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Midwestern Method LLC
Copyright 2019 all rights reserved
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WARNING
Cold Training should not be practiced by those who
suffer from epilepsy. Those with high blood pressure
or heart disease should not practice cold exposure
without the approval of a doctor.
Do not practice cold training when pregnant, under
the influence of alcohol, or when under the influence
of drugs. Remember that you should exit the cold if
you ever are in doubt. Safety is important.
Remember that overtraining in the cold can lead
l ead to
injury or death. Always practice the safety rules
described in this book, and never take chances with
your safety. If you are ever in doubt, get out of the
cold.
Remember to always play it on the
t he side of safety.
See a doctor to be sure you are healthy enough for
cold training if you feel unsure.
un sure.
Your safety is your own responsibility. Take it
seriously.
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A Practical Guide to Cold Training
Contents
Reasons toin
Train
the......................
Cold
and a Rationale
for the Style
of Training
Described
this in
Book
.....
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
.....................6
The Rules of Cold Training..................................
...................................................
..................................
...............................16
..............16
The other 10%- After-drop, hypothermia, and frostbite
f rostbite .................................24
.................................24
Setting Up a Cold Training Routine .................................
..................................................
..................................27
.................27
Facing Your First Cold Shower .................................
..................................................
..................................
.........................30
........30
Cold Shower Training ..................................
..................................................
..................................
...................................
......................33
.....33
Cold Baths first; Ice ba
baths
ths later! ................................
.................................................
..................................
.........................37
........37
Ice Bathing ..................................
...................................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
.........................41
........41
Cold Weather Exposures.............
Exposures..............................
.................................
.................................
...................................
.......................47
.....47
Snow Walking (Barefoot in the Snow) ................................
.................................................
...............................55
..............55
Skin to Ice/Snow Exposures ................................................
.................................................................
...............................58
..............58
Outdoor Ice Bathing..............
Bathing...............................
...................................
...................................
..................................
............................60
...........60
Ice Swimming .................................
..................................................
...................................
...................................
..................................
...................68
..68
Hands and Feet ......................
........................................
...................................
..................................
..................................
............................74
...........74
Cold Meditations..................................
...................................................
..................................
..................................
...............................77
..............77
Cold Exposure and Colds and Flus ..................................
...................................................
..................................81
.................81
Cold Training and Strength & Conditioning Training..................................
....................................83
..83
Saving Money on Regular Ice Baths |Converting a Deep Freezer ..........
...............85
.....85
How far can I Take My Cold Training? .................................
..................................................
............................86
...........86
Conclusion..................................
...................................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
.........................87
........87
Bonus Code: ..................................
...................................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
......................88
.....88
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Section 1.
Reasons to Train in the Cold and a Rationale for the Style of
Training Described in this Book
Cold water immersion and cold training have been revered by countless cultures
throughout human history as a way to improve health and vitality. In today’s modern
world, cold training and cryotherapy have been studied and validated to have
measurable health benefits. From improving one’s immune system to reducing
inflammation, cold therapy is a growing in popularity as a natural way to combat some
of humanity’s most persistent problems.
What happens when we step into a cold exposure?
ex posure?
Cold exposure is different for a beginner than it is for one who is cold adapted. This is
because of the human body’s incredible ability to adapt
ada pt to stressors if they are
experienced in the right amounts. This is a process known as hormesis.
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Hormesis is something
something that humans experience all of the time, but most of us have
never really thought about it. For instance, athletes push themselves in training, and
over time, they become stronger, faster, more agile and capable of feats of strength and
skill. As these changes occur, we also experience other health benefits as a result of the
adaptations over time. People see this all the time, but we don’t usually realize that this
is all the result of the body adapting to regular doses of stress.
But wait, isn’t stress a bad thing? The answer is yes, and no. Chronic or acute stress that
is above your ability to recover from is bad for you. When we hear the word “stress,”
this is likely what we are thinking of. People who are being overworked, overstrained,
overstrained,
and under-recovered are examples of how stress works to our detriment.
However, when you see a gymnast land a perfect routine,
r outine, arms raised in victory,
muscles perfectly toned and healthy; you are seeing the end result
r esult of hormesis, the
body’s ability to become stronger and more capable as the result of the right dose s of
stress over time.
Muscles become stronger when they are stressed enough to need repair. Bones become
dense when they endure the stress of gravity’s pull -and even stronger when we do
things like jumping, running, and skipping! Even our ability to deal with psychological
stress increase as a result of getting the right amount of stress over time. Too much of
any kind of stress can cause us injury. Too little stress can cause us atrophy. We are
looking for the right dose over time to make us stronger.
I will not make this an exhaustive physiologi
physiological
cal breakdown of cold exposure since that
is not the purpose of this e-book. However, I will break down some of the things that do
occur in the cold.
When an untrained person steps into a cold
co ld exposure
exposure…
…
People who are not cold adapted will react to the cold in the following way:
1. Breathing will be difficult. This is because the Central Nervous System will be
overloaded with new information, and the sympathetic nervous system will
cause a very strong “fight or flight” response. Untrained people will breathe
heavily and sporadically, which in turn re-enforces the panic response.
2. Cutaneous (of the skin) vasoconstriction occurs, possibly causing pain. Blood is
moved from the extremities to the core to preserve core body temperature.
3. The heart beats slower to accommodate the vasoconstriction.
4. The body uses vasoconstriction and shivering to attempt to slow body cooling.
5. During this process, various neurotransmitters and hormones are secreted
(Norepinephrinee being the biggest bump, but also epinephrine, cortisol, and too
(Norepinephrin
many others to name here.)
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6. Little to no improvements in immunity/ possible weakening of innate and
specific immune response.
Those who are not cold adapted receive some benefits from cold exposure as long as
their exposure is long enough… and short enough. In this chapter, I will discuss some
of the most pronounced benefits of training in the cold. Those who are not cold adapted
generally are unable to endure the cold for long enough safely to receive the benefits of
the training. They are also unaware that the repetition of exposures over time will
produce positive results.
So, when a person does one cold exposure without repeating it regularly, that person is
no better off than the person who does one good day
da y at the gym without repeating it
regularly. Yes, there are some initial benefits, but they are acute, and they probably are
overshadowed by the unpleasantness of the experience.
When a Cold Adapted Person Experiences the Cold…
People who are cold adapted experience the cold in the following way:
1. Breathing remains within the control of the practitioner. Though it may be
quickened, it is manageable. This stops the positive feedback loop started by the
sympathetic nervous system. This means that the person remains in control of
his/her faculties rather than escalate into a heightened state of “fight or flight.”
2. Cutaneous vasoconstriction occurs quickly and efficiently. While there may still
be discomfort, pain is unlikely. Blood is moved from the extremities to the core to
preserve core body temperature.
3. Heart rate reduces to accommodate vasoconstriction.
4. Adaptations express themselves in various ways:
a. Habituation adaptations in the body’s response to the cold manifest; such
as control over breathing, shivering, etc. Many of these adaptations can
also be experienced outside of the cold in other situations of stress. The
practitioner simply has more control under stress.
b. Metabolic adaptations manifest themselves. Mitochondria are more
efficient; thermogenesis
thermogenesis creates body heat to maintain homeostasis; Brown
Adipose Tissue becomes more active.
c. Insulative adaptations manifest themselves; the skin is able to more
efficiently conserve body heat against longer and more extreme cold
exposure due to adaptations in cutaneous vascularity.
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5. The cold adapted practitioner is now able to endure the cold for longer periods
without dips in core temperature. This allows the practitioner to fully experience
the benefits of cold exposure.
6. The body responds to the cold with a wide variety of hormones and
neurotransmitters
neurotransmitte
rs that result in various benefits that will be discussed in this
chapter.
7. Only after regular exposures is a strengthened immune system evident.
Therefore, just as an athlete
a thlete will experience acute and long-term effects from physical
training, a cold trainer will experience acute and long-term effects from regular cold
exposure.
Links to related studies:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26924539
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8925815
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23867626
So Much Research, So Many Modes of Cold Training-
A Rational for the Style of Training
Train ing in this e-Book
e-Boo k
When researching the science behind cold exposure, there are many sources to choose
from. The problem that I have always ran
r an into is how to interpret the data. As will be
discussed in this book, there are many different ways to approach cold exposure
training. Some studies involve exposures
exposures of 90 to 170 minutes with relatively mild cold
temperatures. Others use extreme temperatures for short periods of time. Even
Ev en others
use cold exposure for only select portions of the body or under circumstances that may
or may not be relevant to the average person who wants to get health benefits from cold
exposure. Please understand that this makes the topic strangely difficult to research.
While there are mountains of data, scientific evidence for the kind of training
tr aining that the
average person can reasonably incorporate into their daily lives is often hard to find.
Making Consistent Cold Training Possible
Volume and Intensity
My assumption is that you, like me, do not want to spend hours each day in a cold bath
if you could get the same benefits by training shorter amounts of time in colder
temperatures. This is why I focus on progression, not only in terms of time, but in terms
of intensity.
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Hormesis occurs when we provide the body the appropriate amount of stress. Not too
much; not too little. This can be done in a variety of ways, and I encourage you to use
the information in this book to help you develop your own path. Maybe you find that
you want to do longer periods of ti me in the cold; that’s fine. You’ll just need to
accommodate with the appropriate temperature. This is also inversely true. If you go
super cold, you will have to accommodate that with a shorter duration.
Some people prefer building athletic strength with high volume and low intensity.
Others prefer high intensity with low volume. While you may eventually get to a point
where novice trainers think that you are doing both, the truth is that you will always have
to be mindful of those two variables.
For my lifestyle, I don’t usually have time to do high volume, so I prefer to progress in
intensity. This does not mean that I do not also need to work on volume. Before I move
up in intensity, I want to be able to endure more volume under a specific intensity to be
sure that I am ready
r eady to progress.
For example, before I attempt a 2 minute ice bath, I would want to be comfortable doing
a 5 minute cold shower. While I might be able to endure a 2 minute ice bath (0-2C) after
only being able to do a 2 minute cold shower (18-29C), the added endurance ensures a
greater degree of success. Eventually, I know that with a higher intensity
intensity,, I will receive
approximately the same benefits as I would with a longer cold exposure at a warmer
temperature. I use this principle to make a daily practice feasible in my busy life.
With all of this said, I am including a variety of studies that vouch for many of the
benefits of cold exposure. While the studies often involve different training parameters,
the difference, in my view, can generally be viewed through the lens of volume and
intensity. This is why I take extra care to
t o explain the first study as it pertains to
t o the
body’s consistency in delivering norepinephrine over time. The study used 2 different
intensities, 2 different volumes, 2 different modes of delivery; but it found nearly
identical results.
While there has been a lot of research on the way the human body responds and grows
as a result of cold exposure, I have still never seen the kind of research that I specifically
would love to see; namely, long-term studies over years with thousands of participants
doing the same training regimen involving slow and
a nd gradual increases in volume and
intensity of the cold stimulus. Of course, if I am going to create this fantasy study, I
would be sure to make the training regimen something that the average person could
practice at home, like what is detailed in this book.
However, to my knowledge, this study does not yet exist. As a result, we are left to
parse information from what does exist and use our powers of reason along with our
own personal experience to arrive at conclusions. My friends, this has been my
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obsession for nearly five years now, and I am confident that cold exposure, when
practiced regularly, will yield the following (and probably many other) benefits.
There are countless studies that have been published on the benefits of cold therapy,
and I encourage you to do your own research. However, I will list some of the benefits
here that I believe are the most backed by hard science and my own experience.
1. A Consistent Dose of Norepinephrine (Anti-inflammation, enhanced learning,
alertness)
I want to emphasize the word “consistent” here. So many people ask me if they will
have to constantly increase their cold exposure times or temperatures to get the same
benefits. Since building a tolerance is a very common response to any kind of stimulus
stimulus,,
it’s a rational concern. The cold, however, seems to deliver a consistent dose of
norepinephrine, and this is documented in one of my favorite studies on the topic. This
study is also the most commonly referred to in the cold therapy communi
community.
ty. I’m going
to go on and on about it here because I feel that it is such a “cool” study.
In 2008, a study was published in the The Scandinavian Journal of Clinical & Laboratory
Investigation titled “Effects of long-term whole-body cold exposures on plasma
concentrations of ACTH, beta-endorphin, cortisol, catecholamines and cytokines in
healthy females.” This study was specifically focused on cold exposur e as a way to
alleviate pain.
Apparently, the research team set out to do this experiment by recruiting volunteers
through a local newspaper ad, and it just so happened that nearly all of the respondents
were women -hence the title! Out of the 42 people who responded to the ad, 20 women
were chosen for cold exposure study; 10 women used cryo (-110 C), and 10 engaged in
outdoor winter swimming in a nearby pond (0C-2C). Both groups did 3 exposures a week
for 12 weeks, and blood was analyzed for various values such as ACTH, beta-endorphin,
IL-1-beta, IL-6 and TNFa. If you know what those are, great. If you don’t, it’s fine too. Just
know that they are all chemicals that our bodies make that are involved in the mitigation
of pain.
The study found that both the cryo group and the winter swimmers had no significant
increase in epinephrine or cortisol, but both groups saw consistent spikes in
norepinephrine all throughout the 12 week study. The spikes remained consistent
throughout the study, so even after three months of regular exposure to these extreme
temperatures, the participants did not develop any kind of “tolerance” or a reduction in
the dose of norepinephrine delivered to the body. It was a consistent dose every time.
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One big difference between the two groups was the time that they were exposed to the
cold. The cryo-group was exposed to 2 minutes of -110 C air while the winter swimme
swimmers
rs
swam for 20 seconds in water that was at or just above freezing (0C – 2C).
The researchers found it very remarkable that the values
v alues of the cryo group and the winter
swimming group were pretty much the same across the board. Over the course of the 12week study, the basal values (normal values throughout the day) of norepinephrine
showed no significant changes, so it’s not like these women were changing their
everyday/normal levels of this hormone. However, after the exposure, the va
values
lues peaked
at about the same level and decayed at about the same rate. Isn’t that interesting?
Norepinephrine is a chemical that acts as a hormone and as a neurotransmitter. It is
primarily responsible for wakefulness and alertness, learning and attention, and
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enhancement of memory formation and retrieval. It is also likely to be responsible for
top-down regulation of pain in the body.
If norepinephrine can help to control pain, and if the body naturally produces a consistent
spike over long periods of regular cold exposure, it is no wonder that so many people
around the world tout the pain-reducing benefits of regular cold exposure.
I find this study to be especially interesting because after only 20 seconds in just-abovefreezing water, participants received almost exactly the same benefit as the group who
used cryotherapy for 2 minutes.
The most important aspect of this study is that cold therapy offers repeatable results that
do not diminish over time. This is why I chose to go over it so thoroughly.
You can find this study here:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00365510701516350
2. Improved Immune function
There are many studies that point to regular cold exposure as an immune system booster.
