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Wim Hof Method (hyperventilation)

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abandon

Member
Dec 20, 2012
2
0
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Wim Hof is the cold water immersion world record holder. He offers a course on his techniques. Anyone have any insight? I'm skeptical of his practices as they involve hyperventilating.

breathing in and breathing out continuously (30-40 times) followed by an exhale breath hold. After every cycle take a deep breath and hold it for another 10-15 seconds (if you want longer, it’s not a problem at all).
I'm considering trying this with a standard free dive relaxed breathe-up instead.
 
Wikipedia Hyperventiliation:
This causes the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood stream to fall and produces a state known as hypocapnia. The body normally attempts to compensate for this metabolically.​
Appears bad for freediving, but given that we're trying to train the body to warm up and resist cold, the hyperventilation checks out.
 
What he is doing does not involve relaxation - which is key to freediving. Huffing and puffing gets your metabolism running.
This may be good for keeping warm but probably does not translate well for doing long freedives. We use wetsuits to keep warm.
 
The relatively long holds with each breathe make that routine less intense than it sounds at first, but its still roughly 3 times your relaxed breathing rate and for about 10 minutes. Thats long enough for even mild hyperventilation to substantially depress co2 levels not just in the blood, but in the tissues as well. It will take a while for that divers co2 levels to get back to the place where the body knows it needs to conserve 02, bad plan for normal freediving. Combine it with an exhale dive (exhale is how I dive) where you carry down significantly less 02 than full lung and it looks down right dangerous to me.
 
I've tried it for a while and I think the Wim Hof Method is very effective for its purpose of withstanding cold. However it is exactly the opposite of what you need to do in freediving and should definitely not be applied before a dive.
 
I guess it's good for static practice and increase hypoxic tolerance though. Keep it outside water.
 
I've tried it for a while and I think the Wim Hof Method is very effective for its purpose of withstanding cold. However it is exactly the opposite of what you need to do in freediving and should definitely not be applied before a dive.

Yes def ont before a dive. Having said that, do you think it is good dry training for freediving?
 
I love his method but only use it on the ground before diving as a relaxation and warm-up technique. I'd never want to lower my CO2 in the water. Contractions are my friend. Screaming/tearing friends, but friends all the same.
 
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