Hey guys, it's
Michael here. In today's video, I want to give you six tips that can help you to survive your
first Cold Plunge or ice bath. Now, before we get started, make sure to subscribe to this channel.
And you click on the little alert button so you get notified when I publish more videos like this.
I also want to mention that I have an in-depth review of the Cold Plunge that I'm using
on my blog, as well as on my YouTube channel, and a couple of other articles that compare cold
plunging with cryotherapy and other things so check those out. I'm going to link them all
down below in the description. So let's go outside, I'm going to jump into the
Cold Plunge and I'm going to give you the six tips that I've used and I've applied to make
cold plunging a much more pleasant experience.
All right. First, before we get in, it's all in your head remember that. Once you get in, once
your toe touches the cold water, your brain is going to tell you, get out, get out. You're going
to go into a fight or flight response. You feel super uncomfortable. You're going to feel like,
you're going to die in here. But it's all in your head and try to remember that whatever
your brain is trying to tell you. Your brain just doesn't know that you're doing this on purpose.
It thinks that you're in a life-threatening situation. You're not, you're perfectly fine.
So keep yourself telling that and don't freak out. Try to ignore what your brain is trying to
tell you. Number two, pick a temperature that's uncomfortable, but safe. There is
no purpose of, you know, setting the lowest temperature on the Cold Plunge, getting in,
and then suffering from a panic attack. I'm not going to mention any names,
Richie and Kathy. But there was no purpose of doing that, getting in and then getting
out after a few seconds because you couldn't handle it and then you don't want to do it again.
So pick a temperature that's cold, that's uncomfortable, but it's safe. And that you
can sustain for at least 30 seconds or maybe a minute. Tip number three, we're
going to cover while I'm inside of the Plunge. All right. Tip number three, the only thing you
should be focusing on is breathing and more importantly, slowing down your breathing.
Because once you get in there, your respiratory rate is going to increase. Your heart rate is
going to increase and you're going into fight or flight response, and the only way to counter it.
So one of the best ways to counter this is to close your eyes and put channel all of your energy
into slowing down your breathing and even hold your breath if you have to. The way I do it,
I typically leverage box breathing meaning that I inhale on a count of maybe five. I hold my breath
for five seconds. I exhale on the count of five. I hold my breath again in the repeat that cycle.
And so if you do the math, each breath cycle, it takes you 20 seconds. That means in one minute,
you only have to breathe three times. The first time I stayed in here for three minutes, I reached
a count of eight and I was done and I'm like, wow, this was so quick time passed so quickly because
you only have to count to eight in your head. And it's really the best way to forget everything
and to distract your brain from screaming inside of your head, basically. And so
focus on your breathing, focus on slowing down your breathing life back, close your eyes,
relax and only focus on slowing down your breath. That's the most important tip I can give you.
Number four, don't look at the clock. If you keep looking at the clock,
time is not going to fly. Instead, what I suggest you do,
you set a timer like on my Apple Watch, I typically use my timer.
I set it up before I get in. I get in and I wait until my watch vibrates. The other thing that
I've been doing, that's super helpful as well. Just play a song like one of my favorite songs is
Marjorie and I play it. It lasts approximately three minutes and 10 seconds, and then once
a song is over, I can get out. And the last tip, don't try to wiggle it around and move
a lot because the more you move the colder it feels. Instead, stay still appreciate the suck,
because it's going to suck a little bit. You can even make a fist because your fingers and
your toes are likely the ones getting cold first. So make a fist keep them close to your body and
just stay still and appreciate the discomfort for two minutes or so, and it's going to be
over in no time. So to wrap it up, number one, understand that it's going to be uncomfortable.
It's supposed to, that's the whole purpose of it. Number two, start with a water temperature
that's uncomfortable, but that doesn't freak you completely out. And it obviously helps if you have
something like the Cold Plunge that I have, where you can set the temperature, you can start maybe
with 55 or 50 degrees, instead of going all the way down to 39 degrees from the get-go.
Number three, channel all of your energy into breathing into slowing down your respiratory
rate. That's really the number one tool that you can use to counter your fight or flight response.
Number four, don't look at the clock. Number five, play some music or set a timer much easier,
and time will fly. And number six,
just embrace the suck and hold still. Don't wiggle around. Don't try to warm yourself up by moving.
It's not going to help. It's going to feel colder. Just stay still and wait for two minutes, and it's
going to be over in no time. If you liked this video, give it a thumbs up. If you didn't like it,
let me know in the comments would I could have done better. And make sure you check out my blog
and my YouTube channel for all the other videos related to cold plunging and cold therapy, and
how the Cold Plunge or ice bath compare to cryotherapy. Until next time.