> Skip to content
[]
Play sample
  • Published: 19 March 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529937183
  • Imprint: Ebury Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $55.00
Categories:

Hotwired

How the Hidden Power of Heat Makes Us Stronger




A radical exploration of how our bodies can harness heat for optimum health by #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Outlive

'This book moves beyond anecdotal claims…and provides a critical synthesis of the evidence demonstrating how hyperthermia can enhance endurance, improve metabolic health and generate the protective physiological changes necessary for extending healthspan.'

— Peter Attia, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outlive

Humans were born to sweat – and sweating makes us stronger.

In Hotwired, bestselling co-author of Outlive and science editor Bill Gifford explores how heat can improve our performance and our health.

Combining cutting-edge science, personal discovery and practical insights, Gifford reveals how humans evolved to excel in hot conditions – and how we’ve lost touch with this ancient advantage. He plunges into the steamy world of Finnish saunas, serves as a test subject in heat labs and tackles a 100-mile bike ride under the blazing Texas sun to show how exposing ourselves to discomfort can expand our physical and mental limits. He even explores how infrared sauna therapy and cold plunging could fight depression more effectively than medication. And he examines how, in cities around the globe, social saunas are reviving communal wellness.

Whether you want to perform better, extend your lifespan or adapt to a warming planet, Gifford shows you the incredible benefits of reawakening your body’s natural adaptability to heat and cold. Hotwired is a thrilling call to reimagine heat – not as a threat, but as a tool for strength, resilience and longevity.

  • Published: 19 March 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529937183
  • Imprint: Ebury Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $55.00
Categories:

About the author

Bill Gifford

Bill Gifford is co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Outlive, which has sold more than two million copies worldwide, as well as the New York Times bestseller Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (Or Die Trying). A veteran magazine writer and editor, he is fascinated by extraordinary athletes and cutting-edge health science. He is a longtime contributing editor at?Outside, and his work has appeared in Wired, Bloomberg Businessweek, Men's Health, Bicycling, Slate and Best American Sportswriting.

Also by Bill Gifford

See all

Praise for Hotwired

HOTWIRED is a gripping investigation into the power of heat and how it shaped our evolution and can still transform our physical and mental health today. Bill Gifford makes the science come alive, reminding us that the path to a stronger body and mind often runs straight through discomfort.

Michael Easter, New York Times bestselling author of The Comfort Crisis and Scarcity Brain

Read this book! Hotwired is a masterpiece of story-driven science that unpacks that health benefits of heat, and ultimately reveals how sweating together can not only make us healthier, but happier and more connected.

Dan Buettner, National Geographic Fellow, New York Times bestseller and founder of the Blue Zones

Hotwired is revelatory, a fascinating exploration of heat as a fundamental pillar of health. With scientific rigor and narrative grace, Gifford illuminates how thermal stress activates our deepest biological pathways toward resilience, metabolic optimisation and authentic longevity. This is essential reading for anyone committed to understanding the potential transformative alchemy of their own physiology.

Sara Szal, MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Hormone Cure and Women Food and Hormones

Fascinating. Gifford shows – through science and sweat – that heat isn’t the enemy. It’s a superpower we’ve forgotten how to use.

James Nestor, New York Times bestselling author of Breath
penguin pop image
penguin pop image