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Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges
- guiambros 6y agoI still haven't tried any of the breathing techniques, but the book published on Wim Hof's method[1] is a fascinating read. It was written by an investigative journalist that was initially skeptic of the method, and decided to debunk the myth. [1] What Doesn't Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude, and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength https://www.amazon.com/What-Doesnt-Kill-Environmental-Conditioning/dp/1623366909 https://www.amazon.com/What-Doesnt-Kill-Environmental-Condit...
- hnrodey 6y agoThe Vice episode on Wim Hof is worth the watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaMjhwFE1Zw&feature=emb_logo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaMjhwFE1Zw&feature=emb_logo
- mherrmann 6y agoThere's also one by Yes Theory that is very cool.
- 8f2ab37a-ed6c 6y agoIf this is revolutionary, why isn't everybody following his method? My skeptic alarm is going off, but also all of the investigative content I read about it seems to support the claims. I'm puzzled on why this hasn't seen mass adoption.
- s5300 6y agoNot saying this specifically about Wim Hof, the topic at hand - but: People are lazy. This is quite simply a truth, especially with regards to the USA. If you're not from the USA, we have this absolutely fucking unfathomable obesity epidemic going on. It doesn't get talked about very much. 95%+ of the time, weight regulation is one of the simplest things we know of. Calories in and calories out. Anyways, nobody really gives a fuck about that and will die on the hill of stating it's incorrect. They will then go on to buy the newest ONE PILL DOCTORS DONT WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT TO LOSE YOUR FAT OVERNIGHT for $19.95(x # payments) year after year, new pill doctors don't want you to know about after new pill doctors don't want you to know about, and still be obese, wondering why they specifically can't lose weight - science must just be against them. Ranting about US citizens obesity aside, the tl:dr - Wim Hof most definitely isn't some ridiculously revolutionary thing, but for many it's damn helpful towards their life, but it also takes time and effort to do, which many people aren't disciplined enough to stick to. Also, you have to read. Believe it or not, large amount of people don't like reading lmao.
- Hnrobert42 6y agoThe US obesity epidemic probably has more to do with the sugar content of processed foods than with laziness. As you note, people in general are lazy. Vietnam has the lowest rate of adult obesity yet is the 8th most sedentary population in the world.
- s5300 6y agoI find the sugar argument to be a strawman. Maybe ignorance/functional illiteracy of knowing how to read a nutritional label is a slightly more sound argument. Food deserts are a legitimate issue too. However, simply not caring is quite prevalent.
- 7thaccount 6y agoIt's also legitimately hard to find foods without mass amounts of sugar. Just look at spaghetti sauce. Sugar is everywhere.
- s5300 6y agoI come from a family that was borderline of the definition of "extreme poverty" within the U.S. This is a really poor argument. Aldi spaghetti sauces have ~10g sugars compared to a bottle of coke having ~65g sugars. Look into how many people are using Aldi's spaghetti sauces vs how many people are guzzling coke. Is over sugarized shit literally everywhere in the U.S.? Yes. Can you genuinely not find anything without? No. It is not hard. It's really, really not. As somebody else mentioned, lobbying in the U.S. e.g. the Food Pyramid was an obvious disaster that did nothing good for the situation. However, that can't be a coverall excuse.
- mhh__ 6y agoI think the problem is the amount of processed carbs rather than sugar on its own. Sugar is addictive but not in the concentration you'd get in a pasta sauce (in a can I assume). IIRC most western countries are vastly over-caloried, and have a roughly inverse relationship between BMI and income too.
- disposekinetics 6y agoThe debunking podcast "Oh No Ross and Carey" did at least four episodes [1] on Wim Hof. I recommend them if you want a skeptical take. [1] https://ohnopodcast.com/investigations/2020/7/19/ross-and-carrie-cool-off-with-wim-hof-part-1-iceman-edition https://ohnopodcast.com/investigations/2020/7/19/ross-and-ca...
- pm 6y agoWithout having to listen to 4 hours of podcasts, what was their take?
