What Doesn't Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude, and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength

by Scott Carney

The first time you experience the cold will be the worst. Every nerve will fire like it is raw and has never been used before. Your heart will race and you’ll want to do anything you can to retreat into warmth. Unless you are in weather where frostbite is likely, you’re not in any serious danger, even though your mind will tell you that you are. The arteries in your hands and feet will clench with the force that it reserves for severing a limb. If you are jumping into a cold body of water, go with a friend just in case one of you runs into trouble. Nonetheless, if you last just 5 minutes your entire body will probably be screaming for relief. Go inside and warm up. Most likely, the sensation of vasodilation, when the arteries loosen and let warm blood back inside, will hurt even more. For some, the process of rewarming is more painful than the initial exposure. Think of the pain as a sort of baptism. When you try it again the next day, it will be much more manageable.