The morning routine is a prime time to get your brain ready to take on the day, and you can maximize this with contrast showers. It is a great way to get refreshed. These showers have a hot and cold aspect. Alternating between hot and cold showers helps you wake up and make your daily routine more enjoyable and successful.
What Is a Contrast Shower?
The contrast shower involves alternating between hot and cold water to improve circulation, increase metabolism, and eliminate toxins.
The change in temperature helps boost circulation and wake you up faster than a regular shower. The contrast shower in the morning helps boost your energy and improve your mood. This process forces blood vessels to dilate, improving blood flow and circulation throughout the body. It also helps stimulate brain activity, which helps your concentration and focus throughout the day.
It also helps your body release endorphins, hormones that relieve stress.
How Do You Take a Contrast Shower?
A contrast shower uses hot and cold water in the shower to create a physical and mental reaction. It is a great way to boost your overall health and energy. It also helps with depression, anxiety, and headaches.
To take a contrast shower, turn on your water heater until it’s as hot as you can stand. Then turn off the water heater entirely and turn on your cold water faucet until it’s as cold as possible.
Start by showering in hot water for 3 to 5 minutes and moving to a cold shower for 1 min. You should alternate the same 3 to 5 times and finish with a cold shower.
Benefits of Contrast Shower
If you’re looking for a way to make your morning routine more effective, consider adding a contrast shower.
The benefits of a contrast shower include the following:
Cleaner skin
According to dermatologists, warm water opens pores, which allows for better exfoliation and cleaner skin.
Alternating hot and cold temperatures help cleanse and remove dead skin cells from the surface of your skin, leaving you with soft, smooth skin.
Improved circulation
Hot water improves circulation by allowing more blood vessels to dilate. Cold water constricts the blood vessels, which slows down circulation. It benefits you if you have poor circulation or feel sluggish or tired often because your blood is not circulating properly due to lack of exercise or poor diet choices.
By increasing circulation and improving blood flow, you’ll have more energy, better sleep, increased alertness, and reduced anxiety and depression.
Promote relaxation
The warm water relaxes your muscles, making you feel less stressed or tense. The cold water makes you shiver. This reaction causes your body to release endorphins, the feel-good hormones leaving you feeling relaxed and refreshed after the shower.
Reduces Muscle Soreness
If you are an athlete or physically active, contrast therapy is helpful to you as it opens up the blood vessels and increases blood flow, which helps to relieve sore muscles.
Reduced Swelling and Inflammation
A contrast shower reduces swelling by increasing circulation to the affected area. It also reduces inflammation by improving lymphatic drainage and stimulating blood flow to damaged tissue.
Boosts Metabolism
A contrast shower boost metabolism by causing your heart rate to increase during each transition from hot to cold water. The increased blood flow throughout your body increases heat production and energy consumption to keep you warm or cool, depending on your preferred temperature.
What Cold Showers Do
When it comes to morning routines, the common approach is to start with a hot shower. But you might be surprised by what happens when you switch things up and alternate hot and cold water.
The cold water in your morning shower can be jarring. It shocks your system helps wake you up, and prepares you for the day
Here’s how they work:
The cold water causes your body to produce adrenaline, which makes you feel more awake. Adrenaline is also responsible for jumpstarting your metabolism and releasing glucose into your bloodstream, energizing you throughout the day.
Here are some benefits of cold showers:
Cold showers help wake you up. The adrenaline rush that comes with plunging into cold water is energizing, so if you’re feeling sleepy in the morning, it’s worth giving this a try.
They make you feel more alert. Cold water stimulates your brain to produce more dopamine and serotonin, two neurotransmitters that make you feel happy and relaxed. It motivates your emotions before starting your day.
What Hot Showers Do
Hot showers are a great way to start your day and help you stay on track with your health goals. After a long day, they provide enjoyable ways to relax.
Here are the benefits of hot showers
They help you sleep better: Studies found that people who take warmer baths have less trouble falling asleep and stay asleep longer than those who take cooler baths or no baths. According to the research, warm water helps increase blood flow to the skin and muscles, increasing body temperature and making you sleep well and wake up feeling more relaxed.
They cleanse your skin by removing dead cells, excess oils, and dirt from your body, making it smoother and more hydrated. It can also heal skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema.
Hot showers boost your immune system by increasing blood circulation in your body.
Add Contrast Showers to Your Morning Routine
If you’re looking for a new way to kick your morning routine into gear, consider adding contrast showers.
They are quick and simple but can significantly affect how you wake up and feel alert. They involve alternating between hot water to open up the pores and cold water, which constricts blood vessels. All it takes is showering with hot water and switching to cold alternatively 3 to 5 times.
They help you wake up by stimulating your skin receptors and boosting energy levels. They can also help relieve pain and muscle tension, increase blood flow to the brain and heart, and improve mood. Other great option is doing contrast therapy with cold plunge and infrared sauna here!
