This is a very personal story that, in many ways, became the seed that years later grew into this project. 

I deeply hope it resonates with you and that this personal story becomes a small seed for you too—one that motivates you to make those decisions you’ve been postponing for so long, with the ultimate goal of feeling better.

Where It All Began

The COVID pandemic we lived through feels like a science fiction story: locked in, isolated from social life, with very little exposure to nature. Personally, this disconnection affected me deeply. At the same time, it became a period of reflection—understanding what I wanted for my life, what I enjoyed, and what truly inspired me.

At that time, I was working for a company where I didn’t have a good relationship with my boss. I didn’t like what I was doing, and the confinement was already taking a toll on my mental health. This led me to look for tools that could help me feel better: meditation, morning journaling, grounding, among others.

That’s how a book by an old crazy guy named Wim Hof landed in my hands. I had already heard about cold exposure because someone I knew only showered with cold water, even in winter. I had tried it back then, but it was really hard for me, and I quit.

So there I was: in the middle of a pandemic, unable to leave my house, dealing with a lot of anxiety, and reading a book that claimed cold water had tremendous health benefits. That’s when I decided to give cold exposure another try.

Little by little, increasing the minutes of icy showers, I started to enjoy it. And that’s how a whole new world of sensations and thoughts was born inside me.

My parents and sisters thought I was crazy, and my grandmother Beba never missed a chance to say, “Enough with those crazinesses, you’re going to get sick my dear!”

But those cold showers were starting to teach me something: the barriers we are convinced we cannot break begin to fade—first in our minds, and then in real life.

What Cold-Plunging Did to My Body and Mind

I’ll try to explain what happened to me with those first cold exposures.

There was no coffee, no mate, nothing that could kick-start my day with as much energy as those winter showers. I would step out euphoric, with an overwhelming sense of fullness. If I woke up feeling unmotivated, the shower slapped me awake three times and the lack of motivation disappeared.

The feeling of “here and now” was very strong, as I had to focus on my breathing to withstand the discomfort.

Not long after, I signed up for a Wim Hof Method course in Argentina. One thing is a cold shower; a very different thing is fully submerging your body in a barrel full of ice.

Guided by my dear “Franco Bicicleta,” I managed that first immersion, which once again confirmed how powerful this practice really was—and how often we self-sabotage ourselves with beliefs about what we are (not) capable of.

How the Project Was Born

I tried to stay consistent with ice baths, but due to logistical and financial reasons, I gave up and went back to cold showers.

A couple of years later, I started seeing cold-plunging systems that didn’t require ice, and the idea of starting a business around this came up with one of my best friends, Santi, who is also a cold-water enthusiast.

But at the same time, a deeply rooted Argentine thought appeared: How are you going to start something like this in Argentina, with all the economic chaos and mess in the country? Better forget about it.

I believe that if I hadn’t found this practice, my pre–cold exposure mindset would have given up immediately. But everything cold water gave me—and made me feel—quieted those inner voices telling me it was impossible. So, against all odds, Santi and I decided to start Alfa Hackers (that later became Alfa Humans).

At first, our friends and family told us we were crazy—who would willingly get into freezing water? Until one day I brought one of the prototypes home and convinced my family to try the practice. Little by little (I promise, with zero pressure from me), they started incorporating it into their routines.

Seeing my mom expose herself to cold in the middle of an oncology treatment and hearing her talk about how good it made her feel, or my dad, who was going through a period of low motivation, getting in every day and improving his mood—it was deeply emotional. I get goosebumps just writing this.

“Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs

We don’t think we’ve changed the world at all. But we did create this project as a small seed to change the world of our loved ones, friends, family, and the thousands of customers who choose us every day to feel better.

I’m not an absolutist. I know cold water is not the fountain of youth, nor the solution to all our problems. But I also know it had a profound impact on my daily life—on feeling better with myself and on my beliefs.

Maybe your “cold-plunge” is something else: a sport, meditation, deep conversations with your loved ones, or writing your morning pages. One thing I’m sure of—any of these can change your life, just as cold water changed mine.

Thank you for reading my (and our) story.

With love,

Joaco.