There is a quote that goes like, ‘if you can win the morning, you can win the day.’ Having a cold shower in the morning can do a lot for you, and have you feeling and doing your best all day. It’s the simple things in life.
Opting to have a cold shower in the morning might not exactly be an appealing thought, but with every surprising benefit, it looks more and more like a chance worth taking. One thing is consistent through most of the benefits; that a cold shower could do a lot to boost your productivity.
When it increases your alertness, boosts your energy, keeps you in the right physical and mental state of mind for you to focus on more productive things, you have to try it. Read more below.
Increases Alertness
When taking a cold shower in the morning, the first few breaths are hard. The extreme deep breathing will drastically increase your oxygen intake, making your heart rate increase. This sends more oxygen to your brain and more adrenaline through your body, making you more alert.
You eliminate that groggy feeling we all get in the morning right after waking up by making you more energized and alert, and more ready to take on the day. When you get to work with this energy and alertness, you will be more productive.
Also Read: 10 Best Shower Shoes – Smart Selections
Build Strong Willpower
Let’s face it, taking cold showers on especially chilly mornings is not everyone’s cup of tea. Getting yourself to do something that you are resistant to every single morning, requires a lot of mental strength and discipline. Especially when you have the option of warm water. Over time, this mental discipline and strength will become an automated habit and it will reflect in every area of your life.
It will get you doing things will more willpower and pushing yourself to do things you are opposed to. With this kind of attitude, you will become a more productive person, so do it today.
Health Benefits
One of the best benefits of taking cold showers is that they boost immunity. A study that was conducted in England shows that taking more frequent cold showers increases the number of white blood cells – which are the body’s natural defense against disease-causing organisms.
According to the study, the body attempts to warm itself when exposed to a cold stimulus, i.e. the cold shower, causing an increase in the metabolic rate and activation of the immune system.
With your immunity boosted, you become less vulnerable to diseases, which translates to good health. While healthy and disease free, you are in your best physical and mental state of mind to work and be productive.
By Speeding Up Muscle Soreness Recovery
A commonly used remedy used by athletes to ease sore muscles after training is taking ice baths. A cold shower could be just as effective in relieving muscle soreness after training or after breaking a sweat at the gym. The science here is pretty simple, and the cold water gets blood pumping to your broken down muscle, hence increasing recovery time.
Now regarding productivity, when the muscles are aching, most people would opt to give their bodies some time to rest and recover. But when you can ease the soreness in the fastest time possible, you could be out in the field or the gym even the next day.
By Improving Your Emotional Resilience
If you happen to be a person who gets anxious or angry easily, that could get in the way of your work or productivity. But the good news is, cold showers could help and here is how. Cold showers train your nervous system to become more resilient to stress and with time your body will adapt to this. This will reflect in your day to day life, and you will be able to brush off those little things that would otherwise ruin your day.
When you can do that, you can focus on more important and more productive things in your life.
By Reducing Stress
Apart from increasing your tolerance to stressful situations, cold showers will lower your uric acid levels and boost gluthathione in your blood –a master antioxidant and detoxifier of every single cell in your body. This will make you less stressed in general. And without stress, you are in the right mental state to do more constructive and productive things.
By Waking You Up
I already talked about how cold showers can help scientifically in making you more alert, but science aside – if you find it hard to get up in the morning and get pumped for the day, cold showers will fix this.
Relieve Depression
One benefit of cold showers is their ability to offer relief for depression symptoms. The brain has what is known as ‘the blue spot,’ which is the primary source of noradrenaline, a chemical which serves to alleviate depression. Cold showers stimulate this part of the brain.
Also, the mild electroshock delivered to the brain from the cold shower sends electrical impulses from the peripheral nerve endings to the brain. This might result in an anti-depressive effect.
When you are depressed, it is challenging to do your best in the work world. You might not even feel like going to work, but a simple cold shower could help with your depression to have you in the right mental health to show up at work and be productive.
Final Words
There are a lot of studies explaining deeper, the benefits of cold showers. Since not everyone has time to do research on every single benefit and its role on productivity, I have done the hard work for you and put it in this article in simpler terms.
Opting for that cold shower in the morning now seems like such a small price to pay when you have so much to gain regarding your productivity being boosted in so many different ways. So go ahead, give it a go. However, if you have health concerns, consult with your doctor first.