[athenot]

Breathing techniques AND exposure to cold.

From the article:

ii) During the training, subjects voluntarily exposed themselves to cold in several ways: standing in the snow barefoot for up to 30 min and lying bare chested in the snow for 20 min; daily dipping/swimming in ice-cold water (0–1 °C) for up to several minutes (including complete submersions); and hiking up a snowy mountain (elevation: 1,590 m) bare chested, wearing nothing but shorts and shoes at temperatures ranging from −5 to −12 °C (wind chill: −12 to −27 °C).

[jb1991]

> standing in the snow barefoot for up to 30 min and lying bare chested in the snow for 20 min; daily dipping/swimming in ice-cold water (0–1 °C) for up to several minutes (including complete submersions); and hiking up a snowy mountain (elevation: 1,590 m) bare chested, wearing nothing but shorts and shoes at temperatures ranging from −5 to −12 °C

These tasks sound so extraordinary to me, to the point where it is hard for me to believe there are not negative consequences. I mean, frostbite is a real thing. What about hypothermia? It seems there are serious risks to just going out and doing these things. I'm fascinated by Wim Hof but it seems the risks are not getting enough attention, unless the risks don't really exist, in which case there are a lot of myths out there.

[steve_adams_86]

I can see the risk, I agree. I’d compare it to running a marathon though. Not many people’s bodies will allow them to actually endure and accomplish this without them quitting and going somewhere warm. I suppose someone could go into the cold without preparing properly, for sure.

There are people who do his breathing technique and breath hold until they pass out too. Again, this is usually not damaging (from what I’ve read) if you’re somewhere safe, but you’re right that people miss the point and end up doing potentially dangerous things as a result.