We often hear that it’s best to start your exercise routine with a warm body, thus, the warm-up exercises. But studies have also shown that starting your exercises cold, so to speak, has its benefits. Just be sure to consider the pros and cons of cold exercise, preferably with your World Gym personal trainer and fellow gym-goers, since it isn’t for everybody.
Here are a few ways to start on cold exercise.
Get a Cold Shower Before Your Workout
You are probably among the fitness enthusiasts who enjoy a cold shower after your workout, whether it’s a hard run on a treadmill or a hard lifting session. Why not change it up and get a cold shower before your workout? You will find that it has several benefits rooted in many scientific studies.
When your body becomes cooled down prior to exercise, its temperature will be significantly decreased resulting in increased strength of muscle activation. You will also observe a reduced sweat rate resulting in better performance. You will likely enjoy faster running performance time, a benefit that can contribute to your increased overall performance.
The best way to get such cooling benefits is to:
- Sit in a cold bath or take a cold shower for as long as you can take it, such as 5-10 minutes, known as cold water immersion
- Apply a cold water spray on your face during your run on a regular basis
You will probably notice the difference between a “warm” and a “cold” exercise as soon as you apply the cold process. Of course, you should still perform warm-up and cool-down exercises before and after your run because these are crucial in safe and effective exercise.
Getting Cold During Exercise Won’t Result in Sickness
Unless, of course, you fail to take precautionary measures in bundling up against the cold, especially when you’re exercising outdoors. We then strongly suggest applying the practices of cold exercise within the warm confines of a gym, not to mention that you will have a wide choice in exercise equipment.
Your salivary lymphocytes, the white blood cell parts of your immune system, can actually increase when you perform cold exercise. This happens both immediately after your exercise and as much as two hours after it (i.e., recovery period). You may, indeed, be developing your immune system to be more robust and resilient so you’re less likely to get sick.
Not everybody, nonetheless, can benefit from cold exercise. But you should first try it for a couple of times and see whether your body responds to the new stimulation. You can just revert back to warm exercise if you belong to the non-responders.