As of: February 27, 2024, 7:02 a.m
By: Andrea Gräpel
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Ice holes with suitable access are not found everywhere.
Mario Ströhlein knows the best places, but also teaches in Ammersee.
© Noah Rabe
More and more people swear by the health-promoting effects of cold.
The initial overcoming can be trained away, says Mario Ströhlein.
The 32-year-old Herrschinger is a certified Wim Hof trainer.
Herrsching – “The decision to get into the ice-cold water or not happens within five seconds,” says Mario Ströhlein (32), whom Wigald Boning calls Mario vom Ammersee in his current book “Mr. Boning goes swimming”.
Both are enthusiastic ice bathers and sometimes share one or two ice holes in lakes and ponds in the district.
Their approaches are fundamentally different.
The TV comedian has been swimming outdoors every day for 606 days.
In any weather.
“Wigald made ice bathing socially acceptable through his book and Instagram,” says Mario Ströhlein.
“He has always done things that should not be imitated.
“You shouldn’t go ice bathing alone,” says the 32-year-old.
Boning likes to do his rounds alone for minutes at a time.
Mario Ströhlein has studied fitness and health management and is a certified Wim Hof Method instructor.
As such, he impresses on his students that it's always good to have someone with you when you're ice bathing.
Because cold shock can be dangerous.
Wim Hof (65) is a Dutch extreme athlete who holds several world records for enduring extreme cold - whether climbing a mountain in scantily clothed winter conditions or ice bathing.
He attributes his success to the Wim Hof method he developed, which consists of a special breathing technique and is said to have a positive effect on health.
There are more than 1,000 Wim Hof Method instructors trained by him worldwide.
Ströhlein is one of them.
Mario from Ammersee sits on the bathing jetty at the sports field in Herrsching and still remembers when he started training in the cold.
The footbridge plays an important role for him and reminds him of a good friend who is no longer alive.
He was often on this jetty with him.
“He was a special person with a sparkle in his eyes.” On the anniversary a year after his death, Ströhlein was sitting on a plane and got his hands on a report about Wim Hof.
He remembered his friend who always said: “You can learn to be cold.” That’s how it started.
“On my first try I noticed how good it felt.” That was in 2017.
In 2019, the Herrschinger completed his training with Wim Hof in Holland and has been attending courses in Spain and Poland ever since.
His first own course in Poland starts next weekend.
With a group of 14 participants so far, he wants to climb the Snezka, the Snezka, at 1,603 meters the highest mountain on the Polish side of the Krkonoše, “lightly dressed with a bare upper body and shorts”.
The way up takes three hours.
The challenge other than snow and ice is the wind at the summit.
In Herrsching, Mario Ströhlein can be recognized by his cargo bike and is happy about your interest in cold training.
© Andrea Gräpel
Ströhlein – born in Starnberg and raised in Hechendorf – is well known in Herrsching.
Numerous locals have already taken part in his courses, he says.
He is happy when, while talking to the Starnberger Merkur, he sees a woman getting into the water just a few hundred meters away - with a companion.
“She was also in my course.
Let’s see if she does the exercises I showed her afterwards.” The water is just over five degrees Celsius.
When the woman gets out of the water again after long minutes, the trainer sees from a distance: “She has a good color.” Because the skin is so well supplied with blood that it glows red all the way to the dock.
He has already accompanied more than 1,000 people between the ages of 18 and 75 into the deep end, says Ströhlein.
Boning was also among the participants in a course on New Year's Eve 2022.
“He had already had his 200th day of bathing.
We've known each other since then.” The 32-year-old was inspired by Boning to also get into the water every day.
It started exactly 58 days ago on January 1st and aims to last 366 days.
Previously, Ströhlein “only” dived into the ice-cold water four to five times a week, and in the summer sometimes into the cooled water in a water container.
Because the water shouldn't be too warm.
“Everything that is in the single digits has a good effect.” Water up to 16 degrees Celsius also has a health-promoting effect.
Breaks are recommended, for example if you have a cold.
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Mario Ströhlein has had good experiences on his own body with his cold training.
“I used to have inflammation from time to time.
They're gone.” But a lot has also changed mentally for him: “The adrenaline release in the cold water leads to more joy.
“I’m more honest with myself, I have more energy.” And his eyes shine as he talks about it.
If you would like to find out more about the Wim Hof method, you can find out more about it at wimhofmethod.com or let Mario Ströhlein accompany you.
He is listed there under “Instructor”.
Or you can simply talk to him when you spot him on his cargo bike on the waterfront.
On it is a saying modified by Hof: “A cold shower a day keeps the doctor away.”