THE BENEFITS
Hot and cold water exposure can provide numerous benefits for physical + mental health. The heat reduces muscle soreness and eases neural and joint pain. The heat also promotes relaxation, reduces stress levels, and improves sleep quality. Cold exposure is not relaxing but the benefits that come from this level of discomfort are profound. Hot and cold tubs offer a powerful combination of physical and mental health benefits that helps to improve your recovery, wellness and overall health. Most importantly, they enhance your quality of life. Step in, step up, and transform yourself!
Exercise Recovery
Cold therapy is a powerful tool for recovery when used appropriately. It helps to reduce muscle inflammation and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
Noradrenaline - the main chemical released from cold therapy, is a great inhibitor of many of the inflammation pathways within the body. For this reason, cold exposure helps reduce muscle soreness and joint pain throughout the day.
Cold exposure also helps to inhibit enzymes that break down collagen in the body which can be helpful for patients with arthritis and joint issues.
Mental Health + Mood
Cold water therapy triggers a profound boost of mood enhancing chemicals - neurotransmitters, dopamine and noradrenaline. One cold exposure session can increase dopamine levels by 250% and noradrenaline by 530% respectively. These chemicals dictate the way we feel, regulate attention and focus. It also increases our mood, mental clarity and energy! Prolonged use can also make the brain more sensitive to these potent hormones :)
Cold exposure helps to decrease certain inflammatory hormones which are linked to anxiety and depression.
Don't believe the science? Simply ask anyone who practices cold therapy - they will tell you how fricken good it feels!
Mental Resilience & Stress
Cold exposure is a controlled stressor, this means we can teach ourselves to stay calm in the cold with the breath. This helps us stay calmer and more present for the stressful situations that life can throw at us.
Acute doses of stress and discomfort are also proven to build willpower, drive and mental fortitude so we can thrive in life and become more mentally resilient. Consistent comfort does the opposite to us. Consistent comfort is not in our DNA.
The cold also helps our nervous system better deal with stress. Too much sympathetic activation (from consistent stress) is detrimental to our health and is sadly common in todays world. Cold exposure can help to increase our overall tolerance to stress, which helps us enter a parasympathetic state more consistently (rest, relax & recover).
Build up your overall resilience to stress and watch your sleep, mental health, mood, performance and your day-to-day life improve.
Learn to deal with the cold - learn to deal with anything...
Immunity
Immune function is not only regulated by nutrition, sleep or exercise to name a few. It is also influenced by environmental hormetic stressors that we expose our bodies too.
Anything that stresses your body outside of your comfort zone helps to upregulate your bodies natural defence systems. Your body then begins to adapt to the small amount of stress that comes from cold and heat therapy. These acute stressors help to give the body a better natural immunity.
Cold exposure activates your lymphatic system, increases the number of natural killer t cells, lymphocytes (white blood cells) and glutathione (the bodies master antioxidant) which all play a big part in our immune system.
It's time to build momentum by building your physical resilience.
Metabolism
Cold exposure decreases core body temperature which forces the body to burns calories through shivering which therefore increases metabolism.
The process of converting white fat cells (energy storage) to brown fat cells (highly metabolically active) is remarkable. This process allows the body to stay warm and to feel more comfortable while enduring the cold. The activation of brown fat + more total brown fat, is what triggers a more sustained increase in metabolism throughout the day which burns more calories.
Brown fat is healthier than white fat and it's easier to burn. It also has some great health benefits like increased glucose metabolism and increased insulin sensitivity.
Keep in mind calories in vs calories out dictates whether you gain,
lose, or maintain weight. Cold exposure becomes a great tool to boost this process.
Increase your energy output with cold.
Andrew Huberman - cold exposure
Andrew Huberman podcast - cold exposure with Dr. Susanna Soberg
Andrew Huberman - Temperature for Performance, Brain & Body Health with Craig Heller
Dr. Rhonda patrick on her favourite cold exposure benefits
