I swapped cold plunges for 10 minute hot showers, hear me out

Used to do 3 minute cold plunges every morning at 6 AM for about 8 months, thought it was the only way to wake up. Then my buddy in Denver pointed out my cortisol was probably spiking harder than a kid on Halloween candy, which kinda wrecked my sleep schedule. So now I do a hot shower until I'm sweating, then finish with 30 seconds of cold at the end, total time under 10 minutes. The hot part feels way better on my stiff back, and the quick cold blast still gives me that alert buzz without the full body shock. Anyone else trade out the long freeze for a shorter contrast routine, or am I just being lazy about the real deal?