- skosch 6y agoI haven't listened to them but can recommend the Medlife Crisis episode [0], in which he reviews the scientific literature around the effects of cold exposure, blood oxygenation/acidity from hyper-/hypoventilation, and related topics. He comes to the conclusion that Wim Hof is likely a genetic outlier, but that breathing techniques can have real physiological effects on things like pain perception, and that cold exposure likely has a bunch of real benefits – but also that placebo may play a big role (which is nevertheless a very real effect). [0] https://youtu.be/D6EPuUdIC1E?t=2215 https://youtu.be/D6EPuUdIC1E?t=2215 (timestamped to the conclusions)
- swader999 6y agoHe's taken people up mountains in -15 C wearing just shorts after a few days of training. So I'm not sure it's just him being unique.
- lvturner 6y agoI tried it, while I won't make any claims of massively improved health, it did one very notable thing for me. I've perviously never been able to meditate (or self-hypnotise) my brain would always conspire against me and race with millions of thoughts. When I tried the Wim Hoff breathing methods, everything was suddenly quiet. This in turn has made a lot of other small things in my life easier. The claims may be overblown and some of the science dubious - but being able to reclaim some additional control over my brain has, to me, been worth the "risk" of trying breathing in a funny manner once a day. A friend of mine tried it after being curious about my experiences for months, and immediately sent me a text message saying thanks. I think perhaps it hasn't seen mass adoption because most people face some kind of psychological barrier in trying it either from fear, or seeing it as quackery and a waste of time. Coupled with mainstream medicine being reluctant to recommend something with relatively little supporting evidence (I guess). While Wim himself has succeeded in making money from it, it is also something that is difficult to patent and sell - unlike a pill (no big-phrama conspiracies here - just money is always a motivator)
- wavefunction 6y agoFrom what I understand his methods are revolutionary for people with his same physiology. He and his brother were the subject of a study which seems to cast doubt on the potential of his claims for people without a similar physiology: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0101653 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...
- watwut 6y agoHow does experiment on his and his brother can possibly cast doubt on potential for different people? I mean, the study did not measured anything on different people.
- wavefunction 6y agoThe study showed that he and his brother, who has a similar brown fat physical makeup but doesn't follow the 'Wim Hoff method' performed pretty much the same.
- calibas 6y agoI'm not sure mass adoption is a good way of judging anything.
- mhh__ 6y agoMedicine and computers are pretty good by the looks of things
- humanlion87 6y agoI think there are a lot of examples of mass adoption of "bad" things also. Fast food and processed sugar are the ones that come to mind immediately.
- dilap 6y agoI'm skeptical of health claims, but I have definitely personally found doing 3 rounds of Wim Hof + a cold shower in the morning leaves me feeling pretty great. I would say it requires a level of discipline and interest in "doing work" that most people don't have, so even if it is as revolutionary as claimed, I wouldn't be at all surprised that not everybody is following the method.
- jrm4 6y ago"Because it doesn't make anyone money" is my best guess. I kinda hate how conspiracy-theory-ish it sounds, but I can't much deny it any more? I'm one anecdotal data point: Never heard of this guy, but the cold shower thing just sounded plausible enough that I figured I'd try it. Not even the whole thing cold -- I start off with a hot shower and then just drop it for the last minute or so, as long as I can stand. And -- it's CRAZY. After getting the regular yearly colds that I just presumed were a part of life...they just stopped. I haven't had any sort of cough/cold sickness at ALL going on about 3 years.
- nvader 6y agoIt's also hard. I used to do the same morning cold plunge as you. I have stopped, sometime in the last couple of months, because like any good habit, it needs to be maintained. I am going to commit to doing this again tomorrow, though, because I remember that it makes me feel good.
- nvader 6y agoDid it this morning, and can report that I feel great :)
- newsbinator 6y ago> After getting the regular yearly colds that I just presumed were a part of life...they just stopped. The same thing happened to me after age 34 for some reason. It's been years so far. I haven't done any breathing exercises though.
- honzzz 6y agoTo provide one anecdotal data counterpoint: I decided to try cold showers a few years ago (not Wim Hof method, just showers) and although I generaly get ill very rarely, that year I cougt something three times. It obviously does not prove anything, might have been just bad luck, but after the third time I did not have the willpower to restart the cold showers routine again. Maybe I was doing it wrong but I do not know how - I started with just showering my legs with lukewarm water and progressed to colder water and longer time gradually, very slowly. However, it never made me feel as good as some people here descibe. Sometimes I felt slightly refreshed during the summer but more often I just felt cold and stiff and I had strong desire to return to bed to warm up but I could not do that and I had to sit in my office cold and miserable for hours. Maybe cold showers are not for everybody?
