By: Cat Ebeling, RN, MSN-PHN, co-author of the best-sellers:  The Fat Burning Kitchen, The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging & The Diabetes Fix

Fatigued, depressed, no get-up and go? The answer just may be a cold-water plunge.

Cold exposure and ice baths are ‘the’ thing right now to increase metabolism, cure your depression and reduce inflammation. From longevity, to better moods, to improved metabolism, cold water seems to be the new cure-all.

Ice baths have played an important role in athletic recovery for many, many years. In fact, I remember back in my high school days, football players moaning about having to sit in the galvanized metal ice water tub after football games.

Taking a post workout plunge into an ice water bath has been a common practice among many hard-core athletes to recover faster, and reduce muscle pain and soreness after intense training sessions or competitions. Just like you would put ice on an injury, an ice bath after a hard workout or competition was considered a way to reduce inflammation and aid in recovery.

In recent years, cold therapy has become the ‘thing’ to do for your health. Cold therapy has proven benefits to reduce inflammation in muscles, joints and ligaments, aid in recovery, improve your mood, boost confidence, and even increase immune response.

However, it’s been found that ice bath/cold therapy treatments after hard exercise or competition is counterproductive to the workout recovery process. Post injury inflammation is actually important for serious athletes to get the resulting strength and endurance increase that workouts and competition provide. Cold exposure also slows down the lymphatic system that needs to clear out the toxins and waste products of exercise left behind in the muscles and the rest of the body. So, if you are interested in cold exposure, it’s best to do separate from hard exercise efforts.

That being said, cold therapy has most definitely found its place in the daily habits of natural health practitioners, a number of celebrities, and athletes. And even your everyday ‘joe’ is doing it. Your neighbor is probably doing it! Ice baths and cold therapy seem to have some definite health benefits.

Cold therapy seems to have the greatest benefits to the central nervous system, the cardiovascular system, and the immune system, rather than just muscles.

Cold therapy fans believe benefits that include:

• Boosting immune function
• Improved circulation
• Lowered heart rate
• Deeper sleep
• Better focus
• Boosting energy levels
• Lowered inflammation
• Improve metabolic function
• Reduced depression, improves mood
• Increase in confidence

The leader of the cold therapy movement is Wim Hof, aka “The Iceman”, who has created the Wim Hof Method of Cold Therapy. This Dutchman received his nickname from breaking several records having to do with extreme cold exposure, including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts, running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle barefoot, and standing in a container of ice cubes for more than 112 minutes.

Wim Hof’s extensive training and cold experiments have enabled him to control his breathing, heartrate, blood circulation and autonomic nervous system better than most humans.

Participants in the WHM of cold therapy training report health benefits that range from higher energy levels to even a lessening of symptoms of autoimmune disease.

Immune Function

Scientists have performed experiments to prove the powers of the Wim Hof Method and to take a closer look at some of the mechanisms behind it. One study on immune function, done by Radboud University looked at a group of WHM followers and non-followers. Both groups were exposed to a pathogen under controlled conditions, and it was found the WHM followers had an increased immune response, lowered inflammatory response and fewer symptoms of illness.

Regulating the Autonomic Nervous System

Self-modulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is generally regarded as a system that cannot be voluntarily influenced by an individual. However, the results from this recently performed scientific study on Wim Hof, that the ANS can be voluntarily controlled.

Increases Brown Fat and Metabolism

In another experiment, Wim Hof was monitored in a cold environment and a neutral temperature environment. This study showed Wim’s levels of brown fat as being very high for a man his age, especially when measured in a cold environment.

Brown fat is a special type of body fat that is activated when you are very cold. Brown fat is metabolically active and can produce heat to help maintain body temperature in very cold conditions. Brown fat contains far more active mitochondria than does white fat, which is basically inert.

The theory is that increasing activity in brown fat will help the body stimulate burning regular white, meaning that cold exposure can become a way to lose body fat. However, research is not conclusive on brown fat, although your body certainly does work a bit harder to warm up after getting into freezing cold water.

This 2009 research review found that brief immersions (5 minutes or so) in cold water (59°F/15C did increase the body’s metabolism. However, there have not any larger studies proving that repeated icy plunges can result in any significant weight loss.

