Enjoy this free preview of my Tuesday newsletter… Mondays are always free to all subscribers!
You probably know Wim Hof, the Dutchman famous for doing stuff in extreme cold without seeming to be affected. He can roll around in the snow, swim under the ice, or do whatever he wants in conditions that would send most everyone else to the emergency room in hypothermia. How does he do it? Is it all just a magic trick or a gimmick, or is it real?
Short answer: It’s real. Wim makes a pretty good living selling his Wim Hof Method classes and books and everything else, and it is a technique that most people can probably learn, though getting as good at it as he is would be a tall order. So how does he do it?
Scientists have studied Wim, even putting him into an fMRI to see what’s going on in his brain when he’s exposed to extreme cold. What he does is actually pretty straightforward. Using concentration and breathing exercises, he’s able to put his body into the acute stress response, aka fight or flight. This does a lot of things to the body, a number of which are relevant for his cold weather feats:
The body is flooded with dopamine and serotonin, natural painkillers so Wim actually doesn’t feel the pain of the cold.
Adrenalin is dumped into the bloodstream, giving him extra energy and endurance for some of these feats.
Blood is withdrawn from extremities, keeping more in his core, thus keeping it warmer.
For most people, the acute stress response only lasts so long. Wim has the ability to prolong it for longer than most people, but there’s really nothing he does that anyone couldn’t do, given the right practice and training.
OK, so why did I call this post “Wim Hof Bullshit”? Short answer: the marketing. Whoever writes Wim Hof’s marketing copy is full of shit. Here is a really common blurb used to sell his method:
Science has now proved that the legendary Wim Hof Method of breath control and cold-training can dramatically enhance energy levels, improve circulation, reduce stress, boost the immune system, strengthen the body and successfully combat many diseases.
Let us look at these points one by one: