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Thanks mostly to this forum I discovered the Wim Hof Method just over a year ago and ended up trying out the breathing technique at an (unrelated) event. Essentially, in this technique you hyperventilate then hold your breath for ages, and somehow this confers some vague health benefits on you. It was pretty cool to be able to hold my breath for more than 2 minutes, but as I was reading about some of the health claims, some stuff just didn't make sense. Even Wim Hof's explanations had some huge errors, which was confusing... Anyway, I like Science So I set out to determine what actually happens in the body while you perform the breathing exercise (which DOES work) and finally this month I have a full coherent explanation! So if you're interested: Biology of the Wim Hof Method Breathing If you haven't already heard of it, I do recommend trying it - many people (including me and others on this forum) have seen noticeable improvements to their fitness and stress levels since starting this Out of interest, who here is currently practising Wim Hof's breathing technique?

I've just come back from a 7-month amazing travelling adventure in Latin America [details in first spoiler]. But I fail at following my challenges while travelling, so I've been mostly out of the NF scene since 2017 Now that I'm back at home (at my parents' house) it's time to set some fitness goals and start taking them seriously again I miss the gymnastics and calisthenics days of 2014-2015 but my goals have also changed a little since then! [details of my NF journey are in the second spoiler]. One problem is that I don't know what level I am at anymore with handstands, pull-ups etc., so it'll make me go crazy to chase achievement-based goals right now, so I'm just going to focus on getting out there and being active. Goal #1: Move and Train again: I'm stealing this one from Mad Hatter. The aim in to collect as many Mad Hatter Points (MPs) as possible during the challenge by doing various movement and training. 1MP: short unstructured movement (short bike ride, couple sets of push-ups, etc.) 2MP: more substantial workout 3MP: proper serious training, high intensity or with specific drills Hopefully I can do something with 2MP on average every day on average. Prepare to laugh at me as I massively miss this Maximum points available is 60. Goal #2: Assassin Training: And so I can't cheat goal #1 by just doing a billion sit-ups, I want to do each of these types of training at least once: gymnastics rings handstands hurdling climbing / bouldering longer run hill sprints weightlifting 3 points available for each of these (Maximum 20) Goal #3: Wim Hof Method: Some people on the forum (zenLara, annyshay, ...) have been experimenting with the, and I now have a reasonably good understanding of the Science behind it. If you want me to explain a little then just ask, but Wim Hof's (inadequate and inaccurate) explanations are on his website. It basically involves a breathing technique that causes temporary hypoxia, and taking cold showers. Other features in the full course include ice baths, yoga exercises and some meditation guidance. I've just come back from several months in the tropics, so I'll need to get used to coldness again haha... I'm not prepared yet to buy the full course (perhaps soon) but I want to get a regular schedule now of doing at least the breathing and the cold showers. 1 point for a cold shower 1 point for doing the breathing exercise (5 minute total retention as a minimum, so 2-3 rounds) 1 point for every new thing I try based on this method (Maximum 40) Goal #4: Bonus List: I just couldn't do a challenge without a "bucket list" type of challenge, so here are some bonus things I want to achieve in the next month: (8 points) learn Stairway to Heaven on the guitar (8 points) compose a new piano cover (4 points) record this new piano cover (6 points) plan professional project for travel at the end of May (6 points) create and memorize a system for decimal digit memorization (6 points) write 5 new articles on the website I maintain: World Mental Calculation (Maximum 30) And yes, the total points available add up to 150. There's no way I'm getting such a high score, so I'll award 1 stat point for every 12 challenge points. Also looking forward to seeing where the NFers are at after half a year not following you! Good luck everyone!

When we procrastinate on our goals, we are basically putting off our lives. I read this sentence the other day, and it felt like a slap in the face. It has inspired me to come back, full energy, full focus. I know I can do it, I just need to center myself in the one task at hand at every moment, instead of thinking "I will do it tomorrow/next week/when nice weather is back/when the end of the world comes". Goals. 1. I AM The Wolverine. 2. Use of weapon of mass destruction. 3. 1 zenhabit.

