In the eye opening scene of the Matrix, Neo learns from Morpheus that Humans had developed “machines” that possessed an artificial intelligence so advanced, they’d taking over. Humans were farmed in vast systems and spare brain processing power and heat were used to power this advanced, computer-based world.
Energy was a commodity farmed and Humans the crop used to produce this excess energy as heat. Could it be that you are leaving a major contributor to caloric out when you focus only on diet and exercise?
The Matrix is without doubt, one of my favorite movies. To top it off, I was fortunate enough to get to work on special effects/consulting for the two sequels on the “Burly Brawl” and the scenes when Neo masters gravity. We did a week of weightlessness flights for the directors, so they could “get the science right.”
I distinctly remember working with Master Woo-Ping and the other martial arts stunt artist and being HORRIBLY out of shape. I really loved martial arts in high school and college and to be able to work with such amazing talent and feel like an out of shape blob; well it really sucked. In the end, these guys got their physics correct and for these skilled martial artists it was clear that there is a big difference in ZeroG vs Earths Gravity.
It’s somewhat surprising that such a great effort goes into producing a movie for entertainment and yet we have a medical and fitness industry that seems to discount major variables in the weight loss conundrum.
Until recently, the diet-exercise paradigm was the only game in town. We all marched in lockstep with an industry that hasn’t reevaluated a dietary “calorie” in over 100 years. More and more are questioning and see that it all “just doesn’t add up.” Sure, it’s opened the door for all kinds of baseless schemes for losing weight, but at least people are questioning.
In the past, we didn’t look past what wass displayed on a nutrition label and most seem to understand that is just a charade game to hide the numbers and promote sales. There are still others that doubt a “calorie is a calorie,” because of this paradoxical loss of energy. Not only do the Atwater factors need a significant overhaul, we know that other factors will play a role beyond these crude assessments of energy. We’ve been “sold” all of the therapeutical qualities of heat, from hot tubs to yoga, and yet heat is the one thing our bodies always have in excess.
Cold Stress – The Future
The most exciting boosts in immune and cardiovascular system performance are hidden in mild cold stress.
Should we really be surprise that the caloric balance doesn’t add up when we are not accounting for the largest loss in energy – excess waste heat? Imagine doing your monthly house budget and then simply leave out the heating of your house in the winter.
Think you might get caught short changed?
What I am working to change is the idea that food, exercise and thermal load (environment) are all important. One of the most adaptive evolutionary processes for Human migration beyond the tropical zones was the development clothing and the ability to control the temperature of our environment. This allowed us to move out of the tropical zones and into environments we are biologically ill-prepared.
Not unlike the future Sci-Fi world of The Matrix, in which humans evolved smart machines that eventually destroyed them, our nutritional-based disease and obesity abundance could very well be tied to not only our ability to farm and grow an abundance of food, but our neutral thermal environment provided by nearly ubiquitous conditioned air. What complicates this excessively caloric dense food could very well be our lack of routine exposure to mild cold stress to keep our circulatory and immune system in tip-top shape.
Thermodynamically speaking, we’ve become extremely lazy.
Routine cold stress can be helpful for exercising these autonomic systems in the same way that weight-resistance strengthens the muscles. After all, we know our body adapts to many forms of stress in a protective and positive way. We don’t heal an injured knee by isolating it until it’s perfectly fixed; we introduce physical therapy early on so that it can heal and strengthen at the same time.
Routine cold stress goes well beyond simple weight loss. It has been shown to be beneficial in depression, immune system, chronic fatigue syndrome, and even life longevity.
The biggest hurdle is really a mental game. YOU have to get over the fear and anxiety associated with mild cold stress. This return to womb mentality, where everything should be not only completely neutral in temperature, but worse, slightly warm.
So many people associate sweating with working out, that they fail to see that sweating is merely the body’s response to the excess heat generated by the activity. When the body experiences a temperature below the thermal neutral point, it has two choices: cool down or generate heat.