The problem with making this claim is that the immune system is very complex and
difficult to fully measure system. However, there are many tests that have been done that
point to what so many people have come to believe through their own experience with
cold exposure, namely that cold exposure improves immune function. Below, I have
listed several studies that point to this conclusion.
Regular winter swimmers had a higher stock of white blood cells when compared to
novice winter-swim
winter-swimmers.
mers.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10735978
Increase in glutathione when subjected to regular cold exposure. Glutathione is the
body’s strongest antioxidant.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0891584994900302
Men who were exposed to the cold in a cold chamber at 4C for 30 minutes were shown
to have an increased number of killer T Cells, which is another indicator of a more robust
ability to fight off illness and even cancer cells.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2457640
Regular cold exposure (3 times per week over the course of 6 weeks) was shown to
increase lymphocyte numbers. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cells that are one
of the body’s main types of immune cells.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8925815
3. Increases Adiponectin Levels
Adiponectin levels have been shown to increase by as much as 70% after cold
exposures.
Adiponectin
a protein
hormone
whichdown
is involved
in theItregulation
blood glucose
levels. It isisalso
involved
in breaking
fatty acids.
has been of
associated with improving insulin sensitivity. This may be one of the reasons why
people associate cold therapy with maintaining a healthy weight.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19303978
4. Improves Metabolism and Weight Loss
While the mechanisms that link cold exposure to weight loss/having a healthy body fat
percentage may be more complex than previously thought, the traditional view that is
still held by countless cold trainers around the world relies on the fact that the human
body will increase its metabolic rate to maintain a normal body temperature. Many also
point to increases in brown fat activity. All of these things are true.
However, I want to say that in my years training others and in my own experience, it is
not as simple as: cold exposure = weight loss.
While I have seen people lose weight when cold training, it was in conjunction with
reduced caloric intake and exercise. Cold exposure does cause the body to turn up its
metabolism. I believe that cold training can enhance weight loss, but it is not a magic
weight loss secret. It is also not something that people should fear if they want to cold
train but are already quite thin.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30511507
5. Improved Mental Resilience
This is the aspect of cold training that I believe is the most overlooked. Sadly, it is not
something that can easily be scientifically measured.
The cold is a hostile environment. It is uncomfortable. It is lethal if taken in high enough
doses! And you are capable of safely facing this challenge daily.
da ily. You are looking a
primalday!
fear in the eye every time you get into the cold. Imagine the power of doing this
every
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When you train with the cold, you practice seeing yourself as someone who is capable
of facing a lethal force. You practice seeing yourself as someone who is capable of
making difficult choices. If you don’t believe me, get into a cold therapy routine for any
period of time; there will be many times, maybe every time, that you don’t really fe el
like getting into the cold… but you make the choice to do it anyway. Make no mistake,
when you do this on a regular basis, you begin to notice; and you will begin to see
yourself as someone with grit, someone with confidence, someone who is capable
capa ble of
being comfortable in the midst of discomfort.
This is a benefit that cannot be measured, but ask any experienced cold trainer, and you
likely hear about this benefit. For me, it is the greatest benefit. I voluntarily step into
conditions that most people would never even fathom. It is like realizing that you have
superpowers, and the cold is the key.
There are many more scientific benefits of cold training. This portion of the book is
focused on how to train in the cold, however. So, let’s get started…
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Section 2.
The Rules of Cold Training
Though there are ample reasons for training in the cold, why doesn’t everyone do it? It
seems like it would be a really common thing. It’s a cheap way to improve your health
and your overall well-being, so what is the problem?
Well, I think we all have to acknowledge the fact that the cold is uncomfortable. It is a
very powerful force, and when the human body is exposed to the cold, the central
nervous system is fed a lot of information that it doesn’t normally receive. This causes
us to freak out! We are thrown
t hrown into a panic, and we simply cannot do anything but try
to get out of the cold and
a nd back into the comfort of the warmth again.
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In our minds, the cold is a lethal force, an unbearable thing that we must avoid
immediately. And unless you actually have the ability to get out of the cold when you
need to, your mind is correct . It doesn’t matter who you are ; you will die if you are
exposed to the cold for long enough. It is a deadly force, and it must be respected.
However, when we use the cold as a training stimulus, with respect, we are in no real
danger. We can simply turn off the cold shower. We can get out of the ice bath. We can
walk inside from the cold air and
a nd snow outside. Yes, we are no longer at the mercy of
the cold when we put ourselves in a controlled environmen
environment.
t.
Rule #1: The Primary Rule of Cold Training:
Always Train in a Controlled Environment
The primary rule of cold training is that we must always train in a controlled
environment. What does this mean? I want to be able to go jump into a frozen over lake!
That doesn’t sound like a controlled environment, so does that mean I can never do
that? No, of course not. With the right training and preparation, you will be able to
jump
into aof
frozenfrozen-over
over lake
without
taking
ingand
a dangerous
But you
must
mus
t start
from
the bottom
a mountain
to get
to thetak
top,
that is howrisk.
it works
with
cold
training.
In this book, I have outlined a basic progression that should be doable for anyone,
without exception, provided that you do not have any of the health concerns outlined in
the beginning of this book.
What is a controlled environment?
1. A controlled environment is one that you can exit at any time without delay
or obstacle. This means that you should be able to
t o turn off the cold shower,
you should be able to get out of the ice bath, you should be able to walk
indoors or put on clothes if you are outside. You should never take a chance
with the cold.
Never.
if you
done
particular
of cold will
this exposure
exposure
many
times Even
before,
you have
should
notaassume
thatkind
happen without a problem. The body can react in ways that might surprise
you at the worst times, so always be able
a ble to exit the cold as soon as you wish.
We will discuss this rule as it applies to each kind of cold exposure in the
following chapters.
2. A controlled environment is one that is not a giant leap from your current
training regimen. This means th
that
at if you are currently takin
taking
g 2 minute cold
showers in 15 C (60 F) water, a 2 minute ice bath in 2 C (35F) is an uncontrolled
environment. It is too big of a jump from what you are used to. Instead, you
would want to begin with as close to the same time and temperature as
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possible; this way there is only one variable; the medium of the exposure
(showers vs bath), not multiple variables (time, temp, and medium).
This rule is the most important rule of cold training. And it is also the one that I see
people ignore the most often. This is because, if you are a person
p erson who is adventurous
and brave enough to even begin cold training, you are probably a person who enjoys
taking risks or at least someone who believes in pushing yourself. How do I know this?
Hello, my friend. I am one of you. And let me tell you from my years of experience
training in the cold that this is one area of your life where it pays to be slow and
“boring;” where being conservative with our safety will not only be the path that leads
you to fewer injuries (or death), it will also lead you to a faster progression in the cold.
What? Did I just make the claim that
t hat slow and cautious training will lead to
faster progress? Yes, I did. This is for two reasons:
1. When you push yourself too far in the cold you might die (which brings your
progress to a pretty swift stop), or you might seriously injure yourself (ie.
Frostbite, severe after-drop, or hypothermia). Not only will this result in
injury or death, your recovery time will take you out of the cold. But the slow
and cautious trainer will only have an injury or after-drop in rare occasions,
meaning that s/he will be able to constantly work toward progress.
2. Cold exposure is only 10% physical. It is at least 90% mental. Cold training is
unlike most other forms of training in that you are utilizing parts of your
nervous system in a very specific way when you train. This makes the mental
aspect of the training something that cannot be “muscled through.” The
harder you try to “grin and bear it,” the deeper you prove to your psychology
that the cold is a negative experience that should be avoided. You will have a
deep urge to avoid the cold that you will not be able to intellectually
overcome like you can with most things. Quite literally, if you push yourself
too hard in the cold,
c old, you will create a psychological trauma that will prevent
you from progressing.
progressing. I know that this sounds odd, but please take my word
for it. It is very hard to overcome a learned fear of the cold, even if you know
that it wasn’t your intent to create such a phobia. Slow and cautious is the
only way if you want to look forward to snowy days when you can play
outside only wearing shorts. It starts with how you train your mind to
respond to the cold, which means that it starts in the shower, and there is no
way to skip to the end.
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Rule #2: Progress Slowly
So, again, if you are like me, the first thing that you want to be able to do is brag about
how long you can go and about how cold you can go. Of course, I wouldn’t have
admitted this early on, but every time someone asked me about my ice bathing practice,
I wished I could say longer times and colder temperatures. As humans, we crave
bragging rights. It’s normal, so don’t feel bad if you want to brag.
This kind of vanity is especially common in the weight room. People want to move
more weight than the person next to them, and it usually causes improper form, which
generally leads to injury. Come to the cold with humility and remember that vanity in
the cold is a recipe for problems, especially when it comes to progression over time.
We have all heard the story of the turtle and the hare. The hare is quick out of the gate,
but it is the slow and steady turtle who actually wins the race. Be the turtle. Yes, you can
speed through the first steps of training and progress yourself to temperatures and
times that will sound quite impressive, but believe me, the person who progresses
slowly with discipline will be the person who is swimming circles in the ice twenty
years from now while the hares have given up because they just can’t seem to get past
their initial sprint. Yes, it is possible to progress quickly in the beginning, but those who
are patient and disciplined will go longer and colder in the long run, and when it comes
to cold training, we are really mostly interested in it for the long run because we want
to continue to receive the benefits for our physical and mental health.
Rule #3: Decide to Enjoy the Cold
As previously discussed, it is natural to be repelled by the cold. This is a natural
reaction to a temperature outside of the comfort zone, one that challenges our bodies’
homeostatic status. And also as previously stated, cold training challenges the body, but
the mind plays the largest role. As it is with anything that involves mental discipline, if
one can enjoy the experience, one is more likely to be successful.
So, practice smiling in the cold, and laugh at the sheer audacity that you have in order
to even try such a feat. Many people believe that you must have a straight face and
closed eyes. They picture a monk meditating on a snowbank, and they think that it is
the silent posture that allows the monk to be able to handle the cold. This is not the case.
Smile big. Look around. Witness the moment. Listen to music that makes you happy.
At first, you will likely notice that it is much easier to play and listen to music, laugh
and have fun. With time, you will likely challenge yourself to silence, to seated postures
like you might see a monk engage in, and ultimately to untimed long exposures where
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you listen to your body whisper and need nothing else but silence. It’s harder to do what
the monk is doing.
Going back to Rule #2, remember
r emember that you don’t need to hold yourself to the monk’s
standard of cold exposure for a long time, possibly many years. For now, your goal is to
reprogram yourself from being repulsed
repulsed by the cold to being pleasured by the cold.
This cannot be rushed, but in time, you will feel an
a n icy gust of wind and smile. It will be
as pleasurable as a cool breeze on a hot summer day. This will only happen if you are
serious about training yourself to enjoy the cold.
Rule #4: Prepare, Endure, and Recover from Every
Cold Exposure
Every cold exposure consists of three parts. Each part is important, and one will benefit
if one takes them all seriously.
1. Prepare: Before getting into the cold, one should visualize the experience.
Prepare
yourself
mentally forthe
thecold
coldinbyyour
thinking
it will feelit in
beforehand,
by experiencing
mindabout
beforehow
experiencing
reality. One should also be sure to take safety precautions that will vary
depending on the kind of cold exposure you intend to do (This book will
cover how to safely prepare for each kind of cold exposure).
2. Endure: When you are actually in the cold, you must be fully there. You
should not be distracted. Much of the secret to cold exposure lies in one’s
ability to focus only on the cold and nothing more. During a cold exposure,
one should scan the body and mind, learning how your body and mind work
under cold stress. Listening to one’s self is one of the skills that you will
develop as a cold trainer. You must know when your body is telling you that
you
should When
get outwe
of are
the in
cold,
this
something
that comes only with
experience.
theand
cold,
weispractice
listening.
3. Recover: After a cold exposure, two of the most common mistake
mistakess that
people make is to rewarm too quickly or to start working on another project
way too quickly. In this book, we will cover rewarming in-depth, but it is
important to always recognize that after one exits a cold exposure, one will
still need to set aside time to recover from the cold. It is during the first few
minutes that follow a cold exposure that super-cooled blood will begin to
circulate from your extremities to the core of the body. If this
t his happens too
quickly, one can experience “after-drop” or even hypothermia. It is normal to
feel a chill after a cold exposure, but it should subside in a matter of a few
minutes.
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Rule #5: Learn to Listen to the Body’s Whispers
In many parts of this book, I will talk about how we are to listen to the “body’s inner
voice.” This may sound esoteric or spiritual in nature, but it is a very real thing that we
learn to do when we engage with the body.
When we discuss the prospects of communicating to the body, we often get bogged
down with misconceptions and questions like: “What does the body’s voice sound
like?” “How do I know my body is listening?” “How do I know that my body has heard
me?”
All of these make erroneous assumption that the body speaks a verbal/written
language. It doesn’t. You can say words to your body all day, but the only part of you r
being that understands what you are saying is the language processing centers in your
brain. So, how do we speak to the body?
The concept of “mind/body connection” has been discussed in various forms in the
plethora of athletic fields that exist, and I think it is a great example of learning to listen
to the “inner voice.” It is the notion that we can become aware of our body’s state and
a nd
needs based on a regular and repeated
r epeated cycle of action and self-observation. For instance,
with enough experience, a weight trainer
t rainer will know the difference between the pain
that comes from an injury versus the pain that comes from soreness.
soreness. He will know
when he is fully activating his muscle fibers and when he is only getting 80%.
When we use our bodies and pay attention,
a ttention, we begin to get to know ourselves in a way
that would not be possible if we didn’t. This connection is how we are able to gauge
g auge
how we feel, “how much we have left in the tank,” and how far we can reasonably push
ourselves. It also informs us on how we should approach recovery, what we should
feed ourselves, and whether we should push ourselves as far tomorrow as we did
today.
This process of learning how our body responds to stimuli is the process of learning to
communicate with the body. For the purposes of this book, we are learning to listen to
our inner voice, the non-verbal/nonnon-verbal/non-word-using
word-using voice, that informs us how far we can
push ourselves without experiencing injury, how long our recovery time will be, and
how ready we will be for another exposure. The body doesn’t use words. It uses a far
more subtle method of communicating that you must learn to decipher for yourself.
Learning to listen to the body is the most important goal of every cold exposure. It is
very difficult to describe well, so you must make an effort to listen to your body from
the very first exposure.
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Your body wants to maintain homeostasis above all things. While you may be
interested in improving your immune system over time or ridding yourself of
inflammation, your body has only one goal; to survive. When we provide our bodies
with a proper training stimulus, we are communicating to our bodies; not with words,
but with a message that our bodies will understand. This book is a guide to help you to
use cold training to communicate effectively with your body.
When we get into the cold, we are asking our bodies to become more resilient, stronge
stronger,
r,
healthier, and more fortified. However, if we fail to “listen” (again, not with our ears,
but with our awareness), we run the risk of sending the signal stronger (or weaker) than
we actually intend. There is a difference between
between a pat on the back and a hard slap on
the back! Therefore, it is important to constantly try to be aware of how our bodies
respond to the cold, making mental notes as we go. If you train progressively as
described in this book, you should be able to “hear” your inner voice and learn to home
in on its signal before you get into an extremely cold situation. We want to be able to
hear the body whisper to us, and the only way to do this is to pay attention to how our
body responds to the cold over repeated exposures. Learn to listen to your body, and
a nd
you will develop a mind/body connection that you never thought possible. It’s not
magic. It’s awareness.
