THE specific BLOG

SITTING IN FREEZING WATER

Ever since I was a kid there was a restaurant/bar that would always do something called a polar bear jump.

If you are unaware of what that is, it’s where a hole is cut in the ice of a frozen lake and you jump in!

I did this with some friends when I was a kid and let me tell you….it was super cold!!

Almost every night I open up YouTube on my computer and check out the latest videos from some of the people I follow. One of my favorite channels is a group of 3 guys called Yes Theory. The entire premise of their videos is to seek discomfort.

Last year they released a video that was much longer than their other ones. They traveled to Poland to meet with a man by the name of Wim Hof. I had never heard of this man in my life but it looked super interesting so I watched the 40 minute video.

I thought this man was somewhat insane as he was walking in the snow with shorts and no shoes, and a bunch of other crazy stuff. What did catch my attention is the ice baths he was having the Yes Theory guys do. He mentioned that he has people sit in freezing cold water for 10 minutes at a time. There is some potential danger to this but he claimed that if you practice mindfulness and really focus on your breathing it has major benefits.

I decided I wanted to give this a shot so I figured I would contact my good friends at

Be Fitness in Delafield and see if they have an ice bath….I was in luck. Head trainer Lucas Nelson walked me through the steps and got everything set up as he does this with athletes for recovery. At this point I was pretty nervous but knew I had to do it.

I stayed in for 10 minutes and you know what….it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might’ve been. I was definitely numb but it was kind of fun.

About 4 hours afterwards I noticed that I had felt more relaxed than I ever had before. This is one of the main benefits to an ice bath and why so many athletes take them. I did more research and found out that they also help decrease inflammation, increases immune function, and helps the central nervous system.

Check out the video below for how my experience went!