Wim Hof Method: 19 Incredible Everyday Benefits You Need to Experience (Part 2)
If you’ve already been working with the Wim Hof Method, you’ll know how beneficial it is. For those unaware,, and his methods. If not, check out part one of my two-part take on the Wim Hof MeWim has developed a technique that utilizes deep breathing, cold exposure, and mental focus to gain conscious control over a number of bodily processes. Processes long thought uncontrollable.
Interestingly, we no longer need to ask “does the Wim Hof Method work?” We can just get excited about its potential applications.
The ramifications for the future of healthcare and our ability to conquer illnesses and dysfunction are astronomical. As a result, this man has the potential to be one of the most important people of our lifetime.
Here is a recent guided breathing session from the man himself:
Related: Learn how to do the Wim Hof Breathing Method (Part 1).
Wim Hof Breathing Benefits From My Experience
On a personal note, I have been experimenting with the Wim Hof breathing now for a number of years. I’ve been living with the theory behind its success – hyper-oxygenation, increased alkalinity, cold exposure, etc and exploring what else it can do. It’s even tied in wonderfully with my work as a Physiotherapist. Overall, the results have been staggering.
So without further ado, here are nineteen everyday benefits I’ve found using the Wim Hof Method at home and as a Physiotherapist. These go beyond the big-ticket items of mental and physical disease and relate to daily situations.
As always please keep an open mind and definitely test these out for yourself.
Banish Early-Morning Tiredness
I love this one. As the father of a six-year-old, I’ve had my fair share of sub-par sleep. As most parents will appreciate it doesn’t matter what time you go to sleep at night, you’re waking up when they do. It’s almost like they know you need more sleep as they come bounding in as the sun comes up.
The point here is that the hyper-oxygenation associated with the Wim Hof Breathing Method can pull you out of that early morning funk. I can cycle through a few sneaky rounds and feel back to my best almost instantly. Clearly you want to make sure you understand why you’ve woken up tired and try to amend that, but this is a great backup plan nonetheless.
Related: Did you know sleep deprivation can have both emotional and social consequences?
The Real Hangover Cure
I’m not a huge drinker these days so when I have a few I tend to feel it a little more than I used to. But not anymore.
It can take some time and a few cycles to bring yourself back to square, but barraging your system with oxygen the next day (with a cold shower for good measure) can hastily improve a hangover.
Interestingly I’ve found the best time to do it is before bed that night. Get on the front foot and stop that hangover before it has a chance to set in overnight.
As an aside, you can imagine my childish glee when I heard Wim mention this very thing in a podcast he was on a year or so ago.
Heal Faster
I feel this genuinely needs more attention. Whether it’s a small cut or a musculoskeletal injury, Wim Hof’s breathing technique may promote faster healing.
The Wim Hof Method may promote faster tissue healing.Click To TweetThe injured tissue needs oxygen to promote healing. So it makes sense that more oxygen may facilitate this better. Furthermore, hyper-oxygenation seems to improve my ability to influence specific areas of my body.
For example, if you’ve just cut your hand take your initial 30 deep breaths and then do your max post-exhale hold. During this time, place your other hand over the injured area, close your eyes and focus on directing traffic to it. After a few seconds, you may start to feel it pulse. Rinse and repeat ad nauseam.
I can appreciate that these types of discussions can sound very dubious, but with some deep breathing and a little extra attention, we may actually be able to optimize our body’s healing processes.
You can imagine how this has affected my work as a Physiotherapist with injury rehabilitation. Excitingly, the results are speaking for themselves. Give this a go next time you hurt yourself and see what it does for you. It might pleasantly surprise.
Remove Oxygen Deficit and Oxygen Debt
If you’re an exerciser you may be familiar with the concepts of “oxygen deficit” and “oxygen debt”.
Oxygen deficit refers to the time it takes from the start of exercise to the point where oxygen can be used as a sustainable energy source. It’s those first few sluggish minutes of exercise before our body “kicks into gear”.
Oxygen debt refers to the amount of time post-exercise your body still needs oxygen to return to all systems back to normal. This is represented by the need to take deeper, faster breaths for a while afterward.
In simple terms, there are periods of time at the beginning and after exercise where the body is hungry for oxygen. So clearly the Wim Hof breathing can work wonders here too. From my experience, Wim’s deep breathing allows me to have my oxygen saturation primed to fuel me from the start, effectively eliminating the sluggish stage.