Welcome everybody! I'm a 27-year-old British guy who likes gymnastics, climbing, calisthenics, circus, weightlifting, ... and generally try to do too much. Last August I quit my job as a software engineer to go travelling around the world, volunteering for charities, learning new skills, and generally chasing excitement Brief summary of my journey since starting at Nerd Fitness: Jan 2014: joined the forums and planned to learn backflips outdoors by February. Hahaha that did not happen, but gymnastics and weightlifting happened lots Jul 2014: reached 10 seconds for handstands and recorded my progress [video] Oct 2014: bought gymnastics rings and went through a phase of training lots with these Aug 2015: reached so far my peak in gymnastics and made a compilation [video] in the Summer Aug 2015: moved house and got lazy Challenged with the Warriors and I don't think I even made it to a gym haha Jan 2016: decided that I needed more excitement and that in 2016 I was going to get it Aug 2016: quit my job and backpacked around Slovenia and Eastern Europe Sep 2016: competed in the Mental Calculation World Cup in Germany Oct 2016: studied Spanish in a language school in Valencia Nov 2016: competed at Memoriad in Las Vegas. Flew to Nicaragua to volunteer as a volcano tour guide for 3 months Feb 2017: backpacked around Nicaragua and Guatemala - both really nice destinations May 2017: spent a month in Barcelona learning more Latin dancing and learning to how to create websites - currently working on HyperBirthday Jul 2017: volunteered as an Engineering tutor in a Summer School in Oxford Aug 2017: competed in the Mind Sports Olympiad in London Sep 2017: sailed from Spain to Panama on the Nomad Cruise So now I find myself backpacking in Panama without much of a plan or routine. I've tried challenging during my backpacking trips before without much success, so I'm going to set up an uncharacteristically unambitious and unspecific challenge to ensure I'm being a healthy productive person whatever I end up doing on these travels Goal #1: eat fruit and vegetables: the standard Central American diet is fried rice, refried beans, fried plantain, fried egg and fried chicken/fish. With artificial juice drink on the side. Therefore I'm going to need to put extra effort into eating healthily, so 1 point every day I have 3+ fruit/veg and 1 point extra if I have 5+. Goal #2: workout: aside from swimming in the sea and hiking in the jungle I'm not getting much exercise, so I want to focus on the following areas: core upper body Realistically this is going to be in the form of short solo workouts or maybe the occasional hostel yoga class, but that's fine. 1 point for a workout (~20 minutes). 2 points for a long workout. Goal #3: Wim Hof: thanks @zenLara for introducing us to this - I'm going to do what @Mad Hatter is doing and doing the basic breathing exercises as I don't think I'd have the resources now to commit to the full thing. I'll also be mostly taking cool showers anyway because this is Central America we're talking about, not Minnesota Maybe at a later time I'll add in the more specific stuff in the actual course. 1 point for every day I do a session and report the results. Goal #4: purpose: at the moment I'm doing a lot of floating around (literally and metaphorically) without a plan. So each day I want to have some goal for the day decided by 11am and actually do it (or do something better, if a genuinely shinier opportunity comes along). When I quit my job travel it wasn't to sit here refreshing Facebook on the slow internet by the pool 1 point per day. Goal #5: bonus list: I can't help adding some random extra items to my list, so here goes: learn to play + sing a song on the guitar (probably "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica, or "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin (10 points) hit 60 dates/minute in calendar calculations - my target for the 2018 MCWC is 60 **on paper**, aiming for a medal (2 points for 58; 5 points for 59; 10 points for 60) try scuba diving (5 points) take some actual good photos of me, because I rarely have anything good for profile pictures anywhere! (3 points for one; 7 points for three) find a worthwhile professional project to work on while travelling (10 points) Based on a 32-day challenge, doing short workouts and only 3 F/G every day, and doing everything else, that's 160 points, so I'll award 4 points <--> 0.25 stat points. Advice request from anyone with Wim Hof experience: would you recommend doing a workout immediately after, immediately before, or considerably separated from each other?

I got about three weeks, right? Wim Hof 6-7/week - 2HEA 1CON Self-defence 2/week - 1BER 1DEX Cross-country running/uphill sprints 1-2/week - 1STA Abs 1-2/week - 1STR Wall walks and handstands prep 5/week - 1DEX

Main Wolverine’s goal: being The Wolverine. Fight. Train. Expose yourself to cold. Eat like a horse. Breath. New stuff Handstands!

Hello, Annyshay Here! Last challenge I learned something about myself... I am SO MUCH STRONGER than I have given myself credit for, and I can TRUST MYSELF. Let's get right down to business shall we? This challenge, we're going to get to know the Earth with Toph. Quests! Barefoot - spend time every day in nature barefoot Twinkle Toes - movement breaks (dancing encouraged) Melon Lord - tell stories, play games Dig Down - ongoing recovery work (journal and various online communities) Also, never forget. No one is alone. Let's get started!!!

This is it. Cold baths are here. It's been nice to know you all, I'll see you in the afterlife. Kidding. I'll post a challenge. Or something. I guess.

