I take a cold plunge in my wheelie bin every day - it helps my PTSD

A dad says he is hooked on the health benefits of taking a freezing cold daily dip - inside his 240-litre wheelie bin.

Martin Lynch, 44, spends up to 15 minutes a day perched inside the converted garden waste bin and has been doing so for the past six months.

The former RAF engineer says family and friends think he’s nuts but his morning cold baths, which can be as chilly as 1 degree, help prepare him for the day.

The single dad-of-two first discovered cold water bathing in 2019 and began visiting local lakes with a group called Cold Water Warriors.

But due to a busy lifestyle he couldn’t keep up with the trips, so opted for a homemade method to get his cold water fix.

Watch Episode 37 of Unconventional Brits on Shots! TV, Freeview channel 262, at 7.15pm on April 25 and on demand now on the Shots! website.

Now he enjoys his morning coffee while bathing in his makeshift ice bath in the garden of his home in Lincoln.

Martin says the DIY cold-water therapy releases endorphins and has even helped him overcome PTSD from his time serving in Iraq and the Middle East.

He said: “It’s a need and convenience thing to be honest. I started having cold showers in 2019.

"I didn’t like them, they seemed like an ordeal, so I tried having a cold bath. For some reason completely submerging myself in cold water felt better.

“It wasn’t the most practical filling up the bath. Whilst I was enjoying it, I wasn't getting the full benefit of wild water dipping.

“I’d heard about older people swimming in the sea, I met an older priest in Ireland swimming in the sea, he said how the water helps him. He was an old guy but looked younger than his years.

“I found a group called Cold Water Warriors in Lincolnshire and I started going to lakes and swimming, it was incredible.

“There were days more often than not that I couldn’t get there, it was getting me down. It would take an hour one-and-a-half hours a day to get there and I couldn't commit to that daily.

“I had a green spare wheelie bin in my garden and I just thought why not.

“Every day whether I can’t get to a lake or not, I can get in my wheelie bin and meditate in my bin.

"Meditating was quite hard for me as I'm an overthinker, I find it hard. The only way I could achieve that was in cold water, it shuts everything off.

"It focuses your body and your mind on nothing.

“There’s endorphins that get set off going into cold water. I tried it and I'm addicted to it, it’s like a drug."

Martin is currently on a 212 day streak and hopes to be able to continue his daily ritual for a whole year at least.

He added: "My head feels clear and it sets me up for the day ahead. It feels amazing. I’d say to anyone to try it once.

“It doesn’t take long at all to set up, I go out my patio doors and my dog looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind especially if it's snowing and icy.

“I’ve got rocks and a plank of wood on my bin lid and have a bin liner on it to stop anything getting in.

"You feel more resilient and more empowered.

“I’m very lucky with my garden and I back onto the woods. I've got a very private garden. Plenty of people who know me think I'm absolutely nuts - friends and family.

“It’s completely frozen over at times and it can be as low as 1 degree. The warmest it gets is 13 degrees.

“It’s just a green wheelie bin, I cleaned it out. I change the water once a week and from now on I'm reusing the water to water the plants.

"It’s clean enough and I'm not in there for long.”

Martin, who now works as a continuous improvement specialist, says the cold water has helped him overcome his own mental health issues.

He said: “I joined the RAF in 2000, I deployed to Iraq, other parts of the Middle East, and all over the world. I’ve been everywhere and did 22 years.

"I left in 2022 and suffered a lot, not just from the PTSD and my mental health, but leaving the RAF hit me.

"I’ve faced my own challenges but this cold water bin therapy has helped me.

“Everyone that’s done this benefits this. It’s not about attention, it’s about trying to get more people doing it.

“There is a PTSD element to this, it helped me with PTSD. I’m not a special case and trying to get attention to say woe is me.

"I would encourage anyone who has suffered any sort of trauma to please try cold water therapy, whether it’s in a bin, a bath or a lake.”

Andy Fox, assistant director of Public Health, says cold water swimming can reduce the risk of heart disease, some cancers and dementia by more than 30 per cent.

However it isn't without its risks and experts advise people to get dressed as quickly as possible afterwards to avoid the "after drop" in temperature.

The RNLI say to immerse yourself in water gradually, wear a wetsuit and to float for the first few minutes to avoid cold water shock.