It’s worth noting that it’s probably not worth going through a maximum exhale hold at the end of every 30 breaths as you want to keep those oxygen stores relatively high. Consider a shorter hold before beginning the next set of thirty.
Furthermore, extra cycles at the end of activity can help equalize any remaining oxygen debt and allow you to get on with the rest of your day as soon as possible.
Related: Here are 12 other ways to optimize your post-workout recovery.
Warm Yourself Up
This is a handy one for when you’re outside in the cold. Similar to speeding up the healing process, this also benefits from a little more focus.
Hyper-oxygenation alone can get you there but take the time during your exhale hold to “feel” yourself warming up. It may take a few cycles to notice a change but you should genuinely feel a difference relatively quickly. You may start to feel warmer or perhaps just less cold. For me, I can usually still register that it’s cold but no longer feel cold myself.
Interestingly, the more time you spend exposed to the cold the more responsive your vascular system will become. This is where a daily cold shower can really improve your quality of life. Thanks to Wim, we now have the tools to better tolerate the cold and have better control over this tolerance.
Related: Here’s some research supporting cold showers for better health and fewer sick days.
Cool Yourself Down
No surprises for guessing this one right? By the same token, hyper-oxygenation will grant you access to the processes that dissipate heat and cool you down. If you feel too hot, try the same process as above and “feel” yourself cooling down.
Again if you’ve been practicing cold showers your body will be better adapted to regulate itself up or down when needed.
One thing I’ve learned from the Wim Hof Method is how much we rely on indoor heating and cooling for comfort. It’s similar to adding or removing layers of clothing to externally regulate our body temperature. There’s certain freedom attached to understanding how tolerant the body is to natural temperature change. We just need to give it a chance to do the work itself.
Improve Athletic Performance
This is for those who enjoy simple workouts. If you love short, sharp exercise routines, the Wim Hof Breathing can take your performance to another level.
Simple tasks like push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, sprinting, etc, can quickly become a fight against lactic acid as the oxygen demands increase. Deep breathing beforehand allows your body to have a greater supply of oxygen to use from the outset. This helps delay the onset of performance-sapping lactic acid and results in greater initial energy stores, higher numbers and faster times.
For context, I really enjoy the challenge of a 3-minute push-up test. By cycling through 15-20 deep breaths before starting (and deep breathing throughout) I was able to improve my score by a staggering 50%. The same thing happened with a basic dead hang test from a chin-up bar – a 15% improvement straight away.
This one is fun to try. Choose something you value and see what Wim Hof’s breathing method can do for you. Wim even incorporates as much into his training programs.
Improve Your Ability to Float
Improved floatation may not be categorized under life-altering benefits of the Wim Hof Method, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Traditionally, your capacity to float is decided by your body composition. The denser you are – or greater your lean muscle mass, the more likely you are to sink. Conversely, the more body fat you have the more buoyant you should be.
However, oxygen saturation has some influence over these factors.
If you take a full breath in and dive to the bottom of a pool, you’re more likely to float back to the surface. The added oxygen acts like a life jacket. On the other hand, if you dive on a full exhale you’re more likely to stay there. This is the essence of how many ocean divers regulate depth.
Personally, I’ve never really been able to float. So imagine my surprise at what happens after a few rounds of hyper-oxygenation. The more charged with O2 I become, the more buoyant I seem to be.
It’s not one of the most obvious Wim Hof benefits but it’s another to add to the list of things to try.
I’m not sure how this specifically benefits the human race but I’m interested to hear what you guys think. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Manage Pain
This is another important “side-effect” of the Wim Hof Method. It can help you suppress and potentially overcome the pain response. So much so that I’m staggered this isn’t one of our biggest focuses in modern medicine.
The idea here is simple. In order to experience pain, our chemistry must shift towards a more acidic state at some point. And if you’ve been playing along at home, you might recognize that hyper-oxygenation has an alkalizing effect on our chemistry. This suggests the more we can oxygenate our body when in pain, the closer we may get to “switching it off”.
The more we can oxygenate our body when in pain, the closer we may get to 'switching it off'.Click To TweetNow from a Physiotherapy perspective, it’s important to remind everyone that pain does serve a very noble purpose. It’s supposed to protect us from current or future harm. So whether or not we can switch it off should be considered moot. But having the capacity to regulate it is invaluable – particularly for those suffering from extreme, persistent or chronic pain.
Considering hyper-oxygenation may also have a positive effect on healing it makes sense to give this a go.
Related: Here’s a unique take on Fibromyalgia and why the Wim Hof Method has a role to play.
