Review
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Climbing a ain in nothing but a pair of shorts seems idiotic
to most, but for Wim Hof and his companions, it’s just another
day. When investigative journalist and anthropologist Carney
heard about Hof’s mind-boggling methods and cls that he could
“hack” the human body, he knew he had to venture to Poland to
expose this fraud. But in just a few days, Hof changed Carney’s
mind, and so began a friendship and a new adventure. Carney now
chronicles his journey to push himself mentally and physically
using Wim Hof’s method of cold exposure, breath-holding, and
meditation to tap into our primal selves. Our ancestors survived
harsh conditions without modern technology, while we live in
comfortable bubbles with little to struggle against and wonder
how they survived. The question is, What happens when we push our
bodies to the limit? Carney calls on evolutionary biology and
other modern scientific disciplines to explore and explain Hof’s
unconventional methods. Fresh and exciting, this book has wide
appeal for readers interested in , sports,
self-improvement, and extreme challenges.
―Booklist
As this engaging autoethnography relates, anthropologist and
investigative journalist Carney was skeptical upon encountering a
photo of a nearly naked Wim Hof sitting on a glacier in the
Arctic Circle. Hof, a Dutch fitness guru who runs a training camp
in Poland’s wilderness, cls he can control his body
temperature and immune system solely with his mind; though Carney
set out to prove Hof a charlatan, he was instead won over. Carney
documents his interactions with Hof and the many others who have
learned to control their bodies in seemingly impossible ways: he
learned Hof’s breathing techniques for tricking the body into
doing things it isn’t evolutionarily designed for, and underwent
training to face extreme cold while barely clothed. It is this
training that enables Hof and Carney to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro in
28 hours while wearing shorts. This is part guide and part
popular science book; readers will learn about how Neanderthals
used the body’s “brown ” to keep warm and how exposure nearly
reverses the symptoms of es. The accomplishments Carney
documents are unbelievable and fascinating; this isn’t a how-to
for those looking to perform extraordinary feats, but it is an
entertaining account that will appeal to the adventurous.
―Publishers Weekly
On the heels of the paleo diet comes a new cl: taking on the
physical challenges of the environment faced by our prehistoric
ancestors can undo what easy calories and effortless comfort have
done to our bodies―made them , lazy, and weak.
In his latest book, investigative journalist and anthropologist
Carney (A Death on Diamond ain: A True Story of Obsession,
Madness, and the Path to Enlightenment, 2015, etc.) expands on
his 2014 Playboy piece, “The Iceman Cometh,” in which he profiled
Dutch fitness guru Wim Hof and experienced Hof’s strenuous
training methods, some of which involve exposing the near-naked
body to snow and icy water. At first skeptical, Carney became
convinced by the changes he experienced in his own body. The
narrative is filled with personal details that will engage,
astonish, and even repel readers. Expanding on his unnerving
close-up account, the author also examines the research being
done on the role of brown adipose tissue in the body and a
variety of and sports medicine training practices. He
cites the anecdotal evidence of people who have placed their
faith in Hof and are convinced that his techniques have changed,
if not saved, their lives―e.g., sufferers of Parkinson’s disease,
Crohn’s disease, and rheumatoid . As a climax to his
account, Carney describes how, stripped to the waist, he
accompanied Hof on a climb to the summit of Kilimanjaro,
Africa’s highest peak. In the epilogue, the author asserts that
his experiences showed him that “exposure to cold helps
reconfigure the cardiovascular system, combat autoimmune
malfunctions, and is a pretty darned good method to simply lose
weight.” Hof provides the book’s foreword.
Couch potatoes take warning: the experiences described in this
testimonial are often tough to read about, and the conclusions,
while sometimes convincing, might best be taken with a touch of
skepticism.
―Kirkus
“Scott Carney is so curious about getting to the truth of things
that he is willing to endure great pain and suffering to get
there. While investigating the controversial methods of Wim Hof
and others operating on the scientific fringe, Carney entered a
skeptic yet emerged a true believer. In What Doesn't Kill Us,
readers get to follow him along on his transformational journey,
and the ins are truly fascinating. Informative, fun, and
with a y degree of danger, this is a book for the
adventurer in all of us.”
―Gabrielle Reece, co-founder, XPT (Extreme Performance Training)
“The further we get from the harsh environmental conditions that
once threatened our existence, the more we need them. I see this
every weekend at a Spartan Race somewhere in the world. Millions
of otherwise sane people line up to suffer and push themselves to
their physical limits, and it feels good. What Doesn't Kill Us is
a fascinating investigation into the innate urge that drives
people like these, and reveals how some have managed to use
environmental conditioning to accomplish truly extraordinary
things."
―Joe DeSena, founder, Spartan Race
“As a Navy SEAL, you live by the mantra, ‘what doesn’t kill us
only makes us stronger.’ We would hear this phrase and repeat it,
but we never had any proof that it was factual. Yet through
comprehensive study, Scott Carney has brilliantly documented how
engaging in environmental conditioning, breathing, meditation,
and other techniques can actually make us physically and mentally
stronger. What Doesn’t Kill Us is a fascinating book that will
captivate all who read it and that will be of immense value to
those in the , those who are active in sports, and those
who seek an alternate means of developing greater mental and
physical strength.”
―Don D. Mann, New York Times bestselling author, Inside SEAL Team
SIX
“Damn fun and extremely well-researched, What Doesn’t Kill Us is
a great addition to the canon of high performance literature!”
― Steven Kotler, New York Times bestselling author of Abundance
and The Rise of Superman
“When it's cold outside, do you turn the heating up? Do you
always put a coat on before going out? Do you think your
comfortable life is good for you? If so, you have to read Scott
Carney's What Doesn't Kill Us. Through some great stories ― which
often involve Carney trudging through snow without much on ― and
some serious research, he shows us how to escape the bland,
shuffling gait of our centrally-heated, fleece-jacketed,
molly-coddled lives by diving head-first into the ice-cold,
axe-sharp, y experiences that made our ancestors’ hearts beat
faster every day. If we do that, we can awaken from the dull
slumber of modern life and open our eyes to a better, ier
dawn of crisp air, better circulation, and the ability to truly
mean it when we say: I'm alive. Buy this book, and you'll emerge
a stronger, ier, more human human.”
― James Wallman, author of Stuffocation
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About the Author
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Scott Carney is an investigative journalist and
anthropologist whose stories blend narrative non-fiction with
ethnography. His reporting has taken him to some of the most
dangerous and unlikely corners of the world. The New York Times
says "Carney writes with considerable narrative verve, slamming
home the misery of what he has witnessed with passion and
visceral detail." He has been a contributing editor at Wired and
his work also appears in Mother Jones, Foreign Policy, Playboy,
Details, Discover, Outside, and Fast Company. He lives in Denver,
CO.
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