The ice baths have got to go.

I don’t mean this literally.

There are plenty of people who will still benefit from cold water submersion despite current research showing that it can have the opposite recovery effect than we originally thought.

Yes, you read that right. We now know that icing after a tough workout or an acute injury actually slows down the recovery process by restricting blood flow from the areas of your body that need to repair and regrow.

That’s not my point.

CEO’s, athletes, and biohackers have started using ice baths for another purpose: resetting dopamine and effectively boosting motivation. The research is quite compelling, really. When we deliberately put ourselves in an uncomfortable or painful situation, there’s an effect on dopamine production that is pretty astounding. In the modern age where social media and cell phones are desensitizing us to any of these dopamine releases—this really matters.

If you’re feeling unmotivated to get your work done, go to the gym, or even clean up around the house, you may have a dopamine problem. You’re getting so much “easy dopamine” from scrolling on Instagram or looking at your comments on TikTok or binge watching Netflix that there’s virtually nothing in the world that can make you feel quite as good—that will produce that much dopamine.

The ice bath - as the biohackers say - is meant to be the foil to our dopamine addiction.

Submerge yourself in freezing cold water for five minutes in the morning, and everything else you do that day won’t seem quite as hard. Pair that with taking away “easy dopamine” like social media or TV, and it’s the “secret sauce” for those productivity whores out there (I’m the problem, it’s me). In order to stay as objective as possible, I need to address an important point. I hate cold water. More than almost anything—my husband knows that pushing me into any body of water that isn’t a 102 degree hot tub is grounds for divorce. However, that’s not the (only) reason I think ice baths are dumb and performative.

The only water you’ll find me in 🏖️

When I scroll Instagram, within ten posts it’s almost inevitable that I see someone doing the “look at me suffering in cold water” video. I’ve done it myself! But the truth is that this kind of discomfort is available everywhere in everyday life—and many of the best examples will actually make your life and the lives around you, better.

Let’s talk about everyday discomforts that matter.

Maybe your discomfort comes from putting your phone away while having breakfast with your kids. It’s tempting to check your email, or listen to a podcast, or in my case re-watch Downton Abbey instead of having a conversation with your family, and this kind of restraint can be a controlled stressor to help boost dopamine levels. You can volunteer for something that puts you out of your comfort zone. This provides discomfort by taking up your precious time and making you have to connect with strangers. You think you’re brave for jumping in the ice bath? Comparatively, I think not.

Social media may be the best way to put yourself in pain by having hard limits on your screen time. Only allowing yourself an hour a day can be incredibly painful when all you want is a distraction from work. You can use social media restriction as an opportunity to reduce “easy dopamine” and boost baseline dopamine with something challenging for yourself.

“But the truth is that this kind of discomfort is available everywhere in everyday life—and many of the best examples will actually make your life and the lives around you, better.”

Our bodies are incredibly adaptable. If you run a mile every day for a year, your body will find maximum efficiency—effectively learning how to burn the least amount of calories to complete the work. As our body adapts, these discomforts fade away—and so does the effectiveness of the dopamine reset. My final issue with ice baths is that after days and days of making the plunge, it’s not going to be nearly as effective anyway. And now you’re stuck with this expensive tub that can’t even get hot!

You don’t need a cold plunge to get the (very important) benefit of dopamine resetting. There are plenty of opportunities to put yourself in uncomfortable situations every single day, and you can remind yourself that every time you do the meditation, or take the garbage out, or walk the dog right away in the morning (yes, these are all my examples shut up), you’re strengthening your ability to do hard things.

And that’s pretty badass.