Beneficial Adaptive Response

Cold exposure is a way of shocking the body—in a good way. This shock stimulates the ‘fight or flight’ response, which causes an adaptive response because the stressor is brief, compared to long term stress which wears the body down, mentally, and physically.

Cold exposure is considered a hormetic stressor. A hormetic stressor is a type of natural stress, that creates a positive response in the body. As your heart rate and respiration increase to help keep you warm, blood flow and oxygen increase throughout the body. Norepinephrine floods the brain, which boosts focus, attention, and mood, while reducing pain and inflammation. This also creates a nice endorphin rush. You know, that awesome feeling that you can get from a hard workout or even the rush you get from skydiving.

Reduces Inflammation

One of the big benefits of lowering inflammatory cytokines is that it also lessens anxiety and depression. Even VanGogh was treated for depression with two-hour cold baths, twice a week.

Other benefits of cold-water immersion show that it moves blood from the peripheral (outer) blood vessels to the deeper interior blood vessels, limiting inflammation and swelling, while helping with better blood flow, especially to the major organs.

Cold therapy also helps move metabolites and waste products that build up in the body, while nutrients are sent to replenish fatigued muscles and other parts of the body.

Even the lymphatic system is activated by the cold exposure, which helps speed the clearance of toxins from tissues throughout the body. Cold therapy also helps to ramp up your antioxidative defense by increasing your T cell activity to improve immune function.

Mentally Uplifting

Cold exposure is also a great way to improve physical health and your mental health. Proponents note that it can improve focus, confidence, and even mental resilience. It’s also been noted that it lifts depression.

Much in the same way that working out stirs up ‘feel-good’ endorphins and gives you added confidence in other areas of your life, cold exposure does the same for your mental attitude. Suddenly you have a ‘can-do’ attitude about life!

How to Get Started with Cold Exposure

It’s best to start out slowly and condition yourself to the cold. Begin in the shower, switching to cold showers for the last 30-60 seconds. Build up to a few minutes if you can—or just start with a cold shower.

Next, try an ice bath. Add ice to water until the temperature is between 50-59°F or 10-15°C. Be sure to start with limited exposure and build up to 10-15 minutes. Or consider a short swim in cold water like a lake. But be sure to go with a partner to keep an eye on you—hypothermia can happen quickly and cloud your judgement and ability to swim.

Cold water immersion affects blood pressure, heart rate and circulation, so be sure to check with your doctor to be sure the stress on the heart is safe for you. Some people have died from heart attacks from the cold water, so don’t ever just jump into ice cold water unless you’ve been cleared by your doctor and you are somewhat used to the practice.

Add the ice water plunge to your routine of lifting weights, getting good sleep, and getting outside in the sun and you will have added positive physical stressors that will up level everything you do!

References
https://www.wimhofmethod.com/science
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-to-cold-therapy/
https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/health-fitness/cold-water-therapy-benefits-707395
https://www.healthline.com/health/cold-water-therapy#how-to-use
https://fullscript.com/blog/cold-shower-benefits?utm_source=email&utm_medium=patientcomms&utm_campaign=apr-5-2022&mkt_tok=ODE0LUhRWC0xMDAAAAGDmVa41uXl9CIZ5Xx77yisxwHZNjSvAqHU6T_sjzUFrWSYBnLobnCBGP7uqv_4pMcxbxSizDO72CdDTfPtiZANwBpJgEZ65YmKv-l8Vj0

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Most of us think of exercise in terms of how we want to look—losing weight, a carved six pack, the firm fanny, or chiseled arms. Sure, those are great, but exercise has wide-ranging benefits that go far beyond just looking good.

Aside from the health and physical benefits, did you know that exercise–especially weight training and High Intensity Interval Training–can actually slow down the aging process? Yes, it has been scientifically proven to slow aging dramatically! Researchers have discovered a way to actually shave as much as ten years from your age with vigorous exercise. And no, you do not need to start training for an Ironman, you just have to start getting exercise in your life.

Exercise has the ability to not only change the VERY cells in your physical body to slow down aging, and actually change the structure of your brain as well, making you feel stronger, more confident, happier and more focused. Starting an exercise program today, no matter how old you are, will absolutely change your life for the better!

