Cold showers are often talked about for their supposed health benefits, boosting the immune system and speeding muscle recovery after hard workouts. This past year I took a deep dive into the practice to see how it worked.

Although it would have been great to shower only on cold, the most practical option seemed to be starting every day warm, and finishing up with 30-60 seconds of cold rinse. At least in my personal experience, it definitely seemed to help soothe sore muscles, but I had mixed results with immune boosting, and found that taking a cold shower when sick usually aggravated symptoms more than anything else.

Of all the lifestyle experiments I have done, I think cold showers are the most symbolic. Showers are cleansing, and for many people, provide the sense of renewal and a fresh start associated with a new day. Turning the water ice cold, makes them quite challenging to get through, but also transforms a simple act of daily routine into a symbol for surviving hardship in order to come out stronger on the other side.

So regardless of whether the physical health benefits of cold showers pan out or not, it's worth it to give it a try if for no other reason than being able to say you accomplished at least one challenging task on any given day.

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Photo is of a Hamburg Airport Firefighters training site, we got to take a tour of that facility among others last summer while I was interning with the Hamburg Ministry of Economics, Transportation, and Innovation