Kailash Cain

Ms. O’Shea

Int. Science II

4-2-18

Influence of breathing exercises on internal body-temperature in a cold environment

Introduction

This lab is designed to measure the change, if any, that breathing exercises have on

human internal body temperature during exposure to cold environmental conditions. This

experiment is inspired from the practices of Wim Hof, the “Iceman”. Wim Hof discovered

through experimentation on himself that by performing meditative exercises based on breathing

he could maintain a stable body temperature even when enclosed in ice or bodies of water under

ice. He claimed that anyone could do what he did, and that it was all simple breathing exercises.

This experiment aims to test this theory that anyone can get similar results by exposing subjects

who have never seriously tried such methods to the cold while performing the same breathing

exercise. Variables to be aware of are the natural difference in internal body temp. between

subjects, the winter clothing each subject is wearing, time from exercise, and time from

consumption of foods and/or liquids. My hypothesis is if the subjects perform the breathing

exercise then they will experience an increase in internal body temperature relative to the control

group.

Materials & Procedure

Materials:
● thermometer(s),

● 5 willing subjects

● A cold environment.

Procedure:

1. Divide the subjects into control and experimental groups.

2. Choose two subjects at random to be the control groups, and record who they are. The

roles of control and experimental groups will rotate every repetition of the experiment.

3. Confirm that all subjects are wearing similar clothing, for my test the clothing consisted

of snow pants, one thin undershirt and one thin long sleeve. The less clothes the better,

but remember to account for what the subjects are willing to strip down to.

4. Take the subjects to a cold environment, the temperature is not so important as long as all

subjects are exposed to the same temperatures and conditions, and the temperature is

agreed to be cold by all participants.

5. Time five minutes in the cold to let the natural body temperatures cool.

6. Take internal body temperatures of all subjects and record results.

7. During the next five minutes, have the control group breath as they would normally, and

have the experimental group perform the following breathing exercise on repeat until the

time is up: First, start with ten deep breaths. For each breath, breathe as deeply as

possible without force, hold for as long as is comfortable, then breathe out as much as

possible without force, and hold out as long as is comfortable. After ten of those breaths,

follow with twenty quick and sharp breaths. These quick breaths should have sharp

inhalations and hard exhalations, all from the nose.

 8. After the five minutes are up, have all the experimental group subjects stop wherever

they are in the exercise, and have all subjects immediately measure internal body

temperatures again.

9. Record the results. For most accurate results, repeat this experiment twice to three times a

day, changing the control and experimental groups each time.

DATA:

*The control group consisted of

K. Cain and M. O’Shea.
The experimental group
consisted of M. Berry and
S. Kusca

DATA Analysis :

As shown by the data, there were similar results between the control group and

experimental group. The experimental group had a 100% rate of temperature increase whereas

the control group only had 50% of the subjects experience an increase in temperature. The data is

still flawed, however, because during the experiment the sun changed positions relative to clouds

and surrounding landscape, causing instability in the air temperature. Also, there was only one

test performed, and with only four subjects. In addition, the experiment relied on being in an

environment that was considerably cold, but despite the snow, the air was relatively warm, so

there wasn’t an environment conducive to this experiment. The rise in temperature for the
control group can possibly be attributed to the increase in air temperature or because of direct

exposure to sunshine after removing the protective winter coats and such. With data like this, and

with so few tests, it is hard to say whether or not proper control over one’s own breathing has

any correlation to their internal body temperature.

Revisions for the Future:

For future tests, a few changes to the experiment would aid in obtaining more accurate

results. For starters, a maximum air temperature to begin with. We cannot control people’s base

body temperature in any given environment, but by measuring the air temperature before starting

a test, we can make sure that we are at least exposing the subjects to something semi-consistent. I

suggest temperatures below 55 degrees fahrenheit. Also, make sure to confirm that all subjects

completely understand that the experiment will require some degree of discomfort, to prevent

subjects from dropping out of the experiment later. Most importantly, perform many tests. The

kind of results this experiment garners are sometimes unpredictable because of how different

people react to cold temperatures, so it is important to get a sizeable quantity of data to work

with.

Conclusion:

My initial hypothesis was that the group(s) that completed the breathing exercise would

see an increase in internal body temperature. This was supported, but still inconclusive, as almost

all subjects including in the control group got an increase in temperature. More subjects in the

experimental group saw an increase in internal body temperature, but due to a lack of trials and

an excess of un-ideal conditions, I find this experiments results inconclusive.