I’ve got one BIG reason that everyone should take cold showers… and it has nothing at all to do with your health.
Now, there are a LOT of health benefits of cold exposure training. I’m not going to talk about any of that here. Some of the other answers here already talked about that.
Instead, I’m going to give you my #1 reason to take cold showers, even if you don’t care about your health at all.
Because they’re really uncomfortable.
True, your cold tolerance will improve over time. But unless you’re Wim Hoff you’ll never be comfortable when the cold water hits.
It’s good to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. There are a lot of things in life that aren’t super comfortable. Most of the important things, actually. The things that will benefit you the most.
But even that’s not why I recommend cold showers.
Instead, the main benefit as I see it comes right before you turn that water over to cold and step into the stream of water…
It happens in your mind, and it goes something like this…
“Oh, fuck. This is going to suck…”
(hesitate a bit)
“I know I said I’d do this, but I’m feeling a bit stuffy, don’t want to make myself sick!”
(hesitate)
“OK, maybe just for a second. I know that isn’t long enough, but who’s going to know?”
(hesitate)
“Maybe I don’t have to turn it ALL the way to cold. Less warm is fine, right?”
(hesitate)
“Fuck it, I said I was going to do this, so I’m doing it. 5 minutes in the cold water.”
Then, if you actually go through with it, you’ve won. Yes, you’ve endured something uncomfortable. And that’s great.
But more importantly, you’ve shown your own inner excuse making mechanism that you don’t have to listen to it. Do this enough and things start to change.
You call that business contact instead of putting it off again.
You sit down and answer that question about cold showers in your “Answer Later” section that you added a couple weeks ago.
You find it much easier to do things you need to do, even if you know they’re going to suck.
I got spoiled most of the past week. I took a trip to sunny southern California, where the coldest tap water feels almost nice and refreshing.
Back in Colorado, I measured my cold tap water at 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Then I stepped under the stream for 5 minutes.
The ocean water in San Diego was 64 degrees, and surfers were wearing wet suits.
I don’t say this to brag about how tough I am. The phrase “oh, fuck” could be heard several times in my bathroom this morning.
But then I came into the office and did shit. Uncomfortable shit. Shit that may never pay off. But it got done.