Back in 2000, I had the chance to spend time with Dr. Mel Siff at his ranch in Colorado. He shared many secrets on advanced recovery techniques, including contrast hydrotherapy. Here are a few key points he mentioned:

• Always start with hot and end with cold—unless you plan to sleep afterward, in which case you should end with hot.
• The duration of each phase should be 1–5 minutes, but since the body adapts, it’s important to vary this each time.
• The body should be almost completely submerged (Dr. Siff had an 8-foot deep Jacuzzi for this purpose), and movement is ideal, particularly in the cold phase (e.g., swimming in an unheated pool or rolling in the snow).
• The temperature must be appropriate—hot should be very hot (up to 110°F) and cold should be truly cold (as low as 60°F).
• Repeat the process 3–4 times.

According to Siff, “it is not simply the temperature of a given modality, but also the level of difference between hot and cold temperatures, and the time spent at each temperature that determines how one should use contrast methods.” He noted that this strategy worked well for Russian lifters and that he successfully applied it to American athletes as well.

I can personally vouch for its effectiveness. After countless sets of Olympic lifts, I had the pleasure of experiencing Siff’s contrast method with EliteFTS.com founder Dave Tate. Picture Tate and me jumping from an 8-foot deep Jacuzzi, heated to 110°F with handle bars on the side to hold us up, into a 62°F swimming pool where we swam a few laps. Talk about contrast! And this was all done after midnight. Needless to say, we slept like babies that night.

Dr. Siff is no longer with us, but his methods live on. A great way to incorporate contrast hydrotherapy into a busy schedule is with contrast showers.

For contrast showers, follow the advice of one of the best sprint coaches of all time, Charlie Francis:

• Three minutes as hot as you can stand
• One minute as cold as you can stand
• Repeat three times for best results

It’s important to cover the entire body, including the head. This practice makes a big difference in recovery. The key is the contrast between temperatures and the variation in time spent at each. And for the most part, you should finish with cold.

As Nelson Montana explains in The Bodybuilding Truth, ending a shower with cold water naturally increases testosterone and stimulates the nervous system:

It comes from one of the forefathers of modern bodybuilding, Angelo Siciliani, better known as Charles Atlas. Did you know that excessive heat from a hot shower can lower your sperm count? In fact, the Aztec Indians used this as a form of birth control (don’t ask). Anyway, Charlie recommends finishing off your shower with cold water. Allow the cold water to flow from the solar plexus onto the genitals. The belief was that these areas contain the highest concentration of nerve endings. Therefore, the cold would stimulate the nerves, which in turn strengthened the entire nervous system. ‘Stimulate’ is certainly the operative word here. I can attest to its effect because I’ve been doing this for some time now. It takes a little getting used to, but it sure is an eye-opener!

Tomorrow, we’ll look at another effective restoration method: stretching.