Here are some tips on how to best begin your practice of listening to your inner voice:
1. Before every cold exposure, scan your body. How does it feel? How do you feel
psychologically?? Can you make a connection between your p
psychologically
psychological
sychological state
and the way your feel?
2. Right before you begin your cold exposure, scan your body and mind. How does
this feel? Can you make a connection between your psychological state and the
way you feel right now? How is your body preparing for the cold? Notice subtle
changes.
3. As soon as you enter the cold exposure, what happens? Where does it happen?
Be observant! Are these feelings fleeting, or do they seem to intensify? Perhaps
they feel like something that might subside with time. Be present and listen.
4. As you endure the cold, how does your body adapt? What messages could your
inner voice be sending you? How long does it take to adapt?
ada pt? Is it longer this time
than last? Shorter? Observe the way you feel psychologically. Can you observe
changes as you endure the cold? Be present and listen.
5. As you exit the cold, how do you feel? What messages could your inner voice be
sending you? What is your inner voice trying to say? What are the immediate
physical changes that
that occur when you sstep
tep out of the cold? Be present. Listen.
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6. As you recover from the cold, what changes occur? What could your inner voice
be trying to say? Is there a span of time when you feel like your body is
processing the cold blood from your extremities
extremities?? How long does it take before
you feel normal again? Did you push yourself too far? Be present.
p resent. Listen.
Your body is always speaking to you. Ultimately, you will be getting to know yourself
in a deeper way than ever before. You and your body will become partners in your
shared mission to live a healthier life.
Rule #6: Control Your Breath in the Cold
In this book, I will describe various kinds of cold exposure. I will remind you that you
should always try to keep your breathing slow and controlled, breathing in through the
nose and out through the mouth. The reason why this is the best way to
t o breathe in the
cold is because we want to tell our bodies to stay calm. And your body doesn’t speak
English… or any language for that matter! You must know how to speak to it, and
words are not going to do anything. Therefore, we use our breath. We slow the
breathing down to send the message to our autonomic nervous system to downregulate the “fight or flight” response. This allows us to adapt to the cold more easily
and make safe controlled choices when in the cold. Yes, you will likely feel a very
strong urge to breath quickly and frantically at first. Just know that this is normal. An
important part of cold training is learning to stay calm in the face of the cold. So always
focus on your breath. Slow it down. Breathe in through the nose and out through the
mouth.
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Section 3.
The other 10%- After-drop, hypothermia, and frostbite
While cold training is 90% mental, it should be obvious that the physical side is still
very important to take seriously. When we train in the cold, we are training both the
body and the mind, so every cold exposure is a very important training session. The
cold is an unforgiving force. It can be lethal, so it is important to be careful. There are
three major aspects of cold training that one should be aware of from the beginning.
They are frostbite, hypothermia, and after-drop.
1. Frostbite
Frostbite is something that no one thinks will happen, but it is a real danger,
especially for those who wish to engage in outdoor cold exposures with exposed
extremities. Frostbite is the result of cell damaged caused by the cold. It usually
affects the extremities first, but any exposed skin can become frostbitten if
temperatures are low enough for long enough. Generally, this is only an issue
when training outdoors or skin-to-ice,
skin-to-ice, but it is something to always be wary of.
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2. Low Core Temp: After-drop and Hypothermia
After-drop is a mild form of hypothermia that is not pleasant
p leasant and should be
avoided, but it can be survived without the need for medical aid. Hypothermia is
a life-threatening condition that should never be flirted with.
Core blood cooling occurs when core body temperature drops below 95 F (35 C).
At this point, it is practically impossible for the body to recover its homeostatic
temperature of 98.6 F (37 C). Like frostbite, it is easy to succumb to this because
many of the symptoms that precede hypothermia are a sense of numbness as if
one is not overcooled.
The stages of hypothermia go like this:
Safety Zone: At first you feel the initial cold shock; then you adapt to the cold
and feel somewhat comfortable in the cold. This is the training zone, and you
should end your cold exposure before this period ends. Upon getting out, you
might feel a slight chill about 3 to 5 minutes after you get out of the cold. This is
normal and it will go away. Getting out while still in the safety zone is the ideal
ending to a cold exposure.
Danger Zone: After the initial adaptation, there will be a safe zone. The length of
this time will vary. But eventually you will feel uncomfortably cold again. At this
point, you have stayed in the cold for too long. If you get out of the cold quickly,
you will probably only suffer “After-drop,” the condition of a cooled core that is
uncomfortable,, but something anyone can recover from naturally if one has left
uncomfortable
the cold exposure.
Symptoms of After-Drop: If you experience After-Drop, you will likely not
realize that you have been in the cold too long. You will likely feel “fine” when
you exit the cold exposure, but after three or four minutes, you will begin
experiencing chills, uncontrollable shivers, possible body aches and weakness,
and a sudden loss of energy. It feels bad.
How to Treat After-Drop: The most important thing to do when you experience
after-drop is to stay calm and avoid
av oid over-doing your re-heating. This is because
after-drop is caused by the release of super-cooled blood from the extremities
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and skin returning to the core. We want to slow this return down as much as
possible. If we get into a hot shower or a sauna, we will open those blood vessels
wide open, allowing a rush of cooled blood to the core all at once rather
r ather than
slowly, and that can cause things to become even worse. The best remedy for
after-drop is slow body movement or lying down, put on thermal clothes, have
hot tea, and try to relax. Focus on inhaling slowly through
t hrough the nose and exhaling
slowly through the mouth. Relax, relax, relax. I would say “chill,” but when you
are suffering from some tough after-drop, puns aren’t funny. Just relax and focus
on slow and controlled breathing. The after-drop will reach its peak and then
slowly recede. Normally, after-drop will be over within 30 minutes, but you will
likely feel chilly off and on throughout the rest of the day.
Extreme cases of after-drop: In the worst cases, you can use warm water bottles
placed in your armpits to speed the rewarming process, but if you are to the
point where this is needed, be sure that another person is present to call 911 if
you do not recover quickly. If you are even slightly worried that you might be
hypothermic, take your temperature.
temperature. If it is 95 F (35 C)or lower, have someone
take you to the hospital immediately. If it is above 95 F (35 C), retake your
temperature every two minutes. It should consistently increase until you reach
homeostasis.
DEATH Zone: After the person has been in the Danger Zone long enough, s/he
will have a strange thing happen. S/he’ll begin to feel warm. Sometimes people
believe that they have adapted again, but in most cases, people who have
allowed themselves to endure the cold to this level are either incredibly unskilled
or they are in an uncontrolled cold exposure that has gone awry. At this point,
the person will likely be delirious and will need immediate medical care to avoid
a void
death. Do not take any chances. Never get to this stage. Never try to treat
hypothermia by yourself. Get immediate medical care.
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Section 4.
Setting Up a Cold Training Routine
Training in the cold means that you are regularly engaging with the cold. It doesn’t
mean that if you miss a day or two you aren’t a cold tr
trainer
ainer anymore, but it does mean
that you try to train daily. Sometimes you just can’t take a cold shower or an ice bath.
For instance, maybe you are going on a tropical cruise. There will likely be few
opportunities for a cold exposure. No biggie. You can get back into the flow of things
when you get home.
However, you must remember that you are constantly training, no matter what. When
you are training with the cold every day, you are training yourself to endure the cold.
But when you are not training in the cold, you are still training yourself, but you’re untraining yourself to endure the cold. If you go long enough in either direction, you will
eventually become acclimatized to one thing or the other.
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It’s just like working out in any other form of fitness. Your strength in any area depends
on your training consistency. I always inwardly roll my eyes when people tell me how
much they “used to be able to lift” or how they “used to take ten minute ice baths every
day,” and somehow they expect to be able to jump right back into it at that same level.
We are constantly training or un-training. If you intend to train in the cold, just know
that it will require consistency in your program.
With the cold it’s pretty simple, try to engage in the cold each day, remembering to
observe the Rules of Cold Training as described in the previous chapter.
You will notice that there is a lot of flexibility in the schedules below. This is because
one of the most important things you can do as a cold trainer is to
t o learn to listen to your
inner voice. Let it be the guide. So, what does that mean? Basically, that
t hat you should be
willing to be flexible with yourself as you train. Don’t make your training fit a mold. Be
willing to adapt as your body and mind adapt. The schedules below are examples of
how to make this work for you.
Weekly Training Schedule for Beginners
Begi nners and Intermediate Practitioners
Practiti oners
Between 3 and 7 Maintenance Days (Just doing what you have already done
before)
Between 0 and 3 Challenge Days (Adhering to Rule #1, but adding difficulty)
Optional 1 or 2 rest days (Yes, you can take a day off!)
Weekly Training Schedule for Advanced Practitioners
Pr actitioners
Between 5 and 7 Maintenance Days
Between 0 and 2 Challenge Days
Optional 1 to 3 rest days (as you become more advanced, you can take more days
off)
The caveat that I will add with Advanced Practitioners is that if you can clearly listen to
your inner voice, you don’t need a training
t raining schedule anymore. You’ll know what is best for
you. However, I want to put this
t his here so novice practitioners will see that that there will
eventually be a point where we will need to take fewer challenge days rather than
more. This is because, as you get deeper into the practice, you will find a limit.
What? Did you think that you progress forever? Sorry, there will be a limit. There will
be a limit to how cold you can safely go and a limit for how long you can train in the
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cold. This means that pushing yourself into a challenging exposure will involve more
risk. Advanced Practitioners should understand that.
How Should I start cold training?
Cold training can begin with almost any kind of cold exposure, but the easiest and
safest way to begin is with regular cold showers. Some people choose to begin with
outdoor exposure, but the cold shower is usually preferable because it offers a
consistent and measurable temperature that will not be affected by the wind or the
uneven distribution of cold caused by clothing. It is also generally safer because it offers
easier protection from frostbite. However, if you would like to challenge yourself with a
chilly outdoor exposure, that is fine. Don’t start with ice bathing or with any skin to ice
exposure.
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Section 5.
Facing Your First Cold Shower
In almost every place on the planet, a cold
c old shower’s temperature will vary depending
on the season. For instance, in the summer when the days are warm, the coldest cold
shower will always be warmer than a cold shower in the wintertime. This is generally
because
thethis
ground
temperatures
pipes. For
reason,
it is helpful affect
to takethe
thetemperatures
temperatureof
ofthe
thewater
wateras
asitittravels
leaves in
thethe
shower head to gauge the right temperature for you.
What is the right temperature for you? Ideally, you should try to go as cold as possible,
but that might be unbearable for you in the beginning. For this reason, you should
shoot for the coldest that you can stand for 30 seconds. I recommend starting with
warm-ish water and slowly turning the knob colder. When you get to the edge of your
comfort zone, push yourself to go a little colder. Keep edging yourself colder until you
are very uncomfortable but still willing to proceed. Take the temperature then.
With what shall I take the temperature?
tempera ture?
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A laser thermometer is the most accurate method of taking the temperature of your
shower. Just press the button and point the laser thermometer at the water. It’s that
easy. There are lots of great laser thermometers on the market for good prices.
Here are two laser thermometers that work very well:
Mini Pen Type LCD Non-contact Ir Infrared Pen Type Pocket Thermometer Meter DT-8220 Black
Ulife-JOY GM320 Digital IR Infrared Thermometer Non-contact LCD Laser Temperature Gun - -50 ~
380℃（-58 ~ 716℉), Instant-read Handheld for Hot Water Pipes / Hot Engine Parts / Cooking Surfaces
Your first 30 second Cold Shower
To begin receiving the benefits of cold training, you need to be able to endure it. Where
does that
begin? For
this program,
it is 30
seconds.
Again,
this
might
mean that
youyou
enter
the shower
at warm
on your first
attempt,
then
r educe
reduce
the
temperature
until
find the right temperature for you. This is fine, but don’t start the clock until you have
come to that temperature! It is fine to have your favorite music playing. That always
helped me!
How to enter
Before you enter the shower, make the decision for yourself. You aren’t doing this for
me. You’re not doing this for anyone else. You are doing
d oing this for yourself. You are
choosing to endure something that is uncomfortable, so much so that most people
won’t ever even try it. I salute you just for trying it. And even if you don’t make it aall
ll
the way to 30 seconds on your first try, just know that you are closer to 3300 seconds in a
cold shower than you were before you tried.
Before you get in, smile. Laugh and have a good sense of humor. Giggle at the audacity
of what you are doing. Visualize the experience and decide that you are going to enjoy
it. Smile. Then get in with resolve.
What to do in the shower
Once you are in the cold shower, just know that there will be an initial “cold shock” that
you will feel. It’s your body telling
t elling you that it is uncomfortable and that it is scared
because it is in a foreign environment. This is when you will have to remind yourself
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that you are in control, that you are safe, that you can exit whenever you want, and that
you are in no danger because you are in a controlled cold exposure.
While you are in the shower, move slowly to be sure that all of your body gets exposed
to the cold. Try to cover all parts of your body equall y. Don’t make sudden movements.
Just slowly rotate and move around to g
get
et the water all over y
your
our body.
Avoid the head at first, and just know that you never really have to get your head cold.
The body is the primary target.
After a few seconds, you will acclimate to the cold. This may not be obvious the first
few times, but as you continue your practice, you will notice a calm feeling that follows
the initial cold shock. This is your body accepting that it must endure the cold and
taking actions to endure it. It is your first taste of a response that you will feel many
times in the future as you progress. Take mental note of it with each shower.
Exiting Your First Cold Shower
When you have finished your first cold shower, don’t exit your shower right away.
Turn off the water, and spend a minute in the shower, dripping wet. Observe your
body. Are you cold? Are you warm? How do you feel? It is important to get into the
habit of learning to listen to the body. Be
B e observant. Everything you feel now is
something you will feel later. It’s all blurry and confusing at first, but with time, you
will be able to recognize how your body responds and recovers
r ecovers to cold exposure. This
starts on day one, and it never ends. We are always learning, even as we become
masters.
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Section 6.
Cold Shower Training
Cold showers are the foundations of almost every cold trainer in the world. They are
cheap, easy to access, and they are a great way to keep clean.
Technique:
The entire cold shower should be cold water only. While you are in the shower, move
slowly to be sure that all of your body gets exposed to the cold. Try to cover all parts of
your body equally. Don’t make sudden movements. Just slowly rotate and move
around to get the water all over your body.
Slow your breathing down. Breath in through the nose, and out through the mouth. Try
to come to a normal breathing pace as quickly as possible. Just focus on your breath and
the feeling of cold water. Nothing else.
While the face is fine, avoid focusing the head at first, and just know that you never
really have to get your head cold. The body is the primary target.
