Guide to taking your first Ice Bath
Doing your first Ice Bath can feel a bit intimidating. Nobody likes the cold. Perhaps you remember a time when your shower accidentally switched from hot to freezing, or you tried to swim in the sea but you couldn’t bring yourself to go lower than your waist. It can be a really unpleasant experience, and one that people generally try to avoid.
But taking an Ice Bath is a completely different experience, and can actually be a very rewarding one. That’s not to say that you won’t feel uncomfortable - you will, but keep in mind that it’s from that discomfort that you get a lot of the amazing benefits we talk about here. It’s different because instead of trying to avoid the cold and discomfort, you are deliberately putting yourself in this situation. You are in control.
In this guide, we’ll assume that you’re already motivated to do take an Ice Bath. (If you’re still a bit skeptical, you can read more about benefits of Ice Baths). We’ll start with what you can expect, and then some tips for how to deal with it. Knowing what to expect will make it much easier.
Table of Contents:
Wet your face before getting into the Ice Bath, activating the Mammalian Dive Reflex
Get into the ice bath quickly, and brace for the cold shock
Calm yourself down with deep breathing
Keep your hands out the water at least for your first few ice baths
Remember that the first 30 seconds are the worst, and it will only get easier from there
If you get intense sensations in your feet or other parts, just remember it won’t get worse
Don’t stay in for longer than 10 minutes, or much after you start shivering, whichever comes first
If you want to do it at home, you could use your bathtub (if you have one), something portable like this or the one we use at our events, the Arctic Ice Bath.
You could grab some bags of ice from 7/11, but you’re going to need quite a few, especially if you’re doing this in Thailand where the tap water temperature is around 30 degrees. If you’re serious about doing Ice Baths regulary we recommend contacting one of the any Ice companies that deliver ice to restaurants. We’ll happily share the details of the ice company we use, just drop us a message.
Be careful not to fill your bath tub with too much water. The more water you use the more ice you will need to lower the temperature. Experiment with filling your bath tub half way and then adding the ice.
How cold should an Ice Bath be?
As a general rule of thumb, the Ice Bath should be ‘uncomfortably cold but safe’. This can range between 15 degrees and 4 degrees depending on the individual. It’s unnecessary and potentially risky to go below 4 degrees.
The first 30-60 seconds
When you first get into the Ice Bath, it’s a bit of a shock. As anyone who has swam in a cold swimming pool or sea, it’s best to get in quickly and get the initial cold shock out of the way quickly. The cold shock occurs as your body senses the huge temperature shift, and immediately sounds the alarm. Your sympathetic nervous system is activated, and you get a rush of adrenaline and noreprinephrine which accelerates your heart rate and quickens your breathing. It's your body's way of preparing to either face the threat or run away.
You may feel a build up of anxiety in the chest as your breathing gets quicker and more shallow. At this point you may feel an almost overpowering urge to jump out. With deep breathing you can learn to manage this feeling and calm yourself. Indeed, one of the benefits of Ice Baths is learning how to quickly manage stress.
30 seconds - 2 minutes
As the initial cold shock starts to subside, you may become aware of discomfort in your hands, feet, or other extremeties. The most common source of discomfort is in the hands. If your hands start to feel too uncomfortable.- as they do for most people - you can raise them out of the water - like you’re impersonating a lobster.
The second most common locale for discomfort is the feet. A few things to keep in mind:
1) The discomfort will not get worse than it already is and will gradually get better. We’re used to pain signals indicating that we should stop doing something, and if we keep doing it then it will only get worse. A good example is when you put your hand on a flame. But taking Ice baths is not like that - whatever discomfort you feel at the beginning is the worse it’s going to get, and it will hopefully get better over time
2) Focus on deep breathing, it helps. Really.
Approx 2 minutes onwards
After you’ve got past the initial cold shock response, the body starts to release dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, reward and motivation. You should start to feel a bit calmer, and you might even feel a bit high. If you get this far, it should be a lot easier and you might even start to enjoy the experience. Eventually you’ll start to shiver, a sign that it’s time to get out.
Breathing
Deep breathing is your most powerful weapon when you take an Ice Bath. Rapid or shallow breaths can amplify feelings of anxiety during that intial cold shock. Deep breathing helps you calm down and deactivates the fight or flight response, making it much easier to resist the urge to jump out.
Deep (Diaphragmatic) Breathing Technique:
Place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
Breathe in slowly through your nose, aiming to expand your stomach outward. You should feel the hand on your stomach rise more than the one on your chest. This ensures you're filling your lower lungs and engaging the diaphragm.
Exhale slowly through your mouth. As you exhale, your stomach should contract inward.
The Mammalian Dive Reflex
Let me introduce your new secret weapon that will make you sound like a marine biologist when you mention it to others. The Mammalian Dive Reflex is a physiological response shared by aquatic mammals and humans that evolved to help conserve oxygen when diving underwater. The heart rate slows down and blood vessels constrict to preserve oxygen for vital organs - both of which are very useful responses for the Ice Bath. You can activate this Mammalian Dive Reflex by wetting your face with cold water before you get into the Ice Bath.
