Cold Showers
To wake myself up in the morning, I don’t reach for a cup of hot coffee; instead, I jump into cold water.
For the past four months, I felt exhausted in the morning. I wake up at a normal time, but I feel tired and don’t want to get out of bed. After a few weeks of this low-energy mood, I consulted a doctor to get to the bottom of it. I did a blood test, which came back normal. A few weeks later, I did a sleep study: I wore a bunch of sensors while sleeping to measure how my body reacted. It turns out I have mild sleep apnea. This is certainly a factor contributing to my tiredness, but this doesn’t explain why I am so fatigued in the morning.
I tried different things to improve the situation: no screen before bedtime, no snacking after dinner, eating a carbohydrate-heavy dinner, and relaxation exercises in the evening. None of these improved the situation. The issue wasn’t falling asleep; it was waking up tired after sleeping soundly for eight hours. Then I found the one solution that worked for me: a burst of cold water at the end of my shower.
When I’m done cleaning myself during my morning shower, I switch the temperature to the coldest setting. I stand under the cool jet, counting in my head to get at least one minute of cold water exposure. I close my eyes and stay calm when the cold water hits. I start breathing slowly and turn around midway to get my whole body cooled off. I keep my head out of the water spray; I noticed that if my head is under the cold running water for more than 30 seconds, I get a mild headache. After a minute of cold exposure, I am more alert and energetic. The effect is mild but noticeable.
When I started cold showers I had a hard time staying just 10 seconds under the chilly jet. I was breathing too fast, and this made things difficult. I gradually increased the duration of the cold showers each week. Every week I’d add an extra 10 seconds. I count in my head to keep track of the duration; it doesn’t matter if the counting is inaccurate; the goal is to increase the cold exposure, not to get an exact duration.
Once a week, I have a cheat day when I’ll skip the cold shower, usually when my mood is so low I can’t get myself to do it. If I work out in the evening, I’ll often take another cold shower.
I have done this for a couple of months, and I am feeling better. My morning tiredness is going away, and even when I feel down I can hop in the shower and get an immediate boost to get going in the morning. It’s not clear that the long-term improvement is due to the cold showers, but in the short term it definitely helps. The longer I stay in the cold the better I feel after.
I got the idea after listening to the Huberman Lab Podcast; there’s also an article explaining the protocol for cold exposure.
Cold showers have several benefits:
- Increased dopamine levels. Dopamine is the hormone that drives motivation: more dopamine means more drive and mental energy.
- Regulated cortisol and serotonin levels. This means better sleep and less stress.
- Increased mental toughness. Being in cold water is unpleasant, and it takes willpower to stay in it. It’s a good way to get out of one’s comfort zone and build resilience.
Ice baths are supposed to be better, but that’s too involved for me. I feel like cold showers are a better tradeoff: they take very little time and effort. I’m getting enough of this experiment already.
Cold showers are a simple and effective solution that requires no special equipment, minimal time, and costs nothing. I’ll keep doing it even when I feel more energetic in the morning. If you feel down, I recommend you give cold showers a try. There’s no better way to get out of your comfort zone. Start with 10 seconds and work your way up. Gradually build up, and you might be surprised how this small discomfort significantly boosts your mood throughout the day.