A major part of the Wim Hof Method is a breathing technique with the following sequence: 30 deep breaths faster than normal pace (controlled hyperventilation) Holding the breath at neutral lung pressure for as long as you can do so comfortably; A short breath hold for about 15 seconds with the lungs full of air.
and more efficient fat utilization). Hof originally gained prominence through his own personal triumphs, such as climbing up mountains in shorts and breaking world records for time swimming in freezing water. The feats were so astonishing that scientists began to study how exactly he was able to create his own body heat in response to extreme cold exposure, which was previously believed to be impossible.
He has since put up his training technique online in a 10-week course. But, for creative professionals who barely have time to exercise regularly, let alone add an entirely new practice to their weekly schedule, learning the Wim Hof technique can seem like wishful thinking.
Fortunately, Hof says that even the busiest people can learn his technique by weaving it into their day. To understand how, I caught up with Hof just before he spoke to a packed house at the Summit LA conference last November at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles (he’ll be returning again for Summit LA 18).
Tip One: Breathe In Your Down Time
The workhorse of Wim Hof is a breathing style that is a repeated cycle of big inhalations followed by brief periods of holding one's breath. Altogether, the practice takes about 15 minutes. While Hof's most committed students learn it in remote snowy altitude, it can easily be practiced at work (video here).
'You can do it anywhere', he tells me, 'while you wait for the elevator, or you wait for a cab, or you are in your office, or while you are typing in your best deal to come'.
Tip Two: Turn Your Showers Into Cold Showers
The second big part of the Wim Hof method is regular cold exposure: turn regular showers into cold showers. This sounds really unpleasant, but, in my experience, it hasn't been that bad.
When I was training with Hof's online course, I would take cold showers up to a few times a week. The first few times are miserable, but I quickly learned to adapt to the cold.
Tip Three: Focus On Bodily Changes
![Method Method](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125681398/652327972.png)
Hof is famous for being able to trigger changes in his body during experiments by just focusing his mind. After Hof took the stage at Summit LA, I spoke with one of Hof's star student, Bart Pronk, to help me understand more about the mental state of the method
'The mental state will be as follows,' he begins. 'You absolutely go into the flow and let go of all thoughts. Just feeling and witnessing, absorbing what is happening in the body. No minding, just let it go.'
He continues, 'You visualize how it would feel, what sensations you are going to feel in the water. But most importantly also image yourself how it is to get out of ice and how you are going to recover. So you program your body and mind on what is going to happen and prepare it, so it knows what to do.'
That is, after becoming acquainted with the breathing techniques and sensations of cold exposure, imagining oneself training in the cold can trigger similar effects.
All in all, learning the Hof technique is eminently doable, even for the busiest folks.
Interested readers can check out the online course here and learn more about his upcoming talk at Summit LA here.
*Some quotes edited for clarity.
