Do Cold Showers Increase Testosterone? What Science Says

Medically reviewed by: Katelyn Schwartz, NP, Family Nurse Practitioner with Advanced Training in TRT, BHRT, and Menopause Care
Last reviewed: October 2026

It usually starts on a Monday. You turn the dial to cold, count to thirty, and step out feeling wired. Somewhere, a podcast has told you that rush is your testosterone climbing. So do cold showers increase testosterone, or does it only feel that way? Researchers have measured it, and the answer is less exciting than the videos suggest.

Cold water still has real effects, though. They just show up in your stress response rather than your testosterone. Knowing the difference can save you months of waiting for a result a shower cannot deliver.

Do Cold Showers Increase Testosterone? The Short Answer

No, based on the evidence so far. In studies that measured testosterone in men exposed to cold water, levels either held steady or fell afterward, and none found a significant rise. The evidence is thin, though: small groups of young men, mostly single sessions and short follow-up.

So this is a weak-evidence answer rather than a settled one. What cold water does seem to change is your stress response, and many men say it leaves them feeling more alert. If you are reaching for it because you feel flat, tired or uninterested in sex, those symptoms deserve a blood test instead. Men in British Columbia can start that conversation through TRT in Vancouver with a licensed Nurse Practitioner.

What the Research Can and Cannot Tell You

The cold water studies that measured testosterone enrolled 11 to 32 men, mostly in their late teens and twenties. The results may not carry over to men in their forties, fifties or older.
Nearly all of them tested one session, so nobody has tracked whether months of daily cold showers move a baseline level.
Most used full immersion in a bath, tank or open water, which is a much stronger stimulus than a household shower.
None of them was designed to study men with diagnosed low testosterone.

Where the Cold Shower Testosterone Idea Came From

Cold water has a long history as a test of will. Soldiers, monks and athletes plunged into rivers and snow for centuries, and the point was discipline, not hormones.

That changed over the last decade, when cold plunges became a staple of fitness podcasts and short videos. The logic runs like this: the plunge feels energizing, energy feels masculine, so the plunge must be raising testosterone. Yet the chain skips the one step that matters, which is checking a blood level.

Supplements sold as natural boosters follow the same pattern. A 2026 review in Sports Health notes that they are marketed widely but lack strong evidence. The question of whether ashwagandha boosts testosterone runs along similar lines.

How Your Body Decides How Much Testosterone to Make

Follow the signal from your brain to your testes and the reason becomes clear. Your hypothalamus releases a hormone called GnRH in short pulses. In response, your pituitary gland sends out luteinizing hormone (LH), and LH tells the Leydig cells in the testes to make testosterone.

The system then checks itself. As the StatPearls physiology chapter puts it, testosterone limits its own secretion through negative feedback. Think of a thermostat rather than a volume knob. When levels drift up, the brain eases off the LH signal. When they drift down, it pushes harder. So a brief jolt from cold water may be the kind of short disturbance this loop tends to correct.

What Moves Your Baseline Level Instead

The factors with real influence act slowly, over weeks and months rather than minutes:

Sleep length and quality, since the 2026 Sports Health review links testosterone release to the REM phase of sleep
Excess body weight, which the Endocrine Society names as a reversible contributor (see the connection between obesity and low testosterone)
Eating too little for your training load, a particular risk for men who diet hard while exercising a lot
Regular use of certain medicines, notably corticosteroids and opioids
Ongoing stress, explored in our guide to the relationship between stress and testosterone

None of these can be fixed in ninety seconds under a cold tap. That’s why the honest answer to “do cold showers increase testosterone” starts with your sleep, weight and medicines.

What Happens in Your Body When Cold Water Hits

Cold skin triggers a sharp gasp and fast breathing. Your heart rate and blood pressure climb, and blood vessels in your arms and legs narrow to protect your core. Physiologists call this the cold shock response. A 2017 review in Experimental Physiology examines cold water immersion as a precursor to drowning, cardiac arrest and hypothermia.

Meanwhile, your sympathetic nervous system takes over. A 2000 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology kept young men neck-deep for an hour in water at 32, 20 and 14 °C. At 14 °C, blood noradrenaline rose by 530% and dopamine by 250%. Metabolic rate jumped 350%. Adrenaline did not change, though, and cortisol tended to fall rather than rise.

Putting the Dopamine Figure in Context

That 250% dopamine figure travels widely online, usually without its conditions. It came from a full hour neck-deep in 14 °C water, far more cold than the last minute of a shower. The study did not measure testosterone at all, so the figure reflects a stress-system surge, not a testosterone boost.

