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Walking back to barefootness

In the summer of 2012 my wife gave me the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall as vacation reading. It was so inspiring that i read it twice and bought a pair of Merrell Road Gloves before the vacation was over. Despite my flatfoot condition i was determined to start my journey to become a true barefoot runner.

Filled with enthusiasm I started to run up to 12 kilometers a week in my new running shoes without cushioning, i even ended each session by running the last two kilometers on asphalt without shoes. This lasted for around one and a half year until what was left of my foot arch started to hurt for more than two weeks after the last run, so I decided to quit running for a while to let my foots heel, but even after months of inactivity the pain was back as soon as I went for short barefoot run again.

Obviously I did something wrong by running to relaxed and landing on the middle of my foot instead of making slow progress by practicing forefoot strike and  build up the strength before going for longer distances. This simple fact took years to realize until I tried out a pair of Vibram Five Fingers and started to walk with a constant foot lift and tension in my calf muscle letting my heels barely touch the ground. It might look funny but this style of walking felt just right, and after just a few weeks I could feel the difference as painless walks for up to 10 kilometers each time.

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Trying out a home made ice bath

The spring, summertime and autumn occupies a substantial time of the year even in southern Sweden and the temperature of tap water seldom goes below 14 degrees Celsius, so a proper cold shower is not always available for the dedicated fan of cold endurance training as a quick fix for physical fitness. Now is the time to sanctify the presence of a freezer and a 20 liter bucket available in most households to find an easy solution.

  1. Fill the bucket with cold water and put it in the freezer, push the fast freeze button if available and wait for 12 to 24 hours
  2. Take the ice bucket out of your freezer and hit it with a sledge hammer from all possible directions to crush the ice.
  3. pour the ice into your tub or Jacuzzi and fill up with the coldest water possible, this will produce a nice cold bath of at least 10 – 12 degrees Celcius depending on the amount of water added.
  4. jump in, and endure for at least 5 minutes. Slow long deep breathing will help to get the most out of it, a short euphoric warming sensation and a long therm fat burn will be your reward.

Well it wasn’t as nice as expected, actually the 7 minutes i spent in it was painful beyond imagination, I thought i was prepared since I take regular cold showers but this is totally different an will take some time to get used to. My advice is to have a hot sauna within close reach to make it a pleasant experience.

 

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Cool health boost or pure madness

The Swedish TV show ”Science World” broadcasted a BBC documentary about the world record holder in cold endurance, Mr. Wim Hof AKA ”The Iceman”. He was swimming around in a glacier lake for 15 minutes, apparently unaffected and enjoying it. This made such an impression that I began to absorb every piece of information I could find about the phenomenon.

After reading the book “Becoming the Iceman” I decided to try cold water immersion for the first time in March 2011. The water temperature was only 4 degrees Celsius and I managed to endure a few minutes by relaxing and drawing deep slow breaths.

With cold therapy we train our blood vessels capability to expand and contract, which streamlines the body’s thermoregulatory ability. By exposure to extreme cold during a short time the body seems to enter a genetically programmed survival mode, so it is recommended to listen to your body and know when it’s time to quit. As a reward after cooling down, substances that cause an intensed but short euphoria are released.

Breathing technique is a surprisingly simple way to control the shock of exposure to rapid and merciless cooling. Since the lungs are the body’s own heat exchanger, it is quite logical that lowering the respiratory rate saves heat. A good exercise is to breathe in and out slowly with long deep breaths trying to empty the lungs as much as possible during exhalation until an well oxygenated feeling arises. Then try to hold the breath as long as possible first after complete exhale and then on the next full inhale. This exercise gives a warming sensation.

It is possible to practice cold resistance even if it is not winter. End each shower by turning over to cold water, close your eyes, relax and breathe with deep long breaths. Flushing head and neck for a while, will enduce a tingling sensation in the blood vessels that begins in the hands. Believe it or not but it is possible to get warm using cold showers.

Regular cold therapy will not develop immunity to the cold, but it will definitely increase tolerance, exposure time and significantly reduce the risk of frostbite by improving circulation.

Voluntary hypothermic mortification may not be beneficial for heavy drinking chain smokers with a history of strokes, but will certainly be a harmless health boost for most people.

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The Aquafit Community

The Aquafit Community is all about exploring and sharing ancient and new body hacks that provide major health benefits with different levels of intensity, discomfort and commitment. Most of the content will be related to water as the site name implies although three main subjects will stay in focus, namely inspiration to improvement of metabolism, vision and natural fitness.