Wim Hof

Hof explained that he was overcome with anxiety after his first wife Marivelle-Maria died by suicide in 1995, but soon learned how to control his emotions. 'If ...

I always did jumps everywhere, the crazy most extreme. ‘This was a beautiful woman and suddenly this darkness came in, and guys, I was left devastated, heartbroken. The Iceman’s Wim Hof revealed how his late wife’s suicide left him ‘paralysed with fear’ in tonight’s first episode of the new BBC One series Freeze The Fear With Wim Hof.

As his BBC One series Freeze The Fear begins, Stylist meets Wim Hof for a masterclass is cold-water therapy.

I can see how people get hooked, and though I won’t be submerging myself in ice like Hof himself every single day, I’m certainly going to brave the elements again when I need a quick body-and-mind boost. To “Wim Hof” the right way (yes, his name is a verb now), the water must be at an “uncomfortably low temperature” to maximise the rush of endorphins and affect your whole body’s physiology, he tells me. He coaches me in deep breathing – expanding my diaphragm to its full potential – and then holding my breath for a minute to slow down my heart rate and calm the nervous system. A central pillar of the Wim Hof method is breathwork, both before and during the cold-water immersion. And though I’m an unlikely person to jump on such a chilly bandwagon, my own experience with The Iceman was undeniably eye-opening. It’s around the time I lose feeling in my thighs that I begin to question whether taking my cue from an extreme athlete was a good idea.

Freeze the Fear, an icy new TV show hosted by Holly Willoughby and Lee Mack begins on Tuesday (12 April). The show will see eight celebrities test their ...

Hugh Jackman and Kendall Jenner are among the stars who've tried their hand at plunging into icy temperatures, inspired by the extreme athlete. He has also contributed to scientific understanding by showing that 'the autonomous nervous system related to the innate immune response, can be wilfully influenced,' something that was previously unknown to science. Actress Tamzin Outhwaite, tenor Alfie Boe, Manchester United star Patrice Evra and dancer Dianne Buswell are among those swapping their cosy lives in the UK for the Italian Alps.

Hof says he is able to achieve these superhuman feats through his Wim Hof Method which is a combination of breathing exercises, cold exposure and ...

Four people drowned while attempting the Wim Hof Method in 2015 and 2016. - After the last exhalation, inhale one final time, as deeply as you can. Once at full capacity, hold your breath for around 15 seconds, then let go. I don’t want anyone else to be in the same stressful situation that I was left behind in.” - Breathing It healed me.

Wim Hof, famous for his breathing method, will appear in a BBC One show set in the freezing Italian mountains · Sign up to our NationalWorld Today newsletter.

Who is the celebrity line up for Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof? When is Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof on TV? The extreme athlete has written a number of books, including; Becoming the Iceman (2011), Way of the Iceman (2015), What Doesn’t Kill Us (2017), The Wim Hof Method (2020 and The Iceman Speaks (2020). Wim Hof attributes his capabilities to the Wim Hof Method (WHM). The 62-year-old has previously set the world record for fastest half marathon barefoot on ice and snow, the world record for longest time in full-body contact with ice, and the Guinness World Record for farthest swim under ice. Hof created the Wim Hof Method, which combines cold therapy, breathing and meditation.

The extreme athlete will be guiding eight celebrities through a series of chilly challenges – but who is he?

For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey. According to Amsterdam-based paper Het Parool, four people have died whilst trying out the method, having drowned in pools of water. "Instead of being guided by my broken emotions, the cold water led me to stillness and gave my broken heart a chance to rest, restore, rehabilitate. His fascination with the cold began at the age of 17, when he felt an urge to jump into freezing water whilst walking through a park. With conviction, he mixes in a non-sensical way scientific terms as irrefutable evidence." He has written five books, including 2020's The Wim Hof Method, 2012's Becoming the Iceman and 1998's Climbing in Silence, and claims that through his method of withstanding the cold, which involves cold therapy, breathing exercises and commitment, it's possible to "become happier, healthier and stronger".

The Ice Man is famous for attempting to climb Everest in a pair of shorts and hiking boots, he believes that cold water can cure modern diseases and boost ...

In August and September I long for the chill of November and December, when the water is at its most pristine and icy to the touch. One month on and I was feeling more energised than I had in years. With a face so swollen that it was painful to apply moisturiser, and what felt like a constant migraine I went from antibiotic to steroid to heavy painkiller and back again in a heavily medicated dance for six months. In August the previous year I had come down with a sinus infection that I could not shake. Bright pink from the cold, with numb toes and tingling fingers, I was euphoric after that first dip. On a foggy morning in January 2019 I dropped the kids to school and drove to nearby Garrylucas beach, parking up beside the shore where people stop to drink their coffee and watch the waves.