After the age of 35, most adults begin to lose 8-10% of their muscle mass per decade. That means by age 55, you have lost up to 20% or so of your muscle mass—if you aren’t exercising. This sneaky condition means your metabolism—and your ability to burn fat—decreases drastically with loss of muscle, and that worst part is that you probably don’t really notice the muscle loss, until you get to a point where everyday activities become difficult. Muscle is one of the most metabolically active parts of our bodies, so losing muscle means our metabolism drops!

Research from UCLA suggests that the more muscle mass older people have, the longer they can expect to live. These findings add to the growing evidence that overall body composition—how much muscle you have, versus how much body fat you have—not the more commonly used and less specific measurement of body mass index (BMI), is one of the best predictors of all-cause mortality.

Aging can make our joints and bones more subject to arthritis (inflammation) and osteoporosis (weak bones). Obviously, these two things can lead to injuries and immobility as we age. Lifting weights and most kinds of weight-bearing exercise actually help to manage arthritis pain and create more mobility in our joints.

Strengthening the muscles around joints not only helps to support, lubricate, and strengthen your joints, but the tug on your muscles and bones created by resistance exercise (like weight training) actually will help to strengthen bones and counter osteoporosis.

Even people with mild to moderate hip arthritis can avoid the surgeon’s knife and hip replacement surgery by exercising. And exercise helps to improve flexibility, movement and joint range of motion as well.

Have you put on a few pounds as you have gotten older? Muscles and the mitochondria in our cells are strong determinants of our metabolism. Metabolism, as you may know, has to do with how many calories you burn in a day and how much energy you have. As mentioned above, losing muscle mass also creates a drop in your metabolism. Think of muscle mass as our ‘engines’. If you want to boost that metabolism back up, start a weight training program, which revs up our physical engines. Adding muscle to your body, is like adding high octane gas to our body’s engines! More muscle, more ‘horsepower’, more metabolism—and more energy!

Men who are looking to replace their declining levels of testosterone and DHEA will be happy to know—just 12 weeks of strength training significantly increases levels of free testosterone and DHEA. Testosterone and DHEA (a pre-cursor to testosterone) not only helps men in the bedroom, but it also benefits the body’s ability to burn fat, but it helps prevent heart attacks, and helps with feelings of empowerment, confidence and mental clarity as well. And ladies, this is for us too! Women actually need testosterone and DHEA for libido, mental clarity, confidence and ability to burn fat too!

We don’t need to set a goal of looking like fitness models to feel like our workouts are paying off—simply working out consistently will improve your health, your fitness AND your appearance. Strength training, aerobic training or HIIT will not only help you start to burn off some of that body fat, but your muscles will become a bit more defined, you will stand a little taller and walk with a bit more confidence too.

Exercise will help your body to burn off that dreaded belly fat as well. Exercise scientists at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that healthy men who did 20 minutes of daily weight training had less of an age-related increase in abdominal fat compared with men who spent the same amount of time doing aerobic activities.

Exercise also improves your skin tone and helps you avoid the droopy skin look. We women especially hate that droopy skin/fat on the backs of our upper arms, but if you build up and strengthen those arm muscles, you can firm up this area, and have nicely defined arms. And it works for all those other areas of your body prone to drooping too! Because exercise speeds up your circulation and flushes out toxins, your skin begins to glow as well.

A study of almost 6,000 adults in the U.S., showed that those who exercise regularly are younger on a cellular level than those who lead sedentary lifestyles. Researchers can look at the telomeres on your chromosomes to determine how fast or slow your cells are aging. Telomeres are the protective caps on the ends of your chromosomes in each of your cells. Telomeres are a little like those plastic ends on shoelaces that keep them from unraveling. Every time our cells divide, the telomeres shorten. When the telomeres become too small, the cells die, which is a big part of how we age. Short telomeres are related to many age-related diseases, including cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular disease.

In the study, an exercise science professor from Brigham Young University compared the telomere lengths in those who did regular vigorous exercise and those who were sedentary. His conclusion was startling: the more physically active we are, the less our biological aging. In other words, exercise truly does slow down our biological aging clock.

In fact, vigorous physical activity can take about ten years off your age, and moderate physical activity can turn back the clock about seven years. Who doesn’t want to be 7-10 years younger??

The best thing is, you don’t have to be an Olympic athlete to reverse the clock; it only takes a minimum of 30-40 minutes of running or other moderate to vigorous exercise five days a week.

