Deliberate cold exposure, such as cold showers or ice baths, offers numerous health benefits that everyone can take advantage of. It helps reduce inflammation, speeds up muscle recovery, boosts metabolism, and improves mood through the release of endorphins and dopamine. Regular cold exposure strengthens your cardiovascular system and enhances resilience by teaching your body to handle stress more effectively. It can also improve mental clarity and focus. Incorporating cold exposure into your routine promotes both physical and mental well-being, making it a powerful and accessible wellness tool for everyone.
How Cold is Cold Enough?
This is the most common question I get, and it’s a great one! However, there’s no single answer, as everyone’s tolerance to cold is different. The key is to find a temperature that makes you think, “This is really cold, and I want to get out, but I can safely stay in.” For some, that might be around 15°C, while others may tolerate temperatures as low as 7°C.
Key Point: The colder the temperature (whether it’s water immersion, a shower, etc.), the less time you need to be exposed. One study found significant and prolonged increases in dopamine when people spent about an hour in 15°C water up to their neck, while other studies showed large increases in epinephrine after just 20 seconds in very cold water (~4°C). The good news is that with regular exposure, your body adapts, making you more comfortable at lower temperatures—just like with exercise.
Ice Bath, Cold Shower, or Cryotherapy?
Most studies focus on ice baths or cold water immersion up to the neck, which are most effective. Cold showers can also be beneficial and are more accessible. Cryotherapy is often expensive, harder to access, and doesn’t offer as much flexibility in protocols, so it’s less frequently considered here.
Boost Energy and Focus
Deliberate cold exposure leads to the release of epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which increase alertness and energy. These chemicals cause the urge to move or vocalize during the exposure, and their effects linger afterward, helping boost your focus and energy for other tasks.
Building Resilience and Grit
By embracing the stress of cold exposure as a personal challenge, you develop ‘top-down control’ over brain areas responsible for reflexive responses. This process involves your prefrontal cortex, which helps regulate impulsivity. The mental toughness built from cold exposure transfers to other life stressors, enhancing your ability to remain calm and composed in difficult situations. In essence, cold exposure is great mental training for resilience.
Enhancing Your Mood
Cold exposure triggers the prolonged release of dopamine, which elevates mood, sharpens focus, and drives goal-oriented behavior. Even short bursts of cold exposure can lead to lasting increases in dopamine, promoting a sustained boost in mood and energy. To learn more about dopamine’s role, check out Episode #39.
Boosting Metabolism
In the short term, cold exposure increases metabolism as your body works to raise its core temperature. While the calorie burn itself isn’t huge, cold exposure can transform white fat (which stores energy) into beige or brown fat, which is highly metabolically active. This has the dual benefit of increasing comfort in cold environments (cold adaptation) and triggering sustained increases in metabolism. Keep in mind, weight management ultimately boils down to calories in versus calories out (CICO).
A Solid, Science-Backed Protocol
Aim for a total of 11 minutes of deliberate cold exposure per week. This doesn’t mean 11 minutes in one session, but rather 2-4 sessions lasting 1-5 minutes each, spread across the week. The water should be cold enough to feel uncomfortable but safe to stay in for a few minutes. You can increase the duration and intensity as you adapt, but 11 minutes is a good starting point based on recent studies. Shorter, colder exposures are also effective for adrenaline release.
The Huberman Lab “Counting Walls” Approach
It’s natural for your mind to resist cold exposure. You might think, “I really don’t want to do this,” or “Get me out of here.” These thoughts can be seen as mental ‘walls,’ which are essentially your body’s response to adrenaline. By exercising top-down control and pushing through these barriers, you build resilience. Challenge yourself by counting how many ‘walls’ you can overcome (e.g., 3-5 walls per session). You can also set time goals, but counting walls connects more closely to real-world stressors, which often can’t be timed as neatly.
Shivering and the Søeberg Principle
According to Dr. Susanna Søeberg, to enhance the metabolic benefits of cold exposure, it’s best to let your body warm up on its own. This is known as the “End With Cold” principle. Allowing your body to shiver also boosts metabolism, as shivering releases succinate from muscles, which activates brown fat thermogenesis.
To encourage shivering, avoid huddling, crossing your arms, or drying off immediately after cold exposure. Let your body reheat naturally, though this can be challenging. While many prefer to warm up with a hot shower afterward, doing so reduces the metabolic benefits of the cold.
