Do Cold Showers Help You Lose Weight?

Written by Megan Ayala. Last Updated: February 20, 2022

It is normal to want to tweak every aspect of your lifestyle to lose weight.

You will become determined to lose weight and that can naturally lead to changes. One of the changes a lot of people end up looking into involves how they shower during the day. Instead of taking a warm shower, you take a shower with cold water.

Does this work? Is it a useful option that should be implemented into your daily routine or is it a myth?

This article will dig deeper into understanding whether or not taking a cold shower is beneficial for your weight loss journey.

Taking Cold Shower To Lose Weight

Studies show there is a direct impact on your ability to lose weight by taking a cold shower. The reason has to do with the activation of the fat cells, which start to warm due to the sudden drop in body temperature from the cold water [1].

It’s a great option to get the body used to the idea of shedding fat.

If you are eating well, this is a good supplementary trick to keep losing weight. You will notice how easy it becomes to shed excess fat.

Reported Benefits of Cold Showers

1. May Stimulate Faster Burning of Fat

The main idea behind taking the cold shower is to feel fresh and make sure you are improving how your body functions.

One of the underrated benefits of taking a shower is realizing you can also burn fat along the way. Why not take advantage of this and start implementing cold showers into your routine?

If you do this consistently, you are going to notice a sudden change in your metabolism. You will begin to burn more fat by doing less.

2. Increased Circulation

Getting the blood flowing through the body is highly recommended.

There are several ways of doing this but one of the better options is to take a cold shower. The reason this works has to do with the benefits you’re going to get within a short period.

All it takes is 10 minutes in a cold shower to start reaping the rewards of the temperature change. This is due to the blood circulating throughout the body and helping with any pain you’re dealing with.

If you are someone that wants to help the immune system then a cold shower works well.

3. Glowing Hair & Skin

There is nothing better than improving how your skin and hair feel during the day.

Many people suffer from skin conditions and/or don’t like how their hair looks. If that is something you are dealing with all the time then it is best to consider taking a cold shower.

It’s a simple change that is going to ensure you feel on top of the world concerning your skin and/or hair. It will become silkier and far more robust to the touch.

This is great for those who want to avoid using chemicals all the time to improve their skin or hair.

4. Boost in Energy

A lot of people feel sluggish during the day especially early in the morning.

This can create a situation where you don’t want to do anything and that can be quite frustrating. If you are someone that is going to want a sudden burst of energy to course through the body then it is time to look into taking a cold shower.

Cold showers provide a nice wake-up call and will ensure you are wide awake as soon as the cold water hits your body.

This is something you are going to enjoy because it helps in all situations.

5. Helps With Muscle and Joint Pain

Are you someone that struggles with muscle and/or joint pain all the time?

People that are in this type of situation don’t know what to do and always resort to pain meds. Yes, those do work in the short term but they are just masking the issue at hand.

You will want something that is far more natural, which is why you are going to adore what cold showers can do for the pain.

This will help alleviate the pain as you are going to start focusing on the sudden temperature change. It will also help push blood to those troubled areas in the body, which can improve the recovery phase.

How To Take A Cold Shower To Lose Weight

1. Take a 10-15 Minute Shower

Studies show you will have to take at least a 10-minute cold shower to enjoy the benefits of the temperature change [2].

For those who are looking to lose weight, you will want to have a timer set to make sure you are staying within this range. It is okay to give this range but it all comes down to how your body responds to the temperature of the water.

If you are uncomfortable, this is okay as that is how it is supposed to be. What you don’t want is to fall ill or to deal with unwanted harm.

Find the balancing point to make sure you do enjoy the benefits of a cold shower.

2. Maintain Contact With The Cold Water For 2-3 Minutes

It is important to make sure you are maintaining contact with the cold water for at least 2-3 minutes at a time.

This means you don’t want to stick your chest into the cold water for 30 seconds and then step back. Yes, this might be okay during the first few times but after a while, you will need to buildup your stamina inside the cold shower.

This means taking at least 2-3 minutes where the water is touching the same spot on the body. This is how you are going to get the blood circulating.

For those who want to shed weight, it is all about maintaining contact with the cold water. Your fat cells are not going to start warming until there is a necessity for that action to occur. You have to push the body to get to that stage.

3. Stay Consistent

The one thing you don’t want to do is start taking long breaks between the showers.

If you are thinking about taking a cold shower then it has to happen every other day. The body is not going to see the benefits that you want it to if you’re inconsistent.

Take the time to plan out how often you are going to take a cold shower and then stick to it. In most cases, you should be aiming to take a shower every day with the cold water.

This is how your body is going to get used to the cold water and it will reap the rewards of the temperature change. Don’t be afraid to become consistent with something like this.

The benefits are well worth the effort and should help with your weight loss too.

4. Be Realistic

It’s important to understand that while cold showers may offer some benefit to your weight loss journey, you’ll have to do the real work that it takes to actually lose weight. This includes factors like the proper diet and a solid exercise plan.

Without those things in place, don’t expect to lose a ton of weight by simply taking a cold shower…it’s just not going to happen.

RELATED READING: Some of the Best Options for Weight Loss

Final Thoughts

If you are someone that wants to lose weight, you are going to scour every aspect of your life to make sure the changes are valuable.

It is important to think about implementing a cold shower into your routine because it will make a difference. You will enjoy all that it has to offer, which is something to account for over the long haul.

A cold shower can help you lose weight and it will improve how your fat cells warm during the process. Anyone that is thinking about losing weight should improve their diet but this is a supplementary decision that does make a noticeable difference.

References:

1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308173495_The_Effect_of_Cold_Showering_on_Health_and_Work_A_Randomized_Controlled_Trial
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3895006/