One of the biggest and best new forms of exercise to hit the mainstream is HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. This is a fast-paced, intense form of exercise that creates the biggest effect in the shortest amount of time. HIIT has been known to burn the most calories and increase overall fitness in the shortest period of time. HIIT exercise works like this—it alternates short intervals of maximum effort combined with several short recovery times. Often those intervals are 3-5 minutes or less of hard exercise with a couple minutes of rest. There are many different varieities of HIIT workouts, but they all have the same benefits. HIIT can boost your metabolism for hours, melt off fat, build muscle, and maximize those awesome exercise endorphins that give you that wonderful exercise ‘high’.

Now, the Mayo Clinic also says HIIT can stop the aging clock as well. The study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, involved 72 sedentary adults in two age groups—young (18 to 30) and older (65 to 80). The participants were assigned to one of three 12-week workout routines: high-intensity interval cycling, strength training with weights, or a combined strength-training and cycling plan for three months.

The HIIT training plan required three days of cycling with four, 4-minute high-intensity intervals and 3-minute recovery periods), and two days of steady, brisk treadmill walking. The strength-training group performed upper- and lower-body exercises twice a week, while the combined-training group worked out five days a week at a steady state, and for less time.

At the end of the study period, all three groups had gained lean muscle mass and improved their aerobic capacity. But the HIIT group had noticeable changes at the cellular level. Younger volunteers experienced a 49% boost in mitochondrial capacity—the cell’s ability to take in oxygen and produce energy—while the older age group had a dramatic 69% increase!

Mitochondria are our cells’ powerhouses and are important to vitality, oxygen-burning capability metabolism, and energy. In essence, the health of our cells, and our bodies (which are made up of cells) is directly tied to the function of our mitochondria.

The bottom line is that adding short bursts of high intensity exercise is a great way to boost the benefits of exercise even more. Even finding a path where you can run for short bursts or pedaling your bike up hilly sections in a road will work. Obviously, you want to gradually ease into this type of exercise. There are many different types of HIIT workouts online as well.

What if you could do something that would immediately improve your mood, your focus and your memory while protecting your brain from Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADD/ADHD, and banish depression and anxiety? That’s exercise!

According to neuroscientist, Wendy Suzuki, exercise actually helps your prefrontal cortex which is involved in focus, attention, personality and judgement, to improve and grow, improving your capacity for focus and improving your mood. And what’s more, exercise helps to increase your long- and short-term memory.

A single 30-minute workout increases your ‘happy’ brain chemicals of dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline, improves your focus and attention as well as your reaction times. Exercise actually helps your brain make new brain cells and helps your brain to expand and become stronger. And these benefits stick with you!

Your body changes for the better, your health improves, your metabolism improves, your moods improve, you gain confidence, you move better, you feel stronger, you stand up straighter, and your whole life improves with regular exercise.

Don’t ever feel like it is too late! All of these benefits happen, no matter what your age. We don’t have to become fitness models or superathletes, we just have to start moving and start exercising. It only takes 3-4 times a week of 30-40 minutes to make this work. (Of course, if you want to go longer or harder that’s even better!)

So, start now–whether it’s simply walking, running, cycling, strength training, or High Intensity Interval Training—or any combination of the above exercises. You will feel better–mentally, physically and emotionally–and your body and brain physically change for the better as well.

In the words of neuroscientist, Wendy Suzuki,

“Bringing exercise into your life will change your life for the better making you happier and more productive. You can actually CHANGE THE TRAJECTORY of your life for the better–and those around you.”

Don’t wait, start now. It’s never too late!

If you find this article interesting, our friend Steve Holman shows you what exercises can SLOW the aging process, and which ones actually can accelerate it.

This article shows you how to AVOID the exercises that accelerate aging in your body…

References
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/weight-training-appears-key-to-controlling-belly-fat/
http://www.shrinkinguy.com/blog/5-anti-aging-benefits-of-strength-training
https://www.ted.com/talks/wendy_suzuki_the_brain_changing_benefits_of_exercise?language=en
https://www.newsweek.com/exercise-anti-aging-younger-cellular-level-telomeres-607228
https://dailyburn.com/life/fitness/strength-training-aging-study-100714/
https://www.fasebj.org/doi/abs/10.1096/fj.13-245480?journalCode=fasebj
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743517301470?via%3Dihub
https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/43/6/748/2812353
https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131(17)30099-2

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