Paleo Diet: Raw Paleo Diet and Lifestyle Forum
Raw Paleo Diet Forums => Off Topic => Topic started by: Projectile Vomit on November 15, 2012, 05:33:09 am
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I started my winter cold training regimen today with a swim in Lake Champlain. Not exactly ice cold yet; the water was about 9 C (48 F), the air a bit cooler. I was pleased to see that I haven't lost any of the cold tolerance I built up last winter, as I felt no shock upon entering the water and was able to swim calmly for 5 minutes before I felt the need to get out of the water.
On a related note, I see that Wim Hof, known in the media as The Ice Man, released a book on his cold training method last fall entitled Becoming the Iceman. Anyone read it? I've got it on order from Amazon after failing to find a local shop that could order it in for me. I'd be happy to write a review of the book if anyone's interested.
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Coincidentally, I have recently been reading a bit about ice-baths etc. I have noticed how fired up I become after swimming in the sea at Easter. Sadly, I have no access to the sea or rivers where I am right now, but cold baths may be an option from now on.
By all means write a review. The way I see it, this sort of custom is very "palaeo" indeed.
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I just wrote a blog post about cold training and a bit more details about my adventures with it and my rationale for pursuing it: Embracing the chill (http://www.aisthetica.org/embracing-the-chill/). Becoming the Iceman should arrive in the next few days. I'll write a review once I read the book.
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OK, if I include a link to that blog post put in one of the introductory "sticky" topics here on rawpaleoforum? It's worth having non-dietary palaeo habits mentioned, too.
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Nice, you and Inger should exchange notes.
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OK, if I include a link to that blog post put in one of the introductory "sticky" topics here on rawpaleoforum? It's worth having non-dietary palaeo habits mentioned, too.
No problem.
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I love this Eric!
I am awaiting eagerly for your review on the book!
I do dips in the river every day, 1-2 times / day. I am staying in only maybe 2-3 minutes the temperature is 3 degrees C.. almost freezing. I could stay longer but my hands start to hurt and feet too. And I am careful to not get too bad detox because that is what happened if I do much. I get this weird detox that my mood suffers and I cannot need that right now. But I do it every single day. And I sleep in a very cold bedroom... and my appartment is about 15-17 degrees C, I feel comfortable in these temps now. Before I needed 22 degrees C to feel good..huh!
I do crave my dips now. It is like feeling thirsty.. but it is not water my bod wants, it wants the ice cold immersion in the river! So weird! :)
It is like the more one gets in touch with the cold the more one wants it.. slowly adapting. I get so hot now at work at times.. huh. I sometimes take a quick cold shower when lunch time. My coworkers already joke about it lol.
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Hmm, my mother likes to sleep in a cold bedroom. She closes the doors to prevent the heating reaching her bedroom. She's also into caloric restriction due to fear of weight-gain, and loathes the taste of cooked animal fats(she's on a cooked diet, but it's very rich in raw or steamed plant foods, and she believes the mainstream dietary guff). I'm not surprised that she looks and acts far younger than her same-aged contemporaries on crappy cooked diets.
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I've put a link to Eric's blog within the 1st post of the 1st thread in the info for newbies section of rawpaleoforum.
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Hmm, my mother likes to sleep in a cold bedroom. She closes the doors to prevent the heating reaching her bedroom. She's also into caloric restriction due to fear of weight-gain, and loathes the taste of cooked animal fats(she's on a cooked diet, but it's very rich in raw or steamed plant foods, and she believes the mainstream dietary guff). I'm not surprised that she looks and acts far younger than her same-aged contemporaries on crappy cooked diets.
You can't get her to eat good fatty fish raw? Well, at least she's eating good raw (or nearly raw) plant foods.
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Wow, Eric! You and the Iceman have achieved impressive feats indeed. I have the electronic version of Wim's book. I skimmed parts of it, but then it stopped working. You sparked my interest again and I learned that the reason it wasn't working was because Amazon disabled the version of Kindle I was using without warning. I updated it and can now read the book again. I also found a program that enables me to read it on my iPod Touch, which is more convenient to use than having to sit at a desk to read it. Thanks for the reminder about it!
