Cold showers.

[Mr Punch]

On another thread FngSaiYuk said he takes cold showers. For him or anyone else that does this...

What are the benefits? Is it not dangerous, esp after a workout, because;

1) It tenses your muscles so increases the chances of stiffness and cramping;
2) Puts a lot of strain on your heart...?

[Ming Yue]

cold water increases your metabolism temporarily as your body works to keep your core temperature up.

Cool water after a warm shower can be refreshing, but cold? not for me.

[MasterKiller]

Fuk that. I take scalding hot showers. My skin is bright red when I get out. It helps loosen my muscles.

[fa_jing]

You should look up tempering. But it is done in the morning, not after a workout.

I think the hot/cold method is something else, which is to alternate hot and cold which make help speed recovery or sumpin.

[FngSaiYuk]

Yep, tempering is a morning and evening thing. Supposedly (I don't know of any solid scientific research on this) it improves the immune system and strengthens the body against cold. I can vouch only for my experience that for someone who normally prefers the heat (I'm of south east asian descent and was born within a hundred miles of the equator), that once I began regularly tempering, the cold didn't bother me at all. I've also only gotten sick when I hadn't had the time to follow my regular tempering routine and had severe lack of sleep.

As far as hot/cold treatments go, many atheletes muscle recover via alternating hot and cold baths. I've done this for a short period in my training a looooooooong time ago and I recall having a VERY postive experience. Then again, I had a positive experience with most of what I did at that time. Try looking up muscle recovery from training by boxers and football players and the alternating hot/cold baths.

[Reggie1]

I think the hot/cold method is something else, which is to alternate hot and cold which make help speed recovery or sumpin.

I know some MMA guys who do this do. That guy Diego from the Ultimate Fighter does that after workouts. I don't have the stones to try it, I usually just go with a really long, really hot shower after I work out. And that helps me out a lot.

If I don't get that post-workout shower, I'm slower to recover.

[Nick Forrer]

Cold showers are like chillies

Once you get the taste for them nothing else will do....

[Mo Lung]

Alternating hot and cold in the shower triggers vasoconstriction/dilation, causing the blood to pump more and helps to dissipate lactic acid buildup. That's why it's good PWO to speed up recovery. I use it all the time - it's excellent. Try it for yourself and see.

[Mr Punch]

Tempering? OK I'll check it out and report back!

[FngSaiYuk]

Tempering? OK I'll check it out and report back!
You can also find the term 'dousing' used, as the most common effective method touted is to douse oneself with ~5gal of near freezing water, or diving into a lake that's been frozen over, ala the polar bear club.

[Toby]

What Se^H^H Mo Lung said. It's common practice in Australian Rules Football for players to alternate ice baths with swimming laps the day after a game to reduce lactic acid buildup.

[Mo Lung]

Se^H^H

:confused:

[Toby]

Nerdy Unix joke. ^H is the key code combination for "Backspace". ^H is entered as Ctrl-H.

[Becca]

Nerdy Unix joke. ^H is the key code combination for "Backspace". ^H is entered as Ctrl-H.
AKA, what you said to posts earlier...

[Mo Lung]

Nerdy Unix joke. ^H is the key code combination for "Backspace". ^H is entered as Ctrl-H.Wow, that is nerdy!

[Toby]

:( It's common knowledge on somewhere like Slashdot, or any of the programming forums I visit.

[Mo Lung]

:( It's common knowledge on somewhere like Slashdot, or any of the programming forums I visit.You mean nerdy forums.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

i always back up my favorites so heres a link on cold water therapy from about five years ago:

http://www.alliancemartialarts.com/cold.html