Proactively Fight Off Basic Sickness
Conquering serious illness and disease has become the hallmark of Wim’s technique. But we can’t forget about the everyday ones.
If you start to notice any common symptoms associated with getting sick, use the Wim Hof Method to proactively eliminate them.
Prior to experimenting with the Wim Hof breathing method, I would normally feel the slightest sore throat prior to getting sick. I’d dread this as I knew the next day or two would be an annoying mix of a runny nose and red-raw nostrils. I’d get this maybe two or three times a year. Now, as soon as I feel those precursor symptoms I stop and do my deep breathing. Once supercharged I can focus on the area that feels crappy during the exhale hold. Thirty minutes later those symptoms are gone. Every time. It hasn’t failed me once in about 4 or 5 years now (touch wood).
It’s also worth noting that I think my immune system is now stronger from the cold showers as the sore throats are less common too.
Please note: With the ongoing threat of Coronavirus (COVID-19) worldwide, something like the Wim Hof Method may become even more important to help boost your immune system and improve your ability to fight it off.
I wouldn’t go out of your way to test this out, but if you fall within one of the higher risk groups for the Coronavirus, there can’t be too many cheaper and more impactful things you can add to your arsenal.
Boost Your Energy Levels
Oxygen is such an important resource for the body to utilize particularly when discussing energy. Oxygen is an important reactant used by the body to produce energy from carbohydrates, proteins, and fats during aerobic metabolism.
Similarly, its also utilized in the presence of lactic acid to help speed recovery from the more anaerobic metabolic processes.
In short, the more oxygen-rich the bloodstream is, the more oxygen is available to give you the energy boost you need to carry on with your day or achieve your goals.
Improve Focus and Mental Clarity
Do you ever have moments where you don’t feel at your sharpest mentally? Well, you might be able to influence this too.
As with each of these everyday benefits, more oxygen often means better results. Similar to healing and pain management, this requires a little focus. For me, once hyper-oxygenated I can clear this fog just by closing my eyes and picturing the cloudiness disappearing. It takes a cycle or two for me to get there but I can eventually cue my body into doing it nonetheless.
This is highly useful considering my work and hobbies require mental sharpness and focus to achieve the best results. Again, test this out for yourself and let me know how you go in the comments.
Use Retention Times To Better Understand Your Body
Interestingly, you can use your exhale retention time to get a general sense of how your body is going.
I find poor sleep, too much stress, feeling ill or a little flat, etc can knock 30 seconds or so from my usual hold times. Similarly, it often takes a few more cycles than usual to get me to where I want to be. Being sick or hyper-stressed is obvious enough on their own, but it’s fantastic to know how you’re going in-between.
If you realize your numbers are a little down, it’s a fantastic opportunity to try to figure out why. Perhaps your bedtime has been getting later unnecessarily. Maybe you’re a little more stressed than usual. Perhaps you already know all this but just need objective proof that it’s taking a toll.
What gets measured, gets managed. And this creates a wonderful way to get ahead of the curve and be pro-active.
Control Your Stress Response
This is just so bloody important.
Our nervous system governs the function of literally every process in the body in some way, shape or form. As I’ve mentioned in the first article we’ve long thought the majority of these processes were completely automatic. For example; we don’t have to make our heartbeat, it happens on our behalf.
Now the Wim Hof Method won’t interfere with the on and off switches for these systems (thankfully) but it does grant us access to up-regulate and down-regulate them when needed.
Of most relevance to this article is our fight and flight response. An “automated” set of physiological responses that enhance our capacity to face a threat head-on or get away safely.
However thanks to the modern world the “threats” we face are as plentiful as they are subtle. We have financial stress, time stress, social stress, relationship stress, work stress, religious stress, cultural stress, body image stress, among a hoard of others. And they don’t go away easily.
As a result, our nervous system can become chronically ‘up’ – a basis for much of our chronic pain and illness. And with this comes greater acidity and inflammation.
The Wim Hof technique can give us conscious control over this “automated” system and deliberately down-regulate our body back to a more normal baseline.
Develop Greater Patience
Who feels they need more patience? In fairness we probably all could. Whether you have kids, are constantly stuck in traffic, waiting in line or on the phone trying to do something basic, one of the benefits of the Wim Hof Method relates to developing greater patience. It can also help pass the time.
The heightened neurological state discussed above feeds impatience. The more amped up you are the harder it is to wait around. If you’re running late for something, how much harder is it wait your turn? How much more frustrating is it to be stuck behind a slow car when you desperately need to be somewhere else?
