The claim
“Cold plunges boost testosterone.”
Hot air. The studies that measured testosterone found it falling or holding steady after cold water. A few minutes in water below 4°C lowered total testosterone by about 19% in young men, and a 15°C soak after squats blunted the usual post-workout rise.
Updated Sep 24, 2026 · 1 study reviewed
Nothing solid supports it, or the best evidence runs against it.
People say it in places like these
Huberman Lab podcast
Cold water raises dopamine, and through that it very likely increases testosterone.
See an example ↗The Conversation
Influencers credit ice baths with boosting their testosterone.
See an example ↗Morozko Forge blog
Three case studies offer convincing evidence that cold plunging raises testosterone.
The research found this
In the closest test of an everyday plunge, 13 male physiotherapy students in Poland with no winter swimming experience sat for 2–3 minutes in a tub of water below 4°C. The tub stood inside a refrigerated truck at −15°C.Source 1 · Clinical trialSingle immersion in cold water below 4 °C: A health hazard in young healthy men?Teległów A, Cicha I. PLOS One, 2025.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ The dip took total testosterone from 21.22 to 17.27 nmol/L. That drop of about 19% left the average within the normal range. The study had no control group and drew blood within 7 minutes of the dip, so it can't rule out that shifts in plasma volume (the fluid part of the blood) drove part of the fall.
Eleven resistance-trained men in a US study did six sets of ten back squats at 80% of their maximum. Afterward they either sat in 15°C water for 15 minutes or rested, and each man tried both. Thirty minutes later, free testosterone (the share not bound to proteins in the blood) was up 9.2% after rest and down 0.5% after the cold water. By 60 minutes it had fallen 10.4% in the cold condition, against a fall of 1.6% after rest.Source 2 · Crossover trialCold-water immersion blunts and delays increases in circulating testosterone and cytokines post-resistance exerciseEarp JE, Hatfield DL, Sherman A, et al.. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2019.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
In a shower study, 11 current or former college athletes took ten-minute showers at 17°C on four days in a row. On average, the testosterone in their saliva didn't change significantly, and individual men went both ways.Source 3 · Clinical trialA Four‐Day Cold Shower Protocol Does Not Increase Salivary Testosterone in a Small Cohort of Male Athletes: A Research CommunicationTraylor DA, Nunes EA, Lees MJ, et al.. Health Science Reports, 2026.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
The dial reads 81°H for four reasons
How the reading adds up
24 + 24 + 25 + 8 = 81°H
EvidenceWhat kind of human evidence exists?
24/25Three small human studies looked for a rise and found none.Source 1 · Clinical trialSingle immersion in cold water below 4 °C: A health hazard in young healthy men?Teległów A, Cicha I. PLOS One, 2025.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 2 · Crossover trialCold-water immersion blunts and delays increases in circulating testosterone and cytokines post-resistance exerciseEarp JE, Hatfield DL, Sherman A, et al.. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2019.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 3 · Clinical trialA Four‐Day Cold Shower Protocol Does Not Increase Salivary Testosterone in a Small Cohort of Male Athletes: A Research CommunicationTraylor DA, Nunes EA, Lees MJ, et al.. Health Science Reports, 2026.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ There's no long-term controlled trial of cold and testosterone.
ConsistencyHave other studies found the same thing?
24/25Total testosterone fell after an ice-water dip, and when cold water followed squats, free testosterone went down as well.Source 1 · Clinical trialSingle immersion in cold water below 4 °C: A health hazard in young healthy men?Teległów A, Cicha I. PLOS One, 2025.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 2 · Crossover trialCold-water immersion blunts and delays increases in circulating testosterone and cytokines post-resistance exerciseEarp JE, Hatfield DL, Sherman A, et al.. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2019.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ The shower study found no change on average in salivary testosterone after four days of ten-minute cold showers.Source 3 · Clinical trialA Four‐Day Cold Shower Protocol Does Not Increase Salivary Testosterone in a Small Cohort of Male Athletes: A Research CommunicationTraylor DA, Nunes EA, Lees MJ, et al.. Health Science Reports, 2026.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
MagnitudeDoes the claim match the size of the effect?
25/25The claim promises a rise, and the largest change anyone has measured is a fall of about 19%.Source 1 · Clinical trialSingle immersion in cold water below 4 °C: A health hazard in young healthy men?Teległów A, Cicha I. PLOS One, 2025.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
DoseDoes the studied dose match how people use it?
