Alistair Overeem Talks Wim Hof Method

Wim Hof Method story: Alistair Overeem

My name is Alistair Overeem.

I'm a professional fighter.

I've been fighting for a long time, training for 22 years and competing for 19 years.

I'm currently fighting for the UFC and my next fight will be for the UFC championship.

So it's going to be a big year for me.

I've met Wim actually...

I had heard several stories about him through friends and I became curious.

As an athlete, I'm always looking to gain that edge and to get an advantage over my opponents.

And as his breathing techniques and withstanding the cold intrigued me,

and especially the breathing techniques,

everybody needs oxygen.

And as an athlete you cannot have enough oxygen.

Breathing is a very big component.

So in that sense, I had several questions for him and it took me say straight to Wim.

He had his own theories on that.

The meeting was very positive it was a very positive conversation.

You gave me basically some homework and I start doing that homework,

which consisted of breathing exercises and showering cold.

And yeah, I'm currently now working with Wim to increase my performances.

It's very cold in Holland right now.

It's nine degrees Celcius.

The water probably is even colder.

If you breathe correctly you can handle it.

Store up oxygen.

Fully in...

Let go and start doing pushups

One, two, three, four.

for me. I mean, I'm half Jamaican.

Half Dutch, half Jamaican.

I really do not like the cold.

So for me, that's a milestone

18 minutes.

2 more minutes.

Stay focussed.

Get your mind in control.

Right on.

He’s doing well.

Last weekend I had a fight and I fought the number one in the UFC.

This man is a maniac.

He truly is really good.

He's really technical, he's tough, he's strong in many fields.

He's a great athlete

On the day itself...

I felt the nerves coming, but I just reverted back to my breathing exercises,

that I've been practicing daily.

And I was very calm, very calm on fight day

Very calm during the whole day, during the whole process.

Of course, you feel a little tension,

but every time I felt that tension, I just went back to the breathing,

and I was calm and I felt energetic.

During the fight.

I was breathing correctly.

Usually a fight is three rounds.

I finished him on knockout.

And really at the end of the second round I was going at 10 seconds

or 15 seconds left... but I also wasn't tired.

So for my cardio...

it really increased just by breathing, breathing correctly.

A lot of friends of mine

and in my family, we’re involved with these exercises.

I think we definitely do recognize there's 100% added value.

I am definitely recommending to everybody, it is a truly unique method.

It's funny how Holland has produced something like this.

It's a unique method that’s going to change the world.