Down-regulating your nervous system can help these moments become less challenging and monotonous.
Short-Circuit Anger, Rage, and Frustration
Following on again from the previous two points, the Wim Hof Method can help those quick to anger, rage, and frustration. You can leverage its down-regulatory effects to create a more tolerant physiological state.
These emotions often relate to an already heightened nervous system. It’s why they can easily be triggered by relatively innocuous circumstances. This is why the term “hot head” is often thrown around.
Down-regulating your nervous system can do two wonderful things in this situation. Not only can it reduce the amount of anger, rage, and frustration someone can experience, but it can dramatically normalize your threshold for these emotions.
I’m not a very angry person, nor am I often highly frustrated or filled with all-conquering rage. But I do have a child. And they can certainly push your buttons. Sure it’s thankfully not at the disastrous end of the scale but it’s certainly all relative.
This is important as Wim has given us the power to replace poorer sleep, poor emotional states like rage, anger, anxiety, depression and frustration, poor thinking, poor pain tolerance, and any other heightened stress-related consequences, with their far more positive counterparts.
All because of a few deep breaths, a little cold exposure, and some focus.
Help Your Children Buffer the Effects of Technology
With the world now very different thanks to COVID-19, my young son has been a willing benefactor. The need for me to work from home while school has been cancelled has unfortunately meant my son has been allowed to use technology more.
For many this isn’t such a big deal, but I can tell it mentally effects him, despite how much he loves it. Not in any major way of course, but I can tell he’s a little more hyped up immediately after spending time on his school laptop. He’s generally bouncing off the walls to begin with, but it’s a level above post-technology.
So now I’ve got him intermittently doing an abridged Wim Hof Method during and after technology. And the results are tangible. Interestingly, it takes him far less time to go from 100 to 0 than it does for most adults that I’ve witnessed. All it takes him is a set of 5 to 10 deep breaths and an exhale hold to bring him back down again. Better still, he does better when using his laptop, doing school work, or building his next great Minecraft civilization.
Break Unwanted Associations
Interestingly, I’ve been able to use the Wim Hof Breathing Method and mindfulness to help weaken negative associations I have with lollies/candy.
I don’t feel I have an addiction in the true sense of the word, as I never go out of my way to eat them, but I definitely find it hard to say no if they’re in front of me.
Pleasingly, I have been able to lessen this association dramatically. The hyper-oxygenated, post-exhale hold phase is again the perfect opportunity to work some magic.
Once set, I try to focus on how I feel when presented with the opportunity to eat treats. I then focus on turning down those feelings before visualizing a literal disconnection. Pardon the pun, but it’s working a treat.
I’d be very interested to see if the positive effects of the Wim Hof method do extend to those struggling with addiction and dependence. Let me know below.
Recover From Jet Lag Quickly
Jet lag is a common phenomenon in today’s modern world. However, despite how commonplace it has become, it feels like we’re yet to evolve beyond second-hand information and guesswork when trying to recover from it.
Like any of the experiences mentioned above, the Wim Hof Method has the potential to be a powerful ally. If you’re tired, adjusting to a new time zone, and feel like your nervous system has become heightened, take a moment to breathe your way back to normality. Use those cold showers to help your nervous system recover and restore that sense of depleted energy.
Conclusion
It’s truly wonderful to live in an age where deep breathing is being proven to have such a powerful effect on our physiology. It’s also nice to know the Wim Hof Method can help with many modern-day situations and concerns. Not all are life-threatening but they can be life-limiting.
As always, I genuinely urge you to give Wim’s technique a go. Don’t take my word for any of this, just experience it for yourself. It’s just so simple to do and as I’ve heard Wim say before “the worst thing that can happen is nothing.” Having said that, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!
Have you found any other day-to-day benefits of the Wim Hof Method?
Love this article! Have a cold? Wim Hof that bitch! Hungover?! You guessed it, Wim Hof Breathing!
On the stress front, I would add it alleviates anxiety, I can get both performance and social anxiety, so I like to do Wim Hof Breathing before social events or important meetings.
Thanks Nathan!
I agree with you on the anxiety front. It’s just such a simple and fast acting option re-shape how you feel.
while the breathing and cold exposure are useful in themselves, it should be noted that this is NOT the totality of the WHM. other components are, push ups, alternate stretching and relaxing of muscle groups. and a series of asanas( yoga poses), which are designed to stimulate blood flow, body elasticity and concentration. one way that I have found the breathing method useful is in elimination a sudden cramp that sometimes decides to temporarily paralyses one of my lower limbs. oh and another benefit? lower fuel bills in the winter, now that has to be a bonus.!!
