No Need for Coffee, Try This in The Morning Instead

I'm not going to be bashing coffee in this post I promise. There are some good things about coffee and like everything there is a balance that needs to take place when you consume coffee. I will do a series of posts on coffee in the future.
This post is going to be about the benefits of cold showers/polar plunges, and why if you commit to taking them you will no longer feel the NEED to drink coffee but instead choose to drink it.

Why cold showers? Because they work... Study after study show the benefits of cold water therapy. There is reason you see most of the top athletes in the world taking ice baths after games or practice.
I will quickly list the benefits of cold water therapy then I'll give you some tips that might help you give it a try.
The first thing that happens when our skin touches cold water is something called the hunter's reflex or hunting response. Our autonomic nervous system tries to keep the skin warm by sending as much blood as it can to our skin. After a minute or so our body realizes it can't keep up and needs to preserve as much heat as possible, our body will shunt the blood back to our core and into our organs and smooth muscles. Due to the lack of blood flow, our nervous system starts to lose sensation in its extremities, we start to go numb. Our body then reverses the process and sends blood back out toward our fingers and toes. This continues until you get out of the cold water or you go hypothermic (please don't go hypothermic).
This reaction is important. Due to our indoor temperature controlled lifestyle, our internal physiology has become weak. By working these systems they become stronger and in turn we become healthier.
What else do cold showers do for us:

• They help us regulate our internal temperature better (summers don't feel so hot and winters don't feel so cold)
• They stimulate our immune system
• Naturally stimulates the adrenal system, producing natural stimulants
• They help us recover faster after exercise
• And for you men out there, cold showers can help boost our sexual performance

Don't get me wrong it's hard in the beginning to get up from a warm comfy bed and get into a cold shower. At least it was for me, so I'll give you a couple of tips that might help you.

• Make it a goal to take a cold shower tomorrow morning. Tell someone; most people will want to know how it went (It's OK to be someone else's smile in the morning). This will also make you accountable to someone other than yourself. After you take that first step, make yourself another goal something like, taking 2 cold showers in a row, then 3 and then for a whole week and so on.
• Set a specific time. I recommend the morning as cold water is a natural energizer (again no need for your coffee). If you take two showers a day pick one and stick to it. Don't say to yourself "I'll do it next time" - you won't. Trust me!

Now you're in the shower staring at the faucet trying to think of reasons why you don't need to do this. Try this:

• Stand in the shower
• Turn the water on cold and count to 30
• Don't be afraid to make all the noises, screams, screeches, and laughs you want.
• Now turn the handle so the water is a medium temperature.
• Count to 30 again and turn the handle back to cold
• Repeat this for about 3 mins.

When doing this it is important to remember to always start and finish with cold water.
After you do that for about a week, try to shorten the time you need the medium water.
Leave a comment down below and tell me how it went. Did you have more energy for the day? Did you wake up your neighbors with you screams? Let me know.
Until next time