The effects of the Wim Hof Method techniques differ from person to person. Everybody’s experience is slightly different, and is partially determined by your goals and expectations. A professional tennis player for example, will likely seek improved athletic performance, whereas someone suffering from rheumatoid arthritis will sooner see benefit from lower inflammatory markers.

Reported general benefits of the Wim Hof Method include: increased energy, improved sleep, reduced stress and anxiety, heightened focus, accelerated recovery, and a general improvement in quality of life.

The potential benefits are numerous and diverse. Ultimately, the only way to find out what the Wim Hof Method does for you is to try it for yourself!

The Wim Hof Method can be practiced by every healthy individual. When the Wim Hof Method is practiced in the correct way, it can contribute to a healthy, strong, and happy life. As breathing techniques and cold exposure can affect the physiology of the body, this can have a profound effect on people in poor health or with certain illnesses. If you are dealing with a serious medical or psychological condition, we advise counseling a healthcare professional before attempting any of the Wim Hof Method techniques.

We advise against practicing the Wim Hof Method if you are dealing with any of the following:

• Coronary heart disease (e.g. Angina Pectoris; Stable Angina)

• Cold urticaria

• Epilepsy

• Kidney failure

• Raynaud’s Syndrome (Type II)

• High blood pressure (in case of prescription medication)

• A history of serious health issues like heart failure or stroke

• Shortly after an operation

If you suffer from migraines, we urge you to be cautious about taking ice baths.

The average daily investment is 20 minutes to start your day. During the day focus on deeper more conscious breathing. Once you have unlocked how to do the Wim Hof Method, you can access it indefinitely, and move through the stages at your own pace. The Wim Hof Method does not finish after our courses. The Wim Hof Method should be implemented in your life daily to reap the full benefits. 

The breathing techniques can cause lightheadedness and even loss of consciousness. Children often have not matured to the point where they can adequately assess these risks. Moreover, their brains are also physically still developing.

We therefore advise that children under the age of 16 are supervised by a parent or legal guardian. Please be careful with regard to cold exposure, and build this up gradually.

Start your day right and do them in the morning. Jump-starting your body right from the get-go will help you spend the day both energized and relaxed. For best results, do the exercises on an empty stomach.

If you are pregnant, we advise against practicing the Wim Hof Method. We do not know if the increased adrenaline levels associated with the Wim Hof Method techniques adversely affect the health of the baby. This is of course a tremendously delicate matter, and we want to be as careful as possible.

When the baby is born, you are safe to resume practicing the Wim Hof Method.

It's important here to differentiate between the two types of immune responses in humans.

The innate immune response is a kind of all-purpose, break-glass-in-case-of-emergency response. The proteins that are released use brute force to deal with the foreign threat. They attack almost anything in their path, to the point that they sometimes mistake healthy cells for sick ones. When they attack your healthy cells you become inflamed. Wim Hof Method practice suppresses this response.

Then there's the adaptive immune response. This is your body recognizing the invading pathogen, and creating antibodies to deal with that specific threat. This response is upregulated by Wim Hof Method practice.

This effect is known as 'tinnitus', and it has a wide range of causes and manifestations.

For some people, practicing the Wim Hof Method either induces or exacerbates the ringing, while for others it changes the pitch. Conversely, those dealing with chronic tinnitus often find relief from its concomitant anxiety in the calming effect of the breathing techniques.

The connection between tinnitus and the Wim Hof Method has various possible causes. Medical research shows a direct link between pulsatile tinnitus and anaemia, which the Wim Hof Method may ameliorate through the elevated oxygen intake. The breathing exercises also increase neural activity in the auditory brainstem, where the brain processes sounds, possibly causing auditory nerve cells to become over-excited.

The scientific community continues to grapple with the particulars of tinnitus, but has established that the phenomenon itself is harmless. In the vast majority of cases, the ringing disappears with repeated breathing practice. If you find that, after several weeks, the noise persists or intensifies, some underlying physiological condition may be at play, and we recommend you consult a medical professional.

During the breathing exercises, you may experience involuntary muscle contraction, known as ‘tetany’. Intensified breathing causes an efflux of CO2, which in turn starts a cascade of ionization changes that leads to increased sensitivity of nerve cells. These then require less excitation to engender a muscle response, to the point where muscles can contract spontaneously. The effects are typically expressed most distinctly in the hands and feet, but can extend across the entire body.

Barring any preexisting medical conditions, this phenomenon is entirely harmless, and the effects dissipate within minutes. Over time, it may no longer arise at all. If the sensation is painful, please consult a medical professional.

You should breathe normally during any type of cold exposure involving water - do not follow the Wim Hof Method breathing exercise. In rare cases, Wim Hof Method breathing can lead to fainting, which is more dangerous around a body of water and can lead to drowning. 

Cold exposure boosts the release of norepinephrine, which as a neurotransmitter is involved in focus, attention and mood. It inhibits inflammation by decreasing the signaling protein TNFα. Norepinephrine also acts as a hormone, promoting vasoconstriction and thus decreasing the total surface area by which heat is lost to its surroundings.

The greater the jump in temperature, the more norepinephrine is released. It follows that going from hot to cold repeatedly, augments the concomitant health benefits. The effect is thought to be more pronounced with more extreme swings, as when alternating between ice bath and sauna. Research on this is lacking, and conclusive findings have yet to be established.