Hof immersed in an ice bath, 2007 | |
Born | 20 April 1959 (age 60) |
---|---|
Other names | The Iceman |
Occupation | Extreme athlete |
Children | 6 |
Wim Hof (born 20 April 1959), also known as The Iceman, is a Dutch extreme athlete noted for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures. He has set Guinness world records for swimming under ice and prolonged full-body contact with ice, and still holds the record for a barefoot half-marathon on ice and snow. He attributes these feats to his Wim Hof Method (WHM), a combination of frequent cold exposure, breathing techniques and meditation.[1] But skeptics question whether or not his identical twin brother's similar brown fat composition shows that Wim's tolerance of cold is mostly a result of his genetics.[2][3]
Preliminary and proof-of-principle studies of Hof's method, as well as similar breathing practices, have shown that hyperventilating can temporarily suppress the innate immune response as well as temporarily increase heart rate and adrenaline levels. Exposure to even mild cold temperatures has been previously shown to increase 'brown fat' which is associated with better blood glucose regulation. Hof is the subject of The New York Times bestselling book What Doesn't Kill Us, which tells the story of how the investigative journalist Scott Carney took an assignment supposedly to debunk the WHM but ended up learning Hof's techniques.[4] He is also the subject of the Vice documentary Iceman in which journalist Matt Shea learned the WHM.[5]
- 3Wim Hof Method
- 4Scientific investigations
Early life[edit]
Hof was born in Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands as one of nine children,[6] one of whom (Andre) is an identical twin brother.[7] When he was 17 he felt a sudden urge to jump into the freezing cold water of the Beatrixpark canal.[8][1]
Records[edit]
Hof at a 2015 event
On March 16, 2000, Hof set the Guinness World Record for farthest swim under ice, with a distance of 57.5 metres (188.6 ft).[9] The swim at a lake near Pello, Finland was filmed for a Dutch television program, and a test run the previous day almost ended in disaster when his cornea started to freeze and he was swimming blind. A diver rescued him as he was starting to lose consciousness.[6] A new record of 76.2 metres (250 ft) was set by Stig Severinsen in 2013.[10]
On January 26, 2007, Hof set a world record for fastest half marathon barefoot on ice and snow, with a time of 2 hours, 16 minutes and 34 seconds.[11]
Hof has set the world record for longest time in direct, full-body contact with ice a total of 16 times,[12] including 1 hour, 42 minutes and 22 seconds on January 23, 2009;[13] 1 hour, 44 minutes in January 2010;[14] and 1 hour 53 minutes and 2 seconds in 2013.[12] This was surpassed in 2014 by Songhao Jin of China, with a time of 1 hour, 53 minutes and 10 seconds.[15]
In 2007 Hof climbed to an altitude of 7,200 metres (23,600 ft) on Mount Everest wearing nothing but shorts and shoes, but failed to reach the summit due to a recurring foot injury.[16][17] In February 2009, Hof reached the top of Mount Kilimanjaro within two days wearing only shorts.[18] In September, he ran a full marathon in the Namib Desert without water, under the supervision of Dr. Thijs Eijsvogels.[19]
Wim Hof Method[edit]
Wim Hof markets a regimen, the Wim Hof Method (WHM) that he claims will help with, among other things, sleep, willpower, sports performance, stress, creativity and immune system. Testimonials on his website claim to have improved illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. The method involves three 'pillars': cold therapy, breathing and meditation.[20] It has similarities to Tibetan Tummo meditation and pranayama, both of which employ breathing techniques.[21]
Breathing[edit]
There are many variations of the breathing method. The basic version consists of three phases as follows:
- Controlled hyperventilation: The first phase involves 30 cycles of breathing. Each cycle goes as follows: take a powerful breath in, fully filling the lungs. Breathe out by passively releasing the breath, but not actively exhaling. Repeat this cycle at a steady pace thirty times. Hof says that this form of hyperventilation may lead to tingling sensations or light-headedness.
- Exhalation: After completion of the 30 cycles of controlled hyperventilation, take another deep breath in, and let it out completely. Hold the breath for as long as possible.
- Breath retention: When strong urges to breathe occur, take a full deep breath in. Hold the breath for around 15 - 20 seconds and let it go. The body may experience a normal head-rush sensation.
