Wim Hof Breathing For High Altitude Hikers And Mountaineers

Inside, we explore Wim Hof breathing and how it relates to high altitude hiking and mountaineering. And we discuss if it is an effective method to use in your training or while on the mountain.

Today, we are talking about Wim Hof breathing for high altitude hiking and mountaineering.

This is a subject that comes up A LOT! It is one I see all the time online, I get asked by hikers and mountaineers regularly, and it is something I have never really talked about publicly.

But the problem is, there is SO much misinformation online on this topic, so many wild claims, that it leads anyone who is interested in this topic to just get bombarded with one-sided information.

To give you some examples of this, here are a few direct quotes I have pulled from articles and videos on the subject:

People have said, Wim Hoff Breathing:

• "Can improve your body's ability to handle low-oxygen environments."
• "This type of breathwork can alkalise the blood, improve oxygen delivery, and boost resilience to low-oxygen conditions."
• "By integrating Wim Hof breathing techniques, climbers can manage altitude better, keeping fatigue and altitude sickness at bay." 
• "It is also a technique proven effective to combat altitude sickness in most people, improves circulation and mental focus."
• "Increasing lung capacity and oxygen uptake"
• "The Wim Hof technique is a great way to blast oxygen into the body and brain to help get rid of an altitude sickness headache"
• "Increased oxygenation may enhance sports performance and help when adjusting to higher altitudes;
• "concentration of red blood cells increases (boosting your blood's oxygen-carrying capacity). Lung capacity and circulation improve, and your metabolism becomes more efficient."
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I have even seen some people online trying to argue that Wim Hof breathing is an alternative to Diamox (which is a medically prescribed drug for high altitude).

All of this is pretty wild! 

So today, I want to dive into this a bit. Go into detail where these claims come from, what this breathing is all about as it relates to high altitude, and give a bit more context.

And ultimately answer the question: ​

"Is Wim Hoff Breathing an effective technique for high altitude hiking or mountaineering?"

Wim Hof For Hikers And Mountainers

Who Is Wim Hof?

He's a Dutch extreme athlete and 'wellness instructor', famous for developing the Wim Hof Method.

The method combines:

• Breathing exercises
• Cold exposure (ice baths, cold showers)
• Mindset and meditation work
  
  

He has a bunch of extreme sports achievements and also records related to cold exposure. His method has been proposed to have a million and one benefits. Some of these things have been studied and show interesting results.

Beyond that, he is a very controversial figure - but we are not really diving into that today… 

What Is Wim Hof Breathing?

It's essentially a cycle of hyperventilation followed by breath holds

• 30 deep breaths after one another
  
• After final exhalation, hold breath
  
• When you need to breathe, inhale deeply and hold for about 10–15 seconds, then release.
  
• Repeat

Some people do it by themselves, some people combine it with exercise (such as push-ups).

In the 'Method', this is usually combined with cold exposure training and mindset work, but we are mainly focused on the breathing today (as that is where most of the discussion about high altitude is).

Wim Hof Breathing And High Altitude 

Why Is Wim Hof Breathing Associated With High Altitude?

All over the internet, people talk about Wim Hof breathing for high altitude. 

People say there is 'scientific evidence' that shows it can be really effective. There have been 'studies' that have 'proved' this. That 'research shows' it is very useful.

But it isn't as simple as this...

Every single one of these statements about Wim Hoff breathing and high altitude comes back to one source:

In 2014, someone sent a letter to a scientific journal, which was published. In this letter, they explained some crazy results regarding high altitude. 

They said: 

A group of inexperienced climbers went to Kilimanjaro. Instead of doing the usual 6-9 days, they completed it in 2 days. They were predicted to have very high rates of high altitude sickness due to the speed of ascent. Instead, they say a really high success rate.

How did they do this?

They credited it to the Wim Hof Method and Breathing.

In the trekkers' preparations, they practised the breathing training, cold exposure, and mindset work.

On the mountain, they applied the breathing:

• They consciously 'overbreathed' and practised the controlled hyperventilation
• They woke up in the middle of the night to practice this

From these results, it was said that this could be a remarkable new way of helping acclimatisation.

While this sounds amazing, there are some big, big limitations here which never get talked about: 

Limitation #1: The Method

The trekkers were sustaining this 'overbreathing for the entire ascent. They had to sustain this for over 30 hours, and also had to wake up during the night to do periods of this.

For 30 hours, this might be doable.

But for a 'real world' situation for a hiker or mountaineer (where you will be on your adventure for much longer than 30 hours), sustaining this is not practical or realistic.

