Holding breath for 15 minutes

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DavidPT40

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I read an article (cant find it now) that said people have been able to hold their breath for up to 15 minutes using a special technique. I believe the technique went like this : 20 deep breaths breathing normal air, then 20 breaths using 100% O2.

I cant find the article, so heres my questions. Does anyone know why this technique would increase breath-hold time? Is it possible for blood to become super saturated with oxygen?

I know its recommended that free-divers do not breath nitrox or pure O2 before diving. Why?
 
DavidPT40:
I read an article (cant find it now) that said people have been able to hold their breath for up to 15 minutes using a special technique. I believe the technique went like this : 20 deep breaths breathing normal air, then 20 breaths using 100% O2.
I cant find the article, so heres my questions. Does anyone know why this technique would increase breath-hold time? Is it possible for blood to become super saturated with oxygen?
I know its recommended that free-divers do not breath nitrox or pure O2 before diving. Why?

I think times breathing pure O2 are up around and beyond 20 minutes.. anyway..
Just think, the air we breath is only about 21% O2, pure O2 is a big boost, it displaces the other gases we breath and does indeed saturate the blood with more O2.
I know, not very scientific answer.. maybe someone will explain better...
Can't help you on your last question..
 
Actually, breathing 100% O2 doesn't give you a big boost. Oxygen is carried almost exclusively on hemoglobin molecules, which, if your lungs are normal, are about 98 to 99 percent saturated on room air. Oxygen is poorly soluble in water, and only about 2 percent of the oxygen in your blood is dissolved. This is the only part that will increase much at all with 100% O2, and it's just too small a number to make a big difference.

The drive to breathe that causes us to limit our breath-holding is carbon dioxide buildup in the blood, to which the body is exquisitely sensitive. Breathing 100% O2 does not affect your baseline CO2. Hyperventilating does . . . which is why one takes a couple of deep breaths before a breath-hold. But over-ventilating can set you up for a situation where you can hold your breath long enough to use up your available oxygen, so it has its own hazards.
 
DavidPT40:
I read an article (cant find it now) that said people have been able to hold their breath for up to 15 minutes using a special technique. I believe the technique went like this : 20 deep breaths breathing normal air, then 20 breaths using 100% O2.

I cant find the article, so heres my questions. Does anyone know why this technique would increase breath-hold time? Is it possible for blood to become super saturated with oxygen?

I know its recommended that free-divers do not breath nitrox or pure O2 before diving. Why?

If you study free diving, you will find that some free divers can stay underwater for 6 minutes, maybe more, but that is in a POOL!

I've NEVER heard of 15 minutes, except in James Bond movies...... my name is "Bond, James Bond".

However to accomplish this they have too meet a LOT of special requirements, which basically make them some of the most trained individuals in the world, and require special coaching. When freediving, one takes a risk of passing out which last time I checked was a bad thing when 20+ feet UW.

Freedivers in training often go into convulsions, passout, and in general suffer from a variety of problems that their coaches are able to help them with. Most also do *workouts* while holding their breath. So 50 reps of leg lifts WHILE holding their breath, while jumping up and down on their hands, and repeating the National Anthem! :D

All these techniques help the freediver going for max bottom time cope with the lack of O2. Even these procedures don't mean that one will be able to actually stay under for more than a minute or two......

Freediving is an age old sport, and certainly many doing it don't worry about the techniques that I've seen professional freedivers use (generally hunters). However, if you want to achieve exceptal breath hold times like you indicate, I'd seek professional advice.
 
Ron, you are sadly mistaken. the guy from "Into the Blue" can also hold his breath for 15 mins.
 
Umberto Pellizari reportedly did 19 minutes after hyperventilating on pure O2. He surfaced after 19 minutes because he thought his watch had stopped.
 
WaterDawg:
Ron, you are sadly mistaken. the guy from "Into the Blue" can also hold his breath for 15 mins.

I maybe *SADLY Mistaken* however, I've not seen such proof.

http://usaa.freedivers.com/records.php

From what I've seen 8 minutes is it.

http://www.performancefreediving.com/news/worlds2005/press_release2.html

"Martin began his professional freediving career in May of 2001 when he was the first person to break the eight minute mark in breath-hold, known as static apnea with time of 8:06."

Care to show otherwise?

I don't post BS, and have seen several recent FreeDiving documentaries as well as have read online.

Freediving records are all about depth, and not time. But PLEASE prove me wrong, as these last two posts are hardly proof of anything other than heresay.... However I post what I have researched, and COULD be wrong.....

15 minutes UW, are we discussing a seal? Humans don't work like that? Again Prove it? :D
 
relax buddy, it was a joke.
 
RonFrank:
I maybe *SADLY Mistaken* however, I've not seen such proof.

http://usaa.freedivers.com/records.php

From what I've seen 8 minutes is it.

http://www.performancefreediving.com/news/worlds2005/press_release2.html

"Martin began his professional freediving career in May of 2001 when he was the first person to break the eight minute mark in breath-hold, known as static apnea with time of 8:06."

Care to show otherwise?

I don't post BS, and have seen several recent FreeDiving documentaries as well as have read online.

Freediving records are all about depth, and not time. But PLEASE prove me wrong, as these last two posts are hardly proof of anything other than heresay.... However I post what I have researched, and COULD be wrong.....

15 minutes UW, are we discussing a seal? Humans don't work like that? Again Prove it? :D

Tom Sietas 8:58 Static Apnea WR That's competitions.. I understand 9's have been broken in practices
http://www.aida-international.org/current_world_records.htm
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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