8/25The doses matched how people use cold water, from 2–3 minutes in water below 4°C to 15 minutes at 15°C after training.Source 1 · Clinical trialSingle immersion in cold water below 4 °C: A health hazard in young healthy men?Teległów A, Cicha I. PLOS One, 2025.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 2 · Crossover trialCold-water immersion blunts and delays increases in circulating testosterone and cytokines post-resistance exerciseEarp JE, Hatfield DL, Sherman A, et al.. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2019.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ The longest study lasted four days, so months of regular plunging haven't been tested.Source 3 · Clinical trialA Four‐Day Cold Shower Protocol Does Not Increase Salivary Testosterone in a Small Cohort of Male Athletes: A Research CommunicationTraylor DA, Nunes EA, Lees MJ, et al.. Health Science Reports, 2026.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
The claim drifts from the data here
Cold water does set off a fight-or-flight response, and noradrenaline roughly doubles or triples.Source 4 · Crossover trialEffects of time-of-day on the noradrenaline, adrenaline, cortisol and blood lipidome response to an ice bathBraunsperger A, Bauer M, Brahim CB, et al.. Scientific Reports, 2025.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 5 · Clinical trialEffects of long‐term whole‐body cold exposures on plasma concentrations of ACTH, beta‐endorphin, cortisol, catecholamines and cytokines in healthy femalesLeppäluoto J, Westerlund T, Huttunen P, et al.. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation, 2008.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ Testosterone fell or held steady in every study that measured it.Source 1 · Clinical trialSingle immersion in cold water below 4 °C: A health hazard in young healthy men?Teległów A, Cicha I. PLOS One, 2025.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 2 · Crossover trialCold-water immersion blunts and delays increases in circulating testosterone and cytokines post-resistance exerciseEarp JE, Hatfield DL, Sherman A, et al.. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2019.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 3 · Clinical trialA Four‐Day Cold Shower Protocol Does Not Increase Salivary Testosterone in a Small Cohort of Male Athletes: A Research CommunicationTraylor DA, Nunes EA, Lees MJ, et al.. Health Science Reports, 2026.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
The biggest fall came from one brief, extreme dip in men who had never swum in winter.Source 1 · Clinical trialSingle immersion in cold water below 4 °C: A health hazard in young healthy men?Teległów A, Cicha I. PLOS One, 2025.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ Regular cold right after lifting also slows strength gains, and the page on ice baths and muscle gains covers that evidence.Source 6 · Meta-analysisThe Effects of Regular Cold-Water Immersion Use on Training-Induced Changes in Strength and Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review with Meta-AnalysisMalta ES, Dutra YM, Broatch JR, et al.. Sports Medicine, 2021.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
Put it to use
Don't plunge for testosterone. If you lift, skip the cold soak right after training, since regular post-workout cold slowed strength gains in a pooled analysis of controlled studies.Source 6 · Meta-analysisThe Effects of Regular Cold-Water Immersion Use on Training-Induced Changes in Strength and Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review with Meta-AnalysisMalta ES, Dutra YM, Broatch JR, et al.. Sports Medicine, 2021.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
From our sister magazine
Sauna Monthly covers how to time a plunge around lifting
People also ask
Do cold showers increase testosterone?
They didn't in the one study that tested them. Eleven male athletes took ten-minute showers at 17°C on four days in a row, and their salivary testosterone stayed flat on average.Source 3 · Clinical trialA Four‐Day Cold Shower Protocol Does Not Increase Salivary Testosterone in a Small Cohort of Male Athletes: A Research CommunicationTraylor DA, Nunes EA, Lees MJ, et al.. Health Science Reports, 2026.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
Does an ice bath after lifting affect testosterone?
It blunted the usual rise in one study. After squats, free testosterone was up 9.2% at 30 minutes when the men rested and down 0.5% when they sat in 15°C water for 15 minutes.Source 2 · Crossover trialCold-water immersion blunts and delays increases in circulating testosterone and cytokines post-resistance exerciseEarp JE, Hatfield DL, Sherman A, et al.. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2019.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
Check these claims next
68°H
Stretched
“Sauna boosts testosterone.”
Most sauna studies, including a week of two hour-long sessions a day and three months of regular use, found no change in testosterone. Two studies found short rises right after the heat, and one of those came only when men stayed in until they were exhausted.
22°H
Likely
“Ice baths after lifting weights blunt your muscle gains.”
In several trials, people who got into cold water right after their strength sessions for weeks built less muscle and strength, and three pooled analyses point the same way. Most studies put only the legs into water at about 10°C for 10 to 20 minutes.
74°H
Stretched
“A cold plunge raises your dopamine by 250%.”
The 250% came from blood tests after a full hour in 14°C water, and the same lab saw no significant rise when it ran that hour four years earlier. Most blood dopamine comes from nerves and the gut and barely reaches the brain.
We cited these sources
- 01Teległów A, Cicha I. Single immersion in cold water below 4 °C: A health hazard in young healthy men?. PLOS One. 2025;20(5):e0324502. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0324502 PMID 40408371
- 02Earp JE, Hatfield DL, Sherman A, Lee EC, Kraemer WJ. Cold-water immersion blunts and delays increases in circulating testosterone and cytokines post-resistance exercise. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2019;119(8):1901-1907. doi:10.1007/s00421-019-04178-7 PMID 31222379
- 03Traylor DA, Nunes EA, Lees MJ, Cudaback E, Phillips SM. A Four‐Day Cold Shower Protocol Does Not Increase Salivary Testosterone in a Small Cohort of Male Athletes: A Research Communication. Health Science Reports. 2026;9(5):e72432. doi:10.1002/hsr2.72432 PMID 42064114
- 04Braunsperger A, Bauer M, Brahim CB, Seep L, Tischer D, Peitzsch M, et al.. Effects of time-of-day on the noradrenaline, adrenaline, cortisol and blood lipidome response to an ice bath. Scientific Reports. 2025;15(1):1263. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-85304-8 PMID 39779795
- 05Leppäluoto J, Westerlund T, Huttunen P, Oksa J, Smolander J, Dugué B, et al.. Effects of long‐term whole‐body cold exposures on plasma concentrations of ACTH, beta‐endorphin, cortisol, catecholamines and cytokines in healthy females. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation. 2008;68(2):145-153. doi:10.1080/00365510701516350 PMID 18382932
- 06Malta ES, Dutra YM, Broatch JR, Bishop DJ, Zagatto AM. The Effects of Regular Cold-Water Immersion Use on Training-Induced Changes in Strength and Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine. 2021;51(1):161-174. doi:10.1007/s40279-020-01362-0 PMID 33146851