easier to take a cold shower. Getting in cold water is difficult and almost inherently confrontational in some regards. If you don’t believe me, stop reading and take a cold shower.

It isn’t easy to psych yourself into cold water, and everyone's inner voice is different, but as long as you get in the water, it doesn’t matter if your inner self is yelling or whispering sweet nothings to you.

HOW DO YOU MAKE COLD SHOWERS EASIER?

1. Psych yourself up

Everyone responds to different motivation, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and internal or external stimuli. Some people can do hard things for themselves because it’s important to them. Other people will only take a cold shower if you bet them a hundred dollars and put it on their social media for all to see.

Whether you respond better to “you can do it” or “don’t be a coward,” figure out what you need to hear to get into that cold shower and repeat it while getting ready.

2. Don’t start with a cold shower

You don’t have to jump into a freezing shower on your first day playing around with cold exposure. It is perfectly reasonable to take baby steps. Start by just washing your face with cold water in the morning. After a day or two of washing your face, start adding a little cold to your shower.

3. Begin and end with warm water

Start at your normal shower temperature, and when you are comfortable, turn the water to cold for 30-60 seconds. Then back to your normal shower temperature. Increase the time in cold or the number of intervals at your discretion.

A good long-term goal is three to five minutes in cold water. Build up slowly; it may take weeks to get to two minutes of cold showers.

4. Make it as pleasant as possible

Just because you are doing something hard doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyable. Try listening to music, audiobooks, or podcasts. You can even watch youtube videos if you have a safe spot for your phone.

Some people will tell you that distracting yourself from the cold decreases the meditative effect. Those people are assholes, there is nothing in the world that can truly distract you from a cold shower, but you can make it more fun.

5. Reward yourself

To help ingrain the habit into your daily routine, after your cold shower, reward yourself. Hot coffee or a warm beverage you enjoy are always good ideas if you are cold after your shower.

However, anything you enjoy will work. For example, after your shower, you can listen to your favorite podcast while you finish getting ready, make a smoothie, stretch, or whatever helps you feel good.

If you reward yourself after every cold shower, you are much more likely to have positive associations with the activity and stick with it long-term.

6. Breathe

No matter what life throws at you, you can always control one thing: your breath. Your breath can help you sleep, help you focus, and meditate.

In addition, it can make uncomfortable things like cold showers more bearable. After the initial blast of cold water, the faster you get your breath under control, the faster the shower becomes pleasant.

7. Put your head under first

What is easier, slowly getting into a cold pool one step at a time or jumping in? I know this will split the readers, but it is easier to jump in. It is one action, one decision, and then it is over.

There is nothing wrong with easing into a cold pool or a cold shower, but the path of least resistance is to ease in headfirst. Once your head becomes accustomed to the temperature, it is much more tolerable and enjoyable overall for the body.

8. Don’t look at the clock

Many people starting out taking cold showers will time their cold showers or the intervals they spend in cold water. If you are one of these people (I am), I recommend setting a timer off to the side where you can’t see it.

Counting down the seconds until the shower is over is how to make the shower feel the longest.

Should you always take cold showers?

Just because you are adding cold showers to your routine does not mean you are committing yourself to a life of only cold showers. Hot showers are great for relaxing before bed or helping with decongestion.

Cold and hot have an interesting dichotomy regarding how they affect us. Hot showers relax us. Cold showers energize us. Hot drinks are calming. Cold drinks are refreshing.

Cold showers are just another tool in your self-care arsenal, and I think everyone can benefit from them. As my high school wrestling coach would say, “it builds mental toughness.”

Why cold showers? Aren’t cold immersion baths better?

Is it more badass to get in an ice bath than turning the handle of your shower and lowering the temperature? Absolutely.

Do you get the same mental and physical benefits using either method? Yes.

Cold immersion tanks are fantastic, but they are inconvenient and expensive. You are already equipped to take cold showers. No investment is necessary, and if you manage to take cold showers for a year straight, then sure, spend that money on an ice bath. But the last thing you want is another large, expensive product that sits in your garage gathering dust.

If you use cold therapy to decrease inflammation, fully immersing the ailing joint you are hoping to improve is a great idea.

Is taking a cold shower worth it?

I won’t sugar coat it, taking a cold shower is hard and unpleasant. All of the benefits touted in the introduction are scientifically-backed, but the question is, are those improvements significant enough to merit the daunting task of taking a cold shower.

My answer is yes, taking a cold shower is worth it, but not for the decreased inflammation, the strengthened immune system, or even the weight loss. My answer is yes because of the mental strength cold showers give you going into the rest of the day. When you start your day with something difficult, like a cold shower, the rest of your tasks fall like dominos.

I’ve done a lot of 30-day workout challenges in the past, 30 pull-ups for 30 days, 100 kettlebell swings for 30 days, ten sprints for 30 days, and ten minutes of jump rope for 30 days. Doing those workouts first thing in the morning made my day easier. However, there were many days I didn’t want to do those workouts.

All those days combined do not compare to how much I don’t want to get into cold water just one time. But, getting over that hump first thing in the morning is a powerful way to start your day.

Like Brian Tracy says, “Eat That Frog.”