
Tis the season for punishing rituals, like glugging litres of water each day, embarking on military-level exercise challenges and vowing to plunge your semi-naked body into icy water in the name of recovery.
Ice baths have become inextricably linked with fitness, grit and determination, driven in no small part by Dutch motivational speaker, Wim Hof, dubbed the Iceman. He is a proponent of controlled breathing techniques, regular ice baths and cold water immersion, which he claims helps with fat loss, balancing hormones, elevating your mood and fortifying your immune system.