The processes, shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis, have been studied extensively, but what is lacking is an aggregation of the side benefits of evolutionary mild cold stress. Make no mistake EVERYONE experienced some form of mild cold stress up until about 100 years ago. In evolution’s eye, the last century is an insignificant blip.
Ok, I’ve admitted that I have never taken an ice bath. Part of it was because I was exploring other forms of mild stress that were not as well-studied and part was, well, I don’t like cold either. While I have probably dealt with much more COOL exposure than the average person, it really isn’t that bad and anyone can adapt in just a few days.
Cold can be much more challenging. Over the last month I have been working on cold showers. There are some amazing benefits, but I think the classic video from Andrew at Crossfit London, I too was a bit challenged.
Ok, he’s a bit over the top, but I can tell you that while I didn’t squeal, my mind was really telling me I am a complete nut. What I have learned from some really incredible sources is that there is an adaptation methodology and that ANYONE can be completely comfortable in just a few weeks.
I’ve collected a lot of really great information on the potential benefits and we’ll be introducing both an ebook and new coaching program in the weeks ahead. I believe now that this is definitely worth my full time consideration, but I have self-funded most of the research to date and I need your help pushing it to the next level; I don’t have the unlimited (or limited) government research funding these days. I need to raise funds for equipment, travel and supplies. Many would just slap together a slick marketing campaign and sell nothing. I just don’t work that way. I have to know something will work and I’ve now spent a half of a year listening, email and reading comments.
Please take a minute to scroll up on the left side of the screen consider making a monthly donation to this program. You can also make a one time donation here:
A lot of exciting times and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. It’s fantastic that with the 4 Hour Body out so much new attention is being place on this. There are some fantastic scientists I have met during the last three years following this and offering a lot of great direction and advice. It seems after a few false starts over the last 40 years, therapeutic cold stress is here to stay.
So what will it be? the Red Pill or the Blue Pill? Really, I’d rather you just push the orange button.
Hi Ray
In the book, “the Marriage of the Sun and Moon”, Andrew Weil described a young girl in India munching on one of the hottest chilly peppers in existence. He had taken a baby nibble of one of these chillies and had been in protracted agony. When Andrew asked the little girl how she could munch so happily on the same pepper (like it was a piece of celery), she replied eating the chilly just “made her mouth tingle”.
Thinking about that story- and what I read in FHB and what I have read here, I have started having cold baths. It is winter here in Southern New Zealand, so the tap water is cold. I just started thinking about how normal it was to have a cold bath in winter. My ancestors had been doing it for millions of years. so I normalized it in my mind. The other day I filled the bath with cold water and just got in it like I was having a normal bath. I was even distracted- thinking of things I had to do later on. After immersing myself, I stood up to lather down with soap. I swear, I started sweating as I stood there in the unheated bathroom. I was thinking, I wanna get back in the cold water to cool off. I didn’t stay in the bath for more than a few minutes, but I felt great afterwords- not numb or shivering- more like happy and glowing. Cold baths are very pleasant once I experience it as it is- without the fear and cultural preconceptions that are usually attached.
My realization is that we have an irrational fear of the cold. It has only dawned on me through this website and FHB. I use a dehumidifier to keep my home dry, but I rarely use any form of heating unless it is bitterly cold.
Mark
I’ve had very similar experiences ESPECIALLY since I began training with Wim. There are all sorts of evolutionary “booby traps” that seem to fool us into thinking the worst.
Recently on the visit to Jamestown (first US/England settlement), my kids and I were dealing with a HORRENDOUSLY hot and humid day. Mosquitos abound and NOT a good time for a history lesson. Unlike when I was a kid, a cool air-conditioned museum now stands. I surveyed the food they had to eat and the huge losses that first year of the colony from disease and starvation, and wondered what the typical logged exposure over winter was like for the colonial times and before?
