Why would you actively seek to make yourself cold and uncomfortable? Because it actually does the body good!
Some of the benefits of cold therapy can include weight loss due to an increase in metabolism, reduced pain and inflammation, improved quality of sleep, better focus, and a stronger immune system.
It also strengthens your willpower – it’s not easy to voluntarily subject yourself to the discomfort associated with being cold!
Many athletes use it, and celebrities have jumped on the bandwagon too. The idea of cold therapy has been around for thousands of years, but with the advent of new cryotherapy chambers, the practice is becoming more mainstream.
Cryotherapy involves getting into a super-cooled chamber with no clothes on in temperatures lower than -110℃ for a few minutes. It is not readily accessible to everyone though, and can be expensive.
There are easier ways to get the benefits of cold therapy, and most of them don’t cost any money at all.
Start by turning the temperature down in the house and wearing less clothing outside. This is obviously much more effective in colder climates during the winter. Which leads us to everybody’s favourite – the dreaded cold shower.
The easiest way to get the benefits of this therapy is to take cold showers everyday. This isn’t fun at first, but you do get used to it and the euphoria felt after it’s over makes it worth it. You can ease into it, starting with your normal shower temperature and then turning the water to cold for a minute before you get out.
Once you get used to this, and if you want to take it further, you can take cold baths and ice baths. It’s a little more challenging to submerge yourself in a tub full of freezing water, but athletes have been doing it for years and the results are worth it.
Check with your doctor if you are suffering from any conditions that may preclude the use of cold therapy, or if you are unsure if it is right for you.
It’s one of those therapies that is very effective, although it can be a challenging one. Honestly, it is completely worth it in the end.
If you would like to read more about cryotherapy chambers and my personal experience with it, I wrote an article about it here http://arawiseman.com/cryotherapy-freeze-the-stress-away/