What Studies Found When They Measured Testosterone

The closest evidence on whether cold showers increase testosterone comes from the human studies below. They measured testosterone around cold water exposure, mostly full immersion. Each one is small, and none of them found a significant rise:

Study	Who took part	Cold exposure	What happened to testosterone
Sakamoto et al., 1991	32 men aged 19	Cold water stimulation	Fell about 10% (no significance test reported), while 20 minutes of cycling raised it about 21% (significant)
Earp et al., 2019	11 strength-trained men	15 minutes at 15 °C after heavy squats	The usual post-workout rise was blunted, ending 10% below the starting level at 60 minutes
Podstawski et al., 2021	30 men aged 19 to 26	Four sauna rounds, each followed by a one-minute dip at 10 to 11 °C	Rose slightly, not a significant change
Teległów et al., 2025	13 young men	One dip in water below 4 °C, with air at −15 °C	Fell significantly, though it stayed within normal limits

Cold Water at Rest

The oldest study is also the least detailed. In 1991, Japanese researchers writing in Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi tested 32 young men under two conditions. Twenty minutes on an exercise bike raised serum testosterone significantly. Cold water, by contrast, was followed by a 10% drop that the published summary did not test for significance.

A 2025 study in PLOS ONE took the cold to an extreme, with a single dip below 4 °C on a winter day. Testosterone fell, but the authors concluded the changes stayed within non-pathological limits. The study did not track how long the drop lasted. So it shows a short-term change within normal limits, not a cause of low testosterone.

Cold Water After a Workout

Testosterone normally rises for a short while after hard lifting. In a 2019 trial in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, men who rested after squats had free testosterone about 9% above baseline at 30 minutes. After a cold bath, it had not risen by then, and it sat about 10% below baseline at 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, a 2021 study in the American Journal of Men’s Health paired hot sauna rounds with one-minute cold dips. Testosterone rose slightly, but not significantly. The sauna also makes it impossible to isolate the effect of the cold.

Cryotherapy Chambers: The One Result That Points the Other Way

One line of research does report a rise. In a 2023 study in Health Science Reports, elite rugby league players used a cryotherapy chamber at −120 to −135 °C after a match. After two back-to-back three-minute sessions, saliva testosterone and the testosterone-to-cortisol ratio had both risen significantly by 60 hours. Without cryotherapy, that ratio had still not returned to its starting point.

That finding is real, but narrow. The cold was air, not water, and the men were professional athletes recovering from a match, so the study cannot say whether this was a rise above normal or a faster recovery. Nobody has shown the same effect in men taking cold showers at home.

What the Most Recent Reviews Conclude

The 2026 Sports Health review sums up the field in one line: cold water immersion may lower testosterone, while sauna bathing appears neutral. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis in PLOS ONE looked at eleven randomized trials of cold water in healthy adults, though not at testosterone. Pooled results showed a rise in inflammation within the first hour and lower stress twelve hours later. Single studies pointed to better sleep and quality of life, but not mood. The authors noted that the trials were few and small.

Why Cold Showers Feel Like a Testosterone Boost

Men often describe feeling sharper, calmer and more confident after cold water. That experience is genuine, but it doesn’t mean cold showers increase testosterone. There is a better explanation:

Noradrenaline. The chemical behind emergency alertness, it can leave you feeling switched on for a while afterward.
Dopamine. Blood levels rose in the 14 °C study. Blood dopamine is not the brain’s reward signal, though, so any effect on drive is uncertain.
Focus. Cold water demands all your attention, which can briefly push out the background worries you woke up with.
A sense of achievement. Choosing discomfort and finishing it gives a small, honest win before the day has started.

There may be a practical payoff too. A 2016 Dutch trial in PLOS ONE assigned 3,018 adults to a control group or to end their hot shower with 30 to 90 seconds of cold for 30 days. Over three months, the cold shower groups reported 29% fewer days off work sick. Yet they reported no fewer days of illness, so the benefit may lie in coping rather than in getting sick less often.

When Feeling Flat Points to Low Testosterone

Men drawn to cold plunges often sense that something has shifted. Mornings feel heavier, the gym feels harder, and interest in sex has quietly faded. A plunge offers a way to fight back without an appointment. But if the cause is clinically low testosterone, that plan only postpones the answer.

Signs That Are Worth a Blood Test

Low testosterone rarely shows up as one symptom. More often it is a slow drop in energy and drive. Recovery from exercise slows, sleep feels less restful and libido fades over months. Our guide to the symptoms of low testosterone covers the full picture.

The catch is that these signs overlap with many other things. In its July 2026 statement, the Endocrine Society noted that low energy, libido and mood are common in aging men and have many causes. That’s why guessing, with cold water or a supplement, so often misses.

