My one-hour ice bath story
Forty-five minutes on the timer should be 15 minutes to go. I got this. Was it wise to do this on my balcony without supervision? Do I feel my hands? It's getting cold....Why am I doing this again? I can get out...I could get out. No one will ever know. Yeah, let's go. There are forty-four minutes to go now. *excerpt from a conversation between Sanjay and Sanjay.
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
When I started my cold journey in 2017, I never thought I would spend an hour in an ice bath. I just figured Wim Hof could do some insane stuff; I want to know what is happening in his mind. So, I courageously stepped under my first cold shower after reading his book, Koud Kunstje. I bought a thermometer and waterproof timer, and I was set, let me tell you.
Chills run down my spine as I turn the knob to cold. A whopping seven seconds later, I exited the shower. This cold stuff can't be that good. F*** that stuff. We all know how that turned our right.
The more time I spent in the cold and with breathwork, the more I tried different things. I always say that I won't teach what I can't do. Reading science papers is cool; recalling data from them here is nice, too, but I am not here to get you more in your head. I'm here to get you results, i.e., breathe better, perform better, and be authentic. No data is going to help with that.
As with anything I do, I get obsessed. So I did an ice bath or even two, sometimes every day for a year, if not longer. It became something fun. So I thought, can I do an hour? I could stay for 30 minutes in 1 degree, no problem.
Just like that, I did one hour—just kidding. I trained with the cold, taking more and more ice baths. I planned when I wanted to do the majestic hour of ice time. That glorious day arrived.
I woke up at 6 am as always and put my ice in the bath. I got this, I thought. I really thought this was the day. But 30 minutes later, I couldn't stand it anymore. It became unbearable. I was done. Today, the cold wins.
I couldn't figure it out. Why was I unable? Something went wrong. It made me rethink my approach to the cold and my entire practice. I went back to strength and conditioning knowledge. How do I train athletes? How do I successfully get them bigger, stronger, and faster?
Lightbulb moment
I figured out what I did wrong. My decade of experience led to this moment. The body is the body; it follows Universal principles, whether strength training or facing the cold. I became my own experiment. I decided to take a break from the cold and start from scratch. My goal: Sit in a 1-degree ice bath for 1 hour in 30 days.
My training was completely different, but I used the same principles I used for world championships. I realized that the body follows the law of adaptation. It doesn't matter what it adapts; it will follow the same process. Guess what happened?
30 days later
Fifty-nine minutes on the clock...my training worked...damn, it's all the same..this is crazy. One hour ice bath 1 degree. I'm doing it!" It took me about 2 hours to completely warm up. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
The one-hour ice bath taught me one thing: I already knew how to train for it. My understanding of strength directly applies to the cold and everything else. The principles are universal. I can train anyone to do this in thirty days or less.
Other than that, it gave me nothing other than a cool story to tell. I don't know if I will ever spend an hour in ice again.
Keep on incin’
Sanjay
P.S. no method advises staying in an ice bath for an hour. This was something strictly personal. My story is not a road to follow but just information. Please be wise if you are pursuing 60 minutes in the ice.