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The Tim Ferriss Show

#102: "The Iceman," Wim Hof

The Tim Ferriss Show

Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig

Lifestyle Design, Business, The 4-hour Workweek, Productivity, Timothy Ferriss Show, Startups, Tim Ferris, Entrepreneurship, Longform Interviews, Tools Of Titans, Timothy Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show, Tim Ferriss

4.617.4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 September 2015

⏱️ 84 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

WARNING: AS I’VE EMPHASIZED BEFORE, NEVER DO BREATHING EXERCISES IN WATER OR BEFORE TRAINING IN WATER. SHALLOW-WATER BLACKOUTS CAN BE FATAL. Wim Hof (@Iceman_hof) is a Dutch world record holder, adventurer and daredevil, commonly nicknamed “The Iceman" for his ability to withstand extreme cold. He is the creator of the Wim Hof Method and holds more than 20 world records. Wim is an outlier of outliers, as he routinely asks scientists to scrutinize and validate his feats. Here are just a few examples: In 2007, he climbed past the “death zone" altitude on Mount Everest (~7,500 meters) wearing nothing but shorts. In 2009, Hof completed a full marathon above the polar circle in Finland, in temperatures close to −20 °C (−4 °F). Dressed in nothing but shorts, Hof finished in 5 hours and 25 minutes. Hof holds the current Guinness World Record for the longest ice bath, now set at 1 hour 53 minutes and 12 seconds. But it’s not just cold. In 2011, he ran a full marathon in the Namib Desert without water. The run was performed under the supervision of Dr. Thijs Eijsvogels. He can also run at altitude without suffering from altitude sickness. In the same year, he was injected with toxins under doctor supervision and demonstrated that he could effectively control his autonomic immune response. Wim was able to raise his cortisol levels and lower his blood concentrations of cytokines (inflammatory mediators) using solely his meditation and prep techniques. Not only this, but he was able to train others to achieve the same effect… with only 4 days of training! We dig into all this and more. I loved this conversation and hope you do, too... All show notes, links, and resources from this episode can be found at http://fourhourworkweek.com/podcast This episode is brought to you by Audible, which I have used for years. I love audiobooks. I have two to recommend right off the bat: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – Perhaps my favorite audiobook of all time. Vagabonding by Rolf Potts – This book had a huge impact on my life and formed the basis for a lot of what has become The 4-Hour Workweek To get your free audiobook and a free 30-day trial, go to Audible.com/Tim. You can choose from the two audiobooks listed above or from 180,000+ audio programs. They offer audiobooks, magazines, newspapers and even classes. It’s that easy. Go to Audible.com/Tim and grab your free audiobook. This podcast is also brought to you by MeUndies. Have you ever wanted to be as powerful as a mullet-wearing ninja from the 1980’s, or as sleek as a black panther in the Amazon? Of course you have, and that’s where MeUndies comes in. I’ve spent the last 2-3 weeks wearing underwear from these guys 24/7, and they are the most comfortable and colorful underwear I’ve ever owned. Their materials are 2x softer than cotton, as evaluated using the Kawabata method. Check out MeUndies.com/Tim to see my current faves (some are awesomely ridiculous) and, while you’re at it, don’t miss lots of hot ladies wearing MeUndies.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Listen up everyone, important warning for this episode. As I've emphasized before,

0:04.1

you should never do breathing exercises in water or before training in water. So you should not

0:09.6

use the Wim Hof method without proper supervision A and B never do it preceding training in water or

0:17.8

in water. Shallow water blackouts can be fatal and I've seen some very, very scary accidents

0:23.6

in the past, including a very close friend who recently remained unconscious underwater at a

0:28.4

public pool for almost four minutes and remained unconscious for 20 minutes. He has a small

0:34.2

sun, could have died in the process, do not make that mistake. With all that said, please enjoy.

0:41.2

So I'm recording. Could you just tell me maybe what you had for breakfast? Yeah, nothing.

0:45.6

I had nothing for breakfast. I never eat breakfast. Okay. Yeah, just once a day. All right,

0:52.3

we're going to talk about that for sure. Let me just pause this.

0:55.1

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1:23.5

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as all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it, in fact, in the four-hour body. This is more than

1:34.9

10 years ago and I did not get paid to do so. With approximately 75 vitamins, minerals, and whole

1:40.6

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1:51.2

for gut health and immunity formula. I just have enzymes, adaptogens, and much more. I usually take

1:57.0

it once or twice a day just to make sure I've covered my bases if I miss anything I'm not aware of.

2:02.7

Of course, I focus on nutrient dense meals to begin with. That's the basis. But athletic greens

2:08.0

makes it easy to get a lot of nutrition when whole foods aren't readily available. From travel

2:12.5

packets, I always have them in my bag when I'm zipping around. Right now, athletic greens is giving

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my audience a special offer on top of their all-in-one formula, which is a free vitamin D supplement

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