Episode 139: The Benefits of Deliberate Hot and Cold Exposure

What’s your relationship with discomfort like? Do you spend time “with” discomfort, or do you try to move away from it? Avoid it?

I’m fascinated with our relationship to discomfort and in today’s episode, I talk about my current experience with deliberate heat and cold exposure. We also discuss the science behind heat and cold exposure as a way to improve health and recovery. And I share the specific protocols that have been shown to improve health and recovery. 

I’m not a specialist in temperature exposure therapy. It is a very potent stimulus. Everyone shows up on the long road, or, to protocols with different health positions. So, please see the disclaimer at the bottom of the show’s notes. This is not prescriptive. Please refer to your health care team for support if you want to start this exposure therapy. 

WHAT YOU WILL DISCOVER

• My current experience with deliberate heat and cold exposure and why I started it


• How heat and cold exposure affect women


• How the onset of menopause changes our response to heat


• The use of deliberate heat exposure as a way to improve health and recovery


• Specific protocols for deliberate health exposure - times, temperature, time of day, and delivery in order to achieve specific outcomes 


• How deliberate cold exposure can enhance mental health, physical health, and performance.


• Specific protocols to safely engage in deliberate cold exposure, including minimal exposure times, time-of-day effects, optimal temperatures, recovery, and mindset. 


• How cold exposure can be used to safely stress the body to improve attention, mood, and cognitive focus and boost metabolism and reduce inflammation

Featured on the show

Apply for Warrior School 
https://forms.gle/axng1yoK7YcUyNf1A

Tality Wellness 
https://www.talityspa.com/secret

Huberman Lab Podcast: Using deliberate cold exposure for health and performance
https://hubermanlab.com/using-deliberate-cold-exposure-for-health-and-performance/

Huberman Lab Podcast: The science and health benefits of deliberate heat exposure
https://hubermanlab.com/the-science-and-health-benefits-of-deliberate-heat-exposure/

Scientific papers on heat from The Huberman Lab Podcast

• Sauna bathing is associated with reduced cardiovascular mortality and improves risk prediction in men and women: a prospective cohort study (BMC Medicine)


• Endocrine Effects of Repeated Hot Thermal Stress and Cold Water Immersion in Young Adult Men (American Journal of Men’s Health)


• Endocrine effects of repeated sauna bathing (Acta Physiologica Scandinavica)


• Growth hormone response to different consecutive stress stimuli in healthy men: is there any difference? (The International Journal on the Biology of Stress)


• Sauna Bathing and Risk of Psychotic Disorders: A Prospective Cohort Study (Medical Principles and Practice)


• Local hyperthermia therapy induces browning of white fat and treats obesity (Cell)

Scientific papers on cold from The Huberman Lab Podcast

• Brief aerobic exercise immediately enhances visual attentional control and perceptual speed. Testing the mediating role of feelings of energy (Acta Psychologica)


• Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures (European Journal of Applied Physiology)


• Altered brown fat thermoregulation and enhanced cold-induced thermogenesis in young, healthy, winter-swimming men (Cell Reports Medicine)


• Adipose-tissue plasticity in health and disease (Cell)


• Caffeine increases striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability in the human brain (Translational Psychiatry)


• Impact of Cold-Water Immersion Compared with Passive Recovery Following a Single Bout of Strenuous Exercise on Athletic Performance in Physically Active Participants: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis and Meta-regression (Sports Medicine)


• Novel Application of Chemical Cold Packs for Treatment of Exercise-Induced Hyperthermia: A Randomized Controlled Trial (Wildnerness & Environmental Medicine)


• Work Volume and Strength Training Responses to Resistive Exercise Improve with Periodic Heat Extraction from the Palm (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research)

Wim Hoff Method 
https://www.wimhofmethod.com/science

DISCLAIMER
The Warrior School Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked to this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.