After an intense class in the middle of summer, the initial impulse is usually to dive under the cold water as soon as possible. Joey Till, trainer and Head of Product at Barry’s Iberia, nuances this idea: ‘The cold shower cools the skin, but not necessarily the interior of the body with the same speed or effectiveness as other methods.’ The real cooling, the one that truly matters, happens elsewhere.
There is a breathing trick that, according to Till, acts much more directly on the internal temperature than any jet of cold water. Inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth, slower than you inhaled. ‘This type of breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps reduce heart rate and facilitates the body’s dissipation of heat more efficiently,’ he explains.
The cold shower stays on the surface. It refreshes the skin instantly, but the heat of real intensity, the one built up inside during the workout, takes longer to subside. The breathing, on the other hand, goes straight to the nervous system, which is the one that decides how that internal heat is managed. It’s not that the cold shower is useless, but it acts on a different plane: while the water cools what you touch, the breathing works on what really keeps the body temperature elevated after the effort.
How to do it and for how long
The technique is simple: inhale through the nose for a few seconds and exhale through the mouth twice as long. ‘We recommend between five and ten minutes after an intense summer workout, especially in high-intensity classes like those taught at Barry’s,’ Till notes. No equipment or prior preparation is needed. Just a quiet corner to sit or lie down.
The moment it works best is right after training. The body remains accelerated by the effort, so responds quickly to that signal of calm. The sooner it is applied after finishing the session, the sooner the heart rate begins to drop, and with it, the sensation of accumulated heat.
Why it is more effective than cold water
The cold shower relieves instantly, but that effect tends to stay on the surface and last only a short time. ‘The real challenge after training with heat is not only to cool the skin, but to help the body regain its internal balance in a sustained manner,’ explains Till. The controlled breathing acts precisely there, on the nervous system, not just on what is touched.
This does not mean you should renounce the cold shower. It can still be a good complement, especially for the instant refreshing sensation it provides. But as a main strategy to regulate internal temperature after an intense workout, the controlled breathing has, according to Till, a clear advantage: it acts from within, not just from outside.
After high-intensity classes like Barry’s, where the body ends up generating a lot of heat in a short time, this type of recovery exercises makes more sense than ever. They do not replace hydration or the rest of the usual guidelines after summer training, but they do offer a quick, accessible tool and are backed by how the nervous system actually works.
Five minutes of conscious breathing after sweating through your shirt can make more of a difference than a thirty-second burst of cold water. It’s a small, silent gesture that doesn’t require showers or changing rooms, and it starts to act from the very first minute you put it into practice.
