stackhaus ice challenge

Stackhaus is bringing you a free, month-long Ice Challenge designed to help you build a sustainable cold exposure practice. This challenge is sponsored by Ember & Ice!

Throughout the month of February, you’ll gradually work up to 90 seconds of daily cold showers, emphasizing intention, consistency, and adaptation. Refer to the calendar for your daily duration.

Finish the challenge and receive a single session voucher to Ember & Ice!

Click on calendar for printable pdf.

Complete registration by February 1st to participate.

Why cold exposure? Regular cold exposure, like cold showers and cold plunges, acts as a hormetic stressor, meaning it provides a controlled, mild stress that challenges the body in ways that strengthen its overall resilience. Over repeated cold exposure sessions, this type of stress appears to improve how the body manages both physical and psychological stressors, enhancing resilience rather than depleting it (El Ansary et al., 2024). After practicing consistently for weeks and months, the body becomes more efficient at regulating temperature, managing stress hormones, and maintaining homeostasis. This can translate into better nervous system regulation and overall stress tolerance.

Research also indicates that cold exposure can influence immune function and boost key immune markers. Some studies suggest it may increase circulating levels of certain white blood cells and alter cytokine activity, potentially improving immune surveillance and modulating inflammation (Shevchuk, 2008). These changes may explain why regular cold exposure is linked to faster recovery from illness and reduced fatigue. Cold exposure also temporarily increases certain white blood cells, helping the immune system stay alert. Over time, these changes suggest that regular cold exposure may improve immune readiness and help the body recover more efficiently from stress or illness (Nieman & Wentz, 2019).

Can women cold plunge? A controversial study released in 2025 challenged the assertion that certain forms of cold exposure is beneficial for women. It’s important to note that there are many variables that must be considered when conducting and interpreting research on women, and one study alone cannot negate decades of peer-reviewed research on the benefits of cold exposure in humans. The broader body of evidence still suggests that cold exposure can be beneficial for women, just as it is for men, when applied appropriately as a hormetic stressor. Learn more about this subject via the link below.

How much cold is optimal? Even short sessions, 1 to 3 minutes, can elicit measurable physiological responses (Buijze et al., 2016; Tipton et al., 2017). When repeated consistently, these brief exposures appear sufficient to initiate adaptive, hormetic responses.

Evidence suggests that regular, repeated exposure is more effective for adaptation than sporadic or infrequent sessions. Consistency appears to matter more than extreme duration or temperature, particularly for nervous system regulation and resilience (Bleakley et al., 2014; Huttunen et al., 2004).

Longer is not always better. Excessively cold or prolonged immersion increases physiological stress and may produce diminishing returns or elevated risk. Research supports the idea of bell curve, where moderate stress promotes adaptation, but more is not always better (Tipton et al., 2017; Shevchuk, 2008).

Finally, intention matters, and mindset is key. Aligning temperature, duration, and frequency with the intended goal and individual capacity maximizes benefits while minimizing risk (Buijze et al., 2016; Shevchuk, 2008).

Everyone is bioindivideal, and various factors influence what cold exposure protocol is most beneficial. 

This is not medical advice, and you may consider consulting a qualified health professional before starting regular cold exposure.

The Stackhaus Step-Up is a free, month-long steps competition designed to help you build a more active lifestyle. Over the course of a full month, participants' steps will be tracked and visible to everyone in the challenge. At the end of the month, top performers will win prizes!  

This steps competition morphed out of a competition between cousins for monthly steps. Daily averages quickly grew from about 10,000 to over 30,000 steps. The new habits formed from tracking steps and competing stuck for good. Now, we’re opening the challenge to the broader Stackhaus community.

You do not need to be competing for a prize to participate! This challenge is intended to motivate and inspire you to do what you do need to do to create a lifestyle with more movement.  Get in your steps via running, walking, hiking, or just moving around more during the day. Everyone is bioindividual- do what is optimal for you!

Remember, a body in motion stays in motion!

Registration will open back up in February! Subscribe for updates!

Why step? In a recent study, Xu et al. (2024) found that "daily steps are associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events". In fact, virtually all the literature agrees on the simple point that walking and moving your body correlates with better health outcomes.

How many daily steps are optimal? Research shows that even modest increases in daily steps (as little as 1,000 more per day) are linked to measurable health benefits. In general, more steps correlate with better outcomes. Some studies suggest a plateau in benefits above a specific threshold, but unlike other exercise modalities, there’s no strong evidence that higher step counts become harmful.

Exactly where the plateau lies isn’t universally agreed upon. For example, Saint-Maurice et al. (2020) found that participants walking more than 12,000 steps per day had the greatest benefit compared with lower step groups; but, since the study capped out at ~12,000 steps, we don’t know if benefits continue to climb beyond that.

Ultimately, optimal step count is individual. Factors such as age, baseline health, fitness level, and recovery capacity all influence how many steps are most beneficial for you.

This is not medical advice, and you may consider consulting with a qualified health professional.