60-Day Cold Shower Challenge with a Friend

What it is

The challenge: finish every shower with at least 30 seconds of cold water, every day for 60 days. You don't need an ice bath or a fully cold shower. Turning the dial to cold at the end, and staying there, is the whole thing.

It's a dare, which is why it works between friends. Knowing your friend did theirs this morning makes it much harder to turn the dial back to warm. And it's binary, so the check-in is honest: you either stood there or you didn't.

Sixty days almost always crosses a change of season, which is the real test: the water gets colder and the routine has to survive it. Re-commit together at day 30 and keep the minimum where it was.

How to do it

1. Start with 30 seconds of cold at the end of a normal shower. Add time only if you want to.
2. Turn it to cold before you can talk yourself out of it. Counting out loud helps.
3. Keep the dial on cold for the whole count. Warm again at the end doesn't count.
4. Check in right after, while you can still feel it.

Day by day

1. Days 1–3

   Set it up

   Agree on the minimum with your partner (30 seconds is plenty) and do the first one the same day. The anticipation is worse than the water.

2. Days 4–20

   The novelty wears off

   The first days are a shock every time. Breathe out slowly and count. Send your partner one word when you're done; it's more fun when you're both in it.

3. Days 21–48

   The long middle

   It stops being a shock and starts being a chore, especially if the weather turns. This is where people quietly go back to warm. Keep it at 30 seconds; don't let it grow into something you dread.

4. Days 49–60

   The finish line

   Decide with your partner whether you keep it, cut it to weekdays or stop. Many people keep the 30 seconds, because by now it's the quickest win of the day.

Milestones over 60 days

1. Day 30: keep the minimum

   After a month the 30 seconds may feel easy. You can add time, but keep the daily minimum where it is, so a bad morning never turns into a skipped one.

2. Day 40: the season changes

   Tap water gets colder as the weather does. Expect the second month to feel harder than the first even at the same minimum, and tell your partner when it does.

3. Day 60: decide together

   Two months in, decide with your partner whether to keep it daily, keep it on weekdays or stop. Many people keep the 30 seconds, because by now it takes less willpower than skipping it.

Where people quit, and how a partner helps

• The winter morning

  Tap water gets much colder in winter, and a cold bathroom makes it worse. Keep the time short instead of skipping, and tell your partner it was a hard one. They'll know.

• The travel shower

  Hotel and gym showers break the routine. Agree in advance that the rule holds anywhere with a dial.

• The ever-longer shower

  Some people make each day longer until it's miserable, then stop. Thirty seconds every day beats three minutes for a week. A partner keeps the bar where you set it.

Your 60-day tracker

Print this page, or tick the boxes here. Ticks are saved in this browser only. In the app, you and your partner see each other's check-ins as they happen. One tick a day.

How to start it in the app

1. Create your free account, then install Friends with Habits from Google Play and sign in.
2. Tap New Pact and pick “Cold shower” under Health & Body.
3. Keep the schedule the template suggests: every day.
4. Invite your friend by link, text or email. Once they accept, you both check in each day and see each other's progress.
5. A pact in the app runs 30 days. When the first one ends, tap Re-commit for 30 more and your shared streak carries over.

Questions