The cold is an essential force in the Wim Hof Method. Hoffers know that going into the cold water has all kinds of amazing effects, yet many people shy away from the idea of cold water immersion (CWI), either because they think it’s too uncomfortable, or because they think it is actually dangerous (think: Titanic). And let’s face facts: going into the cold water isn’t for wussies!
In this short episode, we will give you a couple of inspirations and tips for making your practice of cold exposure both beneficial and safe, backed by an excellent review paper on cold water immersion by Tipton et al. which was just published in a Journal called Experimental Physiology in August 2017.
Join us on this week’s short ‘ice bucket’ episode and immerse yourself in the deeper knowledge around cold water and how to behave in the face of this merciless, but righteous force!
Epiphany Corner
- Why the general public perceives cold water immersion to be hazardous
- At which temperature water is considered to be ‘cold’
- The different stages of CWI and their potential hazards
- How to reap the anti-inflammatory and stress-reducing effects of CWI
- Science backs all of Wim’s safety instructions for CWI
It’s not a competition… it’s about listening to your body
Matthias
I live in Atlanta, Georgia, US and in the wintertime the water I shower in will get down to 50F (haven’t seen it lower yet). I’m concerned about the effectiveness of cold showers in the spring, summer and fall. I don’t know yet but assume the water would be somewhere between 55 – 60F. In the podcast you said that 50F is considered “cold”. My question is, at what temperature above that can you still reap benefit from a cold shower? I’m guessing there are diminishing returns but any thoughts on what temperature still provides a “cold” shower?
Thanks!
Thanks for all the work you’ve put into these episodes. They’ve taught me more about the Wim Hof Method but there is a lot of the science that I don’t find a good explanation for anywhere, either in the courses, on Science on the Rocks, or elsewhere on the internet. If you have some answers to any of these questions, I’d really appreciate if you could share them with us 🙂 I appreciate that they don’t all relate to this episode but I didn’t know another way to communicate with you.
1) What is the difference in physiology between doing the breathing retention with air in, or air out?
2) How does the Wim Hof Method help with sports performance – and is this mainly from the breathing, the cold exposure, or the combination?
3) Sometimes I read that the breathing exercises cause the body to use more Oxygen, but other times that under normal conditions, our blood Oxygen tension is very close to its maximum. What’s really happening?
4) Wim Hof proved that he could control his immune system to not respond so much to E. Coli endotoxins. Does this also reduce the body’s ability to fight genuine illnesses?
5) Does the Wim Hof Method protect against altitude sickness?
I’m looking forward to hearing any responses you have to any of these points, as well of course to any future podcasts explaining the Science behind the Wim Hof Method!
Hi,
I didn’t manage to access the paper you reference but in an earlier paper* from the same author, where I believe the term “autonomic conflict” was first mentioned there is no reference in regards to face submission to cold water and activation of the PNS (through vagus nerve activation or otherwise). Of course I may have missed it but I think it is worth checking.
Regards,
Anastasis
* https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3459038/
Following up from my previous comment, I did find other papers* that support Dr. Tiptons argument.
*https://journals.lww.com/jcardiovascularmedicine/Abstract/2011/06000/Diving_bradycardia__a_mechanism_of_defence_against.10.aspx