Contrast Therapy – going from it’s horrible to I love it!

A piece written by a Rejoov regular

“Just get in Baz!!” - the family’s take on my cold water procrastinating

It’s horrible
They all laugh at me
It’s brilliant & tranquil
It’s addictive
It’s horrible, and I love it

It’s horrible: the cold water is up to my thighs and after 2 minutes dithering I bottle out. It’s Christmas Eve 2023 and about 7⁰c, one of our girls has come home for the holiday along with a Lumi cold water pod. This is a barrel sized mobile cold water container which is used for “dipping” , essentially dunking yourself in cold water. The words “Just get in Baz!!” are in my ears as I do the walk of shame to get dry. What’s worse is that Lesley, my wife, and Lara, my daughter, have already been fully dunked in 6⁰c water.

This blog looks at my fascination with cold water dipping and why, at the age of 68 I find it so compelling.

My first experience of cold water was similar, an early morning dip with the Penarth Dawn Stalkers in late January 2022. The Dawn Stalkers meet every day at sunrise on the beach at Penarth for a swim. However, not to be defeated, with the help of a rash vest, I managed a full five minutes the following week and had a real high while floating around in the sea. This was an early lesson in what not to do. When you have reached the point the cold water feels warm and amazing, you have been in too long. And sure enough I was still shivering two hours later as we arrived at home.

So why persist? What kept drawing me back to try again?

I remember being amazed some years ago watching a documentary on the Russian walruses. This is a group that swims all winter in Moscow by cutting a hole in the ice. I also watched the Wim Hof series on TV where a group of celebrities went through an introduction to cold water in the Alps. I then read his book on the benefits of cold water dipping. However, my main motivator was being the only one in the family that couldn’t get straight into freezing cold water, and enjoy it. Plus, they all laughed at me.

A walk on the Blorenge in early January 2022 was followed by a family swim, by that I mean Lesley and the two girls swam in Keepers Pond and I held the towels and helped pull them out of the water. So add all these experiences together and by Christmas 2023 I was determined to take the plunge, albeit slowly.

That Christmas we used the borrowed Lumi everyday and then ordered our own between Christmas and New year, so that come January 1st 2024 we were ready to go. Progress was slow and steady, up to my hips the first few mornings, then kneeling and finally up to my neck. A video of me dithering around taking a minute to get in fully prompted the response from my brother “just get in Baz”. My cold water dithering keeps the whole family laughing at my efforts.

It's addictive:

The high point of that first season was 2 minutes at 1⁰c, I had to remove the ice from the tub before getting in. And by this point I was fully addicted, my happy place being sat in the Lumi watching the early morning sun. It’s brilliant & tranquil.

Two years later it’s still a learning curve, and Rejoov has helped with that.

In the documentary “Simon Reeve in Scandinavia” Simon takes part in a training exercise with the Finnish Army. He has full cross country skiing equipment on and jumps into an ice hole in a frozen lake. The officer supervising the training tells him “shouting doesn’t help”, so he keeps quiet. Keeping quiet is part of my learning curve. The first time I went in the cold dip at Rejoov I made so much noise Cassie came running down the stairs to check I was ok! Nowadays she just ignores the noise although I am slightly quieter now. The neighbours tell me they know when I am in the water because they hear the grunts and groans.

It’s horrible and I love it, and I looked forward all summer to October and that first cold dip of the season. I also love the polarised reactions from people you talk to about cold water. We recently bumped into a couple from South Devon and got chatting about running and cold water. One of them found the concept of cold water horrifying, the other was dipping in the sea several times a week all year round.

A web search for the benefits of cold water dipping will provide a long list of potential plus points, and the next blog will look at these in more detail. For me three stand out; the dopamine & endorphin release gives me a real buzz to start the day. The cold water helps minimise inflammation and helps muscles recover from exercise. And the third is the social benefit of demonstrating to the world as I approach 70, that I am still doing something most people view as completely daft.

Finally, this year Rejoov added to the experience with contrast therapy. Alternating between the sauna and cold tubs leaves you feeling relaxed and soaked in a lovely dopamine hit. It meant I could keep dipping over the summer. To help people over 60 who are interested in trying Contrast Therapy, Rejoov runs a session called Active Recovery Club every Wednesday 2-3pm – it’s a session dedicated to over 60s looking to feel better and move easier in a supportive environment.