- mrslave 6y ago> why isn't everybody following his method Eat less processed foods. Go for a walk. Stand up and stretch occasionally. Take the stairs. Lift some weights. All will improve your life and are trivially achieved by almost everyone. Yet too many people - perhaps most - choose not to do any of these.
- swader999 6y agoA lot of people are!
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- borroka 6y agoIt may or may not be fraudulent, but please keep in mind that certain US states have ~ 40% obesity rates. It sounds obvious to the non-obese that eating like there is no tomorrow is not conducive to a good life; and simple measures, like eating less and moving more, can dramatically improve quality of life. But to the obese, it might not be so obvious for a variety of reasons (and yes, there are also genetic and environmental and mental health problems contributing to obesity, but also not caring much about one's own life).
- troughway 6y agoFrom the intro blurb: >Wim Hof's teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges have attracted millions of followers who swear it has cured everything from depression to diabetes and makes them happier and stronger. If it cured diabetes, certainly there is a way to scientifically confirm this rather than merely "swearing" it is so. And if it did, that would be a breakthrough of unthinkable proportions. So, can we get some evidence rather than hearsay?
- pnw_hazor 6y agoProlly Type 2 Diabetes which can be "cured" by making a major lifestyle changes. I know a few people who have went to certified Wim Hof training weekends. Doesn't sound like my cup of tea.
- swader999 6y agoJust try the breathing a few times a week. Don't do it driving or close to water. I outlined it above, takes ten minutes. You'll feel great. I have beaten back colds I have felt coming on several times with it.
- brian_cunnie 6y agoI have type II diabetes, and swimming in cold water (SF Bay, temperatures 50°-65° F 10°-18° C) 3 times a week for six years has not changed my A1c (measurement of diabetes). No one is "cured" of type II diabetes (exception: gestational diabetes). The best you can hope for is not to have to take meds, but the price you pay is an exercise regimen and an extremely disciplined diet (I haven't eaten rice, bread, pasta, or potatoes in 9 years). I don't take meds.
- FPGAhacker 6y agoIf you don't mind sharing, what do you eat?
- brian_cunnie 6y ago
- scrozart 6y agoThis source is a lifestyle rag for people who hike, camp, etc. They're recently posted some super unscientific stuff about not wearing sunblock so you get all your Vitamin D.
- anonymouswacker 6y agoSunblocks often have chemicals that leach into the brain/blood with alarming effects... and more people suffer from Vitamin D deficiency than skin cancer from prolonged exposure...
- i_cannot_hack 6y agoWell, Vitamin D deficiency is easy to treat with supplements instead. And I would say skin cancer is rather more serious than Vitamin D deficiency. I don't think the goal should be to have skin cancer and Vitamin D deficiency be equally common.
- ch4s3 6y agoYou're saying that sunblock enters the blood stream through the skin and that some of the ingredients can cross the blood brain barrier? Titanium dioxide and Zinc oxide are generally recognized as safe by the FDA. The ingredients that are somewhat questionable aren't sold in the US or Europe.
- collyw 6y agoVitamin D is generated by exposure to sunlight, what is controversial / unscientific about that?
- rootlocus 6y ago> super unscientific stuff That's a very scientific assessment of the stuff.
- leg100 6y ago> about not wearing sunblock so you get all your Vitamin D. There's something to be said for that. And there's something to be said for putting on sunblock. The two aren't mutually exclusive; both have their benefits.
- ta1234567890 6y agoWhen a friend first told me about taking cold showers everyday, I thought he was incredibly motivated and a little crazy. Then when I finally decided to look into it and did the breathing technique, I realized I might be able to take a cold shower. Now I've been taking 1-2min cold showers (after my regular hot shower), every day for the last 4 months. It gives me a huge boost of energy, way better than coffee. Also, I recently read a translation and comment of the first speech by Buddha after enlightment. At it's most basic, the Wim Hof and Buddha's teaching seem very similar: make a continuous effort to face the uncomfortable. The main difference is in the way they go about it and the end goals. Wim Hof is just providing a very straightforward method to systematically face discomfort (in the form of cold), whereas Buddha gives a slightly more complicated method, but with the goal of reaching full detachment (Nirvana). You can also do both together.
