The Health Benefits
Boost your metabolism and burn fat
Cold water immersion has been shown to increase metabolic rate by up to 350%, strengthen mitochondrial function, and improve insulin sensitivity. The activation of brown adipose tissue can help put your body into a fat burning mode and subsequently reduce your waistline.
Reduce anxiety and stress
Cold water immersion activates natural mood boosters like endorphins and dopamine by up to 250%, which can help boost feelings of positivity and elevate one’s mood.
Enhance athletic performance and accelerate recovery
Cold water immersion has been found to decrease inflammation, soreness, perceived fatigue, and drastically increase perceived recovery.
Improve Sleep Quality
Cold water immersion has been shown to improve your sleep efficiency through reduced nighttime cortisol levels, decreased nighttime arousals, and improved circadian rhythm due to greater thermoregulation from brown adipose tissue activation.
Strengthen your Immune System
Cold water immersion can help strengthen the immune system by increasing white blood cell count, including t-lymphocytes, and decreasing auto-immune responses and chronic inflammation.
Increase Focus and Energy
Cold water immersion profoundly stimulates the metabolic system by boosting mitochondrial function to create more adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Activation of the sympathetic nervous system increases noradrenaline by 530% via the cold shock response.
Sharpen Cognition
Induction of cold shock protein RBM3 is known to protect against neurodegeneration, sharpen cognitive function, and promote neuroplasticity in humans.
Enhance Mood
Cold water immersion causes the prolonged release of dopamine. Dopamine is a powerful molecule capable of elevating mood, enhancing focus and attention. Even short bouts of cold exposure can cause a lasting increase in dopamine and sustained elevation of mood, energy, and focus.
Cold Plunges, before or after training?
It depends on your goals. Cold water immersion can limit some of the gains in hypertrophy, strength or endurance if done 4 hours or so after training. It’s best to wait after 6 hours post- training, or performed before training. If your goal is simply to optimize or recover, feel free to do it anytime at your convenience.