Cold shower therapy has often been advocated at a frequency of up to once per day in water temperatures of approximately 8-16 degrees Celsius for durations of up to 10 minutes.
The protocol (frequency, duration, temperature) followed by subjects in relation to taking cold showers was not provided as part of the study.Ĭertainly, the extent to which these subjects were exposed to various forms of ‘cold therapy’ far exceeds the protocol often recommended for taking cold showers.
Scientists around the world were baffled by this exceptional performance. Wim currently (2016) holds 21 Guinness World Records, the most famous of which saw him sit in a large cylinder filled with freezing cold ice water for one hour and 52 minutes! Even more impressively, Wim’s core body temperature remained exactly the same throughout the duration of the record attempt. The exceptional Wim Hof, better known as “The Iceman”, is a Dutch adventurer and creator of the Wim Hof Method. Any discussion of the potential ‘immune’ benefits of cold-water therapy would not be complete without discussing Wim Hof.