I Became an ‘Ice Bath Guy’ for a Day. It Was Weird

There’s a new sort of Man.

There’s at all times a brand new style of Man. Traditionally, however particularly prior 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’ve got Video Sport Guys. Craft Beer Guys. Reddit Guys and Jiujitsu Guys. We even have [shudder] Hat Guys. An infinite procession of… Guys. In 2022, we have been launched to Spouse Guys. 

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

If you happen to’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 digicam, as a result of they at all times have a digicam. He makes communion with this digicam, 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 — absolutely submerged within the ice water, shivering as he vomits out extra platitudes. “Consolation is your enemy” or “callus your thoughts.” That form of factor.

The Ice Bathtub Man has overcome his demons, he has grow to be stronger, he’s higher, he’s recovering sooner, 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 grow to be the Final Man. The Ice Bathtub Man. 

For one weird, unforgettable day, I grew to become an Ice Bathtub Man too. 

Please permit me to clarify.

It began with chilly showers. A chilly bathe problem was my gateway drug. For the whole thing 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 solely certain. It was an impulse factor, a brief mind illness from which I’ve since recovered. My inside monologue steered chilly showers have been a good suggestion and I went with it. Months later, I am nonetheless undecided it was worthwhile.

My mates 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 12 months, when Hof — aka The Iceman — arrived in my house metropolis of Sydney to ship a collection of clinics, those self same mates thought it could be humorous (and considerate) to purchase me a ticket. A move 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 points of interest and warped assessments 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 distinct place and time, the place hucksters and carnies reigned supreme. It additionally — bizarrely — frequently performs host to enterprise conventions and motivational audio system. 

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

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

Not like the TikTok influencers who climb into ice baths at 4 a.m, Hof is not ripped or shredded. He is quick and stumpy, with scraggly hair and an unkempt beard. Bearing an ill-fitting T-shirt and flip-flops, he would not seem like a motivational speaker — he appears 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 gang. “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 power as ready for a curler coaster. That imprecise feeling of concern. A collective, vibrant pleasure. A protracted-ass await an especially short-term expertise. Caked in sunscreen in my little swim shorts, I baked within the sizzling Australian solar, inching nearer to Hof and 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 gang 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 ladies. It may need been a 50-50 break up. 

I received to chatting. Could, a private coach, grew to become a fan of Hof after watching movies on YouTube and cycled right 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 house. 

In truth, after making it to the entrance of the queue and giving Hof a giant hug (everybody did — a part of the bundle, I assume), I seen that every one 10 folks in my ice tub group represented a various cross part of the Australian inhabitants. Males, ladies, younger, previous, completely different races and backgrounds. All of us gave one another a fast look, the form 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 distinct sort of chilly. The kind of chilly that makes your physique really feel prefer it’s on fucking fireplace. Hof’s major space of experience helps his college students breathe, and, climbing into this ice tub, I instantly understood why. It was extremely onerous to inhale and exhale usually on this state. Instinctually, I assumed taking lengthy deep breaths would make it simpler for me to acclimatize, however it did not assist in any respect. 

The one factor that actually made issues extra bearable was respiratory out. I picked some extent 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 closing 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 affected 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 have been designed to ingrain an intense bond of belief in members of the tribe. If they might bear the ache of fingernail elimination or tattoos or penis mutilation, they might 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 12 months of chilly showers, each thought it was humorous to additionally take chilly showers, to see who may keep within the longest, making an attempt 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 house that night time, it was my 10-year-old who was most excited once I informed 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 house from a pal’s party with my son, I ended to get petrol and had a sudden mind wave. 

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

We received house and made a makeshift plunge pool in our bathtub and took turns getting into, screaming and laughing hysterically. It wasn’t as chilly because the Hof tub, however it was nonetheless bloody freezing. A healthful, innocent form of torture that (I believe) breeds a little bit of resilience in children. He climbed into the chilly tub and sat there for 2 minutes although it was extremely troublesome. He nonetheless, nevertheless, refuses to eat broccoli.

However I did ask myself: Why are we doing this? Why am I form 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 following technology of Guys? A brand new wave of boys partaking in pointless (usually painful) actions to fill a gaping black void of validation?

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

“Alright,” I informed my 7-year-old on the cellphone. “Let’s have a look at who the actual King of Ice is.”

He was fired up.

However later, when he received house, he appeared much less enthusiastic. He dipped his finger in cautiously, making an attempt to get a way of what he may be in for. He was extraordinarily reluctant.

“You go first, Dad,” he mentioned.

“I’ve already gone in,” I replied.

“If you happen to go in, Dad, I will go in. Pinky promise.”

I felt as if I had no selection. I needed to lead by instance. To show that you can (and typically ought to) do troublesome issues. We pinky swore on it. Then, like an entire fool, I went again into the tub.  

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 have been up. I clumsily scrambled out of the tub, nonetheless in bodily ache.

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

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

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

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

“You might be the King of Ice.”