Coach Jade
There is so much hype and talk right now around THE COLD PLUNGE and deliberate cold exposure's benefits in preventative health. While this is a phenomenal and huge breakthrough in our media's typical western medicine reporting, I thought we should sit down and clear some things up about the "silver bullet" train of thought and go over what the science is reporting about cold exposure. Besides, we are getting one at the gym in a few weeks, so lets get informed early so we can reap the most benefit from this new tool!
Ok, first off, what is deliberate cold exposure?
We're talking about submerging your body, up to your neck in COLD water, getting as low as 39 degrees (This is how low the Gym's cold plunge will get) for an uncomfortable, but safe amount of time.
Second, why would anyone in their right mind actively CHOOSE to freeze themselves?
Let's go over some of the potential benefits from deliberate cold exposure...
Elevated energy and mood
Recovery and performance
Immune system support
Pain relief
Stress management and mental resilience
Metabolic boost
Elevated Energy and Mood.
The real science behind deliberate cold exposure comes from the release of norepinephrine (the neurotransmitter and hormone responsible for activating your body's "fight or flight" response) when exposed to the cold. Every human being, regardless of how accustomed to the cold we are or are not, experiences the same biological response, at varying degrees, upon deliberate cold exposure. Dopamine is often co-released into the body with the release of norepinephrine and thus can create boosted mood and energy far after cold plunging, with studies suggesting even up to 6 hours post plunge!
A general protocol for boosting mood and energy is to be/work up to being in the cold plunge for 11 minutes total per week. (This will look different for everyone. Some might be in 5 days a week 2 minutes average a day, others may be in for two 6 minute sessions a week.)
Recovery, Performance, and Pain Relief.
As for recovery from training, performance enhancement, and pain relief, taking a cold plunge in the immediate 4 hour window post training has been shown to reduce inflammatory cytokines in the body, reducing inflammation and boosting recovery. However, this only applies to training that is NOT directed at strength and/or hypertrophy gains, in which case the Cold Plunge will actually diminish training results.
A general protocol for using the cold plunge to boost performance, aid in recovery, and relieve pain is shorter time periods in the water at colder temperatures.
Immune System Support.
The lymphatic system and the immune system are tightly interwoven throughout the body. The lymphatic system is generally responsible for filtering out waste and toxins from the body's the blood, tissues, and cells and is heavily reliant on muscular contractions to pump said lymph throughout the body. These muscular contractions can come from exercise of any kind or lymphatic massage. Neglecting the lymphatic system can allow it to become inefficient and slow, unable to adequately excrete fluid. The fluid can then build, growing stagnant. This can lead to any number of symptoms, from the common cold, regular joint pain, even to infection and disease. Cold water emersion causes the lymphatic system to contract through shivering, forcing fluid through the lymph nodes. This process aids in detoxing the body and strengthening your immune system.
This, in combination with the above explained inflammation reduction, helps the body build a better defense system in general.
A general protocol for using the cold plunge to improve the immune system is to immerse yourself in a cold plunge up to the neck in an uncomfortably cold but safe temperature for 1-3 minutes 2-3x/week.
Stress Management and Mental Tenacity.
Much akin to the mechanisms behind why the cold plunge elevates mood and energy, the body's response to cold plunge of releasing norepinephrine can be leveraged to train your body's response to stress. High stress feelings and situations are a result of a surge of catecholamines (epinephrine, norepinephrine, etc.) in our brain/body MUCH like the surge from deliberate cold exposure. It has been proven that all humans, in response to this high surge of catecholamines, lose 30-80% of proper brain function - explaining why you feel so chaotic and foggy when stressed out. By mimicking the catecholamine surge, we can teach our body and brain to remain calm and sharp during said surges, so that we can better handle real life stressful situations and maintain better mental clarity and tenacity.
Dr. Andrew Huberman likes to use the "wall protocol" of cold plunge therapy to better train the brain and body's response to stressful situations. He relates moments of "I want to quit", or "I want to get out", or "This is really hard, I think I'm done", to walls. When in the cold plunge, each time you experience a wall moment, you are overcoming a stressful occlusion that you would otherwise have let stop you. The more "walls" you can climb over while in the cold plunge, the better you will be able to scale "walls" in every day life, without the negative effects of stress.
A general protocol for using the cold plunge to better manage stress and build mental tenacity is to 1) progressively increase your time in the tub or decrease the temperature at which the tub is at every time you get in or 2) to progressively increase the number of "walls" you traverse in each session.
Metabolic Boost.
There are two ways in particular that you can increase your core metabolism using deliberate cold exposure consistently. Short term, being submerged in cold water forces your body to heat up and thus burn more calories via shivering, activating fat cells to burn more energy, etc. Long term wise however, and the potentially more beneficial metabolic effect, cold water emersion triggers the body to turn white fat cells into brown and beige fat cells resulting in a higher basal metabolic rate long term. Our body has two different types of fat cells:
White Fat cells: What we commonly think of as fat cells; they store excess energy.
Brown/Beige Fat cells: Thermogenic Fat; body fat that serves as a furnace to regulate our core temperature.
Cold exposure converts white fat cells to beige/brown fat cells via norepinephrine release discussed earlier that is triggered upon deliberate cold water emersion. Catecholamines bind to the surface of the white fat cells and activate downstream pathways (such as UCP-1, uncoupling protein-1) that act on the mitochondria of these cells, increasing their mitochondrial output. With this change in genetic expression, now the white fat cells' mitochondria are used to generate excess heat in the body to regulate core body temperature, rather than store excess energy. This conversion of white fat to brown fat can long term increase your basal metabolic rate (how many calories your body burns in a day naturally) by anywhere from 50-600 cals a day.
A general protocol for using the cold plunge to increase your metabolism is to alternate getting into and out of the cold plunge for 1 min at a time. When out of the cold plunge, stand with your arms extended for 1 min, actively shivering. Three rounds of this per session should suffice.
These are just a few of the plethora of benefits from deliberate cold water emersion and a brief explanation of the biological mechanisms behind them!
Set up a time to meet with one of our health coaches to discuss the best protocol to implement into your wellness routine!
Head to www.otgfitnesssb.com/services and click on the "Cold Plunge" to set up your free consultation.
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