Breathe, and embrace the cold

Over the years, I have found that I am much better about my training when I have some sort of disciplined routine added to the mix. In the past, I used to drink tuna shakes. One can of tuna undrained, mixed with 1 cup of orange juice, throw it in a blender, frappe for a second or two, then chug. It isn’t as bad as it sounds. Sometimes I would substitute V8 for the orange juice, and sometimes I would use both for some variety. My thinking behind this was that if I were going to go through the trouble of drinking a tuna shake daily, I would be more mindful for the rest of the day, maybe skip the Snickers bar later. It also makes for a great conversation piece, most people have never had a tuna shake, and the reactions to my description are amusing.
This time around, I have found something different, a disciplined routine with much more benefit, cold exposure and breathing exercises. Specifically, I am following a method outlined by Wim Hof. The three pillars of his practice are breathing, cold exposure, and commitment. Once again, a very simple and straightforward regimen. I was introduced to Wim Hof by my friend Myles, who has been doing it for six weeks now. He is enjoying it, it looked interesting, it fits the bill for what I am looking for, so I figured, why not?
I am not here to promote Wim Hof. I am not trying to sell anyone on this method. But like my friend Myles, I discovered quickly that I absolutely love this routine. I started my first day off with an attempt at a cold shower. Our new house has a single handle for the water, not two separate controls, so I was unable to get the water very cold. That was disappointing. However, we do have a pool out back, so I thought let’s use that! It turns out it is the perfect solution for me! The water in my pool is 52 degrees, and most mornings, when I slip in, it is below freezing. After I walk Bean, usually doing my breathing exercises during the walk, I will come straight in and change into my swimming trunks. After one series of breathing exercises, I hold my breath after emptying my lungs and slip in the deep end. Once I am submerged, I breathe normally. The first time I did this, the flight or fight instinct did kick in, but after five times now, it is gone. I am mentally prepared for the water, and it feels fantastic. I started out staying in for 30 seconds. This morning, I stayed in for two minutes. My next goal is five minutes, and then it will be ten.
My ankles, knees, back, hands, shoulders, basically all my joints feel fantastic after this for several hours. I have even done this in the evenings if I am sore.
Wim Hof has die-hard followers as well as people who think he is just bat shit crazy. I think he is bat shit crazy, but he has found a set of simple things that have made an enormous difference in his life, and he has a passion for sharing that knowledge with other people. I respect that and have found it also works very well for me.
I also had two bonus findings today as I watched more of his lecture series. After three rounds of breathing, I had a retention time of 1:51 (retention time is the amount of time you are holding your breath with your lungs empty). This is a considerable improvement compared to the 1:05 I did three days ago. Wim also has a session on doing push-ups after breathing while holding your lungs empty. Five weeks ago, when I started getting back into the gym, I quickly realized I could not do more than one or two proper push-ups, so I began with kneeling push-ups. Over the last five weeks, I have had about five sessions of warm-ups involving push-ups, and I did them all kneeling. Today I decided to do a baseline push-up test, and after one series of breathing, I went for it and completed 18 proper push-ups, not kneeling. A far cry from my Army days of doing 60 to 80 for the PT tests, but I consider this significant progress.
So breathe my friends, and embrace the cold.
