Does the Wim Hof method actually work?
There are signs that the method can dampen the body's inflammatory response, but the studies are small, and for stress, mood, the heart and sport there is no clear advantage over simpler alternatives.
The Wim Hof method combines three things: a breathing technique in which you breathe quickly and deeply for a while and then hold your breath, exposure to cold, and a form of focus or meditation. A 2024 systematic review found eight studies of the method. All of them are small, so research is still at an early stage.
The strongest result concerns inflammation. In a 2014 study in Nijmegen, twelve healthy volunteers trained in the method for ten days and twelve others did not. All of them were then injected with a bacterial substance that causes a brief flu-like reaction. The trained group produced far more adrenaline, had more anti-inflammatory and fewer pro-inflammatory substances in their blood, and fewer flu-like symptoms. This shows that your breathing can influence your nervous system and your immune response. Whether that helps with inflammatory diseases has not yet been tested in large studies.
For stress and low mood the picture is mixed. In a study of 84 women with high stress and depressive symptoms, three weeks of the method worked just as well as slow breathing with a warm shower: symptoms fell in both groups. Only rumination after a stressful day fell more in the Wim Hof group. In a study of 404 adults, the method gave more energy and a clearer head after the daily exercise than meditation did, but after 29 days there was hardly any lasting difference.
No effect has been found on the heart and blood vessels or on sports performance. After fifteen days of daily practice, blood pressure, heart rate, arterial stiffness and mood did not change compared with a control group (42 participants). In young runners, four weeks of breathing training did not change their breathing during exercise.
Never do the breathing exercise in water or in the bath. Breathing fast and then holding your breath can make you lose consciousness underwater. In New York, two healthy young men drowned in a swimming pool this way after deliberately hyperventilating before going underwater.
This answer is based on a systematic review of eight studies of the Wim Hof method (2024) and on individual studies in healthy adults, with groups of 19 to 404 participants. Long-term studies and studies in people with a disease are still largely missing.
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