How Low Testosterone Is Actually Confirmed

A diagnosis needs both symptoms and repeatedly low blood levels. The same Endocrine Society statement calls for at least two early-morning, fasting testosterone tests. Canada’s clinical practice guideline, published in CMAJ, advises taking the blood sample between 7 and 11 am, or within three hours of waking for shift workers. You can read more about how to test testosterone levels accurately.

Seasons matter far less than the clock. In one large study, the gap between the highest and lowest months was about 1 nmol/L, much smaller than the morning-to-afternoon drop described in do testosterone levels fluctuate.

According to the Endocrine Society, reversible contributors such as excess weight and medicines like corticosteroids or opioids should be ruled out before treatment. When low testosterone is linked to weight, weight loss is typically the first-line approach. If you are not sure where to begin, see our article on who can help with low testosterone.

Where Testosterone Replacement Therapy Fits

For men whose deficiency is confirmed, testosterone replacement therapy may help restore levels to a normal range when lifestyle changes have not been enough. It is a medical treatment with real trade-offs, though. The StatPearls chapter lists infertility among its potential effects, because outside testosterone suppresses the brain signals that drive sperm production. So TRT and fertility deserve a conversation before you start. Treatment also needs regular blood work, and the Canadian guideline recommends monitoring at three and six months, then once a year. Related conditions such as sleep apnea also need attention along the way.

Beyoung Health’s assessments start with lab work and a review by a licensed Nurse Practitioner. Men in Ontario can begin the same process through TRT in Toronto.

Can You Use Cold Showers While on TRT?

For most men, yes. No study has tested cold exposure in men on TRT. Still, there is no evidence that it changes how treatment works or raises levels further. The main practical catch involves timing around strength training, along with the heart-related cautions below.

In a 2015 study in The Journal of Physiology, 21 active men strength-trained twice a week for 12 weeks. After each session, some spent 10 minutes in cold water while the rest did an easy active cool-down. The cold water group gained less strength and less muscle. So if building muscle is the goal, keep cold plunges away from your lifting sessions. Our guide to the relationship between TRT and exercise covers training on therapy in more detail.

How to Try Cold Showers Safely

A short cold finish to a warm shower is low risk for most healthy adults. A few habits keep it that way:

Begin with your normal warm shower, then turn it cool for the last 30 to 60 seconds. Build up slowly over a few weeks.
Stop at once if you feel chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness that does not settle.
Never try open-water plunges alone, since cold shock is a known cause of drowning.
Save longer cold baths for rest days or competition phases if you are training for size and strength.

Who Should Check With a Licensed Provider First

Heart disease, poorly controlled high blood pressure, fainting spells, an irregular heartbeat or Raynaud’s phenomenon all deserve a conversation before you try intense cold. Cold water raises heart rate and blood pressure within seconds, which can strain a heart that is already under pressure.

Do Cold Showers Increase Testosterone? Common Questions

Q: Do ice baths increase testosterone more than cold showers?

There is no evidence that they do. No study has compared the two, and studies that used cold baths found testosterone unchanged or lower afterward. Cold water raises noradrenaline, not testosterone.

Q: Does the water temperature change the effect on testosterone?

In one study, a full hour in 14 °C water sharply raised noradrenaline and dopamine. Even so, no temperature tested produced a testosterone rise, and the coldest dip, below 4 °C, was followed by a drop.

Q: Will daily cold showers raise testosterone over time?

There is no evidence that daily cold showers increase testosterone, although long-term daily use has not been tested directly. Your baseline level follows sleep, body weight, health and medicines far more than any short daily habit.

Q: Can cold showers make TRT work better?

There is no evidence that they boost the hormonal effect of treatment. A cold shower may still help you feel alert and manage stress. If you lift weights, though, keep long cold baths away from your training sessions, because they may reduce muscle gains.

Q: Does age change how cold exposure affects testosterone?

Nearly all the research enrolled men under 30, so nobody can say. Men over 40 do have more reason to check heart health before intense cold, and to test testosterone if symptoms persist.

Q: What actually helps if my testosterone is low?

Start with two early-morning blood tests to confirm it. If they are low, a licensed provider will look for reversible causes such as excess weight, poor sleep or certain medicines. For confirmed deficiency, testosterone replacement therapy with regular monitoring may be an option.

The Bottom Line on Cold Showers and Testosterone

So, do cold showers increase testosterone? The evidence so far says no. Cold water is a strong signal to your nervous system. It may leave you feeling more alert and help you handle stress. That’s plenty of reason to keep a cold finish in your routine if you enjoy it. There is no good evidence that it raises testosterone, and studies that measured it more often found a dip.

If persistent fatigue, low drive or fading libido is why you started, the next step is a proper blood test rather than a colder shower. When you are ready to find out where your levels stand, you can book a consultation with Beyoung Health’s clinical team.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare provider before starting any treatment.