Wim Hof Method Fundamentals – Best (and WORST!) Parts – Week 3 Review

After cobbling together my own Wim Hof training awhile back and getting disappointing breathing results, I set a goal to one day do the real Wim Hof Fundamentals course.   Now here I am!

Week 3 review below.   You can also check out my  week 1   and week 2 thoughts.

(Update 2021: If you landed here from an internet search for something like Wim Hof Menstrual Cramps or Wim Hof Period Pain, I’ve just added a section below since so many readers continue to write in about their experience.)

---

Week 3 included the three main parts of the Wim Hof Method: breathing, cold water training, and stretching.   Our homework was to do yoga in the cold..

Here’s what I thought about week three:

Wim Hof Breathing

Best:

• Less Intense is a good sign?!
  • Wim talks about getting “your charge” when doing the breathing.   I felt less and less of a “charge” last week, disappointingly.   I finally read the participant FAQs and discovered this is normal.   Wim says it’s the system getting balance
• Change of Pace
  • Wim introduced “energy” breathing this week.   We did two rounds of that, then two rounds of the exhale-and-holds.   I really liked it the first few days.

Worst:

• Cramptown
  • I had awful menstrual cramps, which the energy breathing seemed to make more intense.
• Change-a-phobe?
  • Halfway through the week, I got sick of doing the energy breaths and went back to the regular hold-on-exhale

Wim Hof Cold Water Training

Best:

• No More Pain!
  • I won’t say cold showers are becoming luxuriously pleasant.   But my pain-reaction at the beginning has dulled considerably.

Worst:

• Consistency
  • I had a rough week and ended up skipping two days of showers in a row.   The re-intro shower was “intense but not painful.”

Wim Hof Stretching

I did the video stretches half the time and  my regular yoga the other half.   The video stretches are less demanding, time-wise.   Thinking I should maybe stick with those to ensure I keep up with the course..

Homework: Cold Yoga Training

I straight-up failed.   There wasn’t enough structure for me (but what yoga poses do I do?   It’s about 50 degrees¹10C here in the morning.   Does that count as “cold”?   I don’t have a yoga mat to be outside on – do I need to do all the poses he does in the video?).

Ultimately, I defaulted to  last week’s  homework – submerging each hand and foot in a painful bath of ice water for two minutes each – but only managed to do it twice.

Wim Hof Fundamentals Course – Week 3 Review

I had a rough week.

I kicked off with tough cramps (feeling physically bad), ended with a huge loss of life motivation for a few days.   I couldn’t handle my own over-achieving this week.   Trying to do yoga, and the breathing, and the cold shower, and the ice exercise on days when I’m not 100%… is too much!

I didn’t succeed at doing Wim Hof Fundamentals in the morning each day, but that’s a goal I’ve got my eyes on even more for Week 4.

Excited to be more reasonable and keep the Wim Hof benefits in my life!  ♣

Read about week 4 here.

Can You Do Wim Hof on Your Period? – Wim Hof Menstrual Cramps

So many folks have written in about period pain or menstrual cramps while doing Wim Hof exercises.   I’ve gathered up feedback from the comments sections on my pages on Wim Hof Breathing (including this one) and am starting a little easy-reference section.   Please use the comments section below to contribute any perspective or experience on this subject!

• Laura:

  From a Chinese Medical Perspective (I’m an Acupuncturist), this breathing is creating intense movement.

  It is helping to detox the Liver. Liver governs the smooth flow of blood. Symptoms of Liver imbalance are cramps/pain/bloating/distention/breasttenderness/anger.

  In the healing process, things can get worse before they get better.

  Always listen to your body and also allow the body to process and shift into a healthier flow.

  This practice has brought up deep emotions (anger (Liver)/grief(Lungs) primarily) for me. And I’m grateful for this powerful tool.

  I have also used EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to help smooth what is coming up for me, physically and emotionally. You can find many YouTube Videos on how to do it.

  May your transformation be as peaceful as possible!

• Gabrielle:
  Ladies! No intense breathing exercices during your periods! Be gentle! Menstruating is already a releasing process on its own. Let your body do its thing without interfering during that special time. Play soft. If you wish to keep up with the breathing exercices routine during your periods, try alternate nostril breathing or cardiac coherence breathing instead. Resume with the Wim Hof method after your periods. Enjoy safely!
  .
• Gemma:
  I’ve only just started the whm but this morning found myself with an early period and really bad cramps which I don’t usually experience. I shall take it easy on the breathing for a few days.
  .
• Micheala:
  recently I came across to a woman who was leading one of the workshops of whim hof method and she realized that it seems the whole method is more convenient for men. most of the tested ppl were man anyways. She said, she for example noticed that women have very strong periods after doing the exercises regularly”¦ Then I realized that the period I experienced after my month doing breathing exercise was the worst one of my life”¦ So will probably just continue with the cold water, just with occasional breathing, recommending the whole method only to guys”¦
  .
• Basha:
  I’m very new to Wim Hof and only starting breath work and cold showers a week ago but researched on I’d to do it on my period and decided I’m not going to, just the cold showers. Doing well in terms of retention time and noticed that the times are much longer on day 3 it was 2:15 — when I focus on the body, especially slowing down the heart beat. This can make up to 1min difference. Mind is powerful. But as Wim says- ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR BODY
  .
• Medz Base:
  I’m doing this for 2 weeks, and I noticed too some bad cramps, backpain and leg pain during my menstrual cycle, and same happened after few days.
  .
• Mora:
  I’ve been doing WHM and had an unexpectedly early period too! It’s harder to track because I’m in mirena and currently ( literally right this second) nursing but it seems to be more than spotting. I did have one day a couple days ago when I just COULD NOT get warm and wasnt really up for cold exposure but otherwise ive been able to do it and it seems to help