Hopefully today is a breakthrough day for me. The bath today was the coldest to date a cool 9C and filled to the top. As the outside temp is dropping so is the water temp from the tap.
I am strangely looking forward to these sessions now. Today I set the time for 10 minutes as usual and got in. It still takes me a few seconds to adjust to the cold. I thought by now I would be able to control my breathing better when I get in. Kept my hands in the water again today. I think that is the worst part - feeling my hands become painful and then working through it. I was not shivering by the time the buzzer went so I thought I would set it for another 10 minutes and see how long I could go without getting too cold and shivering. I surprised myself by staying in for another 10 full minutes! I probably could have done longer if I was able to generate additional body heat by moving around (like swimming or water aerobics).
At the end of it my hands were quite numb and difficult to move with "pins and needles" type sensations in them. I was not shivering too badly by the end of the session. I was alert and quite invigorated. I keep looking for signs that my body (or mind) cant cope but haven't found any that I am worried about yet.
I warmed up a little by running up and down the stairs a few times and doing some push-ups. Although as I write this some 30 minutes later, fully dressed and after a cup of hot tea, my body has the occasional shivering "spasm" when I sit still for a longish period. Is this normal when recovering from lowering your body temperature by a few degrees in this way? How long should the shivering last?
Funny observation 1 hour after my cold soak: I tried taking my temperature by putting a ,edical oral thermometer in my mouth. The digital one that I tried first time registered "L" -too low to get a reading so i had to revert to the traditional one. This reads 35.1C so I guess I managed to drop my core body temp by 3 or 4 degrees this morning. I dont think i will be telling my Doctor about this as at these low temps he will be classifying it as self-induced hypothermia!
Teperature: 9C
Durations: 20 minutes
1 comment:
20 Mins @ 9C -- UR getting good my friend.
Normal body temp = 37C
Shivering = 35C (ish)
Mental confusion & danger = 31C (ish)
Death = 20C (ish ish ish!!!)
Aim to drop body temp by 2 or 3 C. Then U should do enough exercise to stop shivering by about 15mins after getting out.
Suggest more aerobic exercise (min 10 mins) Press ups, sit ups, squats, running up stairs, exercycle, row machine, light weights - many reps.
PL
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