What is a Nordic Cycle? - Viking Bath Explained
Introduction
The nordic cycle is a hot/cold bath therapy that was popular with vikings, but has scientific medical advantages too.
What is Nordic Cycle?
The Nordic Cycle, created by Dr. Oliver Sacks and Dr. James A. Levine, is a hot/cold bath therapy that promotes weight loss and improved energy levels. The procedure involves taking a series of alternating warm and cold baths in order to reset your body’s thermostat.
Dr. Sacks explains that "the cycle has long been part of the Scandinavian lifestyle" and it's been proven to work on its own or in combination with other therapies such as surgery or dieting. He cites studies that show how regular use can lead to:
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Losing up to 25 pounds in three months (or more depending on individual circumstances)
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Reducing waist size by 2-3 inches after ten days
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Improving overall mental health
The Nordic Cycle is a sauna followed by a cold bath.
The Nordic Cycle is a sauna followed by a cold bath.
It’s quite simple: you sit in the sauna for 15 minutes, and then go into your cold plunge for 2-3 minutes. You repeat this process 4 times, which means that you will spend 1 hour in total inside the sauna and 8-12 minutes in your cold bath.
The benefits of this therapy are numerous: it boosts your metabolism, helps you lose weight, improves blood circulation and detoxifies your body.
Repeat 4 times and you have completed the Nordic Cycle.
The Nordic Cycle is a simple process that you can use to stay healthy and energized. Simply repeat the following cycle 4 times:
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Step into a hot sauna for 10-20 minutes, then cool off in a cold shower or bath for 2-3 minutes.
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Repeat 1 until you have completed four cycles, then rest for 5 minutes before repeating again if needed (you may want to do this after eating).
Why do the Nordic Cycle?
If you're looking for a way to relax and unwind from the stresses of your day, then the Nordic Cycle is for you. It's an exercise that has been practiced by Vikings since the 6th century, and has since been adopted by modern-day Scandinavian fitness enthusiasts. The reason? It's proven to help in many ways:
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Reduces stress: A major benefit of this type of workout is that it helps reduce overall stress levels in your body. Since there are no weights involved, you'll be able to use all your strength without having to worry about getting hurt or overdoing it—which can really boost your confidence as well as provide a sense of accomplishment when done regularly
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Improves blood circulation: Another benefit is improved blood circulation throughout your body—especially because there are no weights involved during this activity! In fact, many people have reported feeling energized after doing just one session per day: they walk out feeling more awake than ever before! We know what we'd do with those extra hours...
The heat of the sauna induces sweating and deepens breathing, which helps to cleanse the skin and body of toxins, while also reducing stress and relaxing tired muscles.
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Sweating is a natural way to cleanse the body of toxins. In fact, it's a key part of the lymphatic system and helps to eliminate waste products like dead cells, bacteria and toxins from our bodies. The heat of the sauna also induces sweating, which helps to remove these impurities from your skin and organs.
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Deep breathing increases oxygen flow throughout your body, improving circulation and helping you feel more relaxed. As well as this, deep breaths increase lymphatic drainage – meaning that toxins are more easily removed from your system via sweat glands in your skin or lungs rather than being reabsorbed through respiration.
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Relaxing tense muscles also improves circulation by relaxing them so they can expand again instead of becoming cramped up tight due to tension build-up within muscles all around your body (for example, if you do something strenuous at work).
The cold shower after the sauna creates therapeutic contrast that promotes blood circulation and increases energy levels.
The cold shower after the sauna creates therapeutic contrast that promotes blood circulation and increases energy levels. The body reacts to a temperature change in order to maintain homeostasis, or equilibrium. The result is vasodilation, which means your blood vessels widen to allow more blood flow through them. This increases your body's ability to lose heat and helps regulate blood pressure.
The last step in the Nordic Cycle is to rest for a short period before repeating the cycle again. This rest period allows for recovery and gives the body back full control of its processes, improving both physical and mental health.
The last step in the Nordic Cycle is to rest for a short period before repeating the cycle again. This rest period allows for recovery and gives the body back full control of its processes, improving both physical and mental health.
Depending on your fitness level, your personal preferences and what type of workout you are looking for it may be necessary to rest longer or shorter than others. We recommend that you start with resting for about 20 minutes when starting out and gradually increase as you get stronger.
The benefits of resting after exercise include:
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Improved blood flow - Blood delivers oxygen and nutrients to tissues during exercise; this helps muscles recover faster from hard training sessions or heavier workouts
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Increased fat burning - Rested muscles utilize stored energy from fat more efficiently; this leads to reducing body fat levels over time by using energy stored in muscle instead
The Nordic Cycle is a hot/cold bath therapy that was popular with vikings, but has scientific medical advantages too.
The Nordic Cycle is a hot/cold bath therapy that was popular with Vikings, but has scientific medical advantages too. With the Nordic Cycle, you alternate between hot and cold baths to stimulate your circulation, relieve sore muscles and joints, and improve blood flow to the skin. You'll be amazed at how quickly you feel rejuvenated after doing this!
Here's how it works: First fill up your bathtub or shower with warm water (about 104 degrees Fahrenheit). Then take a soak in the tub for 10 minutes or more until you start feeling relaxed. Now that you're nice and relaxed from soaking in the tub for so long, it's time to shock yourself out of any tranquility by plunging into an ice cold shower! Once you're finished with your icy rinse-off (usually around 40 seconds), get back into a hot bath again for another 10 minutes or so until all of those aches have gone away once more. The idea behind this pattern is that alternating between hot and cold will stimulate blood flow throughout your body while also helping prevent any muscle cramps or other pains associated with sitting still too long on one side of your body at once; plus it feels amazing!
Conclusion
As you can see, the Nordic Cycle is a hot/cold bath therapy that was popular with Vikings and has scientific medical advantages too.
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