[culopatin]

Cold plunges or cold showers activate that “I accomplished something hard today” side of happiness for me. Hard to start, but once you calm down your brain that’s yelling “no way, we don’t need that” and do it, I come out with an envigorating sense of control over my desires.

[Full_Clark]

As anecdata rather than a commentary on the article's results, I find that a 10-min cold plunge produces up to 2 hours of elevated mood and energy. I think there's a decent dataset out there to back this up as a long-period increase in endorphin production, or maybe a heightened sensitivity to endorphins, but I can't find it at the moment. (SEO efforts by ice-bath merchants and fitness/recovery gurus is quashing any scientific publications when I search.)

On the thought of that "I accomplished something hard today" feeling, after a cold plunge I also experience a decrease in how hard it is to get myself started on some difficult task I've been dreading doing. Would you say you have the same thing, where you've already done one challenging thing, so the next domino falls more easily?

[vonnik]

Anecdata: ice plunges are a meta-cognitive skill. Several minutes in 45 F water results in a 12h+ boost in mood and good feelings in the limbs and skin, and 2-3 hours of heightened attention. I’m currently doing this ~4 times a week.

It’s the opposite of addiction’s dopamine cycle - a small pain the leads to a long-lasting high, rather than a drug’s small high that leaves you in its debt.

[criddell]

Do you have a cold plunge pool at home? If so, is it something you made?

[rednerrus]

https://andrewconner.com/cold-plunge/ https://diycoldplunge.com/

I would go the cooler route if I was starting today.

[vonnik]

I’m very lucky that a gym on my walking route to work installed a cold plunge. So I can get cardio and sauna from the same routine. (The effects in the first comment can and do come from pure plunge tho.)

[RHSman2]

Micro dosing versus macro dosing?

[vonnik]

In my case, macro and more of it. Huberman recommends 11min per week. For better or for worse, I'm doing a little over twice that.

[p1esk]

10 minutes in ice cold water?

[Full_Clark]

Not ice-cold. 10-12 C.

[RHSman2]

I ignored the parts of me that like comfort and oh God I feel good for ages after physically (in a slightly shivery way) but also that I CAN do it way.

On a side note, I will take a cold shower after workouts and it extends my feeling of ‘magnificence’ and the ‘I worked out today’ sensations.

[wincy]

I cried tears of joy after getting out the first time I did a cold plunge. I used my bath tub in the middle of the Kansas winter. It was crazy, like I’d just climbed a mountain that I didn’t know existed.

[dorfsmay]

According to Huberman's podcast, cold exposure after a workout is not optimum for the muscle as it reduces the exercise induced inflammation. Hot exposure increase that inflammation which increase the exercise benefit.

[RHSman2]

Indeed, but as someone who generally does something based on how they feel I respectfully follow my own path and pick and choose what feels right, I see benefits and effects that I can comprehend.

Example, I have a very destroyed shoulder from a break and dislocation. The cold helps way more with its recovery from exercises that put it through the wringer.

The perfect world is finding a way to get it better but I don’t have the answers (and nor has science/medicine) but from my own experiments my shoulder will respond dramatically better to cold than not.

I also have some Red Light therapy available. Less good.

The best is anti-inflammatories but the significant downside outweighs the ups.

So in a world of compromises I benefit the most from cold exposure.

[dorfsmay]

Oh for sure!I mentioned because it used to be thought that cold after exercisong was good.

The other thing is, this my make a a significant enough difference in elite athletes, but for the average person I thing doing it at all is far superior to doing it at the right time but much less often.

[kristiandupont]

This is exactly it for me. It's like I'm telling my brain: "I'm in control today", and it accepts. Which is a philosophically weird conversation :-)

[RHSman2]

It’s not weird, just kinda ‘who is the me if I am telling my brain what to do and who is the brain if it will not do what I want?’ Way ;)

[ogundipeore]

Agreed! I had a similar feeling of accomplishment when I did my first cold plunge too.