WARNING: Be prepared for your heart to try to escape from your ribcage during this process.
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| Brrrrrrr. |
However, suck it up. It’s worth it.
I put a stop watch by the shower to keep the time. Cold should be freezing cold and hot should be as hot as you can stand it. I do this immediately after training. ENJOY >:)
If you’ve ever seen a rugby game, you know these men take a beating and are experts when it comes to recovery methods. Below is an excerpt from an article on www.rugbyrugby.com :
Contrast Showers
The contrast shower is one of the simplest, most convenient, and cheapest ways to help speed up recovery from just about any type of physical exertion. The premise behind the contrast shower is increasing blood flow to stressed muscles and ligaments to help flush out waste products like lactic acid and increase nutrient transport to ailing muscles and connective tissues. The cold water portions help cool the body and cause constriction of the skin and blood vessels which helps flush the blood and waste products out. This can help with low grade inflammation throughout the body. Following up with a hot water phase then helps bring blood back into the muscles and thus bringing in nutrients and “fresh” blood.
You should alternate between cold and hot for several “rounds” to get the most benefit from the contrast shower. Another important point to keep in mind is the greater the contrast, the greater the benefits will be, so get the water as cold as you can stand and as warm as you can stand.
Some popular contrast shower cycles are as follows (repeat 3-5 times each):
•30 seconds cold, 1 minute hot
•1 minute cold, 1 minute hot
•1 minute cold, 2 minutes hot
•1 minute cold, 3-5 minutes hot
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| Enjoy. |
One final note to make is that it is important to start the contrast shower on cold and finish on cold for maximum benefits. Starting on cold gets the whole process started faster and finishing on cold helps control inflammation as well as getting one final bit of “fresh” blood into the muscles as your body reheats once you get out of the shower.
You’ll thank me later…after you finishing cussing me out.
6 Comments
erin
March 2, 2012 at 8:30 amthis sounds miserable. but given that my apartment lacks central heat and only has a solid 10 minutes of hot water anyway, i think i sort of accomplish this 🙂 come summer when i lack central air, a cold shower will be an absolute after training!
Cat Woods
March 5, 2012 at 10:07 pmThanks Jen – I'm always up for a challenge! Considering the gym changeroom is usually hot and humid beyond belief, this will probably be a relief.
Jen Comas Keck
March 6, 2012 at 12:43 pmIt really is pretty awful in the winter, but these are really nice in the summertime! They absolutely help aid in recovery, too!
Jen Comas Keck
March 6, 2012 at 12:44 pmAnd a challenge it will be! 😉 The cold water on the legs isn't too bad, but cold water blasting onto your upper body is electrifying! haha!
Anonymous
April 23, 2013 at 2:22 pmStart with hot water and finish with cold, not the opposite. And people with any heart conditions or high blood pressure including pregnant women or women who're having their periods should avoid contrast showers – they are not for them. Otherwise, it is a very healthy procedure.
Jen Comas Keck
April 23, 2013 at 2:23 pmThis article says to finish on cold, but I do think starting with cold is a better option.
While I agree that people with heart conditions should probably avoid this type of recovery, I disagree with your statement that it's not for women on their periods. Mind elaborating on that?