In Scandinavia, ice bathing has been a tradition for a long time, often as part of the sauna ritual. But more and more people in Scandinavia and other northern parts of the world are starting to discover the pleasure of regularly taking an ice bath just to invigorate your body and soul.
Despite giving you a great relaxing feeling, the ice bath strengthens your body and soul. For those of you who is considering taking an ice bath for the very first time, we have gathered our best tips from the Team Power Woman Community on how to best get started. And if you are one of the regular swimmers going for a cold bath we have gathered some extra tips that could make the pleasure even greater.
HOW TO BEST PREPARE YOUR SELF FOR YOUR FIRST ICE BATH
These are the best tips from the community when taking an ice bath for the first time. The ice bath tips are to help you get a great and safe experience.
- Make sure that you are warm before you jump into the ice bath. Best way to get warm before the ice bath is to dress in warm and cozy clothes, and to drink something nice and hot like tea, coffee or chocolate to get ready.
- Prepare for a good afterwards experience with a nice and thick towel and the clothes you want to were when you are coming up from the cold water.
Make sure to put the clothes in the order you want to put them on after the ice bath.
Also make sure that the clothes are easy to reach. Don't forget a warm hat like a beanie. That will help get warm much quicker after the bath and can even be worn during the ice bath if you prefer so.
- Take it easy and slow when you getting into the water. Make sure to breathe calm and steady the hole time when you are walking in and out of the water. Your body will start inhaling heavily when you get into the cold water, so make sure to breathe in and out with long breath. Try to stay calm and keep the breathing regular.
- Make sure to keep track of time. Don't stay in the water too long even of it feels nice after a while. For the first time - less than 1 minute.
- Walk slowly out of the water and dress quickly with your well-prepared dry clothes. After getting dressed you can drink something warm, while you enjoy the cold nature and the nice burning feeling in your body.
TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION
- Take pre-cautions if you have a high blood pressure or any heart diseases and consult a medical doctor before starting with ice bathing.
- Never swim alone. If you don't have a friend that is equally curious on ice bathing, make sure to have someone watching over you from land and who is ready to jump into the cold water if something happens to you.
- Keep your head, hands and feet warm by using a hat, gloves and bathing shoes.Use shoes and gloves in neopren or wool. If you don't have bathing shoes you can use a pair of socks.
- Bring a thermometer to measure the water temperature, it should be between 40-60 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Before going into the water, make sure to take 10 deep breaths to get your breathing under control.
- Have something warm prepared, e.g. towel, to stand on coming up from the water. We recommend to wear comfortable clothes with loose fit after the bath. Make sure they are dry.
- We recommend you drink something immediately after the bath, preferably something warm, like tee, coffee, chocolate or warm apple juice.
- Your body temperature can continue to decline after the bath so make sure that you don't spend too long time in the water. You should never exceed 15 minutes - but the first time you should keep it to just a couple of minutes.
4 INSPIRATIONAL ADVICES FROM THE TEAM COMMUNITY
- Be decisive - just go for it. It's so worth it.
- Walk slowly into to bath, lower your body to the water. Relax and enjoy!
- Focus on the how you body feels after the bath.
- Make it into a habit, over time your body will become used to it.