The Artisan Blog

Ali Mclean

Time to "Man Up" (Part 2)

Written by Ali Mclean
Thursday, 05 November 2015

Continued from TIME TO MAN-UP (PART 1)

Option 1:  Go directly from the sauna into an icy plunge pool

It feels like being overcome by a panic attack

Believe it or not, this is the easy option!

Ali Sauna (10)

From the comfort of a warm sauna........
(Image: Visit Finland)

 

Rush from the warmth of the sauna and submerse your body in the icy waters of a purpose built plunge pool – essentially, a big hole in the ice! The secret is to just go for it, hesitation can often result in failure and a dash back to the sauna's toasty sanctuary.

Ali Mclean

Time to "Man Up" (Part 1)

Written by Ali Mclean
Wednesday, 04 November 2015

Time for my Fellow Northumbrian to "Man-Up"

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the recent program on ITV called The Land of the Midnight Sun featuring Alexander Armstrong but felt little empathy for his winter swim in the Norwegian Sea near Tromsø.

Tromsø’s position on Norway’s west coast means that thanks to the Gulf Stream it is generally warmer than other towns and cities located at similar latitudes. As Armstrong stripped down to just his swimming trunks, the temperature was -4°C and as he strode purposefully into the icy, grey waters the sea temperature was an admittedly chilly -1°C (the salt content means that sea water has a lower freezing point than fresh). That’s pretty cold by anybody’s standards but compared to what goes on elsewhere in Northern Scandinavia, this was a walk in the park on a balmy late summer evening.

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