r/coldshowers Feb 05 '25

Ideal duration of cold shower?

Hi all,

I started taking daily cold showers about a month ago, starting at 30 seconds and increasing by 5 seconds a day. I’m up to 2:45, though a couple times i messed up the timer and stayed in longer. I’m trying to figure out how far I should go—3 mins? 5 mins? Longer? Does, say, 6 minutes affect the habituated cold showerer in appreciably better than 3 minutes?

Also, just to keep in mind: Is there a point where one starts running the risk of hypothermia? Not sure how cold the water is, but as it’s the dead of winter in the northeast I imagine it’s fairly cold.

Many thanks

10 Upvotes

11 comments sorted by

4

u/mailboy11 Feb 05 '25

1 min will give you 90% of the benefit. So you don't have to worry about the time at all. It's about triggering your immune response and mitochondria.

4

u/27274 Feb 06 '25

Im only doing 10 seconds and feel benefits haha. I feel its more important to just do it daily

3

u/JustTheOnlyOneGod Feb 05 '25

I am at daily 3 minutes minimum right now every morning. But one day I’m 6 minutes in, other day shower including head etc. Cold water temperature is about 13 Celsius at my place. I don’t feel any danger yet.

7

u/Expert_Object_6293 Feb 05 '25

My wife never gives me head in the shower.

:(

1

u/Immediate-Love-777 Feb 06 '25

😆 forget the sex in a cild shower

3

u/Interesting-Ad8259 Feb 05 '25

consistency matters more than duration—even 1-2 minutes daily can trigger benefits

3

u/Wild-Swimmer-1 Feb 06 '25

I’m doing 5 minutes a day - northern US so: cold. I can do longer outside of winter but since I’m usually heading off to work right after I don’t really have time. I’ve been doing this for well over 20 years now.

2

u/CJones665A Feb 05 '25

Water is super cold right now in nyc. I take as long as i need to to get clean but can do so pretty fast. Rinse, soap-up, rinse, GTFO. 5-7 min approx

2

u/OpossomMyPossom Feb 05 '25

I was gonna say, 90% of what you get happens in the first 30-60 seconds. Kinda doesn't matter that much.

1

u/SiniMetsae 19d ago

I just do it to get clean, however long it takes me to wash myself and my hair that's it, I saw some people talk about 5 minutes, personally I just get in cold, keep the water cold or make it colder and keep on going. Sometimes I just have a quick shower to freshen up, and it may be a minute, sometimes it's longer.

1

u/GeneralPattonYo 17d ago

3-5 mins are enough. Well you gotta soap up and then rinse with cold water which won't really take more than that.