Aug 25, 2016 - Sometimes it takes a crazy (?) old (?) Dutch man to completely break down a scientific concept that was held true for years and years. The Wim Hof Method includes a particular form of deep breathing, sometimes referred to as “controlled hyperventilation,” combined with extreme cold exposure, plus a mindset of focus and commitment to self which will unlock our inner primal powers of health and longevity.
Finland’s Arctic circle might not seem like a great place to run a marathon barefoot and in shorts—unless you’re Wim Hof. Hof, better known as 'The Iceman,' has attained roughly two dozen world records by completing marvellous feats of physical endurance in conditions that would kill others. Yet even he was understandably nervous the night before his 26-mile jaunt at -4 degrees Fahrenheit.
“What did I get myself into?” he recalls thinking. But from the moment his bare toes hit the snow, he began to feel “surprisingly good.”
The 59-old Dutchman has climbed Mount Everest in Nepal and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania—Africa’s tallest peak—wearing shorts. “I’ve done about anything I can fantasize about in the cold,” Hof said in an interview. He holds the Guinness World Record for longest swim under ice, and has also endured the extremes of dry heat, running a half marathon through the Namib Desert without drinking any water.
Athletes aren’t the only ones interested in these feats. Now doctors have put the Iceman’s brain—and body— on ice in an effort to better understand the mental and physical mechanisms that allow Hof to seemingly defy the laws of nature. Otto Musik, a pediatrician in Wayne State University’s School of Medicine and his coauthors recently put Hof into a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine while exposing him to cold water and analyzed what happened inside his body.
The results, published recently in a study in the journal NeuroImage, might at first sound more like mumbo jumbo than fact: Researchers found that Hof is able to use his mind to artificially induce a stress response in his body that helps him resist the effects of cold. Musik frames it as a case of “brain over body,” in which Hof activates an internal painkiller function by conducting breathing exercises, then exposing himself to a threat like extreme, sudden cold.
“By accident or by luck he found a hack into the physiological system,” Musik says. He adds that this “hack” allows Hof to feel euphoric while in a freezing cold environment that would be unpleasant in normal circumstances. The researchers tested Hof’s responses alongside around 30 control subjects.
The pediatrician had conducted other research on the way the human body reacts to extreme temperatures. When he heard about a man who sits in buckets of ice cubes for hours at a time and walks up the Himalayas like it was a summer stroll through a wine vineyard, he was intrigued.
Hof attributes his success to what he has dubbed the Wim Hof Method, a type of conditioning that involves a series of breathing exercises he says anyone can replicate. Rather than by luck or accident, Hof says he learned his technique by trial and error while going out into nature: “I had to find the interconnection of my brain together with my physiology.”
The technique first requires relaxation; Hof says he must find a comfortable place to lie down like a sofa or bed. Then he begins a series of deep breathing exercises for several minutes, often prompting a kind of tingling in parts of his body—a sign of hypocapnia, or low carbon dioxide in his blood. “That’s what nature meant us to do, breathe deep when we are stressed,” Hof says.
To a degree, Musik’s research supports Hof’s hypothesis. After Hof went through his preparation exercises to induce this effect, Musik put the Iceman into the MRI machine in a special suit they shot through with shot cold water and hot water in five minute intervals. Some previous research has shown that this exercise makes Hof’s blood more alkaline, since it becomes saturated with oxygen.
Musik found that, when exposed to cold, Hof activates a part of the brain that releases opioids and cannabinoids into the body. These components can inhibit the signals responsible for telling your body you are feeling pain or cold, and trigger the release of dopamine and serotonin. The result, Musik says, is a kind of euphoric effect on the body that lasts for several minutes.
“Your brain has the power to modify your pain perception,” he says, adding that this mechanism is particularly important for human survival. Pain, and the feeling of cold, are basically your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. Since humans instinctively look to remove the source of pain or alleviate any sensation of cold, feeling hurt can help us survive.
But the pain mechanism isn’t always useful. Musik gives the hypothetical example of someone spraining their ankle while being chased by a tiger. Many won’t actually feel the sprain in the thick of the moment since your brain senses the greater danger presented by the tiger. It makes use of opioids and cannabinoids to inhibit pain signals to allow you to run away and save yourself despite the injured foot. “Your ankle is not important in this context,” Musik says.
Rather than being a study of brain over body, the research really parallels other work on how mental training of a particular skill can prompt changes in the brain, says Magda Osman, an associate professor of experimental psychology at the University of London. One study in 2006 looked into the brains of London taxi drivers compared to bus drivers. Taxi drivers had more grey matter in their hippocampus, which is the center of hand-eye coordination skills, ostensibly due to a higher level of navigational skills.
“When we spend a vast amount of time cultivating our mental and physical skills, this translates into neurological differences when compared to those that don't practice these skills to the same degree,” says Osman.
Musik’s study offers a twist to this thinking: It shows that breathing, often thought of as an automatic skill, can be willfully controlled. Harnessing breathing can result in increased activity in the parts of the brain that deal with thought and action, Osman says, which over time can lead to significant physical changes.
Yet stress-induced analgesia, Hof attests, will only last a few minutes at best. For him to continue his ability to resist the feeling of cold, Musik believes that his body needs to anticipate the continued effect, which in turn actually helps his body maintain the state it’s in.
“The placebo effect is real,” he says. “This is actually by generating in your cortex a certain expectation, and this expectation is fulfilled.” He adds that the expectation triggers the release of more opioids, serotonin, and dopamine in a kind of self-fulfilling cycle. In other words, the longer that people jump into holes in the ice practicing this method, the easier it could get as they get more confident in their expectations.
There may not be any pressing need for the world’s population to learn how to run barefoot through the snow, Hof says, but the technique could have other uses. Some of Hof’s patients claim the method has helped them reduce eczema symptoms or other autoimmune conditions.
While he isn't totally clear on the biological processes that help Hof resist frostbite, Musik does thinks Hof’s method might actually suppress tissue swelling and other immune reactions. He and his coauthors write that Hof and his followers’ abilities to take more control of their autonomous systems might have implications in dealing with clinical syndromes.
However, while Hof's method may work for short periods in terms of tricking the mind into ignoring extreme cold, it is less clear how the technique might help human bodies resist the physical effects that one might expect from climbing snowy mountains in shorts. (Nor does it explain being able to survive in the desert without water.)
“You can think whatever you want but your body still freezes and you are dead,” Musik says.
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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