Brilliant! thanks for taking the time to comment Shaun. Much appreciated!
Love the basics – I beat the three week flu in two days, cuts heal faster, circulation is better, and best of all I’m getting even more strong minded than before 🙂
Great to hear Ann! So many ways to utilize his method!
My wife is an RN who’s been directly caring for Covid patients for a few weeks now. While Social Distancing can be a great blessing to others right now, it doesn’t seem like an option for us.
I’m trying to be as proactive and preventive as possible. At the moment, the breathing exercises have been a daily anchor for me emotionally.
I know you probably can’t give specific treatment for how to use the WHM to prevent Covid, but “if you were me,” what would you do and how would you do it to give yourself a fighting chance?
And how do I talk my wife into doing this for the sake of her Immune System, too? 😆
Thank you!
My absolute best wishes to you and your wife Thom. I hope she’s coping well!
It is difficult to give any specific advice, but there are some basics to try.
The WHM is best done in the morning on an empty stomach. There’s no real trick to the method itself, just go through your standard 30-40 deep breaths and proceed to the exhale hold at the bottom. The best thing about the exhale hold is that it’s a good representation of how well your body is functioning. If you can get to 90 seconds one day, but only 60 the next, it suggests that your body is dealing with something. It could be extra stress, lack of sleep, etc. But it is useful information. Couple this with a daily cold shower and you’ll be optimizing things in no time.
To get your wife involved, its important for her to feel like it actually works in some way so she doesn’t feel like she’s wasting her time. It helps if she sees you doing it and might be more inclined to if she can see it for herself. As a nurse, she may be more interested if she understands the physiology about it too. I’m sure she sees the benefit of oxygen every day at work and the WHM is a simple way to hyper oxygenate your bloodstream and change the chemical balance of your tissue, making things less acidic.
The cold showers engage a lot of cold-reactive proteins in the body as well as acting as an exercise for your vascular system. The stronger your tolerance to the cold, the better your immune system may be.
Good luck!
Hey there
nice article, i heard about this method for a long time but i decided 2 days ago to give it a try
i’m fitness enthusiast + good food lover
I’m missing the meditation/breathing/mind control part for my journey to the ultimate well being
very interesting article i read thoroughly.
Sop
Wonderful article! I love the Wim Hof Method!
Thanks Kim! Do you use it for any particular reason?
– Grant
Thank you for your inspiring articles! I had never even heard of Wim Hof until the end of May, when I participated in an online yoga/astrology class I was taking notes and wrote down his name and looked him up the next morning. That’s when I started the breathing exercises and I haven’t looked back. Since it’s only been a couple of months I can’t attest to many of the benefits that you have described, but I will say that I have not gotten sick! My stress level seems to be somewhat lower, even though it seems like the world is becoming more stressful every day. The same goes for sleep. I never have been a great sleeper and I’m still not, but it seems to affect me less during the day than it used to. I do the breathing exercises on average 6 mornings a week, and have slowly switched over to cool showers, gradually turning the temp down until it’s as cold as it will go and leaving it for the last 30 seconds or so.now I need to get back into my yoga and meditation. I think that’ll help my sleep as well.
I have told pretty much everybody I know about his method. Unbelievable that something that is free that can be so helpful to one’s health is not just common knowledge!
Wonderful to hear! I often say that I think Wim has he scope to be one of the most important people of our lifetime. He brings great perspective to a lot of things!
I’ve been using the WHM for 2 months now religiously. Daily cold showers (1min 45sec) and WH breathing techniques
have changed my life.. I was at desperation point, depressed & stressed. Daily headaches for YEARS, taking preventative medication as well as
medication for my acute symptoms. NOTHING WORKED! I am now headache free, less stressed, more energetic and more patient due to the
WHM. I experienced the benefits almost immediately. I can not recommend this practice enough. Give it a go!!
Brilliant to hear Nadia! I’m glad you’re finding such strong benefits from the Wim Hof Method!
Thank you for sharing your experience and observations on WHM. Am on my 2nd day, will have shower proceeded with cold Canada winter water). I look forward to a good nite rest and energy for first day back at work tomorrow. Have been struggling menorraghia for years and iron depletion. I hope (believe in my gut) this boost and changes my body functions and avert invasive medical intervention.