Wim Hof is a Dutch extreme athlete and teacher, born in Sittard in 1959, known as “The Iceman” for his tolerance of cold. He has set Guinness world records for swimming under ice and for full-body contact with ice, and he created the Wim Hof Method, which combines breathing exercises, cold exposure and focus.
Brian Rose has interviewed Hof three times on London Real, in 2016, 2019 and 2025. They have talked about his breathing technique, ice baths, the immune and stress systems, grief and trauma, and, in 2025, newer research on breathwork, inflammation and longevity.
Each interview is listed below in order.
The Iceman: Breathe Motherf*cker! (2019). The fullest account of his method and his personal story. For his take on the latest research, watch The Iceman Returns (2025).
Short clips: Success Secrets (from The Iceman, 2016) and Success Secrets (from Breathe, 2019).
Hof’s method uses cycles of deep breathing followed by breath holds. He argues that this lets people consciously influence their adrenaline response and immune system.
He sees regular cold exposure, from cold showers to ice baths, as a way to train the body’s stress response. Speaking in 2025, he said modern comfort is part of why people feel chronically stressed and unwell.
In his 2016 and 2019 interviews Hof spoke openly about the loss of his first wife and how breathing and the cold helped him cope with grief. He believes the same practices can help others with depression and trauma.
Hof says his records matter less than his goal of showing that anyone can learn to influence their own physiology. In 2025 he also stressed safety and correct technique, especially never practising the breathing in water.
Wim Hof is a Dutch extreme athlete, born in Sittard in 1959, known as The Iceman. He holds or has held several cold-endurance world records and created the Wim Hof Method of breathing and cold exposure.
Across three interviews in 2016, 2019 and 2025, Hof talked about his breathing method, ice baths, the immune and stress systems, grief and trauma, and newer research on inflammation and longevity.
Start with The Iceman: Breathe Motherf*cker! from 2019, which covers his method and his story in depth. Then watch The Iceman Returns from 2025 for his view of the latest science.
Three times: in January 2016, December 2019 and November 2025. Two short Success Secrets clips are taken from the first two interviews.
The Wim Hof Method combines rounds of deep breathing and breath holds, regular cold exposure and focused attention. Hof says it improves energy, stress resilience and immune response. Health bodies advise checking with a doctor first and never doing the breathing in water.
He climbed to roughly 7,400 metres on Everest in 2007 wearing shorts, but turned back because of a foot injury and did not reach the summit. He has also climbed Kilimanjaro in shorts.
Official site: wimhofmethod.com
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