These three phases may be repeated for three consecutive rounds.[21]
Scientific investigations[edit]
Resistance to cold[edit]
When exposed to cold, the human body can increase heat production by shivering, or non-shivering thermogenesis in which brown adipose tissue (BAT), also known as brown fat, converts chemical energy to heat. Mild cold exposure is known to increase BAT activity.[22] A group of scientists in the Netherlands wondered whether frequent exposure to extreme cold would have comparable effects. The Hof brothers are identical twins, but unlike Wim, Andre has a normal sedentary lifestyle without exposure to extreme cold. The scientists had them practice Wim's breathing exercises and then exposed them to the lowest temperature that would not induce shivering. They found no significant difference in the response.[3] Both had rises of 40% of their metabolic rates over the resting rate, compared to a maximum of 30% observed in young adults. However, their brown fat percentage – while high for their age – was not enough to account for all of the increase. The rest was due to their vigorous breathing, which increased the metabolic activity in their respiratory muscles.[22]
The related g-Tummo practice is called 'psychic heat' practice because it is accompanied by intense sensations of heat in the spine. It involves special breathing accompanied by meditation involving mental images of flames at certain locations in the body. There are two types of breathing, 'forceful' and 'gentle'. A scientific study found that only the forceful type results in an increase in body temperature, and that meditation was required to sustain the temperature increase. [23]
Health benefits of cold exposure[edit]
Several studies have shown that exposure to cold increases brown fat and the capacity for non-shivering thermogenesis. It also reduces white adipose tissue, the form of fat related to obesity. There is some evidence that brown adipose tissue may reduce the risk of diabetes through uptake of glucose and lipids.[22] Practices such as cold bathing have been common at least as far back as Roman times, and numerous health benefits have been claimed, but long-term benefits are not yet supported by randomized controlled trials.[24]
Immune system suppression[edit]
Hearing that some researchers at the Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands had a way of measuring the immune response in humans, Hof visited them and stated that he could modulate his immune system. Although he thought it unlikely, Peter Pikkers was impressed by Hof's feats involving cold resistance, so he and his PhD student Matthis Kox decided to test the claim. They took blood samples before and after a regimen of breathing, meditation and an 80-minute full-body ice bath, and found that afterwards there were greatly reduced levels of proteins associated with the immune response.[25]
The test that Pikkers and Kox had devised was for the innate immune system, a rapid immune response that distinguishes invaders from the body's own cells and eliminates them. They injected an endotoxin that stimulated the response. Most subjects respond with flu-like symptoms (fever, headaches and shivering), and affected cells release signalling proteins called cytokines. Hof had no flu-like symptoms and half as many cytokines as control subjects. Moreover, after he had trained some volunteers for a week, they too had reduced symptoms.[25]
Pikkers and Kox attributed the effect on the immune system to a stress-like response. In the hypothalamus, stress messages from the brain trigger a release of adrenaline, which increases the pumping of blood and releases glucose, both of which can help the body deal with an emergency. It also suppresses the immune system. In Hof and the trained subjects, the adrenaline release was higher than it would be after a person's first bungee jump.[25][26] It is not yet known which part of the training (cold exposure, breathing or meditation) is primarily responsible for the effect, or whether there are long-term training effects.[22]
Controversies[edit]
Wim Hof has been accused of overstating the benefits of his method, giving false hope to people suffering from serious diseases, and some of his claims have been uncritically reported by the media.[2] On his website he says that it has reduced symptoms of several diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease;[27] He has also said it might cure some forms of cancer.[2] Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt, one of the scientists who studied Hof, stated that '[Hof's] scientific vocabulary is galimatias. With conviction, he mixes in a non-sensical way scientific terms as irrefutable evidence.'[22] However, Van Marken Lichtenbelt goes on to say: 'When practicing the Wim Hof Method with a good dose of common sense (for instance, not hyperventilating before submerging in water) and without excessive expectations: it doesn't hurt to try.'[22]
Someone who hyperventilates before submerging in water can experience a shallow water blackout, with potentially fatal consequences. Four practitioners of the WHM drowned in 2015 and 2016, and relatives suspected the breathing exercises were to blame.[28][29] The WHM website advises doing the exercises in a safe manner and location.[30]
Personal life[edit]
Hof has six children, four of them with his first wife, who died by suicide in 1995,[8] and a son, born in 2003 to his second wife. Also a son in 2017.[31] Hof feels that sadness over the loss of his first wife was formative in leading him to develop techniques to face low temperature environments.[31]
Publications[edit]
- Hof, Wim (1998). Klimmen in stilte [Climbing in silence] (in Dutch). Altamira. ISBN9789069634395.
