Cold Plunge Benefits

Inflammation occurs when your body has a response to some type of irritant. Irritants can occur in the body without us even knowing it at times. A large part of this has to do with diet and what we put in our bodies, to begin with. The unfortunate truth in today’s world is that we have to watch what goes into our bodies. It is no longer news that some new company is pumping foods with preservatives or GMOs that are harmful to us and cause things like inflammation.

Finally, cold water will reduce lactic acid buildup in muscles, which helps to decrease soreness from intense physical activity.

Improves Your Sleep

Cold Water Plunges can help improve sleep by reducing inflammation, improving circulation, and increasing the amount of oxygen to your tissues. By reducing inflammation, cold water plunges can reduce the amount of pain and stiffness in your body. Improvement in the circulation of the blood in the body means that more blood is flowing to your muscles and organs. Increased oxygenation helps promote relaxation and improved sleep quality. Cold Water Plunges may also release endorphins which can help to improve mood and reduce stress levels.

Mental Health Benefits of Cold Water Immersion

Whether you know it or not, Cold Plunging is not an easy task. It may not be desirable to get into a tub of freezing cold water just to feel less pain relief but what if I told you there was more to it than just physical benefits?

When you do hard things that most people will go out of their way to avoid, you are consciously telling the world that you are capable of this type of work. In return for doing those types of activities, you’ll have a mental edge over those that will chase comfort instead.

Cold Plunging has been an experience that brought us closer to understanding how to control our mind in times of stress. When all you want to do is focus on how cold you are and how badly you want to get out of the tub it is hard to actually focus on the task at hand. It is a superpower to pull your awareness away from the discomfort in front of you and put in on something like your breathe instead.

Helps You Better Manage Stress and Helps Reduce it

Shocking your body with a sudden dose of cold water is normally unpleasant at first. It will put your body in a state of fight-or-flight and get everything firing like it is supposed to. In this sudden state of shock, the body is registering the experience as stress.

I read a really good piece the other day (could not find the link to it I know I am sorry) about there being two types of stress. Normal stress that we are all aware of (you know the one that is bad) is the type of stress like a boss hounding you and always over your shoulder and the second type of stress (that I was unfamiliar with) was eustress. Eustress is more described as a voluntary stress that we put ourselves through to come out the other side a better person.

Cold Plunging, sauna sessions, and BJJ are three examples of Eustress that we regularly put ourselves through. Eustress is the stress that you must start chasing to make yourself better equipped to handle the unwanted stress that may arise in life. Cold Plunging daily is a practice that promotes this line of thinking.

Increases Energy Levels

According to several research studies, cold water exposure and ice baths can increase energy levels in the human body. Through a process called cold thermogenesis, cold water stimulates the nerve endings in the skin. This results in an increase in oxygen levels and a boost in one’s heart rate and respiration rate. All of these added benefits have been linked back to an increase in energy levels and alertness in the human body.

Increases alertness

After taking a plunge, your body will feel completely different. It feels more awake. Now there is some deep science to this, which i will not bog you down in this particular post since we already did it on another one, the moral is that cold plunging will leave you more alert throughout your day to tackle all issues or conflicts that may arise.