USA National Taekwondo team member Stephen Lambdin credits the Wim Hof Method's breathing exercises and cold exposure with sharpening his focus during matches. At elite levels, even tiny lapses in concentration cost gold medals, so he calls it an unfair advantage. He's seen night-and-day improvements in flexibility, mood, and sleep.
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My name's Stephen Lambdin. I'm a USA National Taekwondo team member. I've spent 20 years as a professional athlete, and, you know, I didn't realize that I wasn't breathing correctly and I wasn't taking advantage of everything my body was capable of. And you train yourself to such a certain point, at that point it just becomes incremental growth. And once I got here and started really breathing properly, going through the breathing exercises, jumping in, jumping in the river, jumping off the cliff into the waterfall, it not only showed me that I was capable of more than I expected, but once I started breathing properly, it was a night and day difference. I'm more flexible, I'm in a better mood more frequently, and I've been sleeping a whole lot better. It's gonna be very important for my sport just because there's a razor-fine line between losing your first match and getting an Olympic gold medal at this level, and being able to utilize the breathing method to actually be ready and mentally prepared for a competition is just gonna give me an unfair advantage over everybody else. So it's something I'm going to be implementing in training and taking into competition immediately. Focus is incredibly important in all sports, but in particular taekwondo, because, I mean, everybody's good at the world championships and Olympic level. Everybody's great. They've won. They've become the national team member for their countries, which is an amazing feat. But small lapses in focus can can cost you a gold medal. And through the breathing exercises and meditation that Wim has shown me, my focus and determination is just so much stronger than the 3 or 4 days ago when we got here. The Wim Hof Method is a way of life in that people tend to get so focused on everything around them that they forget to really focus inside. And not just focus inside, but to enrich their focus and mindset. And I mean, it's something that I'll, I'll definitely use in taekwondo, but a method that I'll use the rest of my life.