- brnt 6y agoWhen you wrote 'way better than coffee', I had to think of my favourite morning routine: getting up and going straight to work on my bicycle. In winter this gives me a sort of freshness shock that may be similar to the cold shower. There's nothing quite like it in terms of waking up: indeed it's better than coffee.
- gnarbarian 6y agoI agree except when I bike an hour to work at -10f I actually need a few minutes for my brain to defrost before I'm even capable of having a conversation. I'm not sure why, it's like everything I didn't exercise is stiff and needs to thaw out. Feels fuckin great though do recommend!
- nabilt 6y agoSomething interesting I learned during one of his seminars was that breathing exercises can go a long way in providing most of the benefits. A lot of the media coverage focuses on cold exposure, but deep breathing is really the the core of the message. This is great because it means the barrier to entry is much lower since we all don't need to fill up our tubs with ice every week.
- gxon 6y agoCan you describe the breathing exercises? Is it literally just sitting and taking deep breaths?
- swader999 6y agoNo, you inhale through your nose all the way, then exhale but not all the way out, to the point where you would be pushing it out if you let out more. Repeat 30-40 times. It is circular and continuous, you don't pause. Then exhale all the way out after your 35th cycle. Hold until you feel the intense urge to breath. Then inhale and hold for 15 seconds. Repeat above 4-5 times. Optional: On the last rep, see how many push ups you can do when you fully exhale. Most people can do 30 to 50% past their max.
- thraxil 6y agoJust piggybacking on this a bit with some tips in case anyone reads this comment and wants to try it: Do this laying down. You are essentially hyperventilating. By the 35th cycle, you should be feeling very lightheaded, possibly seeing stars. You absolutely can pass out or at least fall down during this process. Do it laying down or at least sitting so you don't injure yourself. Obviously, definitely don't do this in the water (you don't do the breathing exercises and ice baths at the same time). The inhale through your nose you do fully, really trying to get as much air into your lungs as possible. The exhale that follows is really just a matter of relaxing everything and letting your ribcage collapse back down and the air leave; you shouldn't be pushing it out. If you've never done it before, it can be fun to have a clock or timer going where you can see it. See how long you can comfortably hold your breath before that urge to inhale comes. You'll be amazed. Similar techniques to this breathing exercise (hyperventilating to lower the carbon dioxide levels in your blood) are one of the ways magicians like Houdini and others that do underwater escapes can hold their breath for so long (of course, don't try that at home).
- pugio 6y agoFor those interested in going deeper into the incredible world of breathing techniques I recommend "Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art" [0]. Part personal account, part research summary, the book covers a lot of the world's ancient breathing traditions (including Wim Hof and his antecedents), as well as what modern science has to say about them. As with many other aspects of holistic health, it's incredible how Western medicine has ignored verifiable scientific evidence about the wide range of health benefits one can derive from these breathing techniques. A smattering of advice from the book: * Breathe through your nose, NOT your mouth (except when talking). * Breathe slowly, softly, not (necessarily) deeply. Optimal breath rate is roughly 5.5s inhale, 5.5s exhale, 5.5 breaths per minute, 5.5 L of air inhaled. * * Many people tend to over-breathe, which has a number of detriments, including stimulating anxiety. * As with most aspects of health, the body does best with most-of-the-time low stress (see above "Breath slowly") punctuated by short intense intervals of high stress. Wim Hof breathing is the high stress workout that exercises your breathing system and builds breath flexibility. * Chew tough stuff, exercise your jaw. This can help build wider mouths (new bone growth!) and open up your airways. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art/dp/0735213615 https://www.amazon.com/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art/dp/073521...
- DoingIsLearning 6y ago> exercise your jaw. This can help build wider mouths (new bone growth!) and open up your airways. Do you have a citation for that? Jaw bone pretty much stops growing in your late teens. Increasing bone density is not the same as actual bone growth. By that rational doing deadlifts would stimulate your leg bones to continue grow which is obviously untrue.
- loceng 6y agoLookup the term "mewing" - apparently jaw changes after age 25 are difficult but apparently not impossible. I'd recommend watching this interview between John Mew (orthodontist) and Bret Weinstein too: https://youtu.be/JYpPu-NrYSI https://youtu.be/JYpPu-NrYSI
- 6y ago
- trabant00 6y ago> The Hof brothers are identical twins, but unlike Wim, Andre has a 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 concluded that, "No significant differences were found between the two subjects, indicating that a lifestyle with frequent exposures to extreme cold does not seem to affect BAT activity and CIT." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Hof#Resistance_to_cold https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Hof#Resistance_to_cold
- rootlocus 6y ago> The researchers cautions that the "results must be interpreted with caution given the low subject number and the fact that both participants practised the g-Tummo like breathing technique."
