How Wim Hof Defies Death In Extreme Temperatures (Using Just His Willpower)

January 20, 2017

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Despite his unassuming frame, unkempt face and accent that’s so melodic it’s almost humorous, Wim ‘The Iceman’ Hof is probably the closest thing you’ll ever find to a real-life superhero. A specialist in extreme cold, the Dutch daredevil has turned what scientists thought true of the human body on its head, with a long scroll of world records to his name.

Scaling both Kilmanjaro and reaching just before Mount Everest's deathzone wearing just a skimpy pair of shorts? Done it. Being submerged in an ice bath long enough to scorch your nipples off? Done that too (in one hour, 53 minutes and 42 seconds, in case you’re wondering) and with both teats intact.

But such is Hof’s control over the elements that, through a combination of breathing exercises and sheer determination, he is able to maintain his core temperature, no matter what icy conditions you place him under. What’s more, he can teach it – running regular cold (and hot) weather training camps up the side of a mountain. Top tip: travel light, as you too will dash through snow dressed in little more than a pair of board shorts.

Hof is, quite simply, a medical marvel. But don’t think for a second he doesn’t still love a warm shower…

I first learned I could withstand the cold when I was 17, in a frozen lake in Holland. That brought about real power within me, a self-control that I had awakened by going into the cold. From then on I was able to swim in freezing water, and enjoy it.

Soon I was able to influence my chemistry and make my body alkaline, which means having a positive pH. I could then stay a whole night outside in shorts in winter. Many years have passed since, but once you get a control like that, you don’t feel normal boundaries, you have a different mindset. You begin to believe you can do so much more.

Today, I have 26 world records. They range from the longest ice bath – one hour, 53 minutes and 42 seconds – to a marathon around the Arctic Circle in a pair of shorts. Climbing until Everest's deathzone was easy [he turned back because of a injury he got doing a half marathon barefoot in freezing temperatures a couple of months before]. It was! I found myself at 6,000 metres in a blizzard and I had to find my own way. I was alone for hours and hours, but it was probably my greatest experience. Any mountain is possible, you just have to calculate the weather. Don’t go into Mount Everest when storm clouds come up, just look at the weather forecast – it’s not so difficult.

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Mind power is like electricity. I can channel it towards different places in my body. I am able to intervene in my red cell generation. It took training and self-discipline through meditation, but now I can make my body absorb more oxygen and heal faster. Once, when I was doing a half-marathon, with three kilometres to go, the circulation in my left leg stopped – it felt like a wooden stick. I still finished the race and a dermatologist later told me that irreparable damage done, but within a month I’d healed myself.

I love a hot shower – yes sir! If you experience a really hot shower after being in the cold, you appreciate it so much more. It makes life worth living.

Growing older means becoming balder, but wiser. Ageing doesn’t bother me. I’m 57 and I can do the splits like a ballet dancer. I can do 100 push-ups without breathing, but I only need one square metre for that, at home – you won’t find me in a gym.

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Pioneers make up new science – I’m a pioneer, an investigator. Now we are seriously into science and have new knowledge about human physiology. Using science, we can show that every individual in the world is able to go far deeper into their physiology by taking up a few very accessible techniques. I pioneered that and I had to find it out through trial and error. It wasn't in books, it wasn’t in nature, it was in the guts of me. There is more than meets the eye, and I am going to find out, groping in the dark of nothingness and no man’s land.

Everybody is allowed to have his own opinion, but exclamations that I am a liar are based on no information – so who is the liar? I can show it scientifically. If they come with their exclamations, what is their basis? Criticism polishes the diamond of knowledge. A lot of cynicism and mockery have passed into my journey before, but not any more. I can show it scientifically. Now people just see.

For more information on Wim Hof and free training, head to www.wimhofmethod.com

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