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Temperature
As soon as you possibly can, only cold shower with the coldest possible setting that
your shower will produce. I recommend checking the temperature with a laser
thermometer to ensure that you account for the changes in the seasons. The warmer
your cold shower, the longer you will want to spend in it to get the most out of it.
However, I recommend maxing out at 10 minutes, no matter what temperature you
have. If you no longer find this challenging, it is time to ice bathe or to spice up your
training with extremities training that we will explore later in this book.
Duration
Start with increments of 30 seconds. Your time will likely increase very quickly in your
first month. This is great, but don’t expect this to be the norm forever. Think of it as
returning to your normal state of health in the beginning. Modern humans have been
de-conditioned from being able to withstand extreme temperature swings, so think of
your initial gains as returning back to your original state of wellbeing.
Avoid the head in the beginning. Really, the body is what we are wanting to focus on.
The head is not needed at all for the benefits of cold training to be achieved via a cold
shower. However, eventually, you will likely want to experiment with putting your
head under the water. This is fine, but do not keep it under the water for very long.
Between 1 and 10 seconds is enough to get a nice rush! Avoid excessive times or
extreme temperatures with the head. The head is unlike the core and does not have the
same amount of insulation. It houses your brain, a very
v ery important organ! Don’t take
chances with this. It isn’t worth it.
Your goal is to slowly work your way up to a regular 5 to 10
1 0 minute daily cold shower.
Post-exposure Warming
After you have stayed in the cold shower for the duration of your cold exposure, turn
off the water and remain in the shower for at least a minute. This is especially important
early in your training.
tra ining. During this post-cold shower time, focus on observing your body
and mind. What has changed? How does your body recover from the cold. You are
looking for subtle changes that will vary from person to person. The most important
thing is to try to listen to your body. You are learning its subtle language. You are
learning how a cold recovery should feel. This will inform you later, when you progress
to a new temperature or a new duration; you will be able to know from your first few
minutes after a cold exposure whether or not you have pushed yourself too far. Listen
closely to your body’s whispers.
least a minute
After
have
spent
listening
to your
out ofskin.
the shower
towel you
off. As
you
dry at
yourself,
try to avoid
rubbing
thebody,
towel get
on your
Just daband
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yourself dry. Excessive rubbing can cause friction heat which may cause the blood
vessels on your skin to open too quickly, leading to after-drop. Most of the time, it
won’t, but get into this habit to avoid problems down the road.
Redness of skin is normal.
Progression
In your first two to eight weeks, you may progress in time or in temperature more
quickly than later in your practice. Here are your goals in your first two weeks:
1. Your first goal is to shower with the coldest water possible.
2. Be able to enter a cold shower without beginning the shower
shower with warm water.
3. Increase your time by a minute on your first challenge day once you have
become comfortable with 30 seconds in the coldest water possible without a
water
4. Find your “Maintenance Level” -This is a time and temperature that you can
endure without having to grind your teeth or “white knuckle it.” This is an
exposure that would be similar to a regular day at the gym; not going for records
or personal bests.
Training Schedule for Beginners and Intermediate Practitioners
Between 3 and 7 Maintenance Days
Between 0 and 3 Challenge Days
Optional 1 rest day
Interval Training
One technique that you can apply to cold training as a way to spice up your training is
interval training: going back and forth between the cold exposure and a warm
temperature. When you do this, you effectively open and close the capillaries on your
skin. This is a workout for your cardiovascular system, and some people find it to be
helpful for speeding up cold adaptation. If you choose to do interval training, always
begin and end with cold. For instance, you might train with the following:
2 minutes cold
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2 minutes warm
2 minutes cold
2 minutes warm
2 minutes cold
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Section 7.
Cold Baths first; Ice baths later!
Creating the Right Temperature
When
it comesistoatransitioning
from
full-body
immersions,
safe
transition
cold bath. This
is acold
lightshowers
ice bath,toand
you will
need to addone
icevery
to the
water in most cases to ensure that you are getting the water cold enough. However,
your temperatures should
should range between 10C (50F) and 20C (68F). This means that you
will need most likely need to cool the water below the tap water temperature.
If you have a bathtub,
ba thtub, this will normally work. It isn’t ideal for larger people because
parts of the body might poke out of the water or there may not be a lot of skin-to-water
contact. Many bathtubs also have an auto-drain function that makes the cold bath water
level recede as you bathe. I experienced all of these issues early on, so I just want you to
be aware that even with all of these issues, a bathtub is a fine starting place. It is not
ideal for the long run, but it is a fine place to start.
Cooling the water with Reusable Frozen Bottles
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For cold baths, you may opt to freeze water bottles in your freezer and reuse them with
each bath. This saves money, and it is relatively effective at cooling your bath. It is not
going to be anywhere as effective as using ice, but it is cheap and it makes the process
easy, especially in the beginning. If you choose to do this cooling method, give your
bath around 10 minutes to cool down, stirring the water periodically to ensure that the
water cools uniformly.
Pro tip- Because ice expands and will likely burst your bottles, there are a few things
you can do to improve your experience. I recommend adding about one ounce
(approximately 30 milliliters) to the water in each bottle and leave a little space for
expansion in the bottle. This will allow the water bottles to give you the cooling power
you want without forcing you to replace the plastic bottles.
Cooling your Cold Bath with Ice
This is the ideal way to cool water down. It is fast, and it is far more effective than the
frozen bottle technique. You can use the ice in your ice maker, or you can buy some ice.
The amount of ice will vary depending on the temperature that your tap water starts
with, so you will need to experiment. For most people, you will not need more than 18
kg (40 lbs) to get your water to the desired zone. If you use ice, be sure to stir the ice
around the tub to ensure that the water uniformly cools
cools.. Then get in as soon as you
want. Don’t worry if the ice fully melts. You don’t need ice floating at the top. The goal
is to bring down the water temperature.
How to Prepare
Scan your mind and body. Try to listen to your inner voice as you prepare for the
experience. Visualize yourself getting in, slowing down your breathing, and adapting to
the cold. Visualize yourself smiling in the cold, triumphant over your fears and the
discomfort
that the
cold might bring. Visualize yourself getting out of the tub, slowly
and deliberately,
successful.
How to Enter
Whether you are entering a cold bath, an ice bath, or a cold body of water outdoors, the
way to enter is always the same. You should move with control and purpose. You want
to be submerged up to your neck as quickly as possible without slipping or tripping or
bumping your head. So, while you should submerge yourself quickly, don’t go so
quickly that you make a sudden wrong step and injure yourself.
Try to slow down your breathing. Inhale slowly through the nose, and exhale slowly
through
mouth. deeply
This may
beuncontrollably
difficult at firstfast.
because
natural don’t
inclination
to
gasp andthe
to breathe
and
If thisthe
happens,
worry.isJust
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focus on slowing your breathing down to a controlled pace and focus on relaxing with
each new breath. In through the nose, and out through the mouth.
Put your hands on your legs or hold them above the water to keep them from hurting.
You aren’t losing any benefits of cold training by doing this. You’re not being weak.
Aching in the hands will likely cause your experience to suffer and possibly be cut
short. Just hold them next to your body or hold them out of the water.
Mastering the entry at this level will help you when you take your first ice bath. There
will be an initial shock. This is normal, and it generally lasts for about 30 to 60 seconds.
If you are at this level, you should be prepared to endure at least 30 to 90 seconds in the
cold water, possibly more. Once the shock wears off, the water will still feel cold, but
you will have adapted to it. It will not be the monster that it once was. You will be one
step closer to mastering the cold, but more importantly, you will be one step closer to
mastering your stress response.
response. This is how we tr
train
ain it!
Duration
By the time you are at this level, you should be prepared to spend around 90 seconds in
the cold water. Don’t go for more than 3 minutes on your first attempt. If you get out
o ut
and allow yourself to warm up, you can re-enter
re -enter the water for up to 3 minutes if you
wish. But just remember that this is the first of many future cold baths. Don’t try to get 2
cold baths in 1. Remember that it takes many exposures over time to build your mastery
over the cold.
As you continue your practice, feel free to add more time in increments of 30 seconds to
1 minute at a time, but no more. The colder the water, the shorter the duration. Don’t
try to push barriers too quickly. Remember to focus on the feeling of your body in the
cold. You are listening to the body to prepare for colder and longer exposures -but you
have to do this work first so you can listen to the subtle whispers of the body. If you
skip these steps and go straight to longer exposures or exposures in intense cold, you
will not have learned to listen to the way your body responds to the cold stimulus. We
need to be able to listen to our inner voice to be safe in extreme cold exposures later on.
It varies from person to person, but you are searching for the moment of “adaptation,”
that moment when you are no longer in the shock of the cold. Your breathing will slow
down, your muscles will relax. Will you still feel the cold? Of course, you will. But you
will not be as shaken or affected by it. You will still feel cold, but you will be calm
rather than tense.
How to Exit
When
your that
timeyou
is up,
andtopurposefully
make
yourbeway
out stiff;
of thethis
cold
bath.
Remember
doslowly
not want
slip or fall. You
might
a little
is okay.
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Just gently get
get out of the cold w
water
ater and move to a place where you can drip dry for a
few minutes.
Post-Exposure Warming
After a cold bath or any full-body water submersion, the post-exposure warming
procedure is the same. The rule with full-body cold water immersions is that you are
“in the cold” for double the time that you were in the water. What that means is that it
will take roughly twice the time for your body to warm itself than you were in the cold
exposure. There is a lot of cooled blood that has been held in your extremities that will
need to recirculate throughout the body. Remember what we said about after-drop and
hypothermia. Ideally, we want this rewarming process to be slow and controlled, not a
fast rush of cooled blood back into your core. So, you do not want to add any heat to
your body. You want to keep the cooled blood out in the extremities so that body
temperature will warm the blood some before it recirculates. So, here is the protocol:
Do not towel off immediately.
Sit or stand, eyes closed, focusing only on your breath (in through the nose, out through
the mouth). If you want to make slow limited movements you may, but don’t do
anything strenuous (no push-ups, jumping jacks, etc.) Observe the way your body
reacts to the change in temperature. Learn the way your body rewarms itself. Where
does it feel cold? Where does it feel warm? You have to find this out for yourself. The
specifics will vary from person to person.
After you have spent double the time out of the cold re-warming than you were in the
water, you should feel back to normal. If you don’t, just keep your
your mind clear and
continue relaxed slow body movements. It is possible that if you don’t feel back to
normal after twice the time that you were in the bath, that you pushed yourself a little
too much in this exposure. Either dial back the degree of cold or the duration in your
next cold bath. Reassess using the same metric next time.
Towel off, and feel free to wear thermal
t hermal clothes after your post-exposure
post-exposure warming is
complete. Just be comfortable the rest of the day.
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Section 8.
Ice Bathing
Many people engage in ice baths as a post-training remedy. Many athletes will tell me
that they have spent 20 to 30 minutes in an ice bath. When I first started ice bathing, I
couldn’t understand how this was possible. I later discovered that many people h ave
different interpretations of what an ice bath is. Athletic ice baths are generally between
10C (50F) and 20C (68F). This is certainly cold, but it is not the extreme cold that one can
achieve if you add more ice.
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In my practice, I generally shoot for 2C (35.5F) to 5C (41F). This is because my goal is to
imitate a naturally occurring frozen over body of water. The ice bath, for the purposes
of this book, is an artificial frozen over lake. The goal is to replicate nature.
Before attempting an ice bath, please train in a cold shower or cold bath. You need time
to develop mental and physical endurance before you attempt ice bathing. See the
t he
training schedule to help you know when to advance.
Warnings
Ice baths are normally where people begin to push themselves too hard, so I want to
give you some caution. Please don’t wait until you are shivering to get out of the water.
There will be an initial shock, followed by an adaptation.
a daptation. This is the safety zone for cold
training. It is during this time that you must learn to listen to your inner voice to know
approximately how long this safety zone will last. We don’t have to exit as soon as this
safety zone starts, but we need to exit the cold before the safety zone ends. Get out
while you are still feeling good; like you could still go longer if you needed to. Do not
wait until you feel bad.
You should always have someone present to observe you in the ice bath, just in case
you need help.
How to prepare an Ice Bath
For someone who is serious about ice bathing, one must graduate from the bathtub to
some other kind of tub that can be filled with enough water and ice to fully submerge
your entire body without anything but your head poking out. I have a 100
10 0 Gallon horse
feeding trough that works very well, but there are lots of options. Here is what I use:
https://amzn.to/34SYQNi
How Much Ice Does an Ice Bath Require?
Many people ask me how much ice they need to add to water to have a proper ice bath.
The answer will vary depending on the temperature of the tap water and the
temperature of the air. However, the following is my usual formula:
65 Kilograms of ice per 380 Liters of water
Or for my fellow citizens of the USA:
145 Pounds of ice per 100 gallons of water
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This will provide a very good ice bath in almost all cases. Obviously, this is a lot of ice!
And it is also a lot of water! So, splitting the bill with a friend who also wants to ice
bathe is a great option.
This is why I recommend only ice bathing once or twice per week. It gets expensive fast!
Sadly, this is also why many people push themselves too hard in ice baths in the
beginning. It is a lot of setup and money for something that will only last between 90
seconds and a hand full of minutes. Please believe me when I tell you this; do not try to
“get your monies worth” by staying in the ice for longer than what is safe. I know that
you will feel like it is a waste of money when you dump out the ice water, but it will
actually harm you and your progress if you stay in the cold for too long.
One solution for the time and expenses is to use a tub that you can leave outdoors in the
winter. Just cover the tub after you get out, and let the cold weather keep it cold for you.
You can get a week or much more out of just one prep if the weather cooperates.
Another option that many people are doing now is converting a deep freeze into a cold
plunge.
Thisonline.
is basically a 24/7 ice bath. There are lots of good resources for creating
one of these
Temperature
Again, the goal is to shoot to imitate a natural frozen over lake, but that does not mean
that you should start there (or end there). If you have been paying
pa ying attention to your
body and have graduated slowly from cold showers, to cold baths, to ice bathing, you
should know your body well enough to begin understanding that there is a special
“sweet spot” just for you. Many life -long ice bathers prefer 7C (45F) or 10C
1 0C (50F) to a
temperature that is as extreme as nearly frozen. Others add salt to their ice baths to
attempt to reduce temperatures lower than what are typical in fresh water. As for
myself,
many different
temps,
butEven
I prefer
between
1C and
2C foror
a longer
durationI have
of 3 totried
5 minutes
for a daily
ice bath.
though
I could
go colder
without having negative effects, I feel my best when I stay in that range. This is what
experience and listening to your body will do for you.
Duration
Your first ice bath should be no longer than 90 seconds, just long enough to experience
the adaptation. After you do 90 seconds once, try it again on another day. If, after both
exposures, you feel that you would like to progress, add 30 seconds to your next ice
bath. Never progress faster than 30 seconds at a time, and always do the same temp and
time twice before deciding to progress on the next exposure. Refer to the training
program covered earlier in this book.
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There will come a time when you cannot go any longer or any colder. Even the current
record holder of the longest ice bath has a limit and will die if he stays in the ice too
long. As with anything, progress in the beginning will be faster than after you have
been training for a year or so. And you might even run into a time when you feel that
you cannot do the same duration that you once could a month or so ago. This is okay.
