The Way of the Iceman: How the Wim Hof Method Creates Radiant Long-term Health—Using the Science and Secrets of Breath Control, Cold-Training and Commitment

by Wim Hof

Intense exercise short circuits the conscious mind, allowing the athlete to (unknowingly) attain advanced states of meditational consciousness. This higher state of consciousness is an unintended consequence of the intense training. The key to routinely accessing this bliss state is to present ourselves with a physical task of such severity that only by unifying body and mind can we succeed.

Conscious thought is overrated. Krishnamurti nailed it: “The cessation of thought is the awakening of intelligence.”

the ones that succeed are the ones that fall in love with the training, not the applause.

Healing Without Freud or Prozac, French psychiatrist David Servan-Schreiber

Research has shown that today we are exposed to as many external stimuli in one day as someone living in the Middle Ages encountered during a lifetime. We make an average of 2,800 choices each day—every day.

Hof’s exercises have their origins in a Tibetan technique known as Tummo meditation.

“feeling is understanding”.

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”

awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2009. Telomeres are the outer ends of the chromosomes. The telomeres become shorter each time the cell divides, and partly determine the lifespan of the cell. Because of stress, chromosomes shorten more quickly. The researchers turned the question around and explored whether telomeres lengthened again as a result of meditation—allowing a cell to live longer. They discovered that this is indeed the case.

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It is important to remember that the average person does not exist, and science only compares groups.

Konstantin Buteyko emphasizes the importance of more shallow breathing and says that breathing in through the nose is sufficient to ensure that you do not breathe too deeply. Wim Hof’s breathing techniques, which involve breathing in deeply and then exhaling slowly, seem to be completely at odds with this. Yet, after doing these exercises, most people start to breathe more calmly, and their carbon dioxide levels return to normal. The big difference is that during the exercises, your breathing is controlled. People with asthma breathe too deeply and cannot control it.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the body’s primary energy source. When ATP is broken down, energy is released. ATP is a relatively large, heavy molecule, so it is impossible to store the body’s entire energy requirement as ATP. The body has an efficient solution to this problem in the form of different energy systems, all of which supply energy in the form of ATP in a different way. Consequently, when we need energy, we can tap into five “storage pots”, which all provide ATP in their own way: Fat Glucose (aerobic) Glycolysis (anaerobic) Creatine phosphate (CP) Free ATP The body’s energy requirement depends on the intensity of the activity. Each storage pot has a different capacity and availability. It is important to know that the different energy systems always work together, but that the relative contribution of each one varies, depending on the duration and intensity of the activity. The less intense the activity, the more low-energy fats are used as fuel. More intense efforts make use of more free ATP. The energy generated is released by the breakdown of organic compounds. This process can take place with oxygen (aerobic) or without it (anaerobic). The store of fat is—by far—the largest source of energy, even if you are not at all overweight. The body’s fat reserves are designed for light, long-lasting activity, as the energy is released slowly. But when the body requires energy quickly (ATP), the aerobic processes are too slow and glucose will be broken down without o...

Your body is using energy all day—even when at rest or engaged in little activity. Free ATP and CP are of little use for a whole day’s work or for physical labor. Glucose and glycogen will keep you going for an hour, two at the most if you are a top-level athlete. As we have seen with people on hunger strikes, our bodies have enough fat to keep us alive for several days. A healthy body first burns the fat stored in the muscles and later taps into the subcutaneous fat reserves. When an intense activity stops, the fat in the muscles is replenished from fat tissue. The greater the effort, the more the body calls on its glucose reserves.

test results show that people suffering from chronic fatigue also tap into their sugar reserves, rather than their fat, while at rest.