Number 2: Acclimatisation

It was claimed that this approach 'speeds up acclimatisation'. But this might be a bit backward...

First, on a speed ascent of 30 hours, there is not expected to be much acclimatisation (as this is too short a duration spent at high altitude for any meaningful change).

On top of this, you could argue that this approach actually would slow down acclimatisation over a longer period (as this overbreathing approach could limit the body from going through the normal acclimatisation process).

So on longer hikes/climbs, you might be putting yourself at a disadvantage.

Number 3: Breathing Fatigue

This group of 26 trekkers trained for months in preparation, doing this type of breathing technique.

Of the 26 trekkers, 2 dropped out due to clinical signs of "physical/respiratory exhaustion".

That isn't a huge number, but it shows that after training and practising this approach, sustaining this for a fast ascent climb was not possible for everyone.

==

On top of these limitations, one thing that needs to be clear (which people often ignore or misunderstand).

This was a letter to a journal. It was a report of the trip. It points to an area that might be interesting to study in the future. But by no means can this be called a scientific study. There is a big difference.

And finally, this climb was done in 2014. Over the years, there have been many studies that have been published about the Wim Hoff Method. Some show positive benefits for certain things. Some show no real benefits for other things.

But if this were a revolutionary technique, why have there been no actual studies in 12 years? ​

The situation is interesting, but it does not seem like a practical approach for high-altitude hikers or mountaineers to rely on.

Claimed Benefits Of Wim Hof Breathing For High Altitude Preparation Or Climbing

​Beyond this report, many people often claim that Wim Hoff Breathing can be a great method to develop certain adaptations in the body, which would be beneficial for high altitude or endurance performance.

So let's look into these:

Red Blood Cells
​​
There doesn't seem to be any evidence that Wim Hoff Breathing increases red blood cell count.

There is some evidence that breath-holding can increase short-term red blood cell count, but very little that shows a significant change over the long term.

There is some evidence that breath-holding can increase the release of EPO, but this cannot be assumed to automatically lead to changes in the red blood cells (even though a lot of people often present it this way).

To learn more about the idea of breath-hold training for high altitude, you can check out this article:

Breath Hold Training For High Altitude Hikers And Mountaineers 
​
Lung Capacity
​
There doesn't seem to be any evidence that Wim Hof breathing can increase lung capacity

Oxygen Uptake/V02

One study showed Wim Hof breathing as a warm-up may be beneficial for V02 kinetics during exercise (ie, how quickly your body increases oxygen consumption when exercise starts).

To be clear: This is not the same as V02 max..

There were also some practical limitations here:

• This involved doing 18-22 minutes of hyperventilation and breath holds (which is not a very practical warm-up for most people...)
• On top of this, the control group just rested as their warm-up (so it is hard to say if this breathing is better than a normal warm-up)
• This study says this approach would mainly be useful for short-duration athletic performance (which is the opposite of high altitude hiking and mountainering!)

Breathing Economy

There doesn't seem to be any evidence that Wim Hof breathing can improve breathing economy during exercise

There was one study that looked at this, and did not see any significant change.

Cold Tolerance

People often report better cold tolerance from following the Wim Hoff Method.

This is likely due to the cold exposure training (and not the breathing itself)

This might be relevant for some hikers or mountaineers who are worried about the cold (but isn't directly linked to high altitude)

Immune Health

​There are some interesting studies that look at the Wim Hof Method and immune health/inflammation

Stress Reduction
​
There are some interesting studies that show the Wim Hof Method might be beneficial for controlling the stress response.

​Note: this can work for some people; however, as the hyperventilation in the breathing method can be quite stressful in itself, some people have the opposite effect, so it is a very individual thing 

Summary

There does not seem to be much evidence that Wim Hof Breathing is an effective method to train, prepare or use at high altitude.

And the application of this type of method does not seem incredibly practical or sustainable for a hiker or mountaineer on the mountain.

You could argue this method might be useful in some specific situations (such as emergency rescue situations where responders at only at altitude for a limited duration) - but even then, we would need much more evidence to promote this approach.

If you enjoy this method and breathing, then absolutely keep it up. But please never assume it is going to replace a traditional acclimatisation schedule, or change the normal recommendations or safety measures for high altitude.
​
If you are wanting to prepare for the mountains, stick to the basics of training for high altitude.  And if you are looking for an 'edge' at high altitude on top of the basics, Wim Hof Breathing probably isn't it.

Yours in trekking,

Rowan