- watwut 6y agoWhat are we supposed to conclude from that? Given two identical twins both doing those exercises, both in temperature just above shivering, their BAT and CIT was same, therefore what?
- tremon 6y agoThat Wim's resistance to cold isn't the product of many years of training and gradually increasing exposure.
- watwut 6y ago1.) That does not prove what you claim at all. 2.) Also notably, neither study nor wiki claim that both brothers had equal resistance to cold. 3.) Lastly, Wim Hof claim is not so much that "gradually increasing exposure" makes him better at cold, his claim is that he found breathing techniques and has batter control over body functions. That may or may not be bullshit, but again, study is not disproving that. Here I am going to quote exact same study: > Core temperature decreased in both subjects with a smaller decrease (−0.18°C) in subject A compared to subject B (−0.40°C). As the accuracy of the measurement is ±0.1°C and due to the small range within core temperature is held, we interpreted the difference of −0.22°C as physiologically different. There was a clear difference in cold sensation and comfort between both subjects. [...] Furthermore, subject A reported that he was comfortable with these temperatures during the entire experiment, whereas subject B felt between uncomfortable and very uncomfortable. Cold exposure slightly increased heart rate in subject A (baseline: 46 beats/min versus cold: 52 beats/min), whereas it slightly decreased in subject B (baseline: 51 beats/min versus cold: 47 beats/min). tldr; some physiological responses were different and one brother felt uncomfortable while the other felt ok. Edit: here is direct link to study quoted on wikipedia: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4094425/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4094425/
- NalNezumi 6y agoAh Wim Hof, reminds me of my friend that had to fight crippling depression.(and still is fighting) He found out about the cold shower, breathing technique from Win Hof, and started practicing it. What worked better than cold shower was Ice bath in the frozen lake. I were very skeptical at the practice first but oh boy, the sudden freezing shock really do wake some survival instinct inside you out, and your mind becomes really sharp. Until you keep doing it to a point of dizziness reminiscent of certain highs. If you are going to try cold shower, ice lake bath with sauna is also a experience worth trying out! It didn't help him get out of depression, but sure did energize him more for a brief period of time in his life. (until his routine collapsed)
- postcynical 6y agoI did cold showers upto 10minutes, cryotherapy -90celsius upto 6min, hydrogen cryotherapy (-130c) upto 4 min. And only the supercold hydrogen gave me a (very) noticable and pleasant endorphine boost. Haven't tried ice baths yet.
- madcol 6y agoI remember participating in a study for a friend of mine where I had to go into a cryochamber and I remember 2 very distinct things 1. How warm -60c felt after walking around in -130c for a few minutes in just shorts and shoes. 2. How much I wanted to run once I got out of the chamber. I was not a runner and I never liked running but I really wanted to run. I kind of want to do it again to feel that high. Cold showers got a smaller reaction but something similar. I need to get back into cold showers again but I definitely felt best when I was doing cold showers, it's a cheap trade of a few minutes of unpleasantness for such a mood boost but it's hard convincing yourself to do it first thing in the morning though.
- loceng 6y agoKambo, a properly dosed frog poison applied to the limbic system by first searing small dots through top layer of skin, has a similar effect by strongly engaging the immune system once it detects the poison - and causes a whole body reaction where the limbic/lymphatic system rapidly clears out the poison (and whatever other stagnant toxins are in the system), dumping them into the stomach which then have to be thrown up to clear them. There are trained/certified shamans who offer kambo ceremonies.
- tonyedgecombe 6y agoA reminder that holding your breath under water until you become light headed is not a good idea: https://www.capradio.org/articles/2017/07/28/breath-holding-meditation-leads-to-two-drowning-deaths/ https://www.capradio.org/articles/2017/07/28/breath-holding-...
