1 hour and 52 minutes in a tank full of ice, a marathon through the desert without water, climbing Kilimanjaro and a half marathon above the Arctic Circle at a temperature of -20 Celsius. Wim Hof, aka The Iceman, has done it all. Through breathing techniques and exposure to extreme temperatures, Wim Hof claims to be able to control his autonomic nervous system, something that until recently was considered impossible by medical science. Research from Radboud University in Nijmegen, among others, appears to underline Wim Hof’s theory. Since then, interest in Wim Hof’s method and his courses has increased. On the other hand, there is increasing criticism of the method and the claim that Wim Hof can control the autonomic nervous system.
Biography
Wim Hof was already interested in meditation and breathing techniques in his youth. Since then he has developed in these traditions. Hof also practiced endurance sports such as running and climbing. Self-control is central to his technique. What particularly attracted him was the extreme cold and ways to resist this cold. In 1995, Wim’s wife died and he was left with four children and a broken heart. To deal with this, he threw himself completely into extreme performance. Through breathing techniques and habituation, Wim was able to handle higher and lower temperatures without this affecting his heart rate and body temperature. He did not feel that he was endangering himself by doing this, but rather that he was regaining control. He saw all this as coping with the death of his wife. He then sought out the media and demonstrated his strengths by achieving bizarre records.
Records and achievements
- In 1999, Wim Hof swam under fifty meters of Arctic ice wearing only swimming trunks.
- In 2007, Hof ran a half marathon wearing nothing but shorts above the Arctic Circle with temperatures around -20 Celsius. He did suffer frostbite injuries.
- Later in 2007, Hof attempted to climb Mount Everest wearing only shorts, but failed to reach the summit due to a foot injury
- Wim Hof broke the record for the longest ice bath by sitting in a tub of ice for 1 hour 13 minutes and 48 seconds in 2008.
- In February 2009, Wim Hof climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in two days, without shoes or other clothing, only in his shorts
- Later in 2009, Hof ran a full marathon above the Arctic Circle in Finland. The temperatures were around -20 Celsius. Once again he was only wearing shorts. He crossed the finish line in less than five and a half hours.
- In 2010, Wim Hof broke his previous ice bath record and again a year later to finish with the record time of 1 hour and 52 minutes.
Nowadays
After all the records, Hof completely relied on his ability to control his autonomic nervous system. However, there was a lot of criticism; according to critics, Hof was a unique case. To counter this and to spread his method as much as possible, Wim Hof sought out the media and the masses. Since then, Wim Hof has written a book and developed a method: the Wim Hof method. He gives lectures, workshops and even entire trips to Poland about this in which participants learn to deal with the cold. You can find this on his Innerfire website.
The Wim Hof Method
According to Hof, we live in a society today that creates too much stress. All the stress and adrenaline make you tired and the immune system can no longer function properly. By controlling adrenaline release, breathing and heart rate in extreme situations, the immune system can be strengthened. This can be done through meditation, breathing techniques and of course repeated exposure to the cold. Wim wants people to return to peace, awareness and control of their inner life.
Research
Wim Hof has conducted scientific research twice at Radboud University. First, his own immune system and his susceptibility to cold were measured. The following quotes can be found on the official site of Radboud University: ” In 2011, researchers from Radboud university medical center looked at the response of Hof’s body to an endotoxin injection while he was applied techniques he had developed himself. He turned out to produce half as many inflammatory proteins as healthy volunteers who did not apply the techniques.” This showed that Wim Hof was indeed able to control his immune system. In 2014, a new study was conducted in which a group of 12 trained men of the Wim Hof method were examined. It turned out that these men had a stronger immune system response, they did not get sick from bacteria that would otherwise make you sick. We indeed saw fewer inflammatory proteins in the trained men and they suffered much less from flu symptoms, says Kox.” Wim Hof therefore believes that his method has been proven. However, there are still many critical voices.
Criticism
Critical journalistic websites such as Kwakzalverij and The Post Online find the evidence rather weak. According to them, the wrong conclusions were drawn from the studies. They mainly see Wim Hof as an attention-grabber who can ingeniously manipulate the media. They concluded that Hof also links far too many unrelated advantages of his methods to the research of Radboud University. They also underline that university researchers are quite reluctant to support these statements. ”The Nijmegen researchers are not talking about relationships with the fight against cancer, as Hof claims. ‘Patients should not be given false hope. Patients with rheumatism, MS and cancer do not benefit from this’, Pickkers De Volkskrant (May 6, 20124) know ”
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- My Experience: Innerfire Workshop with Wim Hof (The Iceman)
