By Philip Ellis
Hugh Jackman is doing nothing to dispel the rumors that he is returning to the world of X-Men as Wolverine after going shirtless on Instagram at the beach this week, showing off that he is still jacked(man) at 53 while participating in the “polar bear plunge.”
The polar bear plunge is an annual tradition which involves stripping down to your underwear or a bathing suit and wading into the nearest freezing ice-cold body of water. There’s only one problem; this is usually something you do on New Year’s Day (what better way to blast away a hangover), as demonstrated by Belfast star Jamie Dornan two months ago, not the tail end of February.
“It’s the annual polar bear plunge,” Jackman says in the video, before admitting to being tardy. “I’m about six weeks late, but hey, nature doesn’t count.”
This isn’t Jackman’s first plunge: he also went running into the water (punctually) just over a year ago, on January 1, 2021. But his track record of exposing himself to freezing cold temperatures goes back even further. In 2017, Jackman tried out cryotherapy. It’s an increasingly popular muscle recovery method among celebrities and athletes, which requires you to spend several minutes in a chamber where the temperature can plummet as low as -218 degrees Fahrenheit. Cristiano Ronaldo and Zac Efron are both fans, and proponents of cryotherapy claim it can speed up muscle recovery after a training session, ameliorate joint pain, improve circulation, reduce inflammation, boost your mood, and even help with anxiety and depression.
