How I Became an ‘Ice Bath Guy’

On TikTok, on Instagram — in every single place actually — there’s a new sort of Man.

There’s at all times a brand new style of Man. Traditionally, however particularly up to now 5 years, males have begun to coagulate — merge, if you’ll — round singular, unified identities that bond them in areas each actual and digital. 

We now have Video Sport Guys. Craft Beer Guys. Reddit Guys and Jiujitsu Guys. We even have [shudder] Hat Guys. An limitless procession of… Guys. Extra just lately, in 2022, we had been launched to Spouse Guys. 

Now, I would prefer to introduce you to the ultimate boss of Guys: Ice Bathtub Guys.

In the event you’ve spent any time on social media, significantly Instagram or TikTok, you’ll have seen this Man in his pure habitat. At 4 a.m., he emerges from his cave. He stands — often semi-naked — subsequent to a bathtub, or a bucket, or an overpriced barrel packed full with ice and water. He units up his digital camera, as a result of they at all times have a digital camera. He makes communion with this digital camera, in platitudes, concerning the grind, about successful the day, about preventing his base instincts to not get up early and partake in unhinged behaviors.

Then he plunges — totally submerged within the ice water, shivering as he vomits out extra platitudes. “Consolation is your enemy” or “callus your thoughts.” That type of factor.

The Ice Bathtub Man has overcome his demons, he has turn out to be stronger, he’s higher, he’s recovering quicker, he’s feeling good, he’s the grasp of his area and his thoughts as a result of he has — at this ungodly hour — clambered clumsily into this chilly physique of water and remained nonetheless for a selected time frame.

He has turn out to be the Final Man. The Ice Bathtub Man. 

For one weird, unforgettable day, I turned an Ice Bathtub Man too. 

Please enable me to elucidate.

It began with chilly showers. A chilly bathe problem was my gateway drug. For the whole lot of 2022, I used to be a Chilly Bathe Man. For 12 straight months, I deserted heat water and took nothing however chilly showers. Why? I am nonetheless not totally positive. It was an impulse factor, a short lived mind illness from which I’ve since recovered. My inside monologue recommended chilly showers had been a good suggestion and I went with it. Months later, I am nonetheless undecided it was worthwhile.

My associates began jokingly calling me Wim Hof — after the Dutch motivational speaker, well-known the world over for his intense, ice-related endurance challenges. 

So in March this yr, when Hof — aka The Iceman — arrived in my residence metropolis of Sydney to ship a collection of clinics, those self same associates thought it might be humorous (and considerate) to purchase me a ticket. A cross to an ice tub seminar, hosted by Hof himself.

Like a shivering, confused Pokemon, I used to be about to evolve from an itty-bitty Chilly Bathe Man… to a full-blown Ice Bathtub Man.

Iceman 

Primarily based in Sydney, inside strolling distance of the Harbour Bridge, Luna Park is sort of a Six Flags stripped again by an element of 10. 

It is a low-rent theme park, a grotesque assortment of sights and warped checks of talent. An establishment that holds a good quantity of nostalgia for Australians above a sure age. However in 2023, it is a warped anachronism for a unique place and time, the place hucksters and carnies reigned supreme. It additionally — bizarrely — recurrently performs host to enterprise conventions and motivational audio system. 

Right here, on a boiling Friday afternoon, Hof is within the technique of delivering a “security briefing,” pacing frantically forwards and backwards in entrance of a crowd of a whole lot, making fart jokes, screaming issues like “we will change the world.” 

Hof is 63 years outdated. He is somewhat extra regular than I anticipated. Effectively, he’s, and he is not.

In contrast to the TikTok influencers who climb into ice baths at 4 a.m, Hof is not ripped or shredded. He is brief and stumpy, with scraggly hair and an unkempt beard. Bearing an ill-fitting T-shirt and flip-flops, he would not appear to be a motivational speaker — he seems to be like an Aussie bloke grabbing a sausage roll at his native gasoline station. 

He is additionally bonkers. In a great way, I believe.

“The ice is your mirror,” he says, mysteriously.

The ice is your mirror… rattling.

I discovered myself swept away with the group. “Yeah!” I started pondering to myself. “Ice is sorta reflective. Possibly it may be a mirror, proper guys? Possibly we can change the world by climbing into an especially chilly physique of water.”

Hof simply has that vibe. 

“See you on the Ice Baths,” he shouted. He’d been onstage for 2 minutes. That was our security briefing. That is all it took for Hof to persuade me and everybody in attendance that ice was a mirror and we may change the world by leaping in.

Virtually instantly, everybody poured out of the convention corridor into Luna Park. 

Surrounded by ferris wheels, fairy floss and the faint aroma of popcorn, I used to be about to partake in my very first ice tub.

The ice tub cometh

Of all of the queues at Luna Park that day, the ice tub with Hof was by far the longest. 

The irony did not escape me. It had the identical vitality as ready for a curler coaster. That obscure feeling of concern. A collective, vibrant pleasure. A protracted-ass await an especially non permanent expertise. Caked in sunscreen in my little swim shorts, I baked within the scorching Australian solar, inching nearer to Hof and quite a lot of makeshift, inflatable swimming pools — full to the brim with chilly water and copious quantities of ice. 

The most important shock was the group itself. I anticipated a potent mixture of fitness-pilled Ice Bathtub Guys and barefoot hippies clad in canvas. What I received was completely different. There have been ladies right here — a lot of girls. It may need been a 50-50 cut up. 

I received to chatting. Could, a private coach, turned a fan of Hof after watching movies on YouTube and cycled all the way down to Luna Park between consumer conferences to strive an ice tub for the primary time. One other lady — middle-aged, cracking jokes the entire method — was right here on a dare. This was a once-in-a-lifetime expertise for her and I believe many carried the identical vibe. Weirdly, the Ice Bathtub Guys largely stayed residence. 