I mean, people think I am absolutely NUTS for living at 55F/13C in the winter, but it’s really quite comfortable in T-Shirts and shorts. This would have been AMAZING for them and I suspect mornings were much more cold for the average household.
No different than the out back aboriginal tribes, which incidentally were part of some amazing studies in the 50s as they slept, uncovered, nude down to 0C/32F on the ground as part of religious beliefs. They got perfect sleep, shivering, while the white-man controls were miserable and could not rest.
It is about adaptation and I think we have actually learned to tolerate WARM and that plays a role in the upward trend in body energy management. It’s not that we have to learn some new trick for cold, but rather understand how we became so comfortable with temperatures above thermal neutral. This could very well play a role in the wide-ranges of metabolic syndrome.
Thanks for your post!!
Ray
I should point out that water in London is known for its particular chilliness!. Its viciously tepid.
andrew…you need not point out anything. I love that video!!! It becomes so iconic for how we all think mild cold stress should be and a funny friend of mine once said, “no one is ever completely worthless, they can always serve as a bad example.”
I would have been right there with you without some of the things I have learned in the last few months! I had a fear of cold and can’t wait to share how it has drastically changed.
Thanks!!!
Ray
I was doing cold therapy in the winter and i was getting extreme with it spent 20 minutes in the back yard in the snow in shorts and shoes nothing else. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
I fell off the wagon and recently decided to catch up and climb back on. I’m doing what I call my Hardcore program. It is an amalgamation of several programs with Diet exercise a lot of exercise and cold therapy. Interesting side note I can’t get me shower cold enough and may start looking into making an icepack vest just a concept
I’m already feeling better and the weight is starting to come off only after a week the last time I did this sans the showers I went down 100 pounds and kept most of it off.
Lets see if I can get the next 100 down.
also started donating to the site not much but I try to support the things that help.
Thanks Jason!!!
congratulations on the weight loss! hang in there and stay focused. Don’t be fooled by the temperature of the water, mild cold stress (82F/27C) is still effective and refreshing. Also, don’t forget about swimming. The combination of the physical activity with the high thermal conductivity/heat capacity of the water are your friend; be certain NOT to binge two hours after you get done with the swim or water exercise.
That is the time when your body will CRAVE calories and it’s the time when you need to eat high fiber/low calorie stuff like cruciferous greens.
What both the literature and research is pointing out that consistent exposure to mild (cool) environment has it’s benefits.
Keep us posted and THANK YOU for the donations!!!
Ray
This is a very interesting topic. That being said, one thing I have not seen addressed is the fact that a caloric deficit of a give magnitude will cause hunger no matter how it is caused. Don’t we all remember how hungry we were after swimming when we were kids?
Therefore, let’s assume that you are at a stable body weight and are able to increase your caloric burn by 500 calories per day via cold exposure. You will be able to eat 500 calories more than you did before and maintain the same zero net caloric balance or keep your calories the same and lose about a pound of body fat per week.
Let’s ignore the other benefits to cold exposure besides fat loss. Given that the 500-calorie deficit will cause hunger no matter how it is caused and that it is much easier to create the 500-calorie deficit by restricting intake than by increased exercise, why not just cut your calories by 500 and not spend all this time and effort on cold exposure?
Ross
You ar over simplifying. First all caloric deficits do not lead to hunger. There are certain food groups that cause hunger even when eaten in excess. So we can’t mix hunger, exercise and thermal loading without more detail.
Let’s say you are a 220lb man wanting to lose weight. RMR is approx 2000 cal/day or 14,000/week. To lose 2 lbs, you need a deficit of 3500 cal/lb or 7000/week. That leaves you eating only 1000/day – tough.
Add 500cal/ day of exercise and now your diet is more sustainable. Eat nothing and you lose 4/week, but. Now body is in a mess.
So at 1500 cal/day intake you can lose 2 lbs/week if you do 500 cal/day exercise.
