Wim Hof

[Mighty Mouse]

I became aware of Wim Hof via this week's episode of the Meateater podcast. I've since done some cursory research and am intrigued (but also naturally skeptical). Assuming his seemingly superhuman feats are factual, there must be some merit to his apparent madness. Before I dive any deeper, I'm curious to hear what others familiar with him might have to say. Is he a complete nut job/con artist best ignored altogether, or is there enough plausibility/legitimacy to his ideas/methods to warrant further investigation?

 

[5MilesBack]

I had to google him. He lost me when it said he was best known for doing well in very low temperatures. I hate the cold. I'd do better pushing the envelope into high heat environments.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Had SF buddies who were into the ice bath training, breathing techniques and cold showers about 5 years ago. I tried it for a bit, I remember getting home from duck hunting on a freezing winter day and cranking up a hot shower after doing the cold thing for 5 months, well you guessed I went back to hot showers and never looked back haha

 

[Blacktocomm]

It sounds like a bunch of people have found methods he teaches that help them perform better. I think lots of people have good methods that you can leverage - but as soon as someone drinks too much of the koolaid it spells disaster.

I'm intrigued by the fastest barefoot half marathon. He used to have the record and it was broken a few times. Back when it was 1:40 it was reachable - but the new record is 1:12 which is cooking even with shoes on -and puts it outside of my ability to break.

But for about 3 minutes before google set me straight I thought "I am about to hold a new world record"

 

[amassi]

I Do the 11 minute basic breathing most every day. I also love cold exposure and have a cold tank (freezer) and take cold showers.
Andrew Huberman has a couple episodes on cold exposure and forced ventilation that are worth a listen.


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[Pacific_Fork]

He climbed Everest wearing only shorts and shoes and swims under Arctic ice. He’s an alien.

I like him on other podcast but whats that got to do with Meateater and hunting? They must really be hurting for more random podcast material.

 

[DAOutfitters208]

He climbed Everest wearing only shorts and shoes and swims under Arctic ice. He’s an alien.

I like him on other podcast but whats that got to do with Meateater and hunting? They must really be hurting for more random podcast material.

He attempted to climb. He wouldn't have any limbs left if he entered the death zone like that.

Everest climber falls short

www.theage.com.au

 

[Pacific_Fork]

24k ft is plenty high, he gave up due to a foot injury

 

[Andrew12gauge]

24k ft is plenty high, he gave up due to a foot injury

Frostbite according to the guy on the pod


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[Deadfall]

Try his breathing for a couple weeks. See how your body feels.
Don't cost nothing. Most folks ain't disciplined enough to do it consistently

 

[Deadfall]

There's been alot of studies done trying to disprove him. None have succeeded

 

[Gutshot007]

What a sissy climing Everest with shorts and shoes . A tough guy would have left his shoes at home and done it barefoot . Lol. The guy is a freak of nature and amazing .

 

[Will_m]

Did the three rounds thing for a while and it seemed to make a difference, but I couldn’t tell if it was just me believing in it or not.

You can definitely get a quasi high feeling from it, albeit momentarily.

 

[bozeman]

Cold water exposure is legit, for me. Been going strong 3-4 times a week…..can def tell a difference.
His take on that has been spot on for me.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Cold shower immediately after 20 mins of sauna does wonders for me. Cold plunges too. Haven’t tried the breathing methods yet…

 

[CoffeeGoat]

There's at least one thread in the fitness section about cold plunges.

Cold Plunges?

I did a quick search on here and didn’t find much discussion so I’m curious, does anyone do regular ice baths/cold water plunges? I initially wanted to try it just to help with mental toughness and willpower but the more I read about it there seems to be a lot more benefits. From reduced...

rokslide.com

 

[Rifleman86]

I thought the podcast was good. The reporter gave a good warning about shallow water blackout… As a dive/water rescue guy, people severely underestimate how dangerous water is in general. Swimming in cold water is extremely dangerous, and messing with your breathing on top of that is damn near suicidal.

That said each of his techniques on their own (cold exposure and breathing) have clear merits. People just need to be better aware of the hazards.

 

[scattergun]

There’s some baby with the ice bath water, but don’t believe everything this cult leader claims.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

I did some of his breathing techniques for a short time. I was pretty impressed. You for sure feel a bit of a high. Felt a bit clearer and more focused for a long time. Even if the goal was simply breath holding for diving or snorkeling...it was pretty easy to see results. I am generally winded easily. Holding my breath longer than 30 seconds is usually max. By the third round of his breathing I was well over minutes.

I would love to start doing it again.

As the one poster stated....it does require dedicated time space and quiet.

 

[Muddler]

The details are foggy right now and can't google it at the moment, but I believe some researchers did a study on him where they injected him and a group of other people with I think E. Coli. Wim was the only one who didn't get sick. Then Wim trained a group of ppl with his breathing technique for several weeks, then those people were injected with E. Coli and they didn't get sick either. Or something to that effect. Very interesting for sure, but there could be some devil in the details of the study that I'm missing.

I started doing his breathing and cold plunge prior to working out a couple of months ago. I definitely have more energy at the end of the day. I'm not dragging/exhausted like I was prior. I think there's some anecdotal evidence and maybe 1 or 2 trials showing cold plunge before working out can boost testosterone.