Just listen to your
your body, and if you feel that you need
need to exit the cold eexposure,
xposure, do not
hold on to your goal time. Obey the body, not the clock.
Before entering the ice bath, visualize the experience, the deliberate entry, the slowing
down of your breath, the placing of your hands on your legs, and the smile that will
come over your face. Visualize yourself adapting to the cold, victorious over it! Then
visualize yourself exiting the ice and going to recovery time.
How to Enter an Ice Bath
You should move with control and purpose. You want to be submerged up to your
neck as quickly as possible without slipping or tripping or bumping your head. So,
while you should submerge yourself quickly, don’t go so quickly that you make a
sudden wrong step and injure yourself.
Try to slow down your breathing. Inhale slowly through the nose, and exhale slowly
through the mouth. This may be difficult at first because the natural inclination is to
gasp and to breathe deeply and uncontrollably fast. If this happens, don’t worry. Just
focus on slowing your breathing down to a controlled pace and focus on relaxing with
each new breath. In through the nose, and out through the mouth.
Again, put your hands on your legs or hold them above the water to keep them from
hurting. You aren’t losing any benefits of cold training. You’re not being weak. Aching
in the hands will likely cause your experience to suffer and possibly be cut short. Just
hold them next to your body or hold them out of the water.
How to endure and Ice Bath
When you are in the ice bath, focus on slow inhales through the nose and calming
exhales through the mouth. Focus on the feeling of cold all around your body. Don’t try
to escape it or muscle it. Just feel it.
I know many people might say that you should “think warm thoughts” or visualize
yourself becoming
becoming warmer and warmer, but the truth is that your mind and body are
a re
already built for this kind of stressor. You just need to get out of the way. How do we
get out of the way? We clear
c lear our minds of all thoughts, we focus on keeping our
breathing slow and relaxed, and we focus on the feeling of the cold.
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Face the cold. Accept the cold. Don’t strain or try to “muscle” your way through the
experience. Just accept the experience. Keep an understanding that you are doing this
willingly, that you made the decision to get into the ice, and
a nd it is your decision to
endure the ice for the amount of time that you feel is appropriate.
a ppropriate. Practice observing
yourself being resilient, strong, and decisive.
While you are in the ice bath, observe how your body and mind react. In your first ice
baths, this will likely be challenging. There is just so much new input coming to your
central nervous system! That is fine. Just try to be present and try to observe yourself.
Yes, you will feel intense cold. But, how does this affect
a ffect your breathing? What areas of
your body react the most strongly? What areas seem to not get as
a s cold as you thought
they would?
This will vary for everyone. For me, I struggled with my arms. They would ache in the
cold in my first hand-full of ice baths, but this went away in time. Others report feeling
an aching or tensing up in the shoulders and neck area. It is normal to have a weak
spot. Just focus on relaxing that area, and in time, it will adapt too.
Recognize the changes that happen in each single ice bath, but also note changes in
yourself over time too. You will see the power of hormesis, the incredible ability that we
all have to grow stronger when we are introduced to the right about of stress.
Remember the warnings from before about over-cooling. There will be an initial coldshock, but this will be followed by a calming feeling as long as you are focused on
slowing your breath and focusing on the cold. Once you calm down, this is generally a
safe time where you will stress the body in a healthy way to receive the immediate and
long-term benefits of cold training.
You should get out while you are still feeling calm and adapted. Don’t wait to feel like
you just can’t take any more. Don’t wait until you are shivering in the water or
chattering your teeth. If you wait that long, you will likely suffer some after-drop, as
discussed previously in this book. This is where experience will guide you. Listen to
your body whisper the need to get out while you are still in the safety zone. Don’t wait
for your body to be in agony.
How to Exit an Ice Bath
When your desired time has been reached or when you feel that you should exit the
t he ice
bath, slowly brace yourself and exit the water. You
Y ou should not make any sudden moves,
and you should be prepared to feel a little stiff. People usually do not suffer much
stiffness, but it is possible, so just be aware.
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Post-Exposure Warming
After you have gotten out of the ice bath, remember that your skin is still holding on to
lots of super-cooled blood. Do not towel off right away. Do not get into a hot bath or a
hot shower right away.
The Importance of the Post-Ice Bath Meditation
The post-ice bath recovery time is generally twice the amount of time that you were in
the ice bath, but it might be more. You have to listen to your inner voice. If you took a
90 second ice bath, you should plan to clear your mind of thoughts and focus on your
breathing for at least 3 minutes. We want to focus on the body, not other worries of
your life during this time. Think of the post-ice bath recovery time as a meditation. It is
crucial that you avoid going straight from the ice to doing other activities. This is
because we want to focus ourselves on the task of recovery. If we allow our minds to go
back into everyday problem-solving mode, we will not be able to take full advantage of
our brain-stem’s uncanny ability to thermoreg
thermoregulate
ulate our bodies. Stay out of your
problem-solving
brain
for at least
twice the time that you were in the ice bath for best
results and to avoid
possible
after-drop.
Instructions for Post-Ice Bath Rewarming Meditation
Find a safe place where you will not slip, and while still dripping wet, slowly move
your arms and legs. This doesn’t have to be a specific movement. Anything will work.
Move your arms through their ranges
ra nges of motion. Do slow squatting motions with your
legs. Just keep the movement slow and purposeful.
This is not a time to do strenuous exercise. There is a heightened risk for injury if you
do anything strenuous, so just keep your movements to a minimum. You don’t even
have to move around. I usually don’t. I usually
u sually stand up straight with my eyes closed
closed
and smile as I observe my body recovering from the cold (learning to hear my inner
voice).
You don’t have to move around at all. You may sit in a meditative pose or stand
straight up. Don’t do anything that requires a high degree of coordination. The most
important part of this time is to keep a clear mind, to aavoid
void thinking about anything but
the present moment. Think about how your skin feels. Focus on keeping your breathing
slow and controlled; in through the nose and out through the mouth. Close your eyes if
that helps you keep a calm undistracted mind.
Observe yourself reheat. When the meditation time has passed ( at least 2x your ice
bathing time), towel off and put on warm clothes if you like. At this point, you can go
about the rest of your day. Do what you need to do to feel comfortable. Therm
Thermal
al
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clothing is just fine now because you have allowed your body to bring itself back into
homeostasis.
Section 9.
Cold Weather Exposures
Cold weather exposures are fun and very challenging. They put us back into nature.
They are also the most dangerous out of the cold exposures you may try. Why? Because
unlike any of the previously discussed cold exposures, we are now talking about being
in contact with an uncontrolled environment. Wait- I hope you say- I thought we were
never supposed to train in an uncontrolled environment!
Yes, it is true. An uncontrolled environ
environment
ment is generally to be avoided, but there are
ways we can bring control to the outdoor environme
environment
nt too -at least enough that we can
confidently look to nature as a reasonable place to train.
Outdoor walks and swims are subject to windchill and precipitation. These things can
drastically change the temperatures that you experience, so remember that. Moving
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water will always produce a more challenging cold experience than still water. Moving
air is the same way.
Outdoor Cold Air Exposures
One of the most thrilling things to do in the wintertime is to walk outside in nothing but
your shorts when temperatures are low. The neighbors might think you are crazy, but
you will have so much fun that you won’t care.
Now that you are ready to get out into nature, there are four big rules for cold walks to
follow. Incorporate this wisdom into your practice and get ready for an
a n unforgettable
cold exposure out in nature!
1. Always Pack a Safety Bag!
This is a rule that many people don’t think about early on. We are excited and confident
in our ability to endure the cold, so we just assume that we won’t need any warm
clothes. After all, isn’t that the point of a winter walk?
Why would we bring clothes along?
At first, you might not need a Safety Bag. Perhaps you are simply going to walk outside
in your driveway for a little while. Well, in that case, if you feel the need to escape the
cold, it will be very easy to walk indoors and warm up. No big deal. This is a great way
to test yourself, and it is as controlled of an outdoor exposure as you can get.
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However, when you begin to get more confident and more adventuresom
adv enturesome,
e, you will
likely want to wander further away from the safety of the indoors than a simple
driveway walk. As for me, I generally like going to parks and nature preserves. I love
the quietness and the serenity that I feel when I am all alone in nature. In many cases, I
wait for the cover of night to take a winter walk simply because I don’t want to have to
hassle with onlookers. This means that I may be more than a 5 or 10 minute walk away
from the safety of the indoors, and that means that if I don’t plan for an
a n unexpected
need for warmth, I could find myself in a dangerous situation. Suddenly,
Suddenly, the very act
that was meant to make me stronger and happier could lead to extreme after-drop,
hypothermia, frostbite, or death. That is why we always pack a safety bag.
A safety bag is your portable warm place. It is the insurance policy that
t hat you want to
have so you can focus on the experience, knowing that you are in no real danger. In my
safety bag, I always pack warm-up pants,
pa nts, a hoodie or sweatshirt, a coat, and possibly
even a yoga mat. Why a yoga mat? Well, in some cases, it is nice to have an insulated
floor to stand on if you need to change into thermal clothing quickly. I don’t always
take a yoga mat, but if I have any plans to take off my shoes or get into water, my yoga
mat is coming with me!
2. Cover Your Extremities!
You should always have gloves and a hat on a winter walk, and you should always
wear shoes in your winter walks unless you are very well trained and want to do
extreme extremities training.
training. Wim Hof ran a marathon barefoot above the arctic circle,
but he was very well trained! Even with all of his training and mind/body control, he
suffered frostbite on both of his feet. Frostbite is a real thing, and it is nothing to play
around with. Wear shoes if you are going on any walk of any real distance, especially if
you are walking in the snow. It is okay to take off your shoes for a little while, but don’t
make “barefoot” your clothing choice on any significant cold walk.
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Notice in this picture that I am wearing shoes, hat, gloves, and even a scarf? Do you
think I am missing out on the benefits or the challenges of the cold? Of course not! I am
maximizing the amount of time I can safely spend in the cold because I am not taking
risks with my extremities!
Again, being prepared for the off chance that you begin to feel miserable or cold in your
core is the difference between someone who is serious about training for a healthy life
and someone who is asking for problems.
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3. Be Mindful of the Experience. Be present.
Winter walks can be a lot of fun. They can challenge us in ways we have not been
challenged before. Things like windchill, precipitation, and barriers in the road can
make a winter walk unlike any other cold experience you have ever enjoyed. This is
why it can be easy to
t o lose concentration and forget to listen to your inner voice.
Again, the inner voice doesn’t use words. It is the subtle way that your body
communicates with you. It will let you know the difference between the cold that you
feel on your skin and the cold that could actually hurt you if it has infiltrated into your
core. Especially early on, it is important to try to do cold walks that allow you to focus
on your cold experience. This is one more way that we learn to listen to the inner voice.
Focus on the way your body feels. Focus on how you respond to changes in the
temperature or in the wind. Focus on the cold itself.
This is why it is usually not a good idea to have a lot of conversation during your first
winter
walks.
It keeps
us from
listening
to aour
innerHaving
voice. Don’t
get meat
wrong.
Anyor
one
who
has
trained
with me
knows
that I am
talker!
your friends
your side
being with others who are interested in cold training is very good! It adds an element of
safety, and it provides for great insights in discussions afterward. The thing to
remember is that the goal of the exercise that you are performing is to learn to listen to
your body and to increase your self-control. Try to focus on the task at hand. Appreciate
what is happening in the now, and when the experience is done, take some time to
reflect.
4. Don’t wait until you feel miserable to get warm.
People often ask me, how long should I stay in the cold? The answer that I always give
them is, “it depends!” Not very satisfying is it?
Please understand that I don’t mean to be cryptic. It’s just that the answer to the
question is not going to be the same for everyone. It depends on a lot of things.
The two most important factors to consider are the level of cold training that you have
accumulated and the state of mind that you are in. If you have done a lot of cold
training and you are very focused, your abilities in the cold will vastly outweigh a
novice to cold training or someone who is not focused.
Even with that said, how much cold training have done recently? Did you train hard
yesterday? Well, you might be recovering from that today. You may need to take it a
little easier today in your training. Did you train really hard for weeks and then stop
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altogether for a month? Well, you have probably lost a small amount of your cold
resistance.
Even with that said, focus is a factor that is impossible to fully measure. You might
really be focused one day and climb a mountain in your shorts with no problems
whatsoever. It is really impossible to tell another person an exact time.
The only one who can answer that question is your inner voice, the little whisper that
will let you know that you are about to reach your limit for the day. In the beginning, it
is hard for us to hear that voice, so that is why you never start at this level. At this point
you should have learned to hear your inner voice by cold
c old showering, cold bathing, and
ice bathing.
When you hear the inner voice telling
tell ing you to go inside or to put
p ut on clothes, you better
do it.
Trust it more than the clock or the thermomete
thermometer.
r. Sometimes it will surprise you.
Sometimes, I will have a goal to walk an hour in the snow, and twenty minutes in, the
inner voice tells me that it is time for me to get warm. And it doesn’t joke. The inner
voice has no sense of humor at all. It’s all business.
No one likes to listen to the inner voice when other people are around or when we are
trying to impress other people. This is why the ego is your enemy when it comes to cold
training. Yes, it is okay to be proud of your accomplishments, but don’t get c ocky!
When your inner voice says “get warm,” you had b etter listen!
Preparing for your First Cold Walk
Before you begin your cold exposure, have a plan. Plan your route. Never just set out
without
knowing
where
youyou
willknow
go andyour
howway
youvery
will very
be able
to return.
rAvoid
eturn.walking
Avoid doing
a
cold walk
in the dark
unless
well.
in poor
visibility; you don’t want your joyful experience to turn into tragedy.
It’s best if you have a good idea of how long it will take
t ake you to complete your r oute too.
The fewer things you leave to chance, the more controlled you have made your cold
exposure. This is what we want to do. We want to make our experience as controlled as
possible so we can continue in the days and years to come.
Temperature
The ideal time to begin outdoor training is when the seasons are changing and getting
colder. You don’t have to start on a snowy day. Start when there is a slight chill in the
air, and get accustomed to the way cool air feels to your body. It might sound strange,
but I have met lots of people who ice bathe regularly but have trouble with air at 10C
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(50F). Be patient with yourself. When it comes to outdoor training be gradual and
regular as you adapt to the cold weather.
Be mindful of the temperature, but be aware that in nature, temperatures vary. When
you look at your weather app, you are looking at an approximate temperature. It’s a
good indicator, but it is not going to tell you exactly what your air temperature will be,
and it will not completely tell you what your wind chill will be like. However, it is as
good as we have for these things in most cases, so always be mindful of the
temperature. Understand that air temperature will not feel as cold as water
temperature. Air at 0 C (32F) will be much easier to endure than water at the same
temperature, and that is why we can stay in the cold air for longer.