One part of the book I found interesting was how he learned that healthy humans are born with the ability to not only withstand intense, lengthy cold, but to get warmer from it--when he saw that his infant son had been holding onto a snowball for over an hour without pain and his hands were actually quite warm as a result!
Wim Hoff can withstand the heat of "Hard Nature" too:
Q: How well can you withstand heat?
Wim Hof: “I just ran a full marathon in the desert without drinking water. The entire time, my core temperature remained the same. The cold is a temperature, heat as well, so I have complete control of both.”
http://becomingtheiceman.com/faq (http://becomingtheiceman.com/faq)
The Scandinavians have long used both cold and heat for therapeutic benefits. Cold and heat therapy fall under the umbrella term of "cryotherapy." My guess is that hormesis is the main mechanism that underlies the benefits of both.
a sauna followed by a cold shower has been shown to reduce pain in rheumatoid arthritis where pain is mediated by sensitised c-fibre sympathetics. Regular saunas have also been found to improve micro circulation and reduce vasoconstriction and hypertension.[53][54] Many symptoms of chronic illnesses may be due to vasoconstriction effects (e.g. cold sensitivity, physical pain, and even mood states); and sauna improves microcirculation and blood supply to constricted areas.[55]
Research has also shown that adaptation to cold through short term cold stimulus, as in cold swimming, immersion (or showers) has the added benefit of improving the body's anti oxidant capabilities, with increases in glutathione and reduction of uric acid, which may mean better handling of the stresses of illness.[56] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauna#With_cold_exposure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauna#With_cold_exposure)
"Edmund Hillary's ascent of Mount Everest was a testament to human achievement; my climb of Mount Everest in my shorts will be a monument to the frivolous, decadent nature of modern society." ~Wim Hof
Something occurred to me today while doing a cold shower that followed a hot bath: the areas of my body most sensitive to the cold water are areas that are normally not exposed to the cold, particularly cold wind--the backs of my upper arms, shoulders and upper back and the hair-covered parts of my scalp. Exposing these areas to cold water has made them less sensitive.
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I've switched from outside to cold bath. Last time the water outside was 6C. I hold 10 min, but it was tough (every slight move - pain). Yst, after squats I did 10C bath. It is too small even for my small frame. Thus it was 15 min for legs and lower half, 15 min for upper part with some part of the leg our of water. It was easier (the room is warm, palms and toes - out, film of the water around the body, 10C is much easier than 6C). After the bath I got 1 hr shivering... I am far away from cold adapting state.
One of my goals to be where Inger is now.
Good luck.
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GCB's youngest son in snow.
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Bought this book after seeing this thread a bit ago, and I'm about 20 percent through it. So far I'm really enjoying it, and its inspiring me! I've begun my cold training.
I've a problem managing my body temperature, it seems. When I sweat from anxiety (very often) my body heats up like a fireplace and I can feel the heat wafting from me like a heater and it feels uncontrollable (even though in essence I am controlling it, negatively through the inducing of my anxiety). Growing up I really tended to like the cold, when I had much less of a problem, and I think I've gotten away from that.
Cold training seems like a real path to helping ease, and eventually erase, my problems. Its mind training at its finest!
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barefoot sounds like you have some hormonal issues
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I'm also training my body to become less sensitive for cold. I don't do swimming in cold water but I cycle in my t-shirt to and from work (+/- 1 hour cycle). Last week it was 2 degree Celsius I didn't feel cold or something, the cold air tickles my skin but that's about it, it's more a kind of refreshing/free feeling. I'm also curious how long I can stand the cold (is it possible to cycle in freezing weather in your t-shirt?). I think it's good that you can withstand cold or heat, normal people can only function well in 20-25 degree Celsius anything outside that range and they cannot function any more.