Question 1

How Long Should You Ice Bath For?

Accepted Answer

Its like asking how heavy weights should I lift at the gym?' Well it depends. Is it your first time? Whats your body mass? And for the ice bath; what's your body's thermogensis like? What temperature is the water? (By the way the most underrated question!).  There is no size fits all. Maybe the first time you just look at the ice bath and that brings enough anxiety for one day. Maybe the next time you think about actually going in. Maybe on the 5th night of the fourth moon you've had a dream where a wizard gives you a snow flake and you wake up knowing you're ready to go inside. Maybe you jump in and out in 1 second. That's great! Maybe the next day you do the same thing but at least you know what to expect. By day 75 you're sitting in the chest freezer like a zen monk for 15 seconds before you clamber out in such pain, agony and regret its only after another 97 sleeps that the wonderful wave of clarity and euphoria you experience for the following 5 hours you begin to understand why it's so addictive.  Build up your time slowly and don't push yourself, otherwise you'll build up so much resentment towards the ice bath that after a few months it will just be something you 'use to do' like waking up early to pack a salad for work.

Question 2

How Long Should You Stay in the Sauna?

Accepted Answer

The research is pretty clear. The health benefits don't continue to increase after 15-20 minutes. It can even start to get quite damaging. There's a reason the Sauna World Championships have been discontinued.  Like the ice bath (see 'How long should I stay in the ice bath?') it's also a question of the temperature of the sauna and your heat tolerance. Be gentle with yourself. Do it today so that you want to do it again next week. Don't push yourself so hard that the next time a friend asks you to come to the sauna your self-induced sauna PTSD convinces you to stay home in your perfectly 22.5 degree home and rewatch the last season of Orange Is The New Black.

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