Now, add thermal loading of 500 cal a day – bingo – that’ 500 of “extra calories” that come right off the top – a pound a week. I think thermal loading could be more as it’s relatively easy to bit 2.5x your RMR, but in shorter bursts you can hit as much as 5 x.
All in all, Ross, I’ve never suggested this replace other methods and nit even I took that approach. I stand convinced that we can leave off the thermal factor and I firmly believe if you give it a chance, you’ll see results.
Thanks for the comment!
Ray
Thanks Ray. Really interesting stuff. In the example you gave, 2.5x RMR would be 5000 calories/day. With a caloric intake of 1500/day, that would be a pound of bodyfat per day! Is this really feasible? All of the experts say it’s impossible to lose that much fat per day. If it really is feasible without having to spend hours on end in an ice bath, sign me up as a guinea pig.
Thanks!
Probably not, but ill fall short of saying impossible. When I was early in analysis, my math model came up with a transfer of about 240 watts for and “average” person submerged in 27C water. When I later found textbooks and journal articles on these mild hypothermia tests, it turned out to range (measured – not theory) at 240-270 watts. For general consideration people are “100 watt beings” meaning we take about 100 watts hourly to operate (give/take).
In the winter when you can live for extended periods at cooler temperatures you might approach this, but in air it’s far more difficult. The goal, I think, is to make these tiny exposures all add up to big losses. I don’t thi k practical to stay in water 24/7, but it’s sort of like the opposite approach to those tiny potato chips that make us fat. Every one counts.
Ray
I think Ray has changed his view on this in the intervening decade. I’ve personally experienced consistent weight loss of .8-1 pound per day (measured over a week) and he has many clients who have had similar results. Caloric restriction + limited intake of lipids + intermittent fasting = magic. In the last year I went from 220 pounds to 161 pounds. I’m 6’4″. I hit my “target weight” several times and wanted to see if I could keep going. I’m eating SO MUCH food now. I’m now back up to around 175. If I bump up too much, I know exactly what I need to eat to drop almost a pound a day for a couple of days to get back on track.
Good point Andrew, I travel often and in some parts of the world where its hot most of the year it is difficult to get “cold” water to flow from the faucet.
yes…like Alabama right now where cold water is 82F/27C. The good news is this is the line where the cold stress experiments always begin. My swim spa is getting it’s chiller in just 3 more days…
LOOK OUT 45F/7C…here I come!!!
Ray
I too signed up for a monthly donation through paypal. Keep up the good work.
A while back, you answered a question of mine on this site and now I cant seem to find that answer. I asked if you could just soak in cool water to increase RMR. You replied with a temp range where you could just sit there and another one where you would have to do some physical activity. Would you please remind me of those numbers and answer a few more questions…
1. I cant swim, so can you suggest other activity I can do in shallow water that would work? Currently, I am doing some calisthenic and isometric exercises that aren’t very aerobic.
2. Would doing some aerobic exercise like running a few miles and then sitting into the pool for an hour be effectively the same as swimming?
3. I put an 8 ft. east set pool with 600 gallons in my house. The water is about 85F (same as the air in that room). 16lbs of ice did nothing. How can I affordably cool the pool?
Thanks again.
Hey Carlos!
Thank you. I hope this is the one. THANK YOU for the donations. That is fantastic! I am working to create some other products and really take this to the next level. RIght now I am finishing a metabolic lab in my garage. It’s the crazy – frankenstein type. Good news is that at least I worked in a multimillion dollar lab at NASA for 15 years… I’ll put THOSE pictures up – LOL.
Ok, this pool idea inside is way beyond what I am used too…so, you need to be certain you don’t overload the humidity in the house and end up with mold. Keep it covered with some sort of bubble wrap to minimize evaporation. IF you turn down the thermostat in the house, the water will eventually come to temperature.
Here is the problem, just sitting there doesn’t burn many calories, about 2.4 x your resting metabolism rate. SWIMMING in that same water does wonders, because you are generating heat and dumping it at a fast rate.
