Second Wind Wim Hof Breathing

[DShen]

Hey all,

I'm a week or two back from the awesome workshop in Seattle! Going through my notes and wanted to verify - I remember Pavel commenting on Wim Hof breathing but in looking through my notes I could not find the verdict. Could someone else here comment on whether Wim Hof breathing is ok or not? I thought he said there was benefit to practicing two things at once, hyperventilation and hypocapnia, but then there is the notion that hyperventilation leads to negative results. I also recall Pavel saying he wasn't super familiar with Wim Hof's breathing technique.

In case those of you who might not know what Wim Hof breathing is, it is 30-40 quick breaths (hyperventilated), and then you hold your breath for as long as you possibly can. Then inhale as deep as you can and hold it for 10 seconds. Repeat.

If anyone has insight I'd love to hear it. Thanks in advance!

Dave

 

[Mike Torres]

I've attended twice (LA + Seattle) and don't remember Pavel addressing Wim Hof breathing directly. But he did cover hyperventilation - and his advice (based on the research he's done) is not to do it prior to breath holds. In the best case, it isn't necessary to improve CO2 tolerance / performance / longevity, and in the worst case, it can be dangerous/unhealthy to do it. The manual has more specifics.

Cold exposure is great, and combining breath holds (hypercapnic or hypoxic) with cold exposure should work well.

 

[Camden Allison-Hall]

I'm by no means an expert on the topic, but I've experimented with Wim Hof as well as many of the breathing methods from the Second Wind manual.

The way I've come to understand it is the Wim Hoff can be helpful for increasing your tolerance to stress. Hyperventilating is a stressful event and so to is holding your breath for a long time right after. I've viewed it as training my body and brain to not freak out due to the lack of oxygen, but to focus on being relaxed and smooth.

The Second Wind breathing on the other hand, as I understand it, is meant to be a non stressful event. If it is stressful, such as you hold your breath too long and have to take a gasping breath in, then you're turning on the alarm systems, and thus won't be relaxing the way we are aiming to. We want our body to get accustomed to a lack of oxygen and feel comfortable about it. Down regulating our CNS is a big goal of the Second Wind breathing, as I understand it.

So the Wim Hoff breathing helps you to increase your tolerance to a stressful event in the moment, while the Second Wind breathing helps you to down regulate your CNS, which in the big picture absolutely helps you to increase your tolerance to stress.

I'd be very curious what others think about the topic.

 

[jef]

I participated to one event with Wim Hof and did the 10-weeks course.

There are three pillars on WHM. Breathing, cold exposure and commitment/meditation (depending on when you took the course).

One thing that is often missed is that there are also two parts of WHM breathing.
One is "normal" breathing, that he recommends to be slow, calm, nasal and diaphragmatic. All good.

The other one and most commented is the specific WHM breathing exercise, which is hypocapnic and highly hypoxic.
With the hyperventilation, the level of CO2 comes down (hypocapnic), which delays the signal to breathe. In turn, it allows to hold breath longer and go into severe hypoxia (I don't recall exactly the number in the dutch study, but it was below 60% after a few rounds).
Is it good or not? I only have an opinion on this, no evidence, so I will not say anything.
However, I would advice against WHM breathing exercise IF one does chronically hyperventilate, until regular ventilation is normalised, as I don't think that forcefully hyperventilate will do a lot of good in this case.

Second pillar is cold exposure. All good. Wim Hof himself advises most people not to go too far ("This is my sport, you don't have to do the same") and has told that cold showers and some short cold immersions are enough for most.

Third pillar has changed. It used to be meditation (third eye meditation) and is now commitment. I don't understand what they mean by commitment, so I can't comment.

 

[Steve Freides]

I've attended twice (LA + Seattle) and don't remember Pavel addressing Wim Hof breathing directly. But he did cover hyperventilation - and his advice (based on the research he's done) is not to do it prior to breath holds.

However, I would advice against WHM breathing exercise IF one does chronically hyperventilate, until regular ventilation is normalised, as I don't think that forcefully hyperventilate will do a lot of good in this case.

Buteyko breathing, which is what I do, have several practices, the most basic being breath holds after normal breathing and a normal exhalation. I have found this to have profoundly beneficial effect on my own life and recommend it highly. The purpose is health, not improved athletic/sports performance, although many people have reported it helps their sports performance simply by having them breath differently.

Anyone interested can Google my name plus the word Buteyko and you will find a web site, article, video, etc.

-S-