To think everyone should accustom themselves to cold water

[silverystream]

It has been quite fashionable in certain circles to take ice baths / cold water baths or showers. Stuff about health benefits and autophagy and reducing inflammation etc.

But beyond this I think it is a really good idea because most drownings occur due to cold water shock. Yet people can get accustomed to sitting baths full of ice cubes! I just watched a thing about Alaska wherby someone fell in icy water and was pulled out pretty quickly. They said if they didn't act quick he would lose his fingers! Yet Wim Hof dove under the ice and swam underwater and I think holds a world record for this. Isn't it a good idea to start taking cold water baths in order to build up resilience?

I think so and take a cold water bath everyday. Cold tap water doesn't even feel that cold after a while.

What do you think?

YABU, but thanks anyway for a funny thread.

@bruffin Exactly and this is why the 'float to live' message is so important. Your body will panic and start to struggle and you really need to just like back and relax - which is totally counterintuitive.

I think it's a horrific waste of water, tbh. And batshit.

I think it's a horrific waste of water, tbh. And batshit.

Not if you are taking a bath or shower anyway. It just replaces warm with hot. My baths are not very deep, my showers not very long. I run everyday so I think it's excusable to want to wash the sweat off.

It's about as batshit as bathing in warm water IMO.

I don't look good with ice blue skin when I am freezing cold .
I have no intention of moving to the Artic/ Antarctic or anywhere else of low temps to make myself ill..

Crack on then, silver, you're the one who asked, I think it's fucking batshit and stupid.

I can’t even get into a swimming pool. If I fall in an icy sea or whatever I’m dead. Oops.

I think it's fucking batshit and stupid.

Why? And why the antagonistic language?

else of low temps to make myself ill.

Many people think it is good for health. Reduces inflammation, increases autophagy, increases brown fat.

I'm not saying Wim Hof is superhuman, OP. Swimming in winter is not at all uncommon in Scandinavia: as I said, I have done it myself. The trick is to keep active before you go in (or take a sauna) to make sure circulation is working, not to stay in very long and then keep moving when you get out and dry/get warm quickly. Nothing to do with sitting in a cold bath, and you still need to be pulled out if you fall in.

Because it's making yourself miserable for something that will likely never happen, I find that stupid AF, but hey, it's your life, you asked for opinions, there you go.

I find it strange. It's a bit like giving yourself lots of small electric shocks, just in case you ever get a big one?! Dont see the point myself.

My DH only takes cold showers now - part of the Keto bore regime he is on. It is not as efficient as a warm shower, as my sensitive nose can attest 😶

i regularly swim in the open air and in cold water, myself, though , and I am quite used to it. I dived into a pool in France once - wondered why no one else on the big campsite was using it, thought they might be put off by the position in the shade . It was soooo cold, a real surprise to the system and I sort of hung there, floating, for a while whilst my brain accommodated itself to the shock. I then swam for the end like I had an outboard motor attached.

Because it's making yourself miserable for something that will likely never happen, I find that stupid AF, but hey, it's your life, you asked for opinions, there you go.

It really doesn't make me miserable. I find a cold bath very relaxing. Initially it felt very cold when I first started doing this last winter. But once I became accustomed to it, the cold water is really very soothing. Great after exercise too.

It was just after seeing many warnings about cold water, for good reason, I wondered if acclimatisation to it could have benefits beyond relaxation.

Pissing myself at the Dorothy Perkins thing!

It is not as efficient as a warm shower, as my sensitive nose can attest 😶

Well, I don't smell. My running kit doesn't even particularly smell that bad. Could be the chemotherapy and radiotherapy, though, which I had the other year. I've not really had much BO since. Surprising side effect.

I was scoffing at the odds of actually falling into cold water, and then remembered falling into a disguised roman plunge pool in a local park years ago. That was rather shocking, and cold. Didn't die though, maybe it was because I'm a wimp and can't handle hot showers so have pretty much tepid ones by choice

I thought wim hof was a typo

I used to love a cold blast at the end of a shower.
Now my kids are frequently in with my and object loudly. 🙄

if I were to bath in cold water my hands and feet would turn blue and not warm up again for a long time.
I doubt that's healthy.

Having ice-cold showers doesn’t make you live any longer - it just feels longer!

I have bad reynauds. There's no way I can even think about it

It's absolutely not wasteful, if dome properly it saves you money because you'll never need to buy a bra.

😂 good thread op

I did open this thread, intrigued by it's contents.
OP, go for it but personally I like to prepare myself for falling into a geyser should I ever happen to visit Yellowstone or Iceland.
Although I do wholeheartedly agree with @JohnMcCainsDeathStare.