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I Tried The ‘Iceman’ Method In A House In Mġarr And Temporarily Became Superhuman

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A lot has been said and documented about Wim ‘The Iceman’ Hof and his acclaimed breathing methods.

The Dutch extreme athlete can withstand freezing temperatures and accomplish incredible feats through a heady mix of breathing techniques, meditation and cold therapy.

He’s set Guinness world records for swimming under ice and prolonged full-body contact with ice – so when we heard that one of his students would be setting up a training camp for just one week in Malta (until Sunday) we had to check it out.

The Wim Hof Method has been credited with being able to turn people “superhuman” via its blood-enrichment methods and spiritual beliefs.

As someone who has never tried ice therapy or anything of the sort, and didn’t follow any particular philosophy, I was a total newbie to this – but had to see if it was true.

1. We met up with Leandre, a disciple of the Wim Hof Method, in a picturesque little villa on the outskirts of Mġarr.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_PtGUtJ-ee/

After explaining the short session I’d be taking part in was going to be split into two parts – breathing methods, and then taking a dip in an ice bath – and speaking about the philosophy behind the methods, we went inside to start the breathing techniques.

I lay on a mat, and focused on my heartbeat spreading blood throughout my body at first.

Then we began: I inhaled and exhaled strongly but without any extra effort 30 times. On the last breath, as I exhaled, I was told to hold my breath. Even though I had no air in my lungs, I found that I wasn’t really starving for air, and held out for a while. Eventually, I took a deep breath in… and held that too.

We repeated this cycle three times, lasting around 15 minutes.

After the first cycle, I began to sweat profusely – however, I was being instructed to stop thinking about anything other than my breathe, so I let the sweat drop and ignored what was happening externally, focusing internally on my breathing.

By the third cycle, my arms were tensing up voluntarily.

My fingers began gripping, and my forearms were tingling strongly, and I could feel my face muscles reacting too… but I ignored it, focusing on my breath. At the end of the third cycle, I was told to exhale deeply and hold my breath.

Even though I was sweating hard and both of my arms, my face, and my upper body were feeling strange, I was quite serene. I focused on an image of waves going back and forth during the breathing exercises and then focused on an image of a mountaintop when holding my breath.

Even though I thought I would be panicking and dying to breathe, it was nearly fun just being in this weird state of not breathing yet feeling like oxygen was still running through my body – and I even think an involuntary smile broke across my face as I didn’t breathe.

After the final cycle, Leandre shook my hand – I had held my breath on empty lungs for over two minutes, and I hadn’t even realised.

My arms were still tingling afterwards

My arms were still tingling afterwards

2. After speaking about the experience and delving deeper into the philosophy behind controlling your body, and not letting it control you, we went outside and ran around on gravel barefoot.

As someone who wears flip flops when walking on a beach, suddenly finding myself running over gravel and really not minding was quite fun. My body was already feeling more resilient than usual – but whether that was due to the methods or due to my determined mental state, I cannot say.

3. We approached the ice bath – a jacuzzi filled with ice. But before, we needed to become warriors.

Steeling ourselves

Steeling ourselves

Similar to a Kiwi Haka, Leandre and I stood in a half-squatted stance and began moving our arms left to right, breathing out each time. Alongside the exhalations, we also made a sort of shouting sound, preparing for the six-degree water that I was about to enter.

Leandre told me that as soon as my body touches the water, I’m going to have a natural reaction and desire to breath in. I needed to overcome this, and instead, breathe out with each step deeper into the water.

Becoming an iceman

Becoming an iceman

5. Then, it was time to see how resilient I had become and enter the ice.

Walking into the ice bath, you feel the cold, but I remained focused on breathing out with each step. Focusing on my breathing made me ignore the cold… until I sat down and submerged in the water.

My extremities felt it first: the pain of the cold. And it was spreading. I noticed my breathing was speeding up rapidly, and I was losing control.

My face speaks for itself

My face speaks for itself

Leandre looked my in the eyes and told me to relax; there were no problems here, no medical issues, it was my body trying to tell me to leave the ice, even when I didn’t need to.

Don't do this alone

Don't do this alone

I began to control my breathing, though the pain remained. However, I told myself my body could take it; I knew it could take it.

My breathing steadied, and I suddenly found myself sitting in freezing water, calmly.

5. I couldn’t feel my legs as I left the water, but I felt great.

I spent a few minutes shaking my legs and extremities, but it was done.

I had become a superhuman – temporarily. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCgmr8NH257/

Though I had only tried a quick taster of a proper Wim Hof Method session, I had increased my breathing capacity and found myself able to sit in ice water for around one minute.

Around the world, more and more people are experimenting with Wim Hof’s methods.

To be fair, seeing a 61-year-old man spend 61 minutes in ice water to celebrate his birthday, or do a full marathon across the Namib desert without drinking any water, makes you truly wonder if there is something to his methods.

Maybe it really is all down to controlling your breathing and being steadily calm and focused – but you won’t find out until you yourself take the plunge.

You can find out more about the Ice Bath Method in Malta by following this link.

Would you ever try something like this? Let us know in the comments below

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Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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