So let’s talk about “I can’t swim.’ That could mean a lot of things. I JUST learned how to swim in march. The truth is that all you need is a swim snorkel, some fins, and a kick board…just go at it. The more you flail, the more calories you burn. Don’t worry about what everyone else thinks, just get in the water and move…
if there are other complications, please share here (or in private) if you want any other advice.
Thanks Carlos!!!! let’s make this happen
Ray
Thanks Ray.
Crap! I hadn’t considered the mold issue. I’ll buy a pool cover. Would it also help to let a window up in that room?
You idea on cooling the water gives me the motivation to pay the fee to get my HVAC fixed. I got so used to the savings from not using heat in the winter that I haven’t used the AC in the summer either. I never bothered to fix it when it stopped working.
It sounds like you are saying that all you have to do is generate heat and then dump it in the water.
My question is if you can 1. generate the heat with anaerobic exercises in water and 2. with aerobic exercises BEFORE you get into the water?
OR Does the heat have to be generated from aerobic exercise in the water?
I like the snorkel idea for a bigger pool, but my indoor pool (sounds cooler than it is) is only 10 feet wide.
Thanks, on a personal note, I’d like to echo your advice on caloric restriction. I eat maybe 1200 low carb calories a day and have lost 16 pounds in 20 days. I have a cheat meal whenever my losses start to stall. I got away from consistent exercise and thermal loading but I will introduce them going forward.
Thank God for football season. I ran 2 miles in 18 minutes and spent an hour in my 70F pool for an hour watching the second half of my game. I plan to do this every Sunday and increase the time to watching a full game next week.
Im freezing now that I’ve gotten out. Otherwise, I would sleep on my Colpac tonight.
Hi Ray,
I have been playing around with cold showers, and although at first I thought there was no way I could stand a cold shower, I can easily see now that I could adapt to the cold exposure. My question is about the amount of time needed in a cold shower in order to make the discomfort worthwhile. I the 4HB, Tim describes a rather short exposure to a cold shower (just a few minutes). Would this really increase metabolism enough to make it worthwhile or do you have to stand under the cold shower for 30 to 60 minutes to make it really work?
Thanks,
Jamie
Hi Jamie
welcome and there is no easy answer to your question, but I have an ebook in process that will explain an EASY way to adapt so that the discomfort goes away.
IF you have read more of the posts, the exposures in Tim’s Protocol A/B are not related to a direct loss of energy, but a boost of the metabolism and improved efficient of your body’s consumption of fat. As well, there are also some other incredible side effects, which I will go into detail.
For now, just do what you can to get comfortable, even if just a quick rinse. Remove some layers in everyday life as the fall approaches or if in the souther hemisphere, winter remains. Expose more, paying attention to how much your body is bundled/layered and be sure to find that treadmill closer to the air conditioner or fan.
Thanks for joining and the comments!!
Ray
I live in the deep south, like you….Memphis, TN here. I see what you are saying about Tim’s protocols. Just didn’t catch before that he is referring more to a metabolism boost vs your research in the area of energy loss equating to increased calorie burning.
The main problem I have with exposing myself to cooler temps in the winter is that I both work and live with a naturally thin woman who is constantly complaining about being cold!
Look forward to seeing that e-book!
-Jamie
Jamie
First, it’s good to take the first step and Ray’s (he’s talking in third person -eek) first rule is: you CANNOT out-exercise your mouth. So make sure that you are on a good, solid restricted calorie diet. if you MUST cheat (and you will), do it only ONCE a week and NEVER a little every day.
Ok, onto thermal loading. You are at home more time than work, so let’s begin there. I adapted to sleeping without covers by sleeping on the couch (I don’t know why it works, but try it) and using heavy socks and gloves. I then migrated to a bed with a sheet and ultimately, I can lay down and Zzzzz just about anywhere. Sometimes I have even used a fan and the white noise helps more than the cool. Remember, the brain has to drop in temp a bit to fall asleep. A cool shower just before bed will really help.
