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I was wondering if anyone had an pointers on extending my underwater time while holding my breath. I really want to get more into snorkeling, but honestly it just isnt fun because I can barely hold my breath for a minute. I have always had this problem, i'm almost 40 now and I can't seem to get better at it. I'm sure i'm not doing something as well as I could. I am not looking for a 5 minute breath hold or anything like that, but 2 would be nice and 3 would be awesome. Am I asking for too much? Is some people just not meant to do it? Thanks for any info you can provide.
In terms of practice, what have you tried, and please describe more specifically, what you experience during and toward the final phase of a breath hold. There's a ton of people here, who know much more about this subject than I do, but it's difficult to give advice, when you don't have enough info to go by. We'd just be guessing about the cause of your problem and possible remedies.
Well I guess put that way, I havent really tried anything other than sucking in a bunch of air and sitting on the bottom of the kids pool. I realize there are techniques to use but have no clue about them. As far as what I experience, I assume its the same as any, a vast desire to have more air after about a minute. I cant seem to push past that burning in my chest.
So what should I be starting with and noticing to help you better determine what I need to do?
Try some simple things first, like several slow, deep breaths, then totally emptying out your lungs and holding in that state to see, what it feels like. Do a few repeats of this, with sufficient recovery in between, and check your times, you might be surprised at how long you can actually hold your breath with no air in your lungs. Once you get the feel for a complete exhale, work a little on the inhale to figure out, how to use your full lung capacity. As a horn player, I can give you more details on that, if you like.
Re your question, when you're practicing breath holds, at what point/time does your breathing reflex kick in, and then get to an unbearable level? Are you able to stay relaxed during that stage, or becoming anxious?
The two exercises, Tardi mentioned, apnea walking and static apnea, are pretty much all I do in preparation for a dive trip, the walking can be done in variations, like up/down staircases, carrying shopping bags, slow/fast pace, for example, I might go down a few flights, sit down for 20-30 secs, and then walk back up(more taxing, just like your ascent on a dive) to my starting point to see, if I made it safely back to the "surface".
Drowned myself a couple of times, before I got the hang of it.
I believe, your problem achieving longer breath holds is mostly mental, in a nutshell, your body 's like a hypersensitive car alarm, going off before it needs to. When I first began doing static, I hit the wall at about 2:30, just couldn't get past that mark. Then, one evening after a few warmup breath holds, I gave the stop watch to my wife, held my breath while doing a Sudoku puzzle, result? 3:15, next attempt 3:30. If your mind is really focused on something, it will still receive the signal, but instead of going into "danger mode", simply tell the body "yeah, I know,... but I'm busy right now, call back later!!"
So, try this the next time, you're working on your breath holds, and see what happens. I bet, your times will improve, once you're able to take your head out of the equation...
Doing what Arubandi07 said and using the breathing technique on the above video I went from 1min 15sec capacity to over 2min in a couple weeks, hope this helps. Page 4 of the feature has the video (about 1/3 through the vid is the tips on holding your breath)
There are techniques, but they should be practiced with adequate safety procedures. I highly recommend taking a freediving class. You will not only learn how to hold your breath longer, and how to dive deeper, but also how to do it safely. Done without the proper measures, freediving is dangerous. Done properly it is safe. (Relatively.) Google Performance Freediving International for the school I attended (classes in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Kona HI, and elsewhere). There's also Vertical Blue in the Bahamas (William Trubridge). And probably other schools as well. All great people and great instructors.
Agree with Daniel, there are many more aspects to safe snorkeldiving, the mere capability to hold your breath for 2 or 3 min by no means will make you a proficient freediver, and I would recommend to check out some books like "freedive" by Terry Maas, in order to get a better understanding of what's involved, and figure out, where you'd ultimately like to go with this. As a next step, as Daniel said, a freediving course maybe the way to go, the experience and expertise of professional instructors provides an efficient and safe learning environment.
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I realize there are techniques to use but have no clue about them. As far as what I experience, I assume its the same as any, a vast desire to have more air after about a minute. I cant seem to push past that burning in my chest. 
