Cold Plunge Alternatives: 6 Ways to Get Cold Without Buying One

Going without a plunge at home is normal, even for people who use one. Dr. Kirk Parsley, the physician and former Navy SEAL in our breakdown of the Parsley episode, told Brian Cain where he stands right now:

“Right now I don’t do it because I don’t have it at my house. But when I had one at my house, I did cold plunge two to three days a week and I did sauna four to five days a week.”

Dr. Kirk Parsley, on Brian Cain’s podcast

▶ Play the 0:41 clip

So here is how to get cold without one, ranked by how close each gets you to the real thing.

1. A bathtub and a bag of ice.

The water doesn’t know what it’s sitting in. If you can recline with your shoulders under, a bathtub is a cold plunge. A 40-gallon fill takes about 21 lb of ice to go from 60 to 50°F, three 7 lb bags, and roughly twice that if your tap runs 70°F in summer. Measure the tap water first, and use a thermometer, not a feeling.

Where it falls short is everything around the plunge: buying ice each time, carrying it in, and draining a tub you also bathe in. That friction is the useful part. If you still do it three times a week after a month, buy a dedicated tub. Our bathtub ice bath guide has the ice table and steps.

2. A bathhouse, spa or sauna studio.

This is the alternative most people overlook, and it’s the only one that is a real, chilled, maintained plunge. Of the 428 public saunas and bathhouses listed on SaunaShare, our sister directory, 326 (76%) have a cold plunge. 39 of them publish the water temperature. Their coldest tub is typically about 45°F and their warmest about 50°F, only 5 run any tub below 40°F (SaunaShare listings, November 2026). We know what works from running SaunaShare and from working with commercial bathhouse operators since 2018.

What that looks like in practice, from their public listings:

• Portal Thermaculture in Minneapolis keeps a 10-by-20-foot communal cold pool around 38°F, one of the few that cold.
• Bathhouse Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Bathhouse Flatiron in Manhattan run 45°F and 50°F plunges side by side.
• White Mountain Sauna Haus in North Conway, New Hampshire, holds individual tubs at 40 to 50°F, filtered and ozonated, with the water changed daily.
• Plunj studios across Utah and Idaho keep a shared plunge between 45 and 50°F.

Notice the pattern: the people who run plunges for thousands of guests mostly don’t go below 40°F, and most offer more than one temperature. Start in the warmer tub. You also get the sauna, which makes the cold easier to walk into; our guide to the sauna and cold plunge order covers how to alternate. Find one near you on SaunaShare.

3. A stock tank.

A livestock trough is the cheapest tub built to hold water outdoors. A Rubbermaid Brute 150 has a 47 by 29 inch floor and a drain at the bottom; you lie back against a sloped end. With you in it, it holds about 100 gallons, which takes about 52 lb of ice from 60 to 50°F. A galvanized 2 x 2 x 6 foot tank does the same in steel, as long as you keep chlorine and brass fittings away from the zinc. Both can take a chiller later. Our budget tub guide and metal tub guide have the sizes.

4. A lake, river or creek.

Open water needs rules a tub doesn’t. The first minute is the dangerous one: the Canadian Safe Boating Council’s 1-10-1 principle puts cold shock at about a minute, with breathing far above normal, and the National Weather Service says water at 50 to 60°F can trigger it about as hard as water at 35°F.

• Never go alone. Someone on the bank, every time.
• Walk in feet first, slowly. Don’t jump, and keep your head above water.
• Stay where you can stand and reach the edge. Current and soft bottoms change fast.
• No alcohol. It’s a major factor in drowning.
• Wear soled booties if the bottom is rock or gravel; see our booties and socks guide.

5. A chest freezer conversion.

The only DIY route with built-in cooling: a freezer, an external temperature controller, aquarium silicone on the seams and a GFCI outlet. It works, and it is a 120-volt appliance full of water, so everything gets unplugged at the wall before anyone gets in, every time. Set it at 45 to 50°F, not the 30s it can reach. Our chest freezer guide has the build list and the risks.

6. A cold shower.

The easiest habit and the weakest substitute. Water running over you doesn’t wrap you the way a tub does, and the numbers show it. In a review of cooling methods for overheated athletes, a cold shower dropped core temperature about 0.14°F a minute. Immersion in 36°F water cooled people about 0.63°F a minute, and 46 to 68°F water about half that: still two or more times faster than the shower.

Showers earn their place anyway. In a randomized trial of 3,018 adults, ending a warm shower with 30 to 90 seconds of cold cut self-reported sick days off work by 29 percent. And in a small cold-water study, six cold showers at 50°F cut the first-30-second breathing rate on a later 50°F immersion by 21 percent, while 59°F showers didn’t. So if your tap runs cold, a shower is decent practice for a plunge. If it runs 60°F or warmer, it’s a wake-up, not a plunge. More in ice baths vs cold showers and our cold shower how-to.

Cold, but not a plunge.

These cool part of you, or cool you with air. Good at their own jobs; not a replacement for sitting in cold water.

• Cryotherapy chambers. Very cold air for a few minutes. Air carries heat away far more slowly than water, so it’s a different stimulus. See cryotherapy vs cold plunges.
• Ice packs and cooling towels. Reusable ice packs are for a sore knee or a tweaked shoulder, and cooling towels are for a hot day. Neither cools your whole body.
• Cooling vests. A cooling vest is for working or training in heat. It keeps you from overheating; it doesn’t give you a cold plunge.
• Contrast showers. Alternating hot and cold in the shower is a fine habit and a gentle start. For the real version, see the sauna and cold plunge order.

FAQ

What is the best alternative to an ice bath?

A bathtub with ice is the closest thing at home, and a bathhouse plunge is the real thing without the upkeep. A cold shower is the easiest habit but cools you two to four times slower than immersion.

Is a cold shower as good as an ice bath?

No. In studies a cold shower lowered core temperature about 0.14°F a minute, while immersion in cold water was two or more times faster. Showers still build the habit and, in one large trial, cut sick days by 29 percent.

How can I cold plunge without a cold plunge?

Fill your bathtub, add about 21 lb of ice per 40 gallons to drop it from 60 to 50°F, and check it with a thermometer. Or visit a bathhouse: 326 of the 428 public saunas and bathhouses listed on SaunaShare have a cold plunge.

Can I use a lake or creek as a cold plunge?

Yes, with rules: never alone, feet first and slowly, head above water, stay where you can stand, and no alcohol. The first minute is the dangerous one.

What is the cheapest cold plunge alternative?

A cold shower costs nothing. For real immersion, your bathtub and a few bags of ice, then a stock tank if you stick with it.

Are cryotherapy and ice packs alternatives to an ice bath?

Not really. Cryotherapy uses cold air, which pulls heat far more slowly than water, and ice packs cool one spot. Both have their uses, but neither is a plunge.

Sources

1. Canadian Safe Boating Council. The 1-10-1 principle. Source
2. National Weather Service. Cold water hazards and safety. Source
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Risk factors for drowning. Source
4. Parker KC et al. Do Alternative Cooling Methods Have Effective Cooling Rates for Hyperthermia Compared With Previously Established CWI Cooling Rates?. J Sport Rehabil, 2020. Source
5. Proulx CI et al. Effect of water temperature on cooling efficiency during hyperthermia in humans. J Appl Physiol (1985), 2003. Source
6. Buijze GA et al. The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work: A Randomized Controlled Trial. PLoS One, 2016. Source
7. Eglin CM et al. Repeated cold showers as a method of habituating humans to the initial responses to cold water immersion. Eur J Appl Physiol, 2005. Source