The Book Review: The Wim Hoff Method
The Ice Man is becoming a world renowned figure in the world of wellbeing for his method that aims to unlock your physical and spiritual potential. He sets out how to do this through his method of conscious breathing, cold exposure and the power of the mind.
The book starts out with Wim’s life experience - how he initially discovered his method and how he was naturally drawn to the cold throughout his life. With Wim having a very personal experience of mental health struggles and his general attitude to life you can quickly see that he is committed to human happiness. He strongly believes that we should all experience health, strength and happiness and outlines how his method can help us achieve this.
Wim discusses what has been achieved by those using his method, with achievements such as the climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in record time in just shorts! Whilst these achievements can be hard to believe and probably not on everyone's list of goals, the book does go through the level of scientific evidence and research that supports his claims. Naturally there will still be sceptics to his approach but the mounting evidence is making it difficult to challenge.
So what is the Wim Hoff Method? The book starts this method by discussing the benefits of cold showers and why they are good for. The theory is that our bodies have lost the ability to not only survive, but to thrive in extreme environments and this process has made us weaker not stronger. Wim’s answer is that we can change our body’s ability to do this simply by taking colder showers every day. The theory is that a cold shower exercises and activates your vascular system and within just 10 days of taking showers you will start to feel the mental health benefits and your heart rate may drop.
The book then moves on to discuss the power of breathing, and whilst Wim does have a breathing method in the book he highlights that it is as simple as just breathing. He outlines that we need to be more conscious with our breathing and whilst there are many meditation methods, his response on the best way to breathe is simply just let your body do what it feels is right. He does, however, have a method that can be practiced daily and this should be viewed in the book with the health warnings. The idea behind the practice is 30 consecutive deep breaths followed by an exhale that is then held as long as possible. Wim claims that the breathing exercises can activate brown fat tissue which can help your body produce heat by burning fat. The breathing can also help us to suppress the inflammatory markets in the blood as well as helping to regulate our mood, emotion and body temperature.
This book sets out very simple methods and ways that we can boost our mental resilience and overall happiness. The athletic performance benefits that are shown in the book are truly incredible, such as the change in our bodies enabling us to deal with altitude changes quickly. The book also outlines that the method has been able to reverse diabetes, relieve the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis and help manage a number of autoimmune illnesses. Whilst these claims are massive, the methods are simple and easy to build in to a daily routine. It’s clear to see why Wim is quickly gaining recognition around the world and his fans and followers are growing. Why not try a cold shower a day and see if Wim’s claims are right that a cold shower a day keeps the doctor away!