Duration
Remember the rules I laid out above. The most important thing to remember with
regards to duration is that you must get out of the cold while you are still in the safety
zone, when your inner voice whispers to you. So, don’t force any times, and be
prepared to be able to stay out one day for a long time while you have to retreat much
earlier the next. Listen to your inner voice, not your ego.
With that said, a typical outdoor exposure will last between 10 to 30 minutes. Apply the
progression table to this and you will find that you will eventually be able to
t o spend
hours outside. This is very possible, but you need to remember that everyone is
different, and this is not a race. Don’t expect to magically be able to endure Olympian
cold exposures over the course of one week. It took me years to develop my cold
resistance, and I still have to train regularly to avoid losing it.
How to Begin your Cold Air Exposure
Before you leave your warm space, be fully prepared mentally. Remember that you are
doing a kind
meditation,
so before
removing
your warm
outside,
beginoftomoving
focus on
your breathing.
Slow
inhales through
the clothes/walking
nose, and slow
exhales through the mouth is what you are looking for. Controlled inhales, and slow
relaxed exhales. Focus only on your task, and leave your worldly cares behind you. It is
time to focus only on the cold and on your breath.
How to endure a cold air exposure
By the time you graduate to this level, you should have a good handle on how to
endure the cold. Apply what you have learned from your own personal experience. Be
in the present. Stay in the safety zone.
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Again, the two most important things to do in the cold are to focus on your breathing
and to focus on the cold itself. Be aware of yourself, and be in the moment. Don’t allow
your thoughts to wander. Just be present in the moment.
Ending an Outdoor Cold Exposure and Post-Exposure Warming
Once your inner voice tells you to get out of the cold, or once you have completed your
planned exposure, put on your warm clothes and go to a heated place. When you are
out of the cold, find a comfortable place to sit or stand and close your eyes and observe
your body. You may make slow movements to move the blood around your body, but
refrain from intense activity. Spend at least 5 to 10 minutes in this state. You may leave
on your warm clothes or take them off when you are in the heated place. Do whatever
feels comfortable. You will not undo any of the good you have done in the cold. The
primary concern that you should have upon returning to the warm environment is to
avoid after-drop by keeping a clear mind and a relaxed body.
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Section 10.
Snow Walking (Barefoot in the Snow)
There will come a time when you may want to try walking barefoot in the snow. It is an
exhilarating feeling, but it should only be done with extreme caution. Again, frostbite is
a very real thing. It can happen to anyone, so don’t push your limits here. If you follow
these directions, you will slowly and safely become able to walk barefoot in the snow.
Training in the Shower First
Before setting bare feet on snow or ice, you should add ice training to your cold shower
regimen. This can be done by filling a bucket with ice water into the cold shower with
you to replicate the outdoor experience.
By this time, you should be able to take
ta ke a 10 minute cold shower in the
t he coldest water
that you can get in your climate. This replicates the effect of the cold on your body.
The Shower-Bucket Exercise goes like this:
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Get a timer or use two 5-minute songs to help you keep time. You will need a bucket of
ice. Put only enough water in the bucket to allow yourself to slip your foot fully into the
ice.
While in the cold shower, put one foot in the ice bucket. Leave it in the ice bucket for the
first 5 minutes. Then switch feet carefully. Be prepared for your cold foot to be numb
and awkward. At the end of the second 5 minutes, take the other foot out.
Do this every day that you don’t take an ice bath in preparation for walking barefoot in
the snow.
How to Practice Snow Walking
When it comes to snow-walking, the training is simple. Walk in the snow until it starts
to hurt. This will likely be only a few steps, maybe a dozen steps. Once it starts to hurt,
get out of the snow and towel off your feet. Wait at least 12 to 24 hours before doing it
again.
You might be saying, wait, that’s all? I wanted to hike up a mountain in bare feet! And
now you are telling me to go in as soon as they start to hurt? Like just a few feet? Yes.
That is exactly what I am saying. Trust me. You don’t want frostbite. And tr
trust
ust me;
your feet will adapt and get stronger. This is how they do that.
Some people will tell you that you can stay out much longer in the snow despite the
pain. They say that your feet will adapt and become warm. This is true only after
extensive training, but for most people (and just assume you are like most people), the
pain in the feet is followed by numbness and a massive cut-off of circulation to the feet.
This is usually followed by frostbite, and you might lose a toe or have burning of the
feet so bad that you
y ou will not be able to walk for weeks. Don’t listen to your ego. Listen
to your feet. If they hurt, your exposure is done.
How to Make Feet Ready for Snow Walking
Walk barefoot outside every day, even when it is warm outside. This might be easier for
some people and harder for others. For one, it may be the case that you live in an urban
environment and cannot easily do this. But the truth is that, if you want to walk on the
snow, you have to teach your feet that they don’t need the protection of shoes. Our
modern feet have become incredibly tender because we never allow them to touch
anything but carpet and tile. Introduce
I ntroduce your feet to what it feels like to walk on the
ground before there is snow on it. Snow is incredibly harsh; your feet need to be
prepared for it in more ways than simply being prepared for the temperature.
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Ideally, you will be able to walk at least 100 meters barefoot on a grassy surface each
day. I say at least because the more you can walk or run on grassy surfaces he better.
One hundred meters is the bare minimum. If you need to walk in circles, that is fine.
Just try to give your
your feet daily exposu
exposure.
re. This will improve
improve the toughne
toughness
ss of your fee
feet,
t,
hopefully help to form some thickening of your skin, and improve your circulation.
As the seasons change, keep up your routine. Ideally, you will begin in a warm time of
year and work your way colder gradually each day as the seasons change, but if this is
not the case, don’t worry. Just remember to cut your
y our walk short when your feet begin to
hurt from the cold.
Multiple Barefoot Exposures Within One Day
Yes, you can also do multiple barefoot exposures in a day. I would advise you to space
it out over the day rather than to do multiple exposures within the span of an hour. This
means you might do a barefoot walk in the morning and one in the evening. Try to put
around twelve hours between these exposures to allow your feet to recover. Remember
that it is the recovery that makes your feet stronger. The cold exposure is just the
stimulus. Too much of a stimulus is a very bad thing in this case.
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Section 11.
Not only is it fun to walkSkin
in the to
coldIce/Snow
air, you will Exposures
likely want to play in the snow with
your new found cold resilience. Have fun with it. Just be mindful of your inner voice,
and follow the rules already stated in this book.
First steps- rolling in the snow, snow angels, etc.
I recommend trying to make a snow angel or just rolling around in the snow to get your
first snow-to-skin experience.
experience. This is a fast exposure, and it will allow you to feel what
it is like to have snow directly touching you
yourr entire body. You will also notice what it
feels like to have snow stuck to your skin when you get up. Just brush it off gently
when you get up, and scan your body. Listen to your inner voice. Acknowledge that
you have increased the outdoor cold experience, and be attentive to your mind and
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body so that you can learn how adding this kind of exposure affects the overall
experience of the outdoor cold exposure.
Flip flop challenge- Lying in the snow
Another way to challenge yourself in the snow is simply to lie in it. Simply lie down
with
your
skin
exposed
and experience
the enough,
challengeyou
thatcan
snow
your
When
you feel
that
you
have challenged
one side
flip offers
over and
getbody.
the other
side too!
I advise you to do this kind of training near a place where you
y ou can escape from the cold.
It is easy to overdo this kind of exposure, so be mindful of how your body is handling
the cold. Don’t be afraid to go back inside earlier than you planned.
If you choose to do this when you are walking away from a warm environment, be sure
that you have your safety bag close by. Doing skin-to-snow exposures is generally a
way to find out where our limits are, so it isn’t a good idea to do this far from a warm
building. I always do this just outside of my home. In the winter, there are dozens of
outlines of my body all around the front yard.
Post-Exposure Warming
If you are attempting skin-to-ice exposure, you should
should be very familiar with how to
recover from a cold exposure. This is not for novice trainers.
t rainers. When you get into a warm
place, spend some time meditating or moving slowly to move your blood around, but
be sure that you dry your feet and fingers quickly beforehand.
beforehand. Move your toes and
fingers slowly to ensure that their circulation opens back up and that there are no
problems. Check your ears too. Just be sure to warm them up.
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Section 12.
Outdoor Ice Bathing
I RECOMMEND YOU NEVER DO THIS ALONE
If you do choose to try ice bathing in an outdoor setting, please use extreme caution and
never go alone. Remember all of the rules covered in the ice bathing section of this
book, and also use all of the advice I lay out in this portion that covers outdoor air
exposures.
I highly recommend that you avoid doing outdoor ice bathing unless you are with an
experienced teacher. Issues such as water depth and physical aspects such as rocks and
currents make outdoor ice bathing something that should only be done with
experienced outdoor ice bathers. This kind of cold exposure is especially challenging
because you will need to endure cold water, but then you will endure cold air upon
leaving the water, which adds another dimension to the challenge.
Before You Do Your First Outdoor Ice Dip…
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Before you even take the trip to the lake, pond, or seaside where you intend to take
your first dip, please remember to prepare.
Plan Your Every Step
Going back to the rules of all cold training, we want to be sure to apply the rule of
always training in a controlled environment. The problem with outdoor cold-water
exposures is that there are many variables that you simply have no control over. The
goal of a cold trainer is to eliminate as many variables that can be controlled before ever
getting into the water. I will cover the most common things that people should plan
around, but always try to visualize
vi sualize every step of your cold exposure before it happens.
Things can still go wrong, but at least you will minimize the number of things that
could cause you to have a less than ideal experience.
Here are variables that you should be aware of:
Clothes to and from the dip
On the topic of clothes, it is important to wear clothing to and from the cold dip unless
you have a heated indoor location within just a few meters. If you live right next to a
cold body of water, you can just walk out your door, get in the water, warm up, and
then go inside when you are finished. However, I’m going to assume
a ssume that you are like
most cold trainers and do not live right next to a cold body of water. In this case, you
will need to have a clothing plan.
1. Choosing Your Outer Garments
When choosing your thermal clothing, the most important thing to
t o consider is the ease
with which you will be able to take them off and put them on again. Avoid tight fitting
clothing, things with lots of buttons, belts, etc. Choose baggy sweatpants, hoodies, and
easy-to-put-on shoes.
The reason why you should pre-plan your thermal clothing so methodically is because
when you do outdoor ice bathing you are not simply doing a cold-water exposure; you
will also be doing a cold air exposure. This means that when you get out of the water,
your hands and feet will be completely useless or very near useless.
Hats- “But I’m a cold trainer! I don’t need a hat!”
I hear this all the time. Do I really need to wear a hat? My answer is, yes. Invest in a
thermal hat that you like, something you would like to be wearing when people take
your picture. Or maybe something really ugly! It doesn’t matter ! What does matter is
that you insulate your head when you do outdoor cold-water exposures. This does not
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mean that you have to wear your hat in the water. It does mean that you will wear your
hat after you get out.
Your hat will be the first thing you put on after getting out of the water. We will discuss
the details of this later in this chapter. We have all heard that our heads leak the most of
our body heat. This is true. After an outdoor cold dip, you might be surprised at how
much something as small as a thermal hat will do for you! This is especially important if
you dipped your head in the water. Remember that your hat will also protect your ears
from the cold air that you are probably not even thinking about because you are so
focused on recovering from the water exposure. I can’t say it enough, a thermal hat is
important, and it improves your cold training. It does
do es not hinder it.
Shirts- “Cotton kills!”
When it comes to cold training, try to avoid cotton or wool clothes. When wet, they lose
all of their thermal value, and they can even cause a person to lose heat faster than if
one wasn’t clothed. So, when you plan your clothing out, this is when it is a good idea
to wear polyester and artificial fabrics. I wish this was not the case. I would prefer
recommending a natural fiber, but as it happens, natural fibers tend to hold more
moister and can cause heat leaching. So, if you have a shirt made of polyester, this is a
good time to wear it.
A long sleeve shirt is best, but a short sleeve shirt will work. You’ll be taking
t aking a coat
anyway.
Coats- The portable indoors.
Always bring a heavy coat. It might not be a very cold day outside, but you will need
the thermal support when you are done with your dip. Your goal with your coat is to
provide yourself with a relaxed environment for your walk/drive/bus ride home.
Pants- Stretchy and easy to put on.
Sweatpants are your friend here. They are easy to take off and put on, and they don’t
require much dexterity. Gym warm-up pants are also a great idea.
Shoes- Your best friend or your worst enemy.
I will never forget the first time I went ice bathing with Wim Hof. I remember having so
much trouble putting my shoes on… because I couldn’t tie my laces! The dexterity in
my fingers had been completely washed away by the combination of cold-water
exposure and the subsequent cold air exposure.
Ideally, you should use thermal slip-on shoes, but the thermal aspect is simply a nice
bonus. The important part is the slip-on aspect of your footwear. Many people get
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hung-up on the thermal part because they think that if they put
p ut warm shoes or boots on
their feet, their shoes or boots will warm their feet up again.
a gain. This is not reality. In
reality, your feet will likely be ice cubes until you get into a warm dry indoor location
and take off your shoes. Remember that shoes and boots are not great for foot
circulation, so don’t expect them to war m your feet.
Instead, choose a shoe that you can slip on. I know that Crocs have gone out of fashion
(I’m not sure they were ever really IN-fashion), but they are great for the time right after
you get out of the cold water and have no finger dexterity. Flip-flops aren’t bad, but
they require your feet to work enough so that your toes will keep them from falling off
your feet. I found a pair of cheap slip on sneakers, and I use them all the time.
Socks? Are they worth the effort?
After training hosts of cold enthusiasts and after training alongside countless more, I
can say that there are
ar e very few things more pitiful than watching a person try to put on
socks after getting out of an outdoor cold exposure. This is for two reasons, your hands
and your feet! Literally the two things that you will have very little control of as you try
to redress yourself after an outdoor cold exposure are the two things that you are trying
to work with! It would make a funny video montage if it wasn’t so sad! If the Rocky
montages inspired people, a montage of people trying to put their socks on with
freezing hands and feet would bring them to tears (and laughter!).
While dry socks do feet great once you get them on, they are going to be a challenge.
Don’t let it get you down! A s you try your best not to lose your mind putting your
socks on, just know that countless other cold trainers have had the same struggle. You
are not alone!
This brings many to ask whether or not it is even worth putting socks on at all. For most
people it doesn’t matter at all. It is simply a matter of comfort. I will tell you, however,
that socks to offer some thermal value. When I do outdoor cold exposures, I usually put
my socks on before slipping on my shoes. But there are also
a lso many times when I don’t. It
is important to understand that this is a comfort issue more than anything. The real
question that you need to answer is whether you want to spend the time messing with
them.
Bag or Backpack
If you need to bring anything with you, bring a bag. Don’t r ely on your pockets.
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2. Plan for Changing Clothes After Your Dip
Know the clothing culture in which you live.
How does your culture handle public nudity? In the USA, we are bashful when
compared to many European countries. I learned this first-hand when I trained
tr ained groups
with Wim Hof in Poland! People look at changing clothes in public in different ways
depending on the culture where they live. This is neither a good nor a bad thing; it is
simply something to be aware of when you prepare for a cold-water swim. This is
because, after your swim (and after you have allowed yourself to recover), you will
likely want to change into dry clothing. You need to feel comfortable when doing this.
