Breath Holding

[kjpwong]

thanks very much for the comments and recommendations mate

 

[Goose75]

When you breath you rebreathe some of the CO2 in your throat. Taking three quick breaths as suggested earlier helps you stay down longer because it puts air in your throat that has more O2 than a normal long breath. If you do it too much ou can reduce the CO2 content too much. CO2 is what gives you the burning sensation and makes you think to come up for a breath. It's a good technique, but you shouldn't overuse it.

Exertion is a major factor. Streamline your strokes and spend more time cruising through the water. If you are mostly interested in snorkeling, then don't use your arms. Put your feet straight up to slide down and your head up to surface, use your kicks mostly for foward propulsion. Let gravity do your work for you.

 

[kjpwong]

thanks again.
i notice the speed up of heart rate when i reach the 1minute mark on land. are there any special techiniques or skills to slow down the heart rate in order to hold a longer breath or is it just practice?
when practicing in a pool, how can i stay on the bottom of the pool while holding my breath without using a weight belt?

 

[humanFish]

thanks again.
i notice the speed up of heart rate when i reach the 1minute mark on land. are there any special techiniques or skills to slow down the heart rate in order to hold a longer breath or is it just practice?
when practicing in a pool, how can i stay on the bottom of the pool while holding my breath without using a weight belt?

The physiology of breath holding on land is quite different in the water. Do some research on the "mammalian diving reflex" This will explain why.

Regular meditation is one thing that many freedivers advocate...and can certainly be practiced at any time...or as a pre-dive routine. This is one way to learn to slow the heartrate.

This sounds silly but you might try putting your face in a bucket of ice water in order to trigger the mammalian diving reflex...some divers do it before competitions...

See my other post about pool practice..it will answer your weight belt question. Also, I've found that "working" underwater helps to build diving endurance. Practice finning back and forth in the pool underwater...see how many laps you can do. You'll find as your body gets more fit for diving and you become more comfortable..you'll be able to go farther and be more comfortable underwater....the key is taking it slow.

ALWAYS MAKE SURE SOMEONE IS WATCHING YOU IN THE POOL!

 

[freediver]

thanks again.
i notice the speed up of heart rate when i reach the 1minute mark on land. are there any special techiniques or skills to slow down the heart rate in order to hold a longer breath or is it just practice?

Do some research into Biofeedback. I have been doing this for years and find it HIGHLY effective. No need to have the expensive equipment, it can be done in a much simpler fashion. Just remember that extending a breath-hold isn't as "physical" as many believe. To get to a certain point it will take quite a bit of mental conditioning.

 

[jewey4]

So here's my issue. I can swim an easy 20 meters on one breath if I'm at the surface but as soon as I try to do this completely submerged, my time is cut by more than half, from exhaustion and trying to stay under. I have a ridiculous time trying to stay under water without any weight. Within 10 feet of swimming underwater. My backend and legs are back up at the surface. I must have a really bouyant behind! This is frustrating because for a course I'm taking, one of the skills we're going to need to do is swim underwater 50 feet and pick up a weight at 8 feet depth. Now, I'm not sure if we'll have fins but I'm assuming we won't.

So my concern isn't necessarily keeping my breath longer but being able to stay under and not exerting so much energy while swimming forward. I may just have to slip a few pounds in my bikini bottoms!

 

[kjpwong]

i can do an easy 45m underwater in the pool without any gear or 1min 50 seconds on land just holding my breath. but when i jump into the ocean and try to swim under water i could only do around 30-45 seconds, is that becuase that salt water is more bouyant, or finning is required, or something mental?

 

[spectrum]

So here's my issue. I can swim an easy 20 meters on one breath if I'm at the surface but as soon as I try to do this completely submerged, my time is cut by more than half, from exhaustion and trying to stay under. I have a ridiculous time trying to stay under water without any weight. Within 10 feet of swimming underwater. My backend and legs are back up at the surface. I must have a really bouyant behind! This is frustrating because for a course I'm taking, one of the skills we're going to need to do is swim underwater 50 feet and pick up a weight at 8 feet depth. Now, I'm not sure if we'll have fins but I'm assuming we won't.

So my concern isn't necessarily keeping my breath longer but being able to stay under and not exerting so much energy while swimming forward. I may just have to slip a few pounds in my bikini bottoms!

If I'm in my trunks and go down about 10-12 feet in fresh water I loose enough bouyancy that I just need to adjust my trim slightly to go up, down or remain at depth. If you are too bouyant then you either flap your arms of need to swim forward fast enough to generate downward thrust, you won't be down for long.

The opposite of trunks in freshwater is when I go in cold salt water and wear my 7mm fullsuit and vest, then it's a 26 pound belt. I set my weight just like for scuba, bobbing at eye level with a normal breath. With that setting you should be very comfortable up on the surface when swimming along but can go down at will. Again somewhere around 10-12 feet I become neutral and going deeper requires little effort.

Pete

 

[jewey4]

If I'm in my trunks and go down about 10-12 feet in fresh water I loose enough bouyancy that I just need to adjust my trim slightly to go up, down or remain at depth.
Pete

Yeah- I think I just haven't practiced in deep enough water. I've only been using the gym pool (which is pretty much 4 feet deep) so that's probably why I keep bobbing up. I'm gonna go to my friend's house and try it in a normal sized pool.

 

[mccabejc]

Thanks for the help folks. I felt like I had hit a brick wall, and just couldn't get much past the 30 ft underwater swim in the pool. Made 40 a couple times, but mostly only 30ft.

But tonight after about 6 tries to swim the length of a 30 ft long swimming pool, suddenly I did two laps (60ft) on one breath. Then again. And again. Total of 5 times in a row. Strange. Like suddenly a switch went on.

And I also got to 1:30 breath hold while sitting in a chair relaxing, 15 seconds better than my previous best. Guess my lungs just decided to go with the flow.

By the way, a question regarding equalizing: I assume that equalizing for skin diving is the same as for scuba: before and during descent, right? It's a bit more challenging for me to equalize when swimming head down while doing a skin diving descent, so I'll have to work on that.