To Snezka in shorts? Hardy people break myths and inspire. They say you won’t be cold!

Get dressed, you’re going to be sick! Every child has heard this sentence from his mother. But the opposite is the case with a group of so-called biohackers who regularly use the cold to their advantage during the winter months. The most famous of them, Libor Mattuš, the author of the popular book Cold Therapy, threw away his excess clothing years ago and several times a year goes to the top of the highest Czech mountain in shorts only.

He has always been very attracted to the cold and its potential for personal development. On his own cold walks in his swimsuit in freezing temperatures in his native Brno, he repeatedly experienced what this form of cold therapy can do for the body, psyche and happiness in life.

His colleague Veronika Allister started the original team hikes to Sněžka years ago and the idea caught on. This winter, up to six group expeditions are planned, often in groups of up to thirty enthusiasts.

“The cold has an amazing potential to give us feedback on ourselves and our reactions in different situations. Just don’t be afraid of it. And that is exactly my biggest motivation. Seeing how much the cold can help people think about their skills and what the cold can bring to our everyday lives. Whether weare running a business, being employed, raising children, leading a team, or working with people in general,” says the Czech ice man with enthusiasm.

The two- to three-day expeditions start at the mountain hut, where Mattuš and his team prepare the group for what awaits them the next day after travelling through the snowy mountains to the summit. Unlike the world’s most popular Dutchman Wim Hof, who spends up to six days preparing with his team, Liboš only needs half a day to prepare the participants for the cold through special exercises.

“For years I have been looking for the most effective methods in all possible training systems and I actively try everything myself. The result is responsible preparation of a normal individual for such an event where we spend three hours in sub-zero temperatures,” he describes.

Surely, you must be asking, how come the participants are not just cold in their shorts after travelling in minus ten degrees Celsius? “It’s not that we’re not cold at all, we just learn to be friends with it. Humans are evolutionarily well-adapted to the cold, we just need to open ourselves to this fact and carefully practice preparatory breathing and physical exercises,” says Mattuš.

A few years ago, Mattuš helped UFC champion and fighter Jiri Prochazka with cold therapy and regularly trains individuals and entire teams.

“A person of our type has three hundred thousand years of evolution behind him. Over 99.7 percent of it has not taken place in insulated houses and heated cars, but outdoors in very inhospitable conditions where cold was part of existence on a daily basis,” he adds, drawing on studies and his own practice.

During five years of climbing Sněžka, Mattuš regularly innovated individual breathing and physical techniques so that he could warm up participants very effectively in just thirty seconds. “It’s about understanding the body’s physiology and how the psyche relates to them,” he believes.

The open expedition is open to anyone who likes to push their limits, with the first one scheduled for the third weekend in January.

Source: Libor Mattuš