Wim Hof Cold Therapy and Breathing Technique
A few weeks ago I saw some local Phoenix “influencers” posting about a Wim Hof breathing technique class. I had heard about Wim Hof from a podcast I listened to a while back, and have always been intrigued by his practice.
If you aren’t familiar with Wim Hof, he is best known for being able to control his body’s reaction to E-coli, using his breath to prevent the onset of illness. Or, you may know him as “the ice man”, because he can walk barefoot through sub-zero temperatures, again, using his breath to delay reactions to the cold such as frostbite.
It is pretty amazing what this man can do by using his body and his mind to control how he reacts to external stimuli.
While there are plenty of free resources online to get started with his practice, I had never taken that extra step. I had also been hesitating about doing the cold plunges that my body had been craving. This class included both of those things in one day. So, when I saw this class, I took it as my sign to finally learn what Wim Hof was teaching and get really really cold.
Let’s start off by discussing the benefit of Wim Hof cold therapy Some people may be reading this and wondering why the heck would I do that to myself? I will admit, it takes a special breed of person to willingly go into a bath of ice.
Benefits of Wim Hof Cold Therapy
When you expose your body to cold temperatures, the body releases adrenaline and noradrenaline (aka epinephrine and norepinephrine). These neurochemicals exist to make us alert of our surroundings and help us to sustain focus, even after cold exposure.
Think about any stressful situation. If you were picking berries thousands of years ago, as our ancestors may have, and saw two gleaming eyes in a nearby bush, your body would go into a stress reaction. Because you sensed a threat, your body would release these same chemicals to make your mind sharper to develop an escape plan or give you the energy you needed to run away.
When we do Wim Hof cold therapy in the form of an ice bath, we are signaling the same thing.
Building Resilience
In the modern world, most of us are stressed out all the time. However, this is a “slow burn” type of stress, which can be quite detrimental to our health. A short burst of stress from cold therapy like this, however, increases something called top-down control. This is what you may think of as resilience.
Essentially, it is the ability to push through discomfort. It involves the prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain in charge of repressing impulsivity. When you practice Wim Hof cold therapy, you are increasing your clarity of mind in hard situations.
This can easily apply to other areas of your life like when your boss says something insensitive and you want to yell at them or when someone in line in front of you is taking forever and you’re in a rush.
Elevates Mood
Cold therapy also causes a prolonged release of dopamine. Because it is prolonged, you will be feeling its effects far after you get out of the ice bath. Dopamine is known to increase mood, sharpen your focus, and better your attention.
When I got out of the ice bath, I had never felt better. I was so happy and excited that I had just done that.
Increases Metabolism
You have two types of fat- white fat and brown fat. White fat is the kind you don’t want. The type of fat you gain in response to lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits. However, you actually want to increase the amount of brown fat you have.
Brown fat increases your metabolism (therefore burning more calories at rest) and makes it so you can better adapt to the cold. Someone in the course had been doing cold plunges for 100 days and lost over 30 pounds. How AMAZING is that!?
The Wim Hof Breathing Technique
Now that we understand why we should get cold more often, let’s talk about how this relates to the Wim Hof method, or Wim Hof breathing technique. This method is all about breathing. Using your mind and body to overcome hard things.
How to Do Wim Hof Breathing
The Wim Hof breathing technique is a series of breaths- inhales followed by immediate exhales, and then breath holds. It is considered an up-regulation practice, arousing your sympathetic nervous system. It works by increasing your oxygen levels, then decreasing your carbon dioxide levels, and then decreasing your oxygen levels. This creates a state of hypoxia.
When you do the method you will find that you can hold your breath for 1-2 minutes or more. This is because you are starting from a carbon dioxide deficit and slowly building it back up as you hold.
Similar to cold therapy, this state of hypoxia increases adrenalin in the body. Adrenalin is a potent anti-inflammatory, leading to long-term benefits from this practice. This method also increases your pain threshold, causes euphoria, improves focus, and energizes you.
How Breathing Prepares You for the Cold
How does the Wim Hof breathing technique relate to Wim Hof cold therapy? Well, being able to survive the ice bath is all about using your mind to calm down the body’s reaction to the cold. What does your breath help you do? Control the mind.
By breathing slowly and steadily you can decrease your heart rate. Your perception of your situation is often directly related to how fast your heart is racing. When you close your eyes and just breath, the process becomes a lot easier.
When you enter the ice bath, you are supposed to inhale and then slowly exhale as you get into the water. When I hit the water, my body started going into shock. Your body wants to hyperventilate but you need to stop it by breathing steadily. This helps you to handle stress.
Reaping All of the Benefits
According to Huberman Labs, to get the most benefit from a cold practice, you need to expose yourself to cold for at least 11 minutes each week. Of course, more is also beneficial. He recommends splitting these 11 minutes into 3-4 different sessions throughout the week.
We are lucky to have some awesome places in Phoenix, like Optimyze, that offer cold plunges to use if you don’t have one at your home. If you don’t have facilities like this, you can always start with a metal tub and a hose. Don’t let the price of some fancy ice baths stop you from embracing this practice.
Something is better than nothing. Get in your pool during the fall and winter months. Fill your bathtub with cold water. The less cold the water, the longer you should stay in.
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