The challenge title's for @SymphonicDan Last challenge was a wash out, I went from being sick to being injured and most of the time I stayed inside my cave. But I did peek out of it once or twice and at least I tried as best I could. This challenge I want to remain outside the cave and actually, you know, challenge for once. So here's the dealio Every day I will: Practice one performance routine at home at least once I have 3 performances coming up and only know one of the choreographies at this point, and I haven't even started on polishing the movements. Right now I have a bit of a handicap in that I hurt my rib, but at the very least I can go through the choreo in my head. Eat one salad or smoothie My eating has been appalling lately and it's terrifying how few freggies I've been consuming. Need to rectify that and this should be a relatively easy way of making sure I consume at least some every day. Tidy for one single song My cave has been more of a dumpster than a home lately, I just haven't had spoons left over for adulting. But today I finally tackled the embarrassing mess and now I only need to keep it clean. I'm setting the bar ultra low, but every day I need to put on ONE song and spend that time tidying. Do abs or stretch With the performances I feel like I barely have time to train anything else, I haven't taken a technique class in weeks! I hope to be able to squeeze in some practices soon, but for now I should at least be able to spend a few minutes either stretching OR doing abs. Breathe Inspired by @zenLara, I'm quite tempted to try the Wim Hof method, but the light version for chickens. Because I'm not a cybort/wolverine and don't hate myself, I'm going to cherry pick the breath component and experiment with that. (I am intrigued by the cold water aspect as well, but I think I might try outdoor coldwater swimming in spring instead, Finnish style.) It's half an hour of stuff each day. I'm busy but I'm not *that* busy. I can do this, right? Right, let's do it! Starting tomorrow, I don't need a zero week, considering I've just had a zero month.

Greetings and Salutations! I have decided to wander over here from the Assassins area to try some change. Now, I am very, very adverse to change overall. Lots of good reasons, personal and even more so professional, but I need to get more comfortable with change again. In the bigger picture, I need to get more comfortable being uncomfortable. My goals are modest. Start Tai-Chi. I've done it before, and at a certain point it made me uncomfortable. Time to do it again. I found a local group and will embrace the change. In specific, attend sessions 2 to 3 times a week. Practice 2 to 3 times a week. This is where I go for deliberate mental discomfort. Wim Hof - breathing and embracing the cold. In specific, end every shower on cold, breath once a day, one cold bath a week. Once the weather turns out here, talking walks in the cold with the fluffy death machine (aka Benny, my dog, who might manage to sniff someone to death). This will be my gateway to physical discomfort again. Being the kind of person who has a hard time doing the minimum, I expect to exceed the minimums, but I will be facing my own internal resistance to change. If anyone knows of a good or better Tai Chi location in Colorado Springs, I am interested. For now, I am headed to Shorin as they are proximal. This is wildly out of my lane, please provide any and all input. I'll be here asking ignorant questions, don't hesitate to provide input to get me headed in a better direction. Oh, and memes. We like memes. - Murphy's Roommate

For those who do not know, I am training for the Polar Plunge. As one aspect of my training, I have been using the Wim Hof Method to acclimate to cold temperatures. In addition to cold exposure (cold showers, immersion in icy water, etc.) The WHM includes a unique style of breathing similar to the Tibetan Tummo "breath of fire" meditation. While I am not 100% convinced of some of the claims Wim has made about his methods (only because I don't have personal evidence), I will say the breathing has changed my mood and demeanor considerably. I feel so mellow after meditating with this style of breathing. The method is an intentional way to "cheat" the body into feeling stress by hyperventilating and then retaining breath. Wim likens it to the adrenaline and anxiety a person feels right before a bungee jump. For this reason, I combine my WHM breathing with a more "inactive" relaxed form of meditation. There is some counting required for the WHM and while the structure requires focus and mindfulness, it kind of keeps me from being able to "bliss out" and just relax as I breathe. So I follow my WHM breathing with something like a body scan or just sit and breathe and feel. Anything that requires little thought and just sitting and breathing. The method is not for everyone. It comes with disclaimers, the most common being don't do it in water because people have actually passed out while practicing the method. What do you think? Are any of you familiar with Wim Hof and his methods? What are your reactions to it?

For me, the last challenge was about finding my limits. This challenge will be aimed at building my foundation. Goal 1: Bodyweight exercises daily with an emphasis on form. Goal 2: Yoga or stretching every other day. Goal 3: Devote time to job search. Goal 4: Practice the Wim Hof Method daily followed by meditation. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

I've finally set my goals for my first four-week challenge. 1. Spend at least 5 minutes outside shirtless and shoeless in temps below 30 degrees F (-1 C). 2. Cold shower every morning for four weeks. 3. Practice at least 15 minutes of Wim Hof Method breathing (similar to Tibetan Tummo meditation) every day. 4. Raise at least $350 for the Special Olympics (What does this have to do with winter? Well...) 5. Participate in the Polar Plunge for the Special Olympics. I'm not even kidding when I tell you the date for the Plunge: February 4th, the last day of the four-week challenge. What better way to end my challenge than a jump into icy water? As for my Level Up Your Life Quest, I chose to find and outdoor destination without step-by-step instructions. Preferably in the snow to help prepare for #5. Good luck to all other challengers.