After six months of cold plunging, the author found no lasting edge in recovery, hormones, or longevity, and shifted to regular sauna use after a Finnish study of 2,300 men showed that sauna use four to seven times per week was linked to a 40 percent lower risk of dying from any cause compared to once-weekly use.
Three winters ago, I bought a cheap stock tank from a farm supply store, filled it with water, and parked it in my garage. On mornings when the temperature dropped below freezing, I'd drag the hose out, break the thin layer of ice, and lower myself into water cold enough to steal my breath. I felt tough. Awake. Like all those podcast hosts who swore cold exposure was the missing piece of human performance.
I kept it up for about six months. The novelty faded somewhere around February. By March, the tank was a sad, half-frozen reminder of a habit that required more willpower than I had to spare. I quit. My joints were fine. My recovery was fine. I just didn't feel ten years younger or mentally sharper than before.
Around the same time, I started reading the actual research on temperature and human health. Not the blog posts. Not the quotes from influencers. The peer-reviewed studies. What I found stopped me from chasing cold and made me take a long, hard look at heat instead.
Two Different Stresses, Two Different Results
Heat and cold both stress your body, but in opposite directions. That seems obvious. But the implications are not.
Heat exposure raises your core temperature. Your heart rate climbs by 50 to 75 percent, similar to a light jog. Your blood vessels dilate. Your body produces heat shock proteins, which repair damaged cells and protect against future stress. One study from Finland followed 2,300 men for two decades. The men who used a sauna four to seven times per week had a 40 percent lower risk of dying from any cause compared to men who went once a week. That number includes heart disease, stroke, and sudden cardiac death.
Cold exposure does the opposite. It constricts blood vessels. It slows inflammation. It spikes norepinephrine, which makes you feel alert. The effects are real but short-lived. There is no study showing that regular cold plunges reduce your risk of dying early. None.
What Everyone Gets Wrong About Testosterone
Every conversation about sauna inevitably circles back to testosterone. Men worry that heat kills their T. The logic sounds reasonable — your testicles hang outside your body because sperm needs cooler temperatures. But testosterone and sperm production are two different processes happening in the same organ.
A 2021 study put men in a sauna at 80 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Testosterone levels did not change. Another study found a mild, temporary spike immediately after the session, likely from the stress response. The idea that regular sauna use tanks your hormones is not supported by the research.
As for cold boosting testosterone? The evidence is even weaker. A systematic review of cold exposure studies found no meaningful or sustained increase. If you want higher testosterone, focus on sleep quality, body composition, and stress management. Temperature is a rounding error.
Where Cold Actually Wins — And Where It Does Not
I'm not here to trash cold therapy. It has real uses.
- For acute inflammation after an injury or savage workout, cold is faster than heat.
- For waking up in the morning, a 30-second cold shower works better than caffeine.
- For athletes who need to train twice in one day, cryotherapy can speed recovery by a few hours.
But most men are not professional athletes. Most men are not recovering from competition-level training. Most men are dealing with chronic, low-grade inflammation from sitting too much, sleeping too little, and managing stress poorly. That kind of inflammation is better handled by heat, because heat works through your entire circulatory system and triggers cellular repair.
The Practical Reality Nobody Mentions
Here's the part I wish someone had told me before I bought that stock tank.
Sauna is easy to maintain. Your gym probably has one. A session costs nothing beyond your membership. You can do it after a workout or before bed. It takes 15 minutes. It feels good.
Cryotherapy requires driving to a clinic, paying 50 to 100 dollars per session, changing into special clothes, and standing in a freezing chamber for three minutes. The inconvenience kills consistency. I've watched dozens of men buy cryotherapy packages and quit after four or five visits. I rarely see the same pattern with sauna.
Consistency beats intensity. A sauna habit you actually keep is worth more than a cryotherapy protocol you abandon after two weeks.
Five Years Later, Here Is What I Do
I sauna four to five times per week. Twenty minutes at about 80 degrees Celsius. I bring water. I sit. Sometimes I think. Sometimes I don't. My resting heart rate has dropped. I sleep better. I feel less reactive to daily stress.
I still use cold, but sparingly. After heavy leg days, a few minutes under cold water in my shower helps. On mornings when I feel foggy, 30 seconds wakes me up. That's my whole cold protocol now.
If you can only pick one modality for the rest of your life, pick heat. It covers more ground. It's cheaper. It has better long-term data. And it's old enough that nobody can sell you a subscription for it.
The Finnish men who sauna multiple times per week are not doing it because a celebrity told them to. They're doing it because it works, and their grandparents did it, and the data from their own health system backs it up. That's the kind of evidence I trust more than a YouTube thumbnail of a man smiling while submerged in ice.
One caveat: I am not a doctor. If you have a heart condition or any medical concern, talk to yours before you start sitting in a hot room or a cold tank. The research is compelling, but your body is not a study subject.
Frequently asked questions
Does sauna use affect testosterone levels in men?
A single sauna session does not crash testosterone, though a mild, temporary spike right after a session is common from the stress response. At the cellular level heat still stresses the Leydig cells that make most of a man's testosterone.
Does cold exposure raise testosterone?
The evidence for cold exposure supporting healthy testosterone levels is weak. A systematic review of cold exposure studies found no meaningful or sustained increase, and the article suggests that sleep quality, body composition, and stress management matter far more than temperature.
When does cold therapy actually help men?
Cold has real uses in specific situations. It can help ease acute inflammation after an injury or a hard workout, a short cold shower can help with morning alertness, and cryotherapy may speed recovery by a few hours for athletes who need to train twice in one day.
Is sauna or cryotherapy easier to stick with long term?
The article makes a practical case for sauna being far easier to maintain. Cryotherapy requires a clinic visit and costs 50 to 100 dollars per session, while most gyms include a sauna at no extra cost, and a session takes only about 15 minutes after a workout or before bed.