So here in huntsville, not far from you, it’s the same issue. I exercise only before sunrise or after sunset (though now, mosquitos are bad at dusk).
Swimming…is without a doubt the BEST thermal loading you can do. go down to a place in the river when it’s cool. Find a pool that is about 80-81F and begin. If you are not a swimmer, get a swim snorkel, some fins and a kick board and go at it. Most importantly be certain NOT to over eat 2 hours after the swim.
keep progress for us!!! good luck Jamie!!
Ray
Thanks for the reply. I checked out my Y pool this morning. Unfortunately, it was at 86 degrees.
No worries. Not ideal, but less than 98.6. Get in and swim. It will be dropping soon and you’ll be in the habit.
Ray
What are protocols A/B? I tried to Google for them but couldn’t find it. Do I have to buy the book to find a good description…I guess I’m horrible at Google…it should have been easy unless it isn’t out there.
They are both listed in Tim Ferris – 4HB. I had that up originally for people that were trying those out. They were both Tim’s protocols, not mine. I lean towards mild cold stress, not extreme.
Ray
Does it matter when you do the cold therapy? Morning vs Night time
Not really, but if you do cold in the evening it GREATLY enhances your ability to fall asleep. Ironically, I feel refreshed when I take a cold shower in the morning. It seems not to matter. Frequent exposure to cool water or environment will eventually result in other internal physiological changes that all favor weight loss.
Thanks Blair!
Ray
Ray,
Plese respond to my question about the temps above. It was hard to find since I replied under a reply. I have been trying to find an answer to this for a month now with no luck.
Thanks.
hmmmm…I have to find it…let me do a serach. SO sorry I missed it!!!
Hey Ray,
A colleague of mine sent a link where he attempts to prove that (because Dr. Gabe Mirkin said so…) you burn more calories in hot weather than you do in cold. I’m afraid that he is confusing sweating directly with energy burn. Sure, I admit that you _can_ loose weight through sweat, but your body only has soo much water to lose.
http://www.drmirkin.com/public/Ezine030605.html
In this article, the good doctor states no references and it can be assumed to be a casual observation at best. He notes:
“On the other hand, in cold weather, your heart only has to pump blood to your muscles and very little extra blood to your skin to dissipate heat. Your muscles produce so much heat during exercise that your body does not need to produce more heat to keep you warm. So your heart works harder and you burn more calories in hot weather. This information should not discourage you from exercising when it’s cold, because staying in shape is a year-round proposition. However, it may help to explain why so many people find the pounds creeping on in the wintertime, even when they stay active.”
Somehow, I doubt he conducted any study on these individuals’ dietary habits throughout the entire year of their workouts. The last line is very telling… Wintertime is often the time of the year in western cultures where people tend to celebrate more and eat more. People rarely increase their workouts just because it’s winter.
Furthermore, I disagree with his statement regarding the heart needing to work harder to cool the body. In a prior statement, he says:
“You burn fewer calories when you exercise in cold weather than you do when it’s hot. The hotter it is, the more extra work your heart has to do to prevent you from overheating. More than 70 percent of the energy produced by your muscles during exercise is lost as heat. So the harder you exercise, the hotter your muscles become. In hot weather, not only must your heart pump extra blood to bring oxygen to your muscles, it must also pump hot blood from your heated muscles to your skin where heat can be dissipated. ”
So, the conclusion to cooling your body should be to stop moving! It seems to me that Dr. Mirkin is suggesting that your heart must work _harder_ to become cooler… The one point I do agree with Gabe on is that your body needs to dissipate heat (aka energy) as the muscles move. His post only seems to discourage working in the cold weather times. What better way to keep the body cool while working out than to be in a cool environment?
Lore
I don’t have a simple reply, so I’m going to write a blog on this. There are some interesting points on both sides. My advocacy for exercising cool has to do with both increased performance and increased metabolic output. One issue that the “heart rate” camp seems to forget is that the heart has a limited range of volume/efficiency for an individual. If you’re at 90bpm or 160bpm, you can only deliver so much blood per beat. There are ways to improve this, ironically with cold (coming soon).