- Hof, Wim (2000). De top bereiken is je angst overwinnen [Reaching the top is overcoming your fear] (in Dutch). Andromeda. ISBN9789055991136.
- Hof, Wim; Rosales, Justin (2012). Becoming the Iceman : pushing past perceived limits. Mill City Press. ISBN9781937600464.
- Hof, Wim; Jong, Koen A.M. de (2015). Koud kunstje : wat kun je leren van de iceman?. Uitgeverij Water. ISBN9789491729256.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abHedegaard, Erik (3 November 2017). 'Wim Hof Says He Holds the Key to a Healthy Life – But Will Anyone Listen?'. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ abcvan Erp, Pepijn (1 January 2016). 'Wim Hof's Cold Trickery'. Pepijn van Erp. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ abVosselman, Maarten J.; Vijgen, Guy H. E. J.; Kingma, Boris R. M.; Brans, Boudewijn; van Marken Lichtenbelt, Wouter D.; Romanovsky, Andrej A. (11 July 2014). 'Frequent Extreme Cold Exposure and Brown Fat and Cold-Induced Thermogenesis: A Study in a Monozygotic Twin'. PLoS ONE. 9 (7): e101653. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0101653.
- ^Carney, Scott (2017). What doesn't kill us : how freezing water, extreme altitude, and environmental conditioning will renew our lost evolutionary strength. Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale. ISBN9781623366919.
- ^Shea, Daisy-May Hudson and Matt (16 July 2015). 'ICEMAN'. Vice. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
- ^ abCarney, Scott (2011). 'The Iceman Cometh'. Scott Carney. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^Hof & Rosales 2012, p. 10
- ^ abJoe Rogan (interviewer) and Wim Hof (21 October 2015). Wim Hof (podcast). Joe Rogan Experience. 712. Joe Rogan. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^Farthest swim under ice - Guinness World Records. YouTube. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^'Longest swim under ice - breath held (no fins, no diving suit)'. Guinness World Records. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^'Fastest half marathon barefoot on ice/snow'. Guinness World Records. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ abGlenday, Craig (2015). Guinness world records 2015. Bantam Trade. p. 246. ISBN9781101883808.
- ^'Full body ice contact endurance'. Guinness World Records. 8 May 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^Sunday, Alex (29 December 2010). 'Dutchman Aims to Take Longest Ice Bath'. CBS News. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^'Longest duration full body contact with ice'. Guinness World Records. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^'Dutch Iceman to climb Everest in shorts: It's all about the inner fire'. ExplorersWeb. 1 March 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- ^Kathmandu (29 May 2007). 'Everest climber falls short'. The Age. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- ^Iceman Wim Hof on Kilimanjaro Summit. YouTube. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- ^Innerfire. 'Wim Hof Blog'. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- ^Hof, Wim. 'Wim Hof Method'. www.wimhofmethod.com. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ abWim Hof, Wim. 'The Benefits of Breathing Exercises'. Wim Hof Method. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ abcdefvan Marken Lichtenbelt, Wouter (11 July 2017). 'Who is the Iceman?'. Temperature. 4 (3): 202–205. doi:10.1080/23328940.2017.1329001.
- ^Kozhevnikov, Maria; Elliott, James; Shephard, Jennifer; Gramann, Klaus; Romanovsky, Andrej A. (29 March 2013). 'Neurocognitive and Somatic Components of Temperature Increases during g-Tummo Meditation: Legend and Reality'. PLoS ONE. 8 (3): e58244. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058244.
- ^Buijze, Geert A.; Sierevelt, Inger N.; van der Heijden, Bas C. J. M.; Dijkgraaf, Marcel G.; Frings-Dresen, Monique H. W.; van Wouwe, Jacobus (15 September 2016). 'The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work: A Randomized Controlled Trial'. PLOS ONE. 11 (9): e0161749. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0161749. PMC5025014.
