19
THE COLD PLUNGE
YOUR SKIN, CONDUCTION, AND ALTERNATIVES
The cold plunge at Gainesville Health & Fitness is a 4-foot-deep, 6-by-8-foot pool filled with 52ºF water. Near the bottom of the pool are regulators to keep the water at the desired temperature. As many as four people can get into the cold plunge at the same time.
“I Could Hardly Believe the Transformation”
“The cold plunge literally sucked the fat right out of my body,” Javier Woody said. “I lost twenty pounds in the first three weeks. I could hardly believe the transformation.”
When I met, measured, and photographed Woody on October 19, 2017, he was twenty-one years of age, stood 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighed 233.6 pounds. His body fat percentage was 33.6 and his waist measured 45.625 inches. I figured he could lose 20 pounds of fat in six weeks, not three, but I also didn’t expect him to hit the cold plunge five times a week for three consecutive weeks.
How was Woody able to get the fat out of his body so fast?
Some of the answer had to do with the Killing Fat program’s lower-calorie diet and negative-accentuated exercise. But a surprising part of the answer is that he forced the heat out through his skin. Woody’s 5-feet-10-inch body, with a protruding waist, had a large surface area. More surface area means a larger rug could be made from your hide. A larger rug means the possibility of more effective conduction.
JAVIER WOODY, age 21, height 5′10″
AFTER 8 WEEKS
43.32 pounds of fat loss
7.125 inches off waist
5.12 pounds of muscle gain
Conduction
Conduction in this context is the transfer of heat calories from the skin into the colder water. When Woody eased into the cold water, his core body temperature of 98.6ºF, in an attempt to keep his body warm in the 52ºF water, produced significant heat calories. Thus, conduction occurred from his skin to the water. The more skin available to the cold water, the better the conduction and transfer of heat.
My belief is that Woody ignited 50 calories per minute in the cold plunge. In 10 minutes, that’s equal to 500 calories of heat, or 500 calories of fat.
Water is a much better conductor than air, so you can get rid of more calories in cold water than cold air. Drinking chilled water, which I discussed in chapter 17, is another way to take advantage of conduction. To be almost shivering is another example of conduction, and also stimulates your adrenal glands to produce noradrenaline—which, in turn, causes your body to burn more calories. Also, the above practices stimulate your brown fat cells to jump into action.
Besides conduction, your body transfers heat through your skin in several other ways.
Convection and Evaporation
Convection is a process in which heat is transferred by the movement of gases or liquids (like air or water). That’s why wind makes you feel cooler when you are walking, cycling, or running outdoors. Or why an overhead fan in an exercise room can benefit the heat-loss process.
While you may not be aware of it, your skin perspires constantly, even when you’re not exercising. This unnoticeable perspiration is eliminated by evaporation. At ordinary room temperatures, the moisture vaporized from your skin plus that expelled from your lungs when you exhale accounts for substantial calories lost from your body at rest.
Radiation
Another way heat is transferred through the skin is radiation. Significant calories are eliminated through your skin each day as radiant heat. Radiation is one reason why a tall person has an easier time dropping fat than a shorter person of the same weight. Taller people, compared to shorter ones, have more skin surface area available to the environment and thus can radiate more heat.
Few people realize that the skin is the body’s largest organ. An average woman’s skin, if it were laid out flat, would cover approximately 20 square feet. An average man’s skin would cover more like 23.4 square feet.
Remember, the more skin surface area you have, the better your body is able to transfer your unwanted fat through radiation, evaporation, convection, and conduction.
BACK TO THE COLD PLUNGE: HOW TO GET THE BEST RESULTS
If you want to get the best fat-loss results from using a cold plunge, here are the important points to follow:
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Wear a tight-fitting bathing suit. Billowing pant legs are bothersome.
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Check the temperature gauge; it should read between 52ºF and 54ºF.
