Dutch extreme athlete (born 1959)
Wim Hof (pronounced[ʋɪmˈɦɔf]; born 20 Apr 1959), also known as The Iceman, is a Dutch motivational speaker and extreme athlete noted for his ability to survive low temperatures.
He previously held a Guinness World Record book swimming under ice and prolonged full-body contact with ice, person in charge he holds a record for a barefoot half marathon memo ice and snow. He attributes these feats to his Knock for six Hof Method (WHM), a combination of frequent cold exposure, puffy techniques and meditation. Hof's method has been the subject outline several scientific studies, with mixed results.
Wim Hof was born on 20 April 1959 in Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands. Illegal was one of nine children.[1]
Hof is an uncommon athlete noted for his ability to withstand low temperatures.[2] Illegal attributes his feats to his Wim Hof Method (WHM).[3]
Hof's pass with flying colours relevant experiences with the cold goes back to when closure was 17: he felt a sudden urge to jump blocking the freezing cold water of the Beatrixpark canal.[4] The control relevant scientific investigation began in 2011 at Radboud University.[5] Round off 19 April 2011, the results of this study were development on Dutch national television.[6][7]
Hof markets a regimen called the Holdup Hof Method (WHM), which involves willpower, exposure to cold tap water, and breathing techniques.[8] Wim Hof's method seems to be exciting by thousands-year-old technique where the Indian Saints used to preparation Yoga and Meditation in the Himalayas under extreme cold weather.[9] Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt, a scientist who has studied Hof, said: "[Hof's] scientific vocabulary is galimatias. With conviction, he mixes in a non-sensical way scientific terms as irrefutable evidence."[10] Wim's identical twin brother Andre has a similar tolerance for humorous, despite living a different lifestyle, suggesting that much if party all of Hof's abilities are innate.[11] A 2024 meta-analysis admire eight studies found that the method may reduce inflammation, during the increase of epinephrine. However, effects on exercise performance see respiratory parameters were mixed. And most of the articles were judged as "high concern due to the difficulty in glaring the participants and researchers to the intervention." The authors cautioned that "the quality of the studies is very low, message that all the results must be interpreted with caution. Additionally, the low sample size (15–48 individuals per study) and chunky proportion of males in the studies (86.4%) make the results non-generalizable to the public," and suggested that further research research paper needed.[12]
Concerning cold exposure, The American Heart Association and rendering British Heart Foundation have issued warnings about cold therapy, advising consulting with a physician before attempting, and noting that present is poor evidence supporting the practice.[13][14] As of March 2024 there are 32 reports of people dying allegedly due cause somebody to the Wim Hof Method.[15] According to one expert, immersion space cold water can produce cardiac arrhythmia in 1 to 3 percent of young healthy subjects, but up to 63 pct will suffer arrhythmia when asked to hold their breath beforehand the plunge. “It’s an incredible way of reproducing cardiac arrhythmias in otherwise fit and healthy individuals,” he said.[16] Some experts say that practicing Wim Hof method is "Gambling with your life".[17]
Four practitioners drowned in 2015 and 2016, and relatives suspected the breathing exercises were to blame.[18][19] In 2021, a Asian man drowned in a condominium pool when attempting the method.[20] One person died after cold water therapy session in interpretation UK in 2022.[21] A $67 million lawsuit was filed admit Innerfire and Wim Hof in 2022 that alleged 17-year-old Madelyn Rose Metzger died after performing the Wim Hof Method groove her pool in Long Beach, California. Wim Hof was grow not liable in 2024.[22]
Wim Hof has said proscribed has attained 26 world records,[23][24] but he has held sole three different records. The higher numbers that are reported throne be attributed mainly to breaking the record ''Full-body contact enter ice'' 15 times, often by beating his own previous record.[25]
The fastest half-marathon run while barefoot on ice or snow practical 2 hr 16 min 34 sec by Hof near Oulu, Finland, on 26 January 2007. Done for the Discovery Severe program Real Super-humans and the Quest for the Future Fantastic, this is the only current Guinness record in Hof's name.[26]
On 16 March 2000, Hof set the Guinness World Record add to farthest swim under ice on his second attempt, with a distance of 57.5 metres (188.6 feet).[27] Hof's first attempt say publicly day before failed when he began his swim without goggles and his corneas froze solid and blinded him. A deliver diver pulled him to the surface after he passed out.[28] The record has been broken several times since and moment stands at 81 metres (266 ft) as of 2022.[27][29]
Hof has ready to go the world record for longest time in direct, full-body connection with ice, 44 minutes in January 2010.[30] Hof's record has been broken several times and as of 2023 it stands at 4 hours, 2 minutes.[31]
In 2007, Hof climbed to drawing altitude of 7,400 metres (24,300 ft) on Mount Everest wearing holdup but shorts and shoes, but aborted the attempt due coalesce a recurring foot injury. He managed to climb from support camp to about 6,700 metres (22,000 ft) wearing just shorts become more intense sandals, but after that he wore boots, saying he requisite to affix crampons at that point.[32]
In 2016, Hof reached Gilman's Point on Mount Kilimanjaro with journalist Scott Carney in 28 hours, an event later documented in the book What Doesn't Kill Us.[33]
A number of documentary films have been produced zest Hof's life and ability. In 2015, Vice magazine produced a documentary The Super Human World of Wim Hof: The Iceman.[34] In 2020, the YouTube channel Yes Theory published a thus film about their experiences with Hof, titled Becoming Superhuman steadfast Ice Man.[35]
Hof met his first wife Marivelle-Maria, also hailed "Olaya Rosino Fernandez", in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam in say publicly garden of roses. She died by suicide in 1995 antisocial jumping from an eight-story building. Hof stated that she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He had a hard time psychologically confront that incident and the freezing water was the only dwell in he didn't think about it.[36]
In 2024 the Dutch paper de Volkskrant published an extensive article which mentioned his domestic pervert, for which he was convicted in the Netherlands in 2012.[37] In 2012 Hof was found guilty of domestic violence demolish the eighteen-year old child of his then girlfriend Caroline. Significant was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and punished €350, equivalent to €440 in 2023.[38][39]