It’s crazy to think that I am a month into the 10-Week Online Wim Hof Method Course. As the course is progressing the difficulty of the exercises and breathing each day is increasing. Not only are the exercises and breathing increasing in difficulty but also the cold exposure as well.

When this week initially unlocked, the video went from just about 40 minutes in week 3 to over an hour in week 4. Much of the additional time was an extended meditation at the end of the video. While we briefly meditated in earlier weeks this week’s meditation was well over 15 minutes! 15 minutes of meditating would have been hell not too long ago but yet I found myself working through it, doing it and actually enjoying some of the peace and calmness that comes with the practice.

Wim Hof Method Week 4 Exercises

The Crow Pose Photo Credit: Creative Commons

This week added in the crow pose into the exercises taken from traditional yoga practices and added in a stretch that Wim calls a split but looks more like a modified Warrior Yoga pose. Additionally, inversions were introduced in the form of a shoulder stand or for those more experienced a headstand.

For me the headstands brought me back to times when I seriously practiced yoga years ago and when in Costa Rica on a 3-week surf and yoga trip we practiced yoga about 2-3 hours a day 5 days a week and had to learn to balance yoga blocks on our feet while in a headstand. It is full bringing past practices in with the current 10-Week Wim Hof Method Training.

Cold Water Protocol – Week 4

At this point, I am getting pretty comfortable with the minute of cold water in the beginning of my shower and ending with the minute of cold at the end. In a weird way kinda looking forward to it. But the course being as it is, you don’t get to just settle for something that is becoming comfortable.

So the program being what it is and getting us out of our comfort zone, Wim added a challenge to the week – A 10 MINUTE COLD SHOWER. As I talk about in the video above, I have some experience with the cold both good and some really bad experiences. The bad experiences have left me feeling a bit well of a wuss of cold cold water. But, deciding to give this program 100% I finally mustered up the courage to take this challenge on Friday afternoon. It took me about 20 minutes to pump myself up to take on the challenge. I started with the typical (at this point) minute of cold, then took my hot shower, then took some deep breaths and pulled the dial all the way over to 100% cold.

As I mention in the video our tap water is about 43 degrees Fahrenheit currently and our house sits at a brisk 61 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. I focused my attention and went for it, the first couple of minutes were agony. I then settled into the shower, and then battled off the dreaded shakes for the last few minutes. But then the timer went off and I was done! Elated I got out of the shower and knew I was one more step towards breaking those old fears after World’s Toughest Mudder 2011.

See the Progress Over the Past Weeks:

Wim Hof Method Week 1 Check-in
Wim Hof Method Week 2 Check-in
Wim Hof Method Week 3 Check-in