How to increase breath hold?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

dlow8590

New
Messages
1
Reaction score
1
Location
United States
Hi all im new to the board and have a question regarding free diving. I have been snorkeling for years now and started spearfishing 2 years ago. I would like to improve my breath hold. Currently out of water i can hold my breath for 1:20 a bit below average and i can dive to around 20 feet for a few seconds try not count since it screws with you staying calm so dont have an exact time. I would like to improve on this. I will have access to a pool through the year and want to know what types of exercises should i be doing. Also out of the water should i be doing alot of cardio how much and how often also any breathing exercises that actually work. Im 18 years old and fit 145 lbs 6 ft. My goal is to be able to have a 1:30 minute breath hold under water by next summer not sure if that goal is set to high. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!!!
 
Hyperventilation is no longer considered safe and is not taught,except by PADI. Free Divers are doing something called oxygen packing instead.
Hyperventilating has caused too many blackout deaths. The free divers have totally gone away from it, according to their forums and videos. I'd love to take a good class sometime.
 
Long consistent big inhales before diving down will saturate your blood with oxygen and this is known to help. I've also heard that you should practice holding your breath, so to speak, without air. Empty lungs in other words. Drink lots of fresh water ahead of time as well as that will help with oxygenation in the body. Cardio and practice. Be safe and have fun, good luck with your fishing.
 
I am an Fii Freediving Instructor. There are many ways to increase you breath hold. A 1:30 breath hold is very attainable with proper training. Before I took my first freediving class I had a breath hold of 1:45. After the first day of class I accomplished 3 minutes. There are simple breathing techniques that allow us to increase our blood oxygen levels while slowing our heart rate. I now teach freediving and have a static breath hold of 4:45. With extended breath holds come responsibility. There are safety procedures you must learn while learning to extend your breath hold. I hold classes often and can do privates. You can find my profile and contact info at the Fii website.
 
Hyperventilation is no longer considered safe and is not taught,except by PADI. Free Divers are doing something called oxygen packing instead.
Hyperventilating has caused too many blackout deaths. The free divers have totally gone away from it, according to their forums and videos. I'd love to take a good class sometime.

Actually this past quarter, PADI changed the standards for skin diving techniques. They have changed to the more acceptable form which is "deep stomach breathing."
 
Hello,

I am not a free diver (yet). But I want to start training for my breath hold swim (a requirement for GUE training.)

When you start practicing breath hold exercises, do you:

A) breathe in a lungful of air and lock in (i.e. not exhaling at all)?
B) breathe in a lungful of air and trickle out through nose during the exercise?
C) start with empty lungs and lock in?

Thank you.
 
Thank you. I have watched the video. It looks like he is not moving his chest or belly at all. But I can't really tell if he locks in or allows the breath to trickle out. I find I can hold my breath a lot longer if I trickle out. In real diving or breath-hold swim, do you lock in or trickle out? Thanks again.
 
Yes and Yes,
It also helps to reach max depth asap and work your way back up.
Colder water works better than warmer water for times, as it seems to help the body's natural bloodflow constriction to extremities.
It takes time to train your body to resist the urge to breath caused by CO build up.
When you get better at it you can determine when to say when based on the burn from lactic acid in your muscles.
Being ultra conscience to not make any body movements that do not serve a function of your dive.
This helps tremendously, as your muscles burn O2 which is limited to any preloading and your one breath.
I can't say that anyone/everyone will be able to do it but I use to do 5 min dives for starting points.
And would work upward from there to longer dives.
******************************************************************************
As you work on pushing your limits doing any breath hold dives (especially those that are deeper).
Be sure to have safety swimmers or divers that can bring you to the surface if you experience shallow water black-out.
It is also wise to have at least 2 persons on dry land that are CPR trained, and have O2 ready for use.
Whenever you are pushing your limits, what you really are doing is testing ability to determine when to say when and head for the surface.
Many people have drowned attempting this, it is a very real thing.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom