Morpeth man Zac teams up with Wim Hof for a track that is very popular at Tomorrowland and Defqon.1 festivals

Zac Aynsley has been making his mark over the last few years through his success at international bodybuilding competitions, as well as modelling and acting – this has included spending time in the USA and meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger among other celebrities.

Growing up living in Kirkhill, he started out as a DJ after leaving King Edward VI School (KEVI) before moving in a different direction.

Building up his own profile came in handy when he asked for the help of Wim Hof – a Dutch motivational speaker with his ‘Wim Hof Method’, noted for his ability to withstand very low temperatures.

And after developing a friendship with him, Zac came up with a creative idea for a track given that he decided at the start of this year to try a bit of DJing again.

Produced with his DJ friend Psyko Punkz, ‘The Alchemist’ has proved to be very popular in the electronic dance music world and the trio were invited to perform it in front of 70,000 people at Defqon.1 in the Netherlands.

This meant they broke the world record for the most people simultaneously doing a breathing exercise at the same time as Wim Hof was on stage leading the exercise whilst the track was played.

Zac, 28, and Psyko Punkz were then asked to play it at the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium, where 600,000 people in total attended.

Wim Hof was part of a BBC One show (Freeze the Fear) that aired earlier this year. A group of celebrities took on various challenges in freezing temperatures.

Zac said: “My girlfriend Melody had been diagnosed with cancer that was affecting her lungs and so I came across the Wim Hof Method when researching what could help with her recovery.

“I messaged his team and I think my large following on Instagram helped the message to get noticed because he reached out to me himself.

“We ended up visiting him at his house and we hit it off straightaway. His exercises made a big difference to help Melody’s recovery and they have also helped my mum Joan with her Raynaud’s Phenomenon issues.

“They have benefited me too as the cold showers and ice baths make a big difference to your endurance and strength.

“We’ve become good friends and the idea hit me one day to incorporate his teachings in a track. Me and Psyko Punkz put it together and we received a lot of positive feedback – there were 100,000 plays online on the first day alone.

“But we were amazed to get invited to Defqon.1, which was amazing seeing Wim Hof own the stage and setting the world record, and Tomorrowland. The response from the crowds was incredible at both festivals.”

Images of Zac have appeared in prestigious magazines such as GQ and Variety. He is proud of his home town and has been asked to do a motivational speech at KEVI.

He added: “I was not a good student, but turned things around and my message is that with a lot of hard work, a person from a small town can go on to achieve big things.”