- chronolitus 6y agoThere's an interesting caveat here, the phenomenon is well known to apnea practitioners: - Hyperventilating, then holding your breath underwater can easily be deadly. - Doing the same without hyperventilation is much safer. The difference lies in the fact that our ability to sense our limits are almost entirely due to CO2 buildup. We actually almost can't tell when we run out of oxygen, it's why pilots are fine one second and pass out the next when they don't notice that the oxygen runs out (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUfF2MTnqAw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUfF2MTnqAw). Hyperventilating reduces your CO2 but leaves oxygen saturation almost unaffected, which for an unexperienced person is equivalent to doing a blind walk next to a cliff, and removing the barrier.
- matwood 6y agoThe reminder is never ever practice these techniques alone or at the same time as someone else. You need to have someone nearby who is aware of the practice, and can monitor your status at all times. https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-navy-seals-drowned-holding-breath-20151125-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-navy-seals-dr...
- kdamica 6y agoFor anyone interested, there's a free guided Wim Hof breathing session every Monday night at 9pm Pacific. I've been doing it on and off for a few months. No idea if it helps anything at all, but I enjoy it. https://www.meetup.com/Wim-Hof-Method-Bay-Area/events/vjpnhrybcnbzb/ https://www.meetup.com/Wim-Hof-Method-Bay-Area/events/vjpnhr...
- rubatuga 6y agoThis is all pseudoscience peddled as a mental health miracle
- vmurthy 6y agoWhen you say "all", do you mean Wim Hof's methods or in general breathing techniques? Do you have links to studies which have conclusively proved that breathing techniques are no better than normal breathing?
- loceng 6y agoWhat most people who are "anti-breath work" seem to not take into account is ig someone's baseline breathing is good to begin with or not - and simply drawing their attention back to their breath could bring them back to within a normal range; maybe someone's chest is tight and they have abnormal breathing, maybe someone's nose is congested most of time so they mostly mouth breath, etc - but aren't aware their breathing is so constricted/limited until they start to challenge the status quo breathing they've adopted over decades - to finally start feeling what normal baseline of getting adequate/proper oxygen exchange feels like.
- anonymouswacker 6y agoHave you tried them and not had results? Because there are a lot of N=1s anecdotes about it working for people, hence the large following he has. Wim’s techniques helped me quit medical marijuana, and drastically improved my productivity and general wellbeing, including my sex-life due to stress-induced ED. It is only one flavor of breathwork, but I think you could be doing a disservice to yourself to label it all a pseudoscience, as if only narrowly-defined “science” has merit for human life, which has existed and thrived long before the double-blind RCT...
- coldtea 6y ago>Have you tried them and not had results? Because there are a lot of N=1s anecdotes about it working for people, hence the large following he has. Placebo, make-believe and self-dellusion often work, especially for the kind of people looking into a miracle cure, which is what such leaders tend to accrue...
- throwaway4good 6y agoI have been doing only cold showers for decades; as kid and a young adult I suffered from atopic dermatitis and I found that it would disappear completely if I stuck to cold showers and I could stop the steroid medication I was using. I had to figure this stuff out on my own. So I support mr. Hof in what he is doing: If he can inspire someone to try these simple techniques out then it might help others like it helped me.
- te_chris 6y agoNot Wim Hof, but during the pandemic I've switched from swimming indoors to outside in a local lake which is a open water swimming spot managed by the council. I switched in the height of the northern summer - so no need for a wetsuit when I started, water was up to 26degC. As the weather has worsened though, the water temperature has gradually declined and I've just kept swimming. Down thorugh 22, 20, 18, 16 and on to 13.8 the other day. I'm finally going to put my wetsuit on, as the other day was VERY intense, but the benefits of being in cold water are incredible. I am an absolute convert. The high is comparable to certain A class drugs, it's the best thing I've done in years, and you get to stay fit as well.
- Geee 6y agoThat's not very cold though. The water should be ice cold i.e 0 C° for the best effect.
- tanto 6y agoIs there a general timeframe where people experience the benefits of the breathing experiences? Like do I have to do it for weeks, month or years until I feel the effect?
- jm666 6y agoImo highly individual. In my practice, I've observed inflammation in my heel decrease in scale of a few weeks (my heel used to be inflamed after every run for a few days, with me unable to recover from 2 weekly runs of ~ 6km; after 2-3 week started to improve, now - 2 mo later - it is completely healed, can run 4-5 times a week, and bottleneck is now something else). The second effect I observe is my decreased fear of cold shower & improved ability to handle it (both psychologically and physically).
