Fall is here, and the mercury is falling in thermometers across the northern hemisphere. It’s an uncomfortable situation to get used to, but the good news is you can hurry this process along.
Scientific data gathered to understand acclimatization to cold came about in the 1960s. Where US army researchers found that it took people around two weeks to stop shivering when exposed to a cold environment for eight hours a day. Many further work has been done world wide to come to the conclusion that the body really does adjust to the cold.
It has been proven that exposure to the cold slowly trains your blood vessels to become narrower and further embedded from the skin surface. Through this our body looses less heat and we become more comfortable in the cold.
How to put this into practice
If you really want to accelerate your body’s habituation to the cold, frigid showers will get the job done. A cold shower might sound awful, but it causes the body to adapt pretty quickly. According to a research physiologist of the US Army, you should start with just a quick cold-shower exposure—say 15 seconds—and add 10 seconds of cold water every day. Once you’ve endured your measure of icy water, you have permission to turn up the water temp (though the environment won’t mind if you don’t). Of course, dressing up warmly is the best way to beat the cold, but these cold showers will at least help you acclimatize to the cold, as temperatures continue their descent.
One little warning: while spending time in a cold shower or in other cold environments is safe for most, people at risk for heart trouble need to be cautious before shocking their body with icy water.