Now, when the body is trying to cool and vasodilatates to allow more blood flow to skin, that blood is not delivering nutrients to the muscle. This is where studies have shown the performance drop.
I’m sort of neutral in that until you get into cool water, the rate is not a huge difference, but exercising is more pleasurable. The “shiver walks” send heat to the skin, but it’s quickly removed. In swimming, the rate is 24x and that’s where (immersion) the best opportunity comes to pair exercise/thermal loading.
So while there is some merit to Dr Mirkin’s position, he over-generalizes to the point of being wrong. The peer-reviewed literature shows both sides and those that don’t show a difference have “cold” at a relatively high temp (20C). They are mainly looking at heat stroke and at that limit, cooler exercise is not relevant. Plenty of studies show 5-6x RMR with cold exposure and NO exercise.
We need to navigate the grey here and as Tim has pointed out, take the MED. That means cool is still a big player In the overall energy balance.
Thanks! More later.
Ray
Just emailed about 40 of my past and present personal training clients your ted video and your blog url. I think its significant to consider the effects you speak of. Good job. Calories are units of heat so all this plays a big role and we are all so spoiled with our warm houses and favorable conditions in this day and age. Great points you make here…
Thanks David
It’s been a great reaching out to the community to move things forward. There are some incredible opportunities to take advantage of this and to those of us losing weight, every small advantage helps.
Keep us posted on their progress!
Ray.
Mr. Cronise,
Love your blog. I started taking cold showers last winter and regularly walked around in flip flops outside (slightly above freezing) without any issues. However, when spring and summer hit, I was maladapted to the warmth of TN summers. Do you have any suggestions for this? Hot showers/baths? I froze my AC twice trying to keep the house at 60F.
Ryan
I hear you. I’m in Alabama – same problem, only worse. Here’s the way I view it. The first part is to save cool house for winter – accept of you happen to stay in a hotel – then drop the thermostat! Mine is normally set to max out at 70-72F and I don’t sleep with covers. When you do cold exposure covet your hands and feet and leave the toros exposed. These are the body’s “sensors” (as are face, ears, and nose) and you’ll be more comfortable, while still dumping heat.
I also have a swim spa with a 121K BTU heat pump and it can go down to 45F. This summer is all about water experiments, do stay tuned.
Swimming in any water is a good thermal load when temps are 81F/27C. Natural bodies of water tend to stay cooler longer and if you can find a spring fed body of water that’s going to be a good bet.
Other than that, contrast in the shower (10-20-10x) is a good start until fall roles around. Make this a lifestyle. Eat food (not crap or refined sugar/oil/fat). Don’t drink calories – including “protein” shakes. Don’t drink “sports” beverages. Make sure you begin the day with 3-4 L of ice cold water sipped through the morning.
Eat tons of greens – without the added fat/oil we tend to do in the south.
More on cooking and swimming soon! Thanks for joining us.
Ray
Hi Ray!
Good suggestions here. Since last week I started implementing some of your suggestions, including 4 Lts of ice cold water a day.
Having said that, I am spreading the intake throughout the day. Is there any particular reason why you think it is more beneficial to drink the whole lot in the a.m??
Cheers,
Alex
I don’t think it matters. Just keep hydrated.
Ray
Be careful not to over-hydrate… For an adult, no more than 1 litter of water should be consumed within 1 hour. For a maximum of 4 litters per day. Of course, adjust for environment, body weight, and activity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhydration
Thank you both!
Hi Ray,
Thank you for sharing all of your work with us. It’s great!
It looks like you haven’t been active on the blog for a while. Are you still doing research as working on your book? Are you still looking for help with funding research?
Please let me know.
Please
Thanks Alex
post going up today! I have been working, just not on the blog!
Ray