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Don’t assume that colder is better. Spending time in water colder than 52ºF can be dangerous. On the other hand, 60ºF to 75ºF water can still be beneficial.
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Have a clock with a second hand nearby so you can note the time you spend in the water. Ten minutes is your target goal.
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Do not wear rubber boots or rubber gloves. Your feet and hands emit a large amount of heat, so take advantage of this.
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Ease into the water by walking down the stairs. Your midsection is usually a difficult area to submerge. If so, take 30 seconds to inch your way down.
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Get your hands and arms into the water.
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Try to breathe normally.
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Submerge your chest and shoulders and think nice thoughts. Moving your feet and hands may be helpful.
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Discussing the topics of the day with another cold plunger is often helpful.
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Keep breathing as normally as possible.
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Check the clock. After 3 or 4 minutes, the process gets somewhat easier.
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Some people choose to work up to 10 minutes over the course of a week, by going from 6 to 7 to 8 to 9 and finally to 10 minutes.
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Exit the pool at the 10-minute mark. Do not exceed 10 minutes.
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Sit near the pool for several minutes and regain your senses.
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Stand, walk back to the dressing room, and take a warm shower.
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Enjoy your ride home.
CLIFTON POWELL, age 26, height 5′10″
AFTER 6 WEEKS
24.28 pounds of fat loss
5 inches off waist
10.53 pounds of muscle gain
Be Alert: Avoid the Cold Plunge Immediately After Strength Training
I’ve made this mistake, and some of my trainees have, too. It’s a good idea to wait for an hour after a negative-accentuated strength-training session before going into the cold plunge. Here’s why:
My 30–10–30, negative-accentuated form of strength training generates a lot of muscular inflammation, which is a good thing. Your body needs most of this inflammation to maximize growth. Too much, however, causes extreme soreness in your body.
The cold plunge causes an anti-inflammatory response, which you want to blunt some of the soreness, but not so much that it removes some of the immediate inflammatory action from your negative-accentuated workout. Research shows that waiting for an hour after your strength training is an appropriate time for both processes to be utilized effectively.
Cold Plunge Alternatives
If you don’t have access to a cold plunge, here are a couple of alternatives to try. Again, wait for an hour after a strength-training session before trying either method.
A COLD SHOWER:
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Use hot water for 1 to 2 minutes over your entire body.
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Step out of the hot water and apply shampoo to your hair. Lather up.
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Switch the water to pure cold and rinse your head and face alone.
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Rotate and back quickly into the cold water. Focus the spray on your lower neck and upper back.
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Maintain this position for 1 to 3 minutes. As you acclimatize, soap the rest of your body.
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Turn around and rinse normally.
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Exit the shower and towel yourself dry.
An ice pack for your neck: Try placing a U-shaped ice pack around the back of your neck and upper trapezius for approximately 30 minutes in the evening three times per week. Several of my trainees in Orlando tried this technique and were reasonably pleased with the results.
Clifton Powell was a hardworking trainee at Gainesville Health & Fitness who had an issue with hanging skin. Powell had lost 56 pounds during the preceding year on a lower-calorie diet of his own design. During that time, he did no strength training. His “before” photo on this page revealed several inches of hanging skin over the sides of his chest and waist.
During the Killing Fat program, Powell trained intensely and followed the eating and water-drinking schedule consistently for six weeks. He also used the cold plunge. His hanging skin shrank significantly. His muscularity also improved dramatically, as he built 10.53 pounds of muscle and added 0.5 inch to each upper arm.
Surgery is the only way to remove the skin permanently, but that doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone. It involves general anesthesia, suturing, significant recovery time, and scarring. It’s also costly, and most patients have to pay out of pocket, as insurance rarely covers cosmetic surgery.
My safest advice for hanging skin is to get the fat off, continue to stay hydrated, use the cold plunge, dress appropriately, and be patient. And pay attention to Clifton Powell’s best direction: “Build your muscles…and keep building them.”