You should be able to stay focused on your breath and your movements, not whether or
not someone is looking at you or if you will get ticketed or arrested for breaking a local
law.
While changing into dry clothes after a cold outdoor dip is not a requirement, believe
me, the walk/drive/bus ride home after your swim will be much more comfortable if
you
arethes,
in dry
underwear
andclothes
clothes.allIfwet,
you wear
your
wet bathing
suit
under
dry clo
you
will get your
and you
won’t
be able to
fully
takeyour
advantage of the thermal qualities of your dry clothes. Remaining in wet clothes after
your swim isn’t the “end of the world,” but it can make it harder to thermoregulate, and
it can be a mental distraction that just simply is not good. I highly recommend
recommend making a
plan to change after getting out.
Some easy options:
Choose a Private Location
Obviously, if you have private access to an outdoor body of water, you can change your
clothes as you please without worries. The problem with a private area is that if one
does have a problem (injury, powerful after-drop, hypothermia, sever change in
weather, etc.) you may be in a situation where you need help. So, don’t forget to bring a
friend to spot you. Be sure it is a friend who will be kind enough to turn the other way
if you are uncomfortable being seen naked. We will go into further detail about spotters
later in this chapter.
A Poncho
A poncho is a portable
p ortable changing room that can also offer you some thermal protection
while you are changing. While any poncho will work as long as it is large enough to
cover your full body, there are some brands that public
p ublic swimmers use most often. The
nice thing about swimmers’ ponchos is that they are made of material that will dry
easier and will not lose their thermal value when wet.
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Here are some popular options:
Sun Cube Surf Poncho Changing Robe with Hood: https://amzn.to/2TTg2id
Ho Stevie! Thick Microfiber Surf Poncho: https://amzn.to/2Qhi61h
The Buddy Tent
This is a very simple, yet effective technique where one person holds a towel for the
other to create a private space for a friend. I see this mostly with partners who practice
together. One holds the towel for the other, and then the other returns the favor. If you
do this, remember that you will still need to keep your focus. What this means is that
you will need to try to stay undistracted enough to help your partner so that you can
remain calm and focused on your breath. We all have different kinds of relationships.
For this to work, you will need to know yourself and your partner
part ner in a way that will
allow you to do this undistracted. And for young couples who are on their first date -I
don’t recommend it. But that is just me. After getting
g etting out of freezing water, is not
always the most flattering time to see your new boyfriend!
Changing in a Car, Truck, or Van
Walking to a car or a truck to use as a changing room is an option, but it probably isn’t
the good idea that you might think it is when you set out.
First of all, if you have to walk a significant distance to your parking place, you will
need to factor that time in the cold air into your cold exposure. This is not a big deal if
you park nearby, but if you have to walk ten to fifteen minutes, it is too long to be
without the option to allow for the thermal effect that clothing will provide.
The second reason why using your car or truck as a changing room is not a great idea is
that they are awkward places to change clothes. This is true no matter what the
situation. But what you will notice after getting out of a frozen over lake or pond is that
your hands do not work like they normally do. Your will not have the dexterity that
you normally have. And that will make changing in the car even more difficult. This
makes it very difficult to stay focused, and it is just a bad time overall.
If you have a van,
v an, you have a great mobile changing room. Just be sure to have a nice
clear spot to change when you get there. Remember that if you are with a group, you
will likely have a situation where each of you will have to take turns. Let the most
trained person be last and the least trained person go first.
Remember that you will want to change clothes after your dip. Plan this out so your
experience is controlled rather than a frenzy. Planning this step out can mean the
th e
difference between a beautiful experience that adds to your health and happiness or a
disastrous ending to a great cold dip.
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3. Consider Windchill
If you do an outdoor ice plunge, try to do it on a day when there is no wind. Windchill
is awful. It is unpredictable, and it is the worst when you are fully wet from taking a
cold plunge.
Check the local weather. Most weather stations will provide both the
t he temperature and
the temperature with windchill factored in. Sometimes they say, “it feels
like…degrees.” Use that temperature as your gauge. Sometimes the temperature will be
above freezing, but the windchill will create an effect that is well below freezing.
Remember, you will be experiencing windchill more than the average person because
you will be covered in cold water after you get out.
Windchill alone is not a reason to cancel your plans to go have a cold dip. It is, however,
one of the factors that most people fail to acknowledge. Failing to acknowledge
acknowledge
windchill can lead a person to experiencing after-drop, hypothermia,
hypothermia, or frostbite.
Windchill is not usually a problem for experienced outdoor cold trainers, but if you are
planning your first outdoor cold dip, I recommend waiting for a day
da y with low wind.
Once you have experienced a successful outdoor cold water immersion, you will have a
much better understanding of how your body and mind will respond to that kind of
experience and will be much more prepared for the windchill factor that you will one
day be better suited to endure.
Check the wind before your dip and remember that you can always go another day.
You have your whole life to train in the cold. The goal is to become healthier and
stronger because you practice cold training. Don’t sacrifice tomorrow’s training because
you simply got to the beach and realized that it is colder and windier than you thought
it was. Windchill will be part of you r life as an outdoor cold trainer. There is no way
around that. Just remember to progress into this factor of outdoor cold training with
caution and you should have no problem.
Follow the same directions that you would follow for regular ice bathing, but get out of
the water much earlier than you normally would because you will need your strength
to “warm up” in the cold air.
Yes, upon exiting the cold water, you should still allow for double the time you were in
the water for your body to rewarm -while you are still soaking wet. I recommend
walking up and down the shore to help you circulate blood, but do not run or do
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jumping jacks, etc.
etc. Simply focus on k
keeping
eeping your breath slow and controlled, inhales
through the nose, exhales through the mouth.
After you have spent twice the time outside of the water than you were in it, you may
towel off. Just dab your skin; don’t rub
r ub it hard with the towel. Put on warm dry clothes,
and go to a warm place to relax for a while. Keep your thoughts on your breath and on
the present moment. Avoid thinking about the worries of the day. Just observe your
body and mind.
Get inside as soon as possible, and feel free to drink hot tea and throw on a cover or a
hoodie. Dress warmly if you need to. Avoid taking a hot shower or getting into a hot
bath, however. It is okay to help catch the heat that your body has produced on its own;
just avoid adding extreme
extreme heat from an outsi
outside
de source. As with all post-cold exposure
exposure
rewarming practices, we want to allow the cold blood to circulate slowly rather than
rushing back to your core.
Warnings about frost bite and hypothermia
hypo thermia
Again, because outdoor cold exposures are in nature, they are generally the exposures
that come with the most risk. This can be because of changing weather conditions and
the problems novice trainers might have with gauging their limits, but it can also be
that you start having so much fun that you lose track of time or you d on’t notice that
you are over-cooling. For this reason, be very careful with your extremities. Frostbite
most commonly hits you where blood circulation is its weakest. Wear a hat, avoid iceto-skin exposure as much as possible, and don’t try to set records.
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Pictured above: Catherine Pendleton, the first person ever to swim an ice mile above the arctic circle.
Section 13.
Ice Swimming
There is ice bathing, and there is ice swimming. If you have made it this far, you should
already be very familiar with listening to your inner voice. Swimming in cold water can
be deadly.
Unlike an ice bath or simply having a dip in cold water where you sit still, swimming in
cold water does not allow for your body to heat up the small layer of water around
your body. The moving water will consistently remain the same cold temperature,
which means that your body will have to continue working hard to maintain body
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temperature. At the same time, you will be actively producing body heat in the act of
swimming, utilizing your skeletal muscles and causing heat through motion, which also
plays a role. These two factors happening at the same time mean that your experience
will be dynamic. This is where cold trainers
tra iners who have lived by their clocks alone and
have not learned to listen to their inner voices will become very confused. The daily ice
bather
who can
in 1C
1with
C forthe
10 same
minutes
might
assum
assumee that
she can take
for the
same amount
ofsit
time
overall
experience
(endurance
to thea swim
cold, recovery
time, etc.), but this is not necessarily the case. While it is important that one be
somewhat cold adapted to begin ice swimming, many ice swimmers are simply people
who love to swim who decided to give ice swimming a try.
This is a category of cold exposures with many different entry points. This is because
cold water swimming in some parts of the world is as much of the culture as soccer
(yes, I know it should be called football, but I’m American, and this is my book. So.
Please forgive me!). When it comes to most of the world, ice swimming is not somethin
something
g
that is very common. Even taking cold showers has probably made you an outlier in
your local community! So, this guide will cover what I have learned in my own
experience, and where my personal experience ends, I will be relaying to you what the
world-famous ice swimmer, Catherine Pendleton has shared with me.
As for myself, I live in the middle of the USA, and my experience with cold water
swimming is limited to streams, lakes, and ponds. So, to ensure that this book
b ook provides
the best overall coverage for this topic I conferred with Catherine Pendleton, the first
person ever to swim an ice mile above the Arctic circle.
Pendleton got into ice swimming after suffering a back injury. She and some friends
decided it would be fun to try ice swimming, and before long, she was hooked. While
the main rules of cold training already described in this
t his book apply to ice swimming,
there are many things that one should consider before getting into this sport.
Before I begin, I want to say that, to my great pleasure, Pendleton’s advice was perfectly
in line with what I had learned through my own practice. Where her advice will really
comes in handy is for those who want to do cold ocean swimming and cold-water
swims of longer durations or intensity than what I have done.
d one.
Disclaimer: While the advice that I will give you in this section is solid advice, the
reality is that the vast majority of ice swimmers that live today will tell you that they
did not start ice swimming in the manner that I am going to suggest. Ice swimmers are
a special group of people, and I mean that in the best way possible. Many of them begin
by just jumping into the water and swimming for a little bit. And over time, they build a
tolerance to the intense stress of swimming in ice water. Again, this is likely due to the
cultures from where most ice swimmers live. They usually come from very cold
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climates where this sort of thing is not so unusual. The advice that I give you in the
following section is how most cold water swimmers and I suggest that a person begin,
even if it isn’t the way that they began themselves!
Before You Try This…
This…
Before
trying
ice water
swimming,
should
tried
allaofcomfortable
the other cold-water
exposures
already
described
in thisyou
guide.
You have
should
have
relationship
with your inner voice, and you should be cold adapted.
All of the Cold Training Rules Still Apply
Remember that all of the same rules that govern safety will still apply to this kind of
training. If you have not read the section on Outdoor Ice Bathing, please do. Everything
that I covered in that section applies to ice water swimming. I will cover some
additional points that you will want to be aware of, but again, by the time you get to
this level of cold exposure, it is assumed
a ssumed that you have learned to be safe in the cold and
you have done outdoor ice bathing.
Don’t Assume that Time in an Ice Bath = Time Swimming in Ice Water
Pendleton hates the chest freezer that she and her partner use at home. He loves it. She
hates it. She would much prefer swimming. One thing that she stressed to me was that
just because you can sit in ice water for a certain amount
amount of time, you should expect to
be able to swim for that amount of time. She said it is pretty hard to equate the two
experiences. While they share a lot in common, when it comes to what to expect as far
as your duration in the cold water while swimming versus sitting, it is nearly
impossible to say. So to train for ice swimming, one needs to do more than simply cold
training.
When to Begin Your Training
It is generally agreed that if you want to learn to ice swim, you should start in the
warmest time of the year and get into a regular swimming routine.
routine. As the seasons
change, continue to swim at the same time of day and for the same duration. Allow
nature to be your coach. As the seasons change, you need to stay consistent.
“The recovery is always harder than the swim.” -Catherine Pendleton
Simply put, you need to prepare for after-drop when you do ice swimming. While it
isn’t a guarantee, and there are many people out there who report not having it, most
people will get some degree of after-drop. So, take every precaution for safety, and
never go alone.
“What happens is, you’re on a high when you get out,” says Pendleton, “and then you
start talking, and that’s when people get cold.” Just remember what you have learned in
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this guide already. Stay calm. Stay focused. Remember that you will be dealing with the
effects of the cold well after your cold exposure. Here are some important tips that one
should keep in mind when getting into ice water swimming
swimming..
Plot a Course
Since
you will
swimming
in will
an outdoors
you
will need
to take
extrathat
precautions
to be
ensure
that you
be able toenvironment,
complete your
training
safely.
Be sure
you are familiar with the area before getting into your swim gear and getting in the
water. Therefore, it is so important to begin your training in the warmer months. You
will know your swimming routes, places to avoid, and places where you know you will
be safe.
Know Your Point of Entry and Possible Points of Exit
For the sake of safety, you need to be able
a ble to exit the water at will. Of course, this may
not always be possible because of the environment. This means that you should plan to
swim in areas where there are multiple exit points. Ideally, you will be able to get out at
the same place where you got in since that is where you left your clothes, but if you feel
weak or unable to continue the swim, get out of the water and make your way back to
your entry point by foot. This means that you should ideally be able to walk in bare feet
if you need to.
Use a Tow Float/ Swimmer’s Buoy
This is a common item used by swimmers. It isn’t designed to be used as a flotation
device. It simply makes you more visible in the water. This is especially important for
ice
swimmers.
we are
trying
to minimize
weever
train
withrescue.
the
cold,
and this isAgain,
one great
wayalways
to make
yourself
visible ifrisks
you when
were to
need
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Here is a link to two commonly used brands, but there are all kinds of varieties of these
that you may want to use.
20L Waterproof Dry Bag, Ultralight Swim Buoy and Safety Float for Open Water
Triathletes, Kayak, Snorkeling,Surfers, Beach, Swimming, Boating with Adjustable
Waist Belt (Orange)
Below is Catherine’s favorite brand (you can get whatever color you like though! 

 ):

Swim Secure Tow-Float - Pink
Caps, goggles, etc.
You will notice that Catherine Pendleton wears a swimmers cap and goggles. This is up
to you, but these items can be a big help in avoiding after-drop or reducing the degree
of after-drop that you might experience. For one, the cap will keep your hair dry. This
makes a huge difference when you get out of the water. With dry hair, you can simply
remove your swimming cap and put on your thermal hat immediately when you get
out. This cuts down on a major source of thermal loss. The goggles are not going to do
much for thermal value, but they may be just what you need to keep you more
comfortable and focused when you are swimming. Consider using these and other
practical items to improve your ice swimming experience.
Be Your Future Self’s Best Friend (or Just Bring a Best Friend!)
One common problem for ice water swimmers is forgetting where they left their dry
clothes or leaving their dry clothes in a way that they will not be able to
t o easily put them
on. This breaks one’s concentration
c oncentration and can cause one to suffer needlessly. Remember
the rules of rewarming and plan for this process before you go for your swim. Your
future self will thank you!!
Prepare for Success
1. If you can bring a friend to coach you before the swim and help you after the
swim, you will be putting yourself in a very good spot for a safe and productive
experience. While you should certainly always do this in the beginning of your
training, it never hurts to do this all the time.
2. Organize your clothes and towel neatly so that you don’t have to break your
focus when you need them.
