This is the Joe Rogan episode that introduced Wim Hof to most of the English-speaking world. It aired in 2015, and the central claim was audacious: that a human being could consciously influence their autonomic nervous system — a system that, by definition, operates outside conscious control. The medical establishment had been saying for decades that you cannot voluntarily regulate your immune response. Wim Hof sat across from Joe Rogan and said, effectively, watch me.
What strikes me revisiting this conversation is how clear the core mechanism is, even in an informal interview. Breathing alters blood chemistry. Alkalinity rises. Adrenaline spikes. And that adrenaline cascade — the same one your body reserves for genuine emergencies — can be deliberately invoked through a specific breathing protocol. Not as a party trick. As a tool for resilience.
The 2014 Radboud University study is the anchor here. Participants trained in Hof's method were injected with E. coli endotoxin — a substance that reliably produces fever, vomiting, and flu-like symptoms in healthy people. The trained group produced adrenaline levels exceeding those measured in people about to take their first bungee jump. And they barely got sick.
This wasn't a placebo effect. The immune markers were measurable. The cytokine responses were suppressed. The mechanism — voluntary hyperventilation triggering an adrenal response that modulates inflammation — was demonstrable. It didn't invalidate decades of immunology. It exposed a gap in what we assumed was possible.
Cross-referencing the knowledge base here, the Radboud findings show up repeatedly. The contrast therapy literature builds on this foundation — cold plunging produces a similar sympathetic nervous system activation, which is part of why the combination of breathwork and cold exposure is more potent than either alone. The mechanisms compound.
The honest answer is that experts largely agree on the acute effects — cold exposure increases norepinephrine, activates the sympathetic nervous system, and produces measurable immune and metabolic changes. Where debate persists is on long-term adaptation and clinical application. Can these techniques reliably help people with autoimmune conditions? What are the risks for people with cardiovascular disease? The hyperventilation protocol specifically requires caution — alkalosis can cause tingling, lightheadedness, and in rare cases, loss of consciousness. You do not practice this in a pool, a bath, or anywhere near water. That's not a disclaimer. It's biology.
Hof's mention of the endocrine system is the piece I want to sit with longer. He says his method helps people control their hormonal environment "much faster" than conventional approaches. That's a significant claim, and it's understated in this interview. Adrenaline, cortisol, norepinephrine, dopamine — these are not just stress hormones. They are the architecture of your emotional experience. When your endocrine system is dysregulated, everything suffers: sleep, mood, focus, immunity, metabolic function. The cascade goes in both directions.
What Hof discovered, perhaps intuitively before the science caught up, is that voluntary breathing and cold exposure are levers into that system. Not perfect levers. Not cure-alls. But real, accessible tools that cost nothing and require only consistency.
Start with the breathing. Thirty cycles of deep inhalation and passive release, then a retention hold after exhaling fully. Three rounds. Do this before cold exposure, not instead of it. Then cold shower — two minutes, water as cold as your tap allows. Every morning. Not for thirty days to see results. For long enough that it stops feeling like discipline and starts feeling like ritual. That's when the adaptation becomes yours.