Cold showers probably don’t boost your testosterone in any meaningful way. The limited research that exists either shows no increase or a slight decrease in testosterone after cold water exposure. Despite widespread claims online, no clinical trial has demonstrated that cold showers reliably raise testosterone levels in men.
What the Studies Actually Show
The most directly relevant study measured testosterone in 32 young men before and after cold water exposure. Testosterone dropped by 10% during cold water stimulation. Meanwhile, luteinizing hormone (the signal your brain sends to trigger testosterone production) rose by 22%, which normally would push testosterone up. But it didn’t. The researchers concluded that cold water stimulation simply does not raise testosterone the way exercise does, even though both activate some of the same hormonal pathways.
That finding stands mostly alone. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis of cold water immersion studies found that most research has focused on mood, alertness, inflammation, and stress rather than sex hormones. Testosterone wasn’t even among the outcomes examined. Six of the eleven studies in the review looked only at single immersions, making it impossible to draw conclusions about long-term hormonal effects. In short, the science hasn’t prioritized this question because early evidence gave little reason to pursue it.
Cold Showers After Workouts May Backfire
If you’re taking cold showers specifically after lifting weights, the evidence is more concerning than encouraging. A 2019 study compared testosterone levels in men who used cold water immersion after resistance training versus those who simply rested. At 30 minutes post-workout, the cold water group showed essentially no testosterone change (down 0.5%), while the control group saw a 9.2% increase. By 60 minutes, the cold water group’s testosterone had actually fallen 10.4% below their pre-exercise baseline. The control group stayed flat.
This matters because resistance training normally triggers a short-term testosterone spike that plays a role in muscle recovery and adaptation. Cold water immersion appears to blunt that spike entirely. If your goal is maximizing the hormonal benefits of strength training, a post-workout cold shower may work against you.
The Testicular Temperature Theory
The most popular argument for cold showers boosting testosterone goes like this: the testes hang outside the body because they need to stay cool, so cooling them further should enhance testosterone production. There’s a kernel of truth buried in this logic, but it doesn’t play out the way people hope.
Heat genuinely harms testicular function. Mouse studies show that repeated heat exposure triggers a stress response inside Leydig cells (the cells that produce testosterone), eventually killing them and reducing testosterone output. The testes do function best at temperatures 1 to 2°C below core body temperature, and scrotal cooling has improved sperm counts in 48% to 66% of infertile men studied. Some of those studies also tracked motility and structural quality, with improvements ranging from 28% to 83%.
But protecting the testes from overheating is not the same thing as boosting testosterone by making them colder than normal. Your body already regulates scrotal temperature through the muscles that pull the testes closer to or farther from your body. A cold shower brings your testes to the same temperature your body was already targeting. There’s no evidence that going colder than the body’s own setpoint stimulates extra testosterone production.
The Cortisol Problem
Cold water triggers a significant stress response. Your body releases cortisol, the primary stress hormone, which has an inverse relationship with testosterone. Researchers use the testosterone-to-cortisol ratio as a marker of recovery status in athletes: when cortisol goes up and testosterone goes down, the body is in a catabolic (breakdown) state rather than an anabolic (building) state.
Studies examining cold water immersion after high-intensity exercise found that the testosterone-to-cortisol ratio dropped after workouts under all conditions and didn’t recover to baseline until 24 to 48 hours later. Cold water immersion didn’t improve this ratio compared to passive rest. Longer cold water sessions may have slightly extended recovery for testosterone levels, though the differences weren’t statistically significant. If recovery is your goal, the hormonal data suggests cold immersion is neutral at best.
What Cold Showers Can Actually Do
None of this means cold showers are useless. The systematic review of cold water immersion did find benefits for mood, alertness, and perceived energy. Many people report feeling sharper and more awake after cold exposure, which likely comes from the surge of noradrenaline (a neurotransmitter involved in attention and arousal) that cold water reliably triggers. That alertness boost is real and well-documented, even if the testosterone boost isn’t.
Cold exposure also shows promise for reducing inflammation and may support immune function, though the long-term evidence is still thin. If cold showers make you feel better, more focused, or more disciplined, those are legitimate reasons to keep doing them. Just don’t expect them to move the needle on your testosterone levels.
What Actually Raises Testosterone
The factors with strong evidence behind them are less exciting but far more effective. Resistance training (especially compound lifts like squats and deadlifts) reliably raises both acute and baseline testosterone levels over time. Sleep is critical: testosterone production peaks during deep sleep, and men who sleep five hours instead of eight can see testosterone drop by 10% to 15%. Body composition matters too, since excess body fat increases the conversion of testosterone to estrogen.
Zinc and vitamin D deficiencies are both linked to lower testosterone, and correcting those deficiencies can restore levels to normal range. Chronic stress, excessive alcohol, and very low-calorie diets all suppress testosterone through different mechanisms. Addressing any of these will do more for your hormonal profile than any amount of cold water exposure.