Wim Hof Method

5 Ways to Warm Up After Cold Exposure

We all love our cold showers, ice baths and outdoor cold plunges, and their wide range of benefits. But are you warming back up the right way, in order to get the most out of the experience?

Here are 6 things to consider when warming back up after your cold exposure session.

1. Exit in a calm and orderly fashion

Once you’ve decided that you’ve had your fair share of cold, and you’re ready to get out of the water, it’s best not to do so hastily.

Water is denser than air, and cold water even more so. When you’re (partially) submerged, the water presses down on your body from all sides, creating something called hydrostatic compression. This outside pressure slightly squeezes your peripheral blood vessels, making it easier for blood to return to the heart, and reducing its workload. As a result, your heart relaxes a bit in order to produce the same steady circulation.

When you then exit the water, that outside pressure suddenly falls away, and your heart valves need to quickly get back to their old rhythm. In addition, they’re now also fighting against gravity to maintain blood pressure to your brain. If you stand up too quickly, your heart cannot catch up fast enough, and you may feel lightheaded or even lose your balance.

So as much as you feel the urge to triumphantly jump out of that ice bath, it’s probably smarter to rise out of the water slow and steady.

2. Maintain focus as you get out of the water

Staying focused during your cold dip is relatively easy— the sharp sting of the water pretty much automatically kicks all your senses into high gear. The hard part, and therefore the most critical, is keeping that focus once you’re out of the water.

A common mistake is to walk up onto the shore and breathe a sigh of relief. “Yay! I did it!”

But while the surrounding air feels much warmer than the cold water you’ve just climbed out of, you’re not out of the woods yet. The outer layers of your body have cooled down so much that your internal system is still working super hard to warm you back up. During that time, it’s vital to stay in touch with your body. If you don’t pay this process any mind, the body will sense that disconnect. It will take over the reins and go into emergency warm-up mode.

— The Afterdrop —

This phenomenon, whereby you continue to feel colder even though you’re already out of the water — and typically start shivering uncontrollably — is known as the afterdrop.

What’s happening is the outer, cold layers of your body are leeching heat away from the core, until the two reach equilibrium.

This happens via two different mechanisms. Firstly, by all the organs and tissue simply being in direct contact with each other (the same way your hand cools down when you’re holding a cold glass). This is called conduction. Second, the cold blood in your peripheral veins and arteries circulates back, and mixes with the warm blood in the core; this is called convection.

Afterdrop generally lasts several minutes. While it’s certainly unpleasant and something you want to avoid, the effects of the afterdrop are by no means life threatening. Your body temperature can drop one or two degrees lower once you’ve gotten out of the water, but that is only a serious problem in case of severe hypothermia. You won’t even reach mild hypothermia after a hefty 15-minute ice bath.

Still, succumbing to the afterdrop is not a fun experience. You’re shaking like a leaf as you’re getting colder, and you just all around feel like you’re in survival mode.

Hence it is vital to ‘stay with’ your body throughout the entire post-immersion phase. When you maintain the mind-body connection, your body doesn’t feel left on an island, and will limit itself to what is called microscopic shivering — shivering on a cellular level that you don’t even notice. This way, you stay in control, you reduce both the intensity and the duration of the afterdrop, and you still get the benefit of burning off some extra calories.

Besides merely avoiding the afterdrop, staying mentally connected with your body is also just a fundamental concept of the Wim Hof Method. Breathing and cold are tools through which you come to understand that mind and body are really two sides of the same coin, and going for an ice bath or nature swim is an opportunity to see how far along you are on the journey to mastery of your mind.

So remember that every time you exit the water after a cold dip, you’re only halfway there. Maintain that focus all the way until you’ve warmed back up!

3. Give your mind an anchor

It’s not always easy to maintain focus when you’re just standing around. Your thoughts tend to wander off, and so it can help to engage in a relatively low-energy activity, the same way that meditation is made easier by focusing on your breathing.

A great way to do this — and a popular one in Wim Hof Method circles — is with the horse stance.

This rhythmic movement gives you a mental anchor, making it easier to keep that focus. At the same time, it engages your core and leg muscles, producing some extra heat in addition to your microshivers.

4. Dress for the occasion

If you’re in balmy outside weather, all you need is sunshine and a warm breeze to ease you back to a state of comfort. During the Summer Expedition, participants will simply soak up the energy of the Spanish sun as their post-ice bath routine.

But if your outdoor plunges take place in a particularly cold environment, you’ll want to make sure to don a warm and dry set of clothes immediately after the afterdrop has subsided (or even during). Your body has its hands full trying to warm your half-frozen limbs back up. The last thing you need are bone-chilling winds to make that job even harder.

5. Restock your fuel supply

Wading around in near-zero degree water eats up your energy reserves at a much quicker than normal pace. By the time you get out, you will have used up quite a bit of your glucose stores, and as a result you may feel like you can eat a whole cow.

So make sure you have some snacks on hand. Preferably some fast carbohydrates — such as a banana or a sugary drink — as those get utilized more quickly and efficiently than fat or protein.

Try not to eat a big meal before heading out, though. Metabolizing food is an energy intensive process, and you don’t want your body to split its efforts between keeping you warm and digesting your breakfast.

You now have all the tips you need to build your own optimal post-cold exposure routine! 

Whether you brave the waves of your local beach, or simply turn on the cold tap at home— each practice can be fine-tuned to reap the maximum benefit.

If you’re new to the Wim Hof Method, check out our free Miniclass for an introduction to our warm friend the Cold.

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