This is a short, informal YouTube video by Dr. Aziz (with child Lonnie) demonstrating an ice-bath challenge while arguing that cold exposure (cold showers/plunges) builds confidence. Dr. Aziz lists three benefits: (1) willpower (following through on commitments), (2) reduced anxiety via cardiovascular effects, and (3) increased discomfort tolerance which transfers to social/assertive situations. The video includes procedural details (21 pounds of ice; baseline water ~49°F, estimated ~40°F with ice), a planned ~10-minute plunge with mid-point updates (5 minutes in), a 90-second "lightning round" of ice-bucket dumps, and a medical-style disclaimer advising gradual adaptation and consultation with a qualified medical professional.
Questions this video answers
21 pounds of ice.
49 degrees (Fahrenheit) without ice.
About 40 degrees (Fahrenheit), maybe lower.
Approximately 10 minutes.
"Five minutes in. Five minutes left."
Chapters
Yeah. 21 pounds of ice.
That is so much ice.
So much ice.
How cold will this be, Daddy?
Well, the water is 49 degrees without ice, so with ice it'll be maybe 40 degrees. 40, 40 degrees. Maybe lower. All right, here we go. So what's the point of all this ice bath stuff? As it's filling up, I'm going to talk about why I think an ice bath can be one of the best things you can do for your confidence. Or cold showers. I've been doing those for about the last month, a la Wim Hof's method. You should check him out. But in any case, three reasons why a cold plunge or an ice bath or a cold shower will raise your confidence. First and foremost, willpower. You say you're gonna do something, you do it. Think about that. If you apply that to your confidence building, I'm gonna go talk to that person. I'm gonna speak up in a meeting. And you just said it. And there's discomfort and fear, but you did it. So that's the same thing with the cold bath. There's a party that's like, it's scary and uncomfortable. I don't want to do it. And you just do it. Willpower. The second thing is it reduces anxiety. Just look up the benefits of cold showers and cold plunges. It floods your whole cardiovascular system. Strengthens your capillaries, helps release tension. Cold. Awesome for you. And the third thing. Yes, Money. I have an owie on my leg. It's okay. The third thing is. They're part of the video. The third thing is, and this is my favorite thing, discomfort tolerance. So I talk about this a lot in Not Nice and everything I teach in my live weekends. Discomfort tolerance. You got to build your ability to be uncomfortable. That's how you build confidence. Right? You get outside your comfort zone. We all know that. But we don't make the next logical step, which is to get outside my comfort zone. It's going to be uncomfortable. That means I have to intentionally take on discomfort. And I can't think of anything more uncomfortable than plunging into a freezing cold tub for 10 minutes. That's what I'm going for. So you build your discomfort tolerance. And then once you can go into a cold shower consistently or a cold tub, then you can face the same kind of discomfort of, say, speaking up, approaching someone doing something that's not nice, being direct and assertive, approaching someone you're attracted to. All those are forms of discomfort. And it's the same thing. It's just sensations in your body Yes. I want to go in the ice bath.
Let's do it.
Quick disclaimer. Do not try this at home. This is something you might want to build to if you're going to study this stuff at all. You start with a little bit of cold at the end of your hot shower. That's how Wim Hof starts, people. That's where I started. So jumping into a cold ice bath for 10 minutes without any sort of training is probably too much of a shock to your nervous system. And before you try anything that you're watching in this video or anything else that I teach, you should consult with your qualified medical professional first. And you should obviously check with your medical professional before you do anything. Whether you want to sleep, eat, poop, or think for yourself first, talk to your qualified doctor. Is it super cold or what?
It's too cold.
Too cold. All right. That's what I like to hear.
Come back in.
Okay.
You iceman.
Are you being iceman? Lonnie? Too cold.
Ouch, my bums hurts. Hey, my buns hurts.
All right, so I'm setting my watch.
Timer for 10 minutes and then baby. Oh, that's so good.
That's so cold.
I'm just cold. We're too cold.
Shall we down? Shall lay down? Yeah, I don't know. It's gonna be uncomfortable.
Yeah, do it.
Do it even though it's uncomfortable. Yeah, that's some good wisdom. All right, here we go. Gold.
That cold, daddy cold.
It's very cold. Please don't throw ice on my face. Why, thank you guys.
How wet are you?
I'm wet and cold.
How long are you gonna stay in?
Oh, probably like nine more minutes.
There we go.
Alright. Five minutes in. Five minutes left. What you missed in the meantime is children throwing ice on my face, me yelling at them.
And.
And then laughing maniacally. You want to get in?
No, no. I'm scooping ice out.
You're scooping ice out. This is really cold and it's very uncomfortable.
Why?
Because it's very cold. Okay, so one minute left. This is what we would call the lightning round. Zain, want to get that green bucket over here and get it for you?
Thanks.
You can fill this with as much cold water as you can out of the tub and dump it on my head as many times as you can in one minute. Now, lightning round.
You sure it's red?
It's time.
Let's check. 1 minute and 38 seconds still left.
Yeah, okay, whatever. 90 second lightning round. Let's do it. I need to get in it burns. It burns. My extremities, my fingers, my toes, other extremities, they all burn. Okay, 99, watch out for the ball.
One minute, ten seconds. Okay? Yeah. Don't smash the eggs.
Don't smash the balls. Oh, yeah. Oh, God. Yeah. That's even colder.
That's as much as I want to do. I'm getting too cold. Your dumper is getting too cold. You've got 44 seconds left.
You started the lightning round too early. Okay?
You've got this.
The secret that was with the bucket. That was the agreement. The secret is not flicking.
There you go.
Good God.
Is this too cold? 10 seconds. 10 seconds.
My brain. All right, all right. One more bucket, one more bucket. Okay. My head. That hurts. Ow.
Time's done. Time's up. You did it. Oh, hooray, her daddy. Why did you ask me to do that?
Oh, I don't know. I don't know. Okay, hold on, hold on.
Can I pee in it?
Sure, you can pee in the tub. Here is the thing.
Oh, wait, wait, wait. I'm gonna do the ice bath still.
Oh, Mom's gonna do the ice bath. You can pee. You gotta pee in the bath, in the toilet. Here's one thing about the ice. As soon as you're done, you feel awesome. You feel awesome because you've achieved something just by getting cold and you want to get down. Buddy, my hands are cold. And secondly, your body just feels amazing from the cold.
