FEATURE - Going into the cold

Lorna Clansey is an Amatsu practitioner and coach based in London. She writes a regular column of The PGA's Golf Business Quarterly (GBQ) magazine.

In her latest column, Lorna explains the benefit of having a cold shower and how it can improve your health and well-being.

When I tell people that I have a cold shower every day, they tend to hunch their shoulders and shake their head.  ‘Can’t do it’ they say as they scrunch up their face.

Even the thought of it creates a physical response of absolute rejection. These might be people who endure extreme sports, have high-stress jobs or juggle intense family responsibilities, even some people who would rather swim in open water, but it’s an absolute ‘No way’ to cold showers. 

I wonder if it's because mornings, when most of us take a shower feel too foggy, too groggy, stumbling from bed, looking for a coffee, trying to wake up. The idea of a cold shower might feel like an assault on the senses. But what if it was the most powerful thing you could do for your body and mind that day?

There are approximately 62,000 veins, arteries and capillaries in each one of us. And within that vascular system, there are literally millions of tiny muscles. These muscles are what propel the blood through our veins, but as we get older, even beyond the age of 35, these muscles tend not to work as well as they could. This means that another muscle needs to take over more of the effort, our heart, and it becomes overworked. Given that our biggest health problem globally is cardiovascular-related disease, exercising those little vascular muscles might seem like a good idea. And this is where the cold water comes in.

Wim Hoff, known as ‘The Iceman’ has dedicated his life to spreading awareness of the huge benefits that cold exposure can bring. His own personal feats are extreme and extraordinary, but he suggests starting slowly, with cold showers. If you are a beginner to this, you might be pleased to know that his suggestion is to have your warm shower as usual, only turning down the temperature for 30 seconds at the end. Your vascular system is first dilated by the warmth and then the cold stimulates thermoreceptors in the skin sending a message to the brain to tell the vascular system to contract. The key also seems to be trying to make the out-breath longer so as not to tense up, hyperventilate and create more stress. Over the course of a couple of weeks, you will start to activate memory cells that adapt to the situation and it will become easier to stay in the cold longer - up to 2 minutes. This stimulation of muscle tone over time allows the heart rate to slow, improves blood flow and reduces the stress within the body system.

It's not only the heart that benefits. In a Dutch study in 2015, over 3000 healthy individuals ended their normal shower with a blast of cold water every day for a month. Compared to a control group, they took 29% fewer sick days suggesting that there is a positive effect on immune function too.

There are also benefits to mental well-being. The cold exposure causes many electrical impulses to be sent to the brain and these give the system a 'jolt' which leads to greater alertness, clarity and energy levels, factors which tend to be affected in depression. Endorphins are also released which lead to a feeling of well-being and optimism. Many fans get so hooked that they wouldn't be without it in their daily routine. I certainly notice how much more sluggish I feel if I simply get out of a warm shower to start my day.

But don't take my word for it...

For more information, I recommend the Wim Hoff Method book or app.

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