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3. Pendleton stresses that you should avoid standing around in your swimmers
very long before getting into the water. Just get in as soon as you know that you
have prepped your towel and clothes for your exit.
Endure
f everything else in the world. Don’t focus on
Be prepared
challenge
let go otalks
anything
butfor
thethe
task
at hand. and
Pendleton
about how the swim is like a switch to
shut off her mind and get into the zone. Clear your mind and enjoy the swim.
Recover
1. Put on a wooly hat as soon as possible. Before anything else, cover your head.
2. Remember to allow your body to slowly rewarm your blood upon exiting the
water. This means slow purposeful movements, nothing extreme. You should
allow yourself to stay in this state until your inner voice tells you it is time to put
on clothes. While in most cold exposures we wait for longer periods of time for
this rewarming to happen, Pendleton advises to towel off upon getting out of the
water and to put clothes on. Do this slowly and with purpose.
3. Dress yourself slowly
slowly and with purpose. No need to rush. No need to get
frustrated. Just slowly put on your clothes as you focus on slow relaxed
breathing. In through the nose and out through the mouth.
4. Give yourself some time before talking or socializing. Remember that this time is
valuable for your recovery.
5. After a few minutes have passed and you are fully clothed, reassess your state.
Remain focused on slow nasal breathing. When your inner voice tells you it is
okay, go give your friends a high-five or feel free to chat.
6. Drink hot tea or some other hot beverage to aid in the rewarming process.
7. Get some sugar if you are still feeling chilly. I recommend dark chocolate. Don’t
eat a lot of sugar. Just enough to kick your metabolism into gear. It will taste so
good!
8. No hot showers or extreme heat afterwards. Just let your body naturally rewarm
itself.
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Section 14.
Hands and Feet
I have already discussed issues with extremities, and I have already addressed the
hands and feet in previous chapters. However, I want to briefly cover hands and feet
specifically because these are generally the most problematic for people.
While you and I understand that you will need your hands and feet to go on living the
rest of your life, your body doesn’t look so far ahead. It will react with regards to
immediate survival. What this means is that your body will shunt blood flow from
extremities to the most vital organs in order to preserve their functions. This is a good
thing; after all, if your body had no such mechanism, thermoregulation would
would be far
more problematic and extreme temperatures would be far more dangerous.
When your body shunts blood from the extremities it can be painful, especially at first.
This is normal, and it is something that you will likely never completely outgrow.
outgrow. Some
people do, but for most of us, hands and feet are things that we need to manage in
order to be able to train in the cold for any significant amount of time.
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Pain will distract you, and while many people like to believe that they will somehow
develop a Zen-like immunity to pain, I want to just say that you should not expect it
unless you train with it often. The problem is that constantly doing something that
causes you pain is a good way to teach yourself to dislike or fear i t. Don’t let your e go
fool you. It is okay to wear gloves in the cold. It is okay if you never train barefoot in the
snow. You will not miss out on any of the health benefits of cold training.
For those who want to try to develop cold-resistant hands and feet, you will need to be
patient.
Feet- I already discussed how to train your feet in a previous chapter. When it comes to
feet, the most common problem that people have is that they have tender feet in
general. They never walk outside without shoes, and they somehow expect to do the
hardest barefoot experience with ease? Don’t kid yourself. If you want to walk on the
snow, you should be able to walk on asphalt, grass, and even some gravel in warm
temperatures first. Remember
Remember that these are the things that will be under the snow
when you try to walk in it. The snow doesn’t make walking barefoot easier. It makes it
way harder. Respect your feet. Train them all year around. See the chapter on Snow
Walking for more.
Hands- This is my biggest weakness. For this reason, I usually wear gloves when I go
out for snow walks, and I normally hold my hands against my legs to keep them from
aching in ice baths. But if you want to train your hands for the cold, there is a simple
training program that you can follow. Please note that it will take a lot of patience, and
some people will have more success than others. The training schedule goes like this:
Daily Routine (If you miss a day, it’s not a big deal, but in my experience, gains made
will disappear quickly if you don’t stay consistent.)
1. Fill a bowl or bucket with ice.
2. Add just enough water to make it possible to slip you hands into the bowl. You
can do one hand at a time, or you can do both hands at the same time. Just be
sure there is enough room.
3. Fill a second bowl or bucket with room temperature water. Not hot. Lukewarm.
4. Place your hands in the cold water for 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Then place your hands in the lukewarm water for 1 minute.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 up to four times per session.
7. End with cold or lukewarm. It do esn’t make much difference.
8. Allow your hands to recover before using them for anything strenuous.
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When determining how long you leave your hands in the cold, please know that your
fingers will likely hurt at first, then they will adapt. This is your body re-opening blood
vessels to the fingers in order to prevent losing them. You will not get frostbite doing
this. I just want to ease any possible fears you might have.
If you have Raynaud’s Syndrome, however, do this at your own risk. Raynaud’s
Syndrome is a condition where the blood vessels constrict and do not reopen for long
periods of time. This can put you at a greater risk for frostbite. Therefor, if you have this
condition, you should always be very careful in the cold. I recommend never going
without gloves, but this is up to you.
Bottom line: Be careful with your extremities
extremities.. Yes, you can train them to be incredibly
resilient, but they will always fail before anything else will, and they are the most
common reason why people have to get out of the cold early. Have a strategy before
getting into the cold. And again, the benefits of cold exposure are not lost if you need to
wear gloves, shoes, hats (to cover your ears), scarves (for your neck).
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Section 15.
Cold Meditations
Many people see pictures of people meditating in the snow and believe that somehow
meditation makes cold exposure easier. This is partially true, but not in the way people
generally think.
If you are a mediator, you know that it is easiest to meditate in a quiet space in a
comfortable seated position where there are no distractions. As practitioners progress in
meditation, they are able to tolerate noise, discomfort, etc and still be able to reach a
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meditative state. This ability to focus is a testament to the practitioner’s skill in
meditation, not a magical ability that one gains by simply closing one’s eyes while
sitting in a meditative position. Therefore, sitting in the snow while meditating is not
something a novice meditator should try. It is also something a novice cold trainer
should not try.
However, if one becomes a practiced cold trainer, one is generally learning the ability to
focus while being distracted. To be able to take control of your breathing and keep your
composure while enduring a cold stressor is actually a testament to the cold’s power to
provide a “forced meditative experience.”
What I mean is that it is very difficult to experience extreme cold and think about much
else than the extreme cold. The cold literally forces you to concentrate. It is such a
dominant force, that it is very hard to think about anything else. This is why many cold
trainers find meditating to be easier after they have trained with the cold for some time,
and many meditators choose to train in the cold. There is a common thread between
them, and that is the pursuit of learning to control the mind, to silence the chatter, and
to find peace.
If you intend to try meditating in the cold, here are some tips to help you have a good
experience.
1. Remember
Remember that you don’t have to meditate i n the snow in order to meditate in
the cold. The snow looks better in pictures, but your goal is not just to take a
picture. Anyone can run out into the snow, strike a pose, then run right back
inside if the goal is simply to have a great social media picture. Therefore, before
you meditate in the snow, meditate in the cold.
2. Avoid long periods of time with skin-to-ice exposure. The best way to meditate
in the cold or in the snow is to put down a blanket to protect your legs from
frostbite.
3. The extremities will still be your greatest challenges, so wear shoes and gloves.
Yes, you may eventually go without shoes or gloves, but don’t start that way.
Build a cold meditation practice with bare body first, then try the whole body
later. You have nothing to prove to anyone.
a nyone.
4. Remember that you should adhere to all the same rules as you would with
outdoor exposures. Prepare for the mediation and select a place where you will
not be distracted. Endure the meditation by focusing on your breathing and on
the cold itself. Relax. And when you are ready to come inside, put on warm
clothing
allow
yourself
to slowly
r ewarm
rewarm
in the warm indoors. I usually
meditateand
again
when
I go indoors
to warm
myself.
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Remember that you should not just wait for snow to meditate in the cold outdoors.
Build an outdoor meditation practice well before it gets cold and
a nd learn to meditate as
the temperatures slowly change.
Optimal Outdoor Meditation Doesn’t Require Skin-toSkin-toSnow
Notice in this picture, I am sitting on a yoga mat. Do you think it was cold? Oh, yeah! It
was very cold! This was a picture taken from a video of a long cold air meditation. The
mat allowed me to be able to get a longer cold aair
ir meditation than if I would have
simply sat in the snow. If your intent is to meditate in the cold, skin-to-ice is not ideal.
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Yes, you might do it eventually, but give yourself a chance to get practiced up at coldair meditation first.
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Section 16.
Cold Exposure and Colds and Flus
Does the cold make us get sick?
Children all over the world have heard their mothers insist that they wear a coat or
jacket to avoid catching a cold or a flu, but
but the cold doesn’t cause
cause us to get sick.
Catching a cold or a flu is cause by a virus or a bacteria entering the body and the innate
immune response
response taking place as a result.
However, the cold is a stressor on the Central Nervous System,
System, and this means that it is
possible that too much cold exposure can weaken our immune systems. In the right
amount, the cold can improve and strengthe
strengthen
n our immune systems, but in excess, it can
cause us problems. So, that is why it is important to train with caution and patience
p atience
rather than to try to push ourselves too hard. We want the benefits, not the detriments.
So, what should a cold trainer do when s/he catches a cold?
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If you catch a cold, you need to relax and allow the body to recover. Don’t take cold
showers or do any cold exposure. I know it will feel strange, but take warm showers!!
Just focus on resting
resting up and recovering. Th
Thee cold can wait. Taking breaks won’
won’tt hurt
your long-term progress, so don’t be worried.
When to Return to the Cold
After you are completely symptom free, you may return to the cold; however, your first
two days back to the cold should be very mild exposures. Don’t try to pick up exactly
where you left off. I generally advise clients to do cold showers on the first two days
back, even if they were used to long ice baths and cold weather walks. This allows your
body to get back into the groove slowly and without any problems. After that, just
slowly work your way back to where you left off. There is no rush. I usually take about
a week or two to fully be back to where I left off.
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Section 17.
Cold Training and Strength & Conditioning Training
Before Strength and Conditioning Training:
As a rule, always wait an hour after cold training to do strength training. When one
engages in cold training, it is important to allow the body to warm up and to return to a
normal state. This helps prevent injuries that might result from being stiff after extreme
cold. It also allows for enough time to pass that the vasoconstriction that naturally
occurs in the cold to return
r eturn to a normal state.
After Strength and Conditioning Training:
There has not been enough research done on the possible effect that cold training too
quickly after a strength training session might have on the recovery stimulus, but one
theory goes like this:
1. When strength training, we break down the muscle in order for it to be repaired
and made stronger and larger than before.
2. The inflammation signal from the muscle tissue signals the body to repair the
tissue.
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3. Since cold exposure reduces inflammation, to engage in cold training right after
strength training would likely reduce the signal for repair and possibly slow or
reduce gains in strength or muscle size.
This is not a ridiculous theory. However, it does not mean that you cannot cold train
after doing strength training. Sadly, there is not a lot of reliable research on this topic. I
will give you my own theory that I have developed after years of doing both cold
training and strength training.
As a rule, I try to put as much time as I can between my weight training sessions
sessions and
my cold training sessions. I usually wait at least two or three hours after strength
training to get into an ice bath
ba th or some other cold challenge. In the years that I have
been doing this, I do not believe that I have hampered my muscle growth at all.
First of all, if you work out really hard, wait three hours, take an ice bath, then get a
good night’s sleep; you are still likely to wake up sore. What this demonstrates is that,
while cold exposure does offer great benefits when it comes to inflammation, it does not
completely eliminate all inflammation in your body. There will still be plenty! Trust me!
Secondly, in my own experience, I have continued to see muscle gains that have been
consistent with what is generally expected for a man of my age who is not using
steroids. While I can’t know for sure whether or not I would have made more progress
without daily cold training, I can say that I have not seen any reduction in my strength
and size gains over the five years that I have been cold training, and I have continued to
gain at a normal pace.
Again, I wait at least three hours because I do believe that the body does need a little
time to register the workout, but I don’t think that any longer is needed. However, full
disclosure, on days when I work out first thing in the morning, I still tend to wait until
evening to jump into my ice bath.
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Section 18.
Saving Money on Regular Ice Baths |Converting a Deep
Freezer
Many people ask me how I can
c an afford to take a regular ice bath, especially when it costs
up to $25 per ice bath. In the wintertime, it isn’t so hard, but for a consistent ice bath,
one solution that many have found is to convert a deep freeze into a year-round cold
plunge. My rig is pretty ugly. I just lined my chest freezer with a pond liner and filled it
with water. But about a year ago, I became acquainted with John Richter who wrote a
complete e-book guide to creating your dream cold-plunge out of a chest freezer. I
highly recommend his e-book. The link to buy his book is below. Use discount code:
MMT15 FOR 15% OFF!! :
https://chestfreezercoldplunge.com/product/the-ultimate-che
https://chestfreezercoldplunge.com/
product/the-ultimate-chest-freezer-cold-pl
st-freezer-cold-plungeungediy-guide/
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How far can I Take My Cold Training?
There is no way for me to tell you where your limits will be, but I can tell you that you
will have a limit as to how cold you can tolerate and how long you can tolerate the cold.
The hard truth is that if you sit in an ice bath long enough, you will die. That is a fact.
However, with time and regular exposure, you might find yourself swimming in
freezing cold water for 20 minutes, maybe even an hour! Or you might never do
anything longer than a 10 minute cold shower. That is fine too! You are the only one
who is capable of finding this out.
I would like to remind you, if you are asking yourself this question,
question, that it is important
to think about your motivations. Are you doing this for your health? Are you doing it as
a way to find out who you are in some way? Ar
Aree you just trying to realize your full self?
Perhaps you are a competitive person and you want to break a record or compete
against friends in some way. I don’t think there is a wrong answer
a nswer to this question, but
your answer will determine how much you push yourself to increase your cold
endurance.
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If you are looking to use cold exposures to improve your health, simply doing regular
cold exposures over time will accomplish this. Yes, you may graduate from cold
showers to ice baths or even snow walking. But if you are looking for the health benefits
of cold exposure, you never need to push beyond this.
If you are looking to break a record or simply find out how far you can take this, let me
give you some advice. You will probably want to push too far too fast, and overcoming
this tendency is going to be as big of a challenge to overcome as the cold itself. The
process of adaptation is always slower than you wish it was,
wa s, and competitive people
are usually very impatient. You can’t be this way with cold ada ptation. It will take as
long as it will take. The best way to speed the process is to be consistent over time.
Conclusion
Regardless of your goals, always remember to be safe and to have fun with your
training. There are too many variations of training to put into this book, but I hope this
has given you a strong foundation to build from. Try new things over time, and never
be afraid to take breaks. Go slow and controlled and enjoy the cold.
For more tips and advice on cold training and other health related matters, check out
my YouTube Channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDweMKKDq9cfA64eAVqjyOg?view_as=subscriber
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Bonus Code: 4X0Xtv11o3