Wim Hof is famous for withstanding extreme cold (iceman) and for his breathing techniques…
Now I like to explain how and why his techniques are working and how we can substitute his techniques to get similar results much easier…
Wim Hof’s method has 3 components:
1. Breathing
2. Cold therapy
3. Mind focus
1. The breathing method I have explained in a previous Blog (Wim Hof’s breathing method.)
We do 30 power Breaths, Maximum breathing in and out and at the end, we breathe every air totally out and try not to breathe in for a longer time (target 3 minutes)…
Again, we are doing the same two times more.
I made first-round 1:52 seconds, third round 2:37 seconds retention time…
The medical explanation
We have an automatic nervous system that does the breathing and all the function in our body.
We differentiate between the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic…
Sympathetic are fight/flight system, Alarm, stress, breath in, increase blood pressure/heartbeat, tightening muscles…
Parasympathetic… is the opposite of Sympathetic, or feed/breed & rest/digest, relax, heal, sex, breath out, lower blood pressure/heartbeat…
If we breathe in and out relaxed, the time to breathe in and out is the same, and that balance our body and hormones.
The Wim Hof breath method is forced, unbalanced, stressful, and unnatural…
If we hold our breath for a longer time, our blood is through the power of breathing alkaline and that is very healthy. Our growth hormone level increases and so do the longevity genes… And that is what we want!
2. Cold therapy, –
The Heart will beat like crazy…
If we have an unhealthy heart, ask your doctor if you can do so.
We can do the cold therapy easily at home and save energy…
Shower only with cold water… or shower first warm and then cold.
In the south, the water is too warm, so not cold enough…
Put ice in the water…
What does it do for us?
That is extreme Stress…
Blood pressure/heartbeat will increase extremely fast.
Vasoconstriction.
Our growth hormones level increases and so do the longevity genes.
Is this kind of stress good for you?
Short time physical stress is
Normal.
Adaptive.
Healthy.
Constructive.
Reason to improve.
And is necessary.
And bad for us is the chronic stress!
Because it is:
Abnormal.
Maladaptive.
Destructive.
Emotional (all the time the same pattern, it breaks us down).
Habitual (pattern).
Excess physical stress (if we do too much, it breaks us down).
Unhealthy.
3. Mind – Focus
To jump in that ice-water.
It can kill you, because of this massive sensory shock.
I have done so…
First Sauna and then to jump in that cold ice-water,
My body got so stiff…
You can’t think anymore, you get that focus to leave that ice water as fast as possible…
Benefits:
Pattern interrupt emotional and physical, because of this huge shock.
Hormonal bursts.
Activate survival circuits.
Short time activation of Adrenalin.
And in the long term, our growth hormone level increases and so do the longevity genes.
Brain stimulation.
Calm down.
If you do like that and can do so… Do it!
First, get for 30 seconds in that ice water (Brrrr…) and slowly increase the time to 15 minutes (Brrrrr, Brrrr, Brrrrr…).
It is just as it is, a long time in the ice-water is not so beneficial…
It is much better to do short times, many times in a row…
Like with the sauna, heat the body up and then cool the body rapidly down… do 3 to 5 rounds.
Instead of ice-water, jumping in the snow, snow is much easier.
And with the snow, my body never got stiff…
The Alternative ways to get the similar results to the Wim Hof methods:
The best is Fasting (several days) for more growth hormones and longevity genes.
Hyper interval training (HIIT) (see my blog: Make it in 1 Minute!) Is the best for the cardiovascular system… I do it every day.
(For example, a HIIT workout using a stationary bike for 30 seconds of cycling as fast as possible with high resistance, followed by several minutes of slow, easy cycling with low resistance.)
Hot/cold therapy done in a Sauna is fun, and easy to do with good benefits.
The Wim Hof Breathing method is too stressful and has too little benefit…
Even a hot/cold shower with alternative changing from hot to cold or just empty a bucket of ice-water over your head… (Brrr) I do it so…
My Video: Alternatives to Wim Hof methods https://youtu.be/oDcqs8d_cNQ
My Audio: https://divinesuccess.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/Podcast2/Alternatives-to-Wim-Hof-methods.mp3