- ^ abcHoutman, Anne; Scudellari, Megan; Malone, Cindy; Singh-Cundy, Anu (2015). '22. Endocrine and immune systems'. Biology Now(PDF). W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 388–405. ISBN978-0393906257. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^Kox M, van Eijk LT, Zwaag J, van den Wildenberg J, GJ Sweep FC, van der Hoeven JG, Pickkers P (20 May 2014). 'Voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and attenuation of the innate immune response in humans'. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 111 (20): 7379–7384. doi:10.1073/pnas.1322174111. PMC4034215. PMID24799686. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
- ^Hof, Wim. 'The Benefits of Breathing Exercises'. Wim Hof Method. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- ^Tijmstra, Fannie; Bomers, Loes (10 June 2016). ''Iceman' onder vuur' ['Iceman' under fire] (in Dutch). EenVandaag. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^Duin, Roelf Jan (2 July 2016). ''Iceman'-oefening eist opnieuw leven' ['Iceman' exercise claims a new life] (in Dutch). Het Parool. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^'Practice the Wim Hof Method'. Wim Hof Method. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ abInnerfire. 'Innerfire - Wim Hof, The Iceman - Innerfire'. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
Further reading[edit]
- Buijze, Geert A.; Hopman, Maria T. (December 2014). 'Controlled Hyperventilation After Training May Accelerate Altitude Acclimatization'. Wilderness & Environmental Medicine. 25 (4): 484–486. doi:10.1016/j.wem.2014.04.009.
- Erp, Pepijn van (25 January 2015). ''Iceman' Wim Hof over the top'. Pepijn van Erp. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- Fehily, Toby (7 October 2017). 'What Doesn't Kill Us, To Be a Machine: books on extreme measures'. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- Ferenstein, Gregory (30 September 2018). 'How To Learn The Wim Hof Method, Even If You're Crazy Busy'. Forbes. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- Fuentes, Tamara (6 March 2018). 'Science Reveals Why This Man Can Withstand Insanely Cold Temperatures for Hours'. Men's Health. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- Hudson, Daisy-May; Shea, Matt (15 July 2015). 'ICEMAN'. Vice. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- Kox, Matthijs; Stoffels, Monique; Smeekens, Sanne P.; van Alfen, Nens; Gomes, Marc; Eijsvogels, Thijs M.H.; Hopman, Maria T.E.; van der Hoeven, Johannes G.; Netea, Mihai G.; Pickkers, Peter (June 2012). 'The Influence of Concentration/Meditation on Autonomic Nervous System Activity and the Innate Immune Response'. Psychosomatic Medicine. 74 (5): 489–494. doi:10.1097/PSY.0b013e3182583c6d.
- Learn, Joshua Rapp. 'Science Explains How the Iceman Resists Extreme Cold'. Smithsonian (22 May 2018). Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- van Middendorp, Henriët; Kox, Matthijs; Pickkers, Peter; Evers, Andrea W. M. (21 July 2015). 'The role of outcome expectancies for a training program consisting of meditation, breathing exercises, and cold exposure on the response to endotoxin administration: a proof-of-principle study'. Clinical Rheumatology. 35 (4): 1081–1085. doi:10.1007/s10067-015-3009-8.
- Muzik, Otto; Reilly, Kaice T.; Diwadkar, Vaibhav A. (May 2018). ''Brain over body'–A study on the willful regulation of autonomic function during cold exposure'. NeuroImage. 172: 632–641. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.067.
- Joe Rogan (interviewer) and Wim Hof (24 October 2016). Wim Hof (podcast). Joe Rogan Experience. 865. Joe Rogan. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- Weston, Gabriel (23 February 2017). Ice Man (clip) (Television). Incredible Medicine: Dr Weston's Casebook, Series 1. 2. BBC. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
External links[edit]
- Wim Hof on IMDb
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