(water running)
- (groans)
(groans)
(upbeat percussion music)
- I'm Chris Beier.
- And I'm Kevin Ryan.
- And today, we are testing-- - (together) --cold showers
- This was Kevin's idea.
- Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking.
- And why are we gonna do this today?
- So, there's this movement among founders that's
called positive stress. - Oh boy.
- (Kevin) The idea is that you go through
something difficult first thing in the morning,
and that makes the rest of your day easier.
- The key word there is stress.
- It will be stressful.
- (Chris) It will be stressful.
- Yeah, but that's the whole idea.
You--some people say you feel the stress leave your body,
and then the rest of the day is smooth sailing.
- Really?
- Another way to look at it is,
like you're accomplishing something really difficult--
- Mmmm
- --first thing in the morning.
You've already overcome an obstacle,--
- Yeah
- --and now the world is your oyster.
- Yeah, I see.
- You see those books and those lists, that are like,
"you gotta challenge yourself first thing in the morning.
This is a way to challenge yourself.
- I thought that's like, "go work out,"
or, "go solve a puzzle." - It could be.
- My counterargument to your positive stress bull (beep)
is that it's gonna suck.
- You think it's gonna put you in a bad mood for the day.
- Yeah, I do. - Yeah, yeah.
I mean, that's very possible.
I think there's one way to find out.
Let's test the thing! - Oh my god.
I think this is going to be an
unpleasant way to start the day.
Not a pleasant day.
- I'm about to take a cold shower,
and I am not looking forward to this at all.
- (water running) Damn you, Kevin.
- (water running) Here we go.
- Ah (beep)(beep)
- (gasps)
Oh, no!
- (low yell) (beep) You (beep) (low yell)
I'm not done, but that was about 15 seconds.
- This is horrible.
- Chris (unintelligible grunting)
- That was not my favorite thing.
My skin feels all tingly.
- Whooo. That was pretty invigorating.
- Day one of cold showers. Not noticeably less stressed,
or more productive or anything.
I'm kind of skeptical.
- I am noticeably less anxious.
I am more calm,
and I think that that has led me to be productive.
It's like 2 p.m. right now and I've, like,
plowed through this day,
so I'm starting to believe in this thing.
- Another day, another cold shower.
- It's hard to get outta bed knowing that you gotta
get into a cold shower.
- (water running) (gasping) Oh god.
- (water running) (low yell)
- (water running) This is not fun.
- Ha!
Day two down.
- It slows down my motor functions.
Like my body is going into a state of frozen shock.
- I feel like I'm faster.
I feel like I can think quicker.
I feel like I want to run a marathon.
The adrenaline, sort of, like, has
stayed with me since that cold shower.
- Last cold shower of the week.
I can do this. I think.
- Chris (beep) (groans)
- This is my coldest one yet.
- (snorts) Well, it definitely helps me go quick,
and that's good because I'm already late.
- I wouldn't say there's any noticeable boost
in productivity, or mental state, or how I feel in general.
I'm starting to poke some holes
in this whole positive stress theory.
- A cold shower in the morning has shown
a pattern of leading to a better day.
Of leading to a day where I'm more mentally clear.
(loud exhale)
- We're back.
I had to like-- - Terrible -
- -take deep breaths. Let out some guttural sounds
that you don't even realize you have inside of you, like a--
- Yeah. - --(dissonant groan)
- (low groan) - (groan)
- (honk sound) (honk sound)
- (groan)
- (low scream) (water running) (low scream)
(alternate low whooping)
- Something like that.
- I have to say, man, you were right.
I liked it. - What?!
- The effects lasted pretty much 'til the afternoon for me,
where I was zenning.
It was a lot harder to be bothered.
- Really?
I had to reverse my morning routine.
- Uh-huh.
- Usually I get out of bed, and then I'll make the tea,
I'll eat the grapefruit, I'll do the meditation,
I'll fumble about a bit, and then I'll take a shower and go.
- Yeah.
- I couldn't do that, -- - Uh-huh.
- --because I was so dreading the shower that was on
the horizon-- - Yeah, yeah.
- --that I determined by the second day,
like I'm just gonna get out of bed and do the shower.
- Uh-huh. - And then after it, I'll do
all this routine stuff-- - Right.
- --and that was like, I was zen.
I was zen for the routine stuff.
- I didn't feel any lasting effect.
- Really? - Yeah. No.
I didn't feel mentally different, but I was kind of like,
"oh, I just did something that other people
didn't do already today,"-- - Hmm.
- --which made me feel like the king of the world.
I think this is the only free Inc. Tested that we've done.
You can just go out and do it.
- That's true.
You don't need to buy a product,--
- Right. - -- you don't
need to go somewhere. Just go take
a cold shower-- - Yeah. Just gotta do it.
- --I think it's worth trying it.
- Regardless, I think we can now say that the concept of--
- (together) cold showers
- --has been
- (together) Inc. Tested.
- What is that?