How a Scottish Shower Is Helping Me Become a Man

I was doing my required daily reading at the web site “The Art of Manliness” (I’ve still got a lot of reading to do),  and I came across an article that talks about how James Bond would take a shower. He would start off with the water nice and hot, and then turn it down to cold for the last few minutes. This type of shower is known as a Scottish Shower.

It’s articles like this that make the Art of Manliness my go to web site.

The article provides some historical background on Scottish Showers and some of the alleged benefits of such a shower. Here’s one line from the article:

The Spartans, hard-asses that they were, felt hot water was for the weak and unmanly. 

Well what guy doesn’t want to be Spartan-like? And what  guy wants to think of themselves as weak and unmanly?

So the very next day I started taking Scottish showers.

It’s been a week now, and I thought I would share some of the benefits I’ve noticed during that time.

• I feel a lot more confident. I was on an elevator the other day with a bunch of guys and I felt like I could body slam every one of them if I wanted to, since I knew I was the only guy on the elevator that probably had taken a Scottish Shower.
• I’ve caught multiple women stealing glances at me on the train, which I’ve never experienced before.
• My bench press doubled from 30 pounds to 60 pounds.
• I’ve noticed people stepping aside to make room for me as I walked down the sidewalk.
• I’ve started dropping the f-bomb a lot more, and I don’t care who’s within hearing range.
• I just signed up for the NFL playoff package and the NBA and NHL season packages.
• From scratch, I grew a full-beard that would make a lumberjack jealous.
• Out of the blue, I drove down to Atlantic City and played no limit poker for six hours. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I didn’t care. I knew I could body slam every guy at the table if it came to that.

In other words, the Scottish Showers were making me more manly!

But as much as I’ve enjoyed these benefits, I’m not sure I will keep using this type of shower.

Can you imagine what I would be like after a month?

I might want to become an Accountant…

By the way, the Art of Manliness seems to have quite an engaged audience. The article about Scottish Showers has 199 comments. Here are a selected few from people sharing their experiences with a Scottish Shower:

• I just start right out with the cold water and jump in. No starting with hot. In my opinion, this is even more “manly.”
• I do it every morning, no hot to cold bullshit – just straight up cold showers
• You’ll notice that it kinda HURTS to rub your skin vigorously when it is being doused with very cold water. this is a great thing if you are trying to build up your pain tolerance and overall toughness.
• The ritual of taking a cold shower will show you facets of you are truly made up of and will very quickly and noticeably develop your willpower and discipline (if self-mastery is what you are into)
• I believe that in actuality, exposing yourself to colder temperatures and inclement weather toughens you up, boosts your immune system, and generally makes you more hardy.
• He (Hugh Jackman) got up early one morning and got into the shower and was hit with bone-chilling, Toronto-in-Winter water (no hot water). He said the rage he felt made him think that this was what it was like to be Wolverine and he found it got him pumped for his morning work-out and has been doing it ever since.
• As for those who question the scientific evidence, I say grow a pair and turn the knob!
• It also keeps a shower beer a lot colder than a hot shower, and who doesn’t enjoy a nice beer in the shower?
• I’m going to man up and go to full on cold showers w/ no hot water what ever.
• My granddad has taken cold showers all his life and he is so healthy and strong
• It also helps me to recover from strenuous exercise (of the old fashioned manly variety with very heavy weights)
• Oh, and I’m a woman – does this now make me an honorary ‘manliness man’? 😉
• Gives you a great virile,hard, tight body.
• Ever since i been taking cold showers only for the past month I feel like a NEW MAN.