In actual fact, after making it to the entrance of the queue and giving Hof an enormous hug (everybody did — a part of the bundle, I assume), I observed that every one 10 individuals in my ice tub group represented a various cross part of the Australian inhabitants. Males, ladies, younger, outdated, completely different races and backgrounds. All of us gave one another a fast look, the type of eye contact you share if you’re about to embark on one thing totally silly.

After which, collectively, we climbed into the ice tub.

It was… chilly. Clearly. However a unique sort of chilly. The kind of chilly that makes your physique really feel prefer it’s on fucking hearth. Hof’s main space of experience helps his college students breathe, and, climbing into this ice tub, I instantly understood why. It was extremely arduous to inhale and exhale usually on this state. Instinctually, I assumed taking lengthy deep breaths would make it simpler for me to acclimatize, but it surely did not assist in any respect. 

The one factor that basically made issues extra bearable was respiration out. I picked a degree within the horizon to gawk at and stared into the void, ready for the 2 minutes to finish, so I may clamber out of this frozen hellhole and reside the remainder of my regular life in peace.

However then, within the last 30 seconds, a fever dream. Hof grabs a microphone, or a megaphone. Possibly it was the uncooked energy of his personal voice pushed to its limits. He started chanting, screaming at full blast like a call-and-response preacher:

“WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?”

Everybody, in unison:

“OOH OOH OOH OOH!”

“WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?”

“OOH OOH OOH OOH!”

We chanted like males. Baha Males. After which it was throughout. We climbed out of the ice tub, wrapped ourselves in towels. I felt… OK? Relieved. Proud? Possibly. I discovered myself laughing. This was hysterical. Each single a part of this was hysterical. For now, the curler coaster was over.

The King of Ice

Historical past is plagued by examples of human beings forcing themselves by means of unimaginable, torturous rituals. In Papua New Guinea, males reduce elaborate elongated patterns into their again, chest and buttocks to suggest their coming of age. Some tribes, together with Indigenous tribes right here in Australia, practiced unspeakably brutal circumcisions. Many of those traditions had been designed to ingrain an intense bond of belief in members of the tribe. If they might bear the ache of fingernail removing or tattoos or penis mutilation, they could possibly be trusted with the secrets and techniques of the clan. 

Possibly ice baths are an especially tame model of that very same impulse. That, or a warped mixture of junk science, placebo results and poisonous masculinity.

I’ve two sons, ages 10 and seven. Throughout my yr of chilly showers, each thought it was humorous to additionally take chilly showers, to see who may keep within the longest, attempting to outdo one another. My 7-year-old as soon as stayed in for quarter-hour and — hilariously — began calling himself “The King of Ice.”

However once I received residence that evening, it was my 10-year-old who was most excited once I instructed him concerning the ice baths. He wished to see if he may final two minutes like I did. That weekend, temps in Sydney hit 100 levels Fahrenheit. Driving residence from a buddy’s birthday celebration with my son, I ended to get petrol and had a sudden mind wave. 

“Ought to we purchase some luggage of ice and make an ice tub at residence?”
My son’s eyes lit up. It was on.

We received residence and made a makeshift plunge pool in our bathtub and took turns getting in, screaming and guffawing hysterically. It wasn’t as chilly because the Hof tub, but it surely was nonetheless bloody freezing. A healthful, innocent type of torture that (I believe) breeds a little bit of resilience in youngsters. He climbed into the chilly tub and sat there for 2 minutes despite the fact that it was extremely tough. He nonetheless, nevertheless, refuses to eat broccoli.

However I did ask myself: Why are we doing this? Why am I type of encouraging it? A fast “are ice baths okay for youths” search on Google allayed preliminary fears, however bigger questions started to hang-out me. Am I breeding the subsequent era of Guys? A brand new wave of boys partaking in pointless (typically painful) actions to fill a gaping black void of validation?

My youthful child — the so-called King of Ice — was on the outlets with my spouse. I referred to as them on Facetime and instructed them concerning the ice tub. My spouse agreed to seize just a few extra luggage of ice on the way in which residence so we may put son No. 2 by means of the brand new household ritual.

“Alright,” I instructed my 7-year-old on the telephone. “Let’s examine who the actual King of Ice is.”

He was fired up.

However later, when he received residence, he appeared much less enthusiastic. He dipped his finger in cautiously, attempting to get a way of what he is perhaps in for. He was extraordinarily reluctant.

“You go first, Dad,” he stated.

“I’ve already gone in,” I replied.

“In the event you go in, Dad, I am going to go in. Pinky promise.”

I felt as if I had no selection. I needed to lead by instance. To show that you would (and typically ought to) do tough issues. We pinky swore on it. Then, like a whole fool, I went again into the bathtub.  

This time spherical it was chilly. Correctly chilly. Simply as chilly because the ice tub at Luna Park. My limbs seized up; each ligament and bone ached. I made noises, ungodly noises. I used to be in hell. My son, cackling like an unhinged Demogorgon, discovered this extraordinarily humorous. 

Lastly, my two minutes had been up. I clumsily scrambled out of the bathtub, nonetheless in bodily ache.

“Your flip,” I stated, my physique nonetheless shivering.
“Nah,” he replied. “I do not wish to. 

He left the lavatory and fired up Roblox on his Nintendo Swap.

“What do you imply?” I cried, chasing after him, a crumpled, damaged outdated man.

“I am good,” he stated lastly. This boy wanted no validation. He had no void to fill.

“You could be the King of Ice.”