Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • In This Issue
  • The Great Outdoors

A Dunk a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

  • November 19, 2015
  • Ben Osborne
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

It’s 5:00 a.m. on a cold, winter morning in Whistler. Most hardy souls up at this hour are just creeping out from under a warm duvet and checking the snow report as they put coffee on. But not Palo Maryncak. He steps out of a lakefront cabin and into the harsh reality of minus 15 degrees Celsius wearing nothing but Crocs and a bathrobe. He casually walks onto the dock to partake in his daily, morning ritual—a four- to five-minute-long “bath” in ice-cold Green Lake.

 

Palo1

Words by Todd Lawson :: Photo by Oskar Steiner

 

“I started doing this when I was about 14 in my hometown of Bratislava, Slovakia,” Maryncak explains. “It was actually part of our track and field training. We would jump into the cold water to help heal our bodies from all of the micro-tears. It helps to seal them and you don’t have as much muscle soreness afterwards.”

Palo adds that his daily plunges also aid in strengthening his immune system and making blood vessels constrict, as they try to keep warm blood in the core. “It helps to train these cells,” he says. “It also helps with blood circulation, detoxification and your cardiovascular system as well.”

No matter how many times he does it, the shock-factor is always there—but dealing with it the right way helps to ease the pain. To prevent what is known as cold shock response, Palo immerses himself slowly instead of jumping in.

“One of the greatest things is when you walk out and you’re not cold, standing there on the dock. It’s dark, silent and your body starts producing heat and endorphins— it’s an amazing feeling of being alive.”

“It gets more intense once my chest sinks in and the first thing I feel is a shortening of breath, full exhalation is especially difficult,” he says. “Then it becomes about staying mentally calm and focused. You just have to tell yourself that you can do it. You will think that you can’t, but you just have to try. For me personally, I do it as training, like yoga and meditation. If you can get past that mental shock and really stay calm, it’s not all that bad.”

 

Watch the story of Wim Hof, the world’s most extreme cold water plunger here.

 

Maryncak starts cold-water plunging at the end of the summer to begin preparing his immune system for the autumnal onslaught of newcomers arriving in Whistler, who often unknowingly bring flu bugs (or worse) from all points of the globe. His longest streak is every day for three
months straight. “I almost never get sick now,” he says.

After a cold water plunge is over, the body releases cortisol and endorphins, essentially an adrenaline fix, but Maryncak explains he also enjoys the very unique connection to nature that this ritual provides. “One of the greatest things is when you walk out and you’re not cold, standing there on the dock. It’s dark, silent and your body starts producing heat and endorphins— it’s an amazing feeling of being alive.”

 

Find out where to take a Polar Bear swim in the Sea-to-Sky corridor here.

Not ready to jump in an ice-cold lake? Get the rejuvenating benefits of an ice-bath in a peaceful spa atmosphere at The Scandinave Spa Whistler.

 

 

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Green Lake
  • Health
  • Ice Bath
  • Palo Maryncak
  • Whistler
Ben Osborne

Previous Article
  • Videos

Jackson Hole Celebrates 50 Years — Episode 5: The Invitation

  • November 17, 2015
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
Next Article
  • The Great Outdoors

The World’s First Crowd-Sourced, Real-Time Platform for Avalanche Safety

  • November 19, 2015
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
You May Also Like
Paul-Manning-Hunter-Kananaskis-River-surf
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • Photography
  • Rockies

Mountain Life Takes Home Multiple Awards

  • Mountain Life Media
  • May 23, 2023
ML-Blue-Mountains-cover-trilliums-crop
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • Mountain Biking
  • Mountain Lifer
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Paddling
  • Photography

ML Blue Mountains 20th Anniversary Issue Out Now

  • Ned Morgan
  • May 18, 2023
View Post
  • CAMPING GEAR
  • THE GEAR SHED
  • The Great Outdoors

Gear Shed: MEC Volt 2-Person Tent

  • Editor
  • May 10, 2023
Heli-Ride-Mark-Gallup
View Post
  • CLIMBING
  • In This Issue
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Photography
  • Trips & Expeditions

ML Coast Mountains Fall/Winter 2022-23 Out Now

  • Mountain Life Media
  • November 4, 2022
Mountain-Life-Blue-Mountains-cover-Jenna-Kitchings-Collingwood-surf-crop
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Paddling

ML Blue Mountains Fall ’22 Issue Out Now

  • Mountain Life Media
  • October 6, 2022
VEM-Summer22-cover-and-spread
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • Mountain Biking
  • Paddling
  • Photography
  • Travel

Vie en montagne Summer/Fall 2022 Issue Out Now

  • Mountain Life Media
  • June 30, 2022
MLRMSummerCover
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • Mountain Biking
  • On The Trail
  • Photography
  • Rockies
  • Trips & Expeditions

New Issue Drop: ML Rocky Mountains Summer ’22

  • Mountain Life Media
  • June 9, 2022
Jessy-Braidwood-and-Neve-Petersen-Paradise-Valley-Squamish-REANNAN-SHAY
View Post
  • CLIMBING
  • Food & Drink
  • In This Issue
  • Mountain Biking
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Paddling
  • Photography
  • Trips & Expeditions

ML Coast Mountains Summer ’22 Issue Out Now

  • Mountain Life Media
  • June 8, 2022
Featured Posts
  • Kathryn-Corbiere-artist-Indigenous-Ontario-Blue-Mountains 1
    Artist Profile: Elevating Awareness 
    • May 29, 2023
  • Leslie-Timms-Devils-Glen-Nutcracker-Colin-Field 2
    Behind the Devil’s Glen Climbing Route Closures
    • May 25, 2023
  • Fisher-Monahan-illustration-illustrator 3
    Sweetgrass Chronicles: Walking from BC to San Francisco
    • May 26, 2023
  • Paul-Manning-Hunter-Kananaskis-River-surf 4
    Mountain Life Takes Home Multiple Awards
    • May 23, 2023
  • 5
    Gear Shed: MEC Volt 2-Person Tent
    • May 10, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • benno_bikes-46er-sea-otter-tour-web2
    Gear Shed: Picks for Spring & Summer
    • May 24, 2023
  • Baptism By Gravel: Rab Equipment Enters The Adventure Cycling Game
    • May 19, 2023
  • ML-Blue-Mountains-cover-trilliums-crop
    ML Blue Mountains 20th Anniversary Issue Out Now
    • May 18, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.