JJ Virgin explains why cold plunging works: a few minutes in 50-55°F water triggers shivering, which converts white fat to metabolically active brown fat and boosts endorphins. It's not a weight-loss shortcut, but it can improve body composition when done right.
Cold plunging. I have a love-hate relationship with it, but I will tell you, when I first started cold plunging— and shout out to my buddy Mark Sisson for correcting me for the error of my ways— because I was like getting in there and I was spending 5 minutes, then 8 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 12 minutes, and I was like so proud of myself. And he's like, what the heck are you doing, JJ? That's not the point of cold plunging. The point of cold plunging is not to adapt to the cold, it's to shock your body so that it shivers, creates the shiver response. What does that shiver response do? Well, couple cool things. I'm glad you asked. Number one, it helps boost those endorphins. You feel that when you get out of it. It helps boost your metabolic rate. Not forever, it's just a little one. Don't get overly excited about that. There's some idea that all you need to do to burn fat and lose weight is getting a cold plunge. No, that's not gonna happen. But what it does do is it beiges your white fat. We have this, this type of fat, brown fat, that's our very metabolically active fat. It's very thermic, it's easy to burn. White fat, not so much. But when you get in a cold plunge and you shiver and and that only takes a couple of minutes at about 50, 55 degrees for women, you will beige that white fat, and that is amazing for helping you have a better body composition.