- tanto 6y agoSound intriguing to try out. I have plantar fasciitis most mornings also a diet change helped me a lot reduce the pain. Did you make any other changes apart from the breathing exercises?
- Kelamir 6y agoThere's the paper: “Brain over body”–A study on the willful regulation of autonomic function during cold exposure (DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.067) From the abstract: "Our results provide compelling evidence for the primacy of the brain (CNS) rather than the body (peripheral mechanisms) in mediating the Iceman’s responses to cold exposure. They also suggest the compelling possibility that the WHM might allow practitioners to develop higher level of control over key components of the autonomous system, with implications for lifestyle interventions that might ameliorate multiple clinical syndromes." I was doing cold exposure for a while, plunging palms and heels into water with ice. At first I could hold it a little there, but the duration was increasing with time. It's comfy to do while using laptop, mind doesn't focus on the hell going below :)
- amelius 6y agoI wonder, would walking outside in the cold with only a t-shirt work as well as cold showers?
- can16358p 6y agoWell while I'm not a professional in the topic in any way, I'd personally seen the benefits of walking in the cold (e.g. in winter where people were wearing many clothes on top of each other) with just a tshirt: it makes me feel much more alive, alert (in a good way, not in an anxious way), and much more immune to pretty much anything both physically and mentally.
- watwut 6y agoOne difference is that you can turn off cold shower when it becomes uncomfortable and typically you start by short cold showers. You proceed to longer ones only as you adapt. Another is that, water is more effective in cooling things then air. If you are walking outside in t-shirt only, it is harder to get back to warm place when you suddenly feel cold or shivering. With cold shower, you just turn it off.
- a_throwaway_7 6y agoFunny you should say that. For a couple of years in my life, when I was about 20, I went through this phase where I went around all year long in just a t-shirt (and shoes and trousers, of course). I also took hot-and-cold showers: I showered with cold water then alternated cold and hot a few times. I did this because I got sick and tired of catching a cold every year and having a very high fever (39 to 41 C all the time). I blamed having being overperscribed antibiotics as a child, which at the time I believed had weakened my immune system. That was probably nonsense, although it's true that when I was a kid it was common to give kids antibiotics for viral infections, so I got a lot of antibiotics for no good reason at all. I figured that exposing myself to cold would help me build up my immune system again. Also probably nonsense. I can't tell if anything changed by what I was doing. I never felt any different from doing it, not "more alive" etc as others report. I got over my colds with high fever but that was most probably because I grew up (I think adults don't get such high temperatures from a cold as kids do). I sure got lots of strange looks and people kept asking me whether I'm a) cold and b) mad. I didn't use any breathing techniques or meditation or anything like that. I didn't particularly exercise much, though I was a strong lad at the time (now, not so much). I think I just sort of willed myself to do it and did it and then realised it wasn't that hard after all. I think the true secret, the real lesson, is that we are made to withstand a lot more cold than we think and we're just used to being warm a lot more than we were meant to be if we lived without all our technology. Except of course we don't have to be cold because we have all that technology. So there's no reason for breathing exercises and so on to learn how to withstand the cold. That's what our brains are for. Also, don't follow gurus.
- new_guy 6y agoWim Hof's technique is a bastardized western version of pranayama (as are the other 'recommended' books here) go for the original http://www.yogebooks.com/english/atkinson/1903sciencebreath.pdf http://www.yogebooks.com/english/atkinson/1903sciencebreath....
- manbilla 6y agoI'm from India and during the summer holidays, I was sent to a 'Yoga Retreat' by my parents where we spent the whole day doing various Yoga and Meditation activities. This is where I learned Pranayama. Wim Hof's breathing techniques feel awfully simular to Pranayama (While Wim Hof has one technique, there are multiple techniques in pranayama). Im a sceptical person and don't trust anything unless I see the benefits of any activity unless I see the change right before my eyes. For some reason I stuck to Pranayama and did it every day for a year or so. I observed a marked improvement in my lung capacity and my ability to hold breath underwater (I used to compete with my friends in the swimming pool and would always stay underwater for much longer than them). Also, whenever I'm in any stressful situation (like just before an exam or interview), I used to do the breathing exercise for a couple of seconds (breathe in through one nostril and exhale through the other and vice versa) and all my stress used to vanish and my mind would become very calm and sharp. Not sure why I stopped practicing it but I need to get back into it.