What’s so great about cold showers?

Benefits of taking a cold shower include:

• calming itchy skin
• waking you up
• increasing circulation
• reducing muscle soreness post-workout
• potentially boosting weight loss
• glowing hair and skin

Why do we like hot showers?

If you have trouble relaxing or falling asleep at night, you might be tempted to take a hot shower to ease the stress of the day. This is a common practice for muscle relaxation before going to sleep because hot showers activate the parasympathetic nervous system which makes us tired.

Other benefits of hot showers include:

• providing relief from respiratory symptoms
• helping with blemishes
• muscle relaxation

So, which type is better?

There are obvious benefits to both hot and cold showers, so what should you do? Well, in an ideal world, you should take a lukewarm shower, so it’s tolerable, and apply a moisturizer to damp skin after bathing.

Another approach to try is what described as a contrast shower, which is an age-old technique.

Get the water as cold as possible and stand in it for one minute. When the minute is up, you then change the water to as hot as you can handle for an additional minute. Alternate between one minute each of cold and hot for three to five cycles.

The health benefits come from the cold water constricting the blood vessels. This means all the blood will go to the middle of the body. The hot water will open the blood vessels and all the blood comes rushing out again. This can pump the blood completely through the muscles and organs and is great for regeneration and detoxification.