Increasing breath hold

[Ulfhedinn]

I'm not looking at this for freediving so much even though that would work their too but more as a safety resolve or just comfortability if loss of air and waiting for that buddy of yours to hand over his reg.

So lets say I can travel 60 feet on a breath hold no fins. How does one increase that too say 120 feet without the doing the hyper ventilate thing free divers do?

Just keep swimming underwater for as long as possible and over time it will build?

 

[lowwall]

I'd work on staying closer to your buddy.

 

[kelemvor]

I'm not looking at this for freediving so much even though that would work their too but more as a safety resolve or just comfortability if loss of air and waiting for that buddy of yours to hand over his reg.

So lets say I can travel 60 feet on a breath hold no fins. How does one increase that too say 120 feet without the doing the hyper ventilate thing free divers do?

Just keep swimming underwater for as long as possible and over time it will build?

When I first got certified, I had to hire a swim instructor to meet the 60' breath hold swim requirement. I think my biggest take away is that "you can go a lot further than you think you can." For me, it was all about controlling panic when I started to feel like I needed a breath. Also, I believe going up will be significantly easier than horizontal. If you're neutral at 120', you'll be positively buoyant very quickly when swimming up.

Maybe some freedivers will have some more concrete advice than that.

 

[lowwall]

Ok, serious answer time. What technique do you use for this? I can travel the farthest underwater without fins by doing breaststroke but pulling all the way through so the hands end up by the legs. You want a slow cadence with lots of glide from both the kicks and pulls to minimize aerobic effort.

My furthest swim like this was 200', but that was when I was a college water polo player.

 

[Zef]

You should not be waiting for your buddy to hand over his reg in an out of air scenario. The idea that one will swim to their buddy, get their attention, signal "out of air", and wait for them to process and respond is ill-conceivedand perpetuated by instructors who could do a better job teaching/reviewing/discussing this aspect of their courses. It is often done exactly like that in a training scenario because it is a fairly controlled environment, but in real-life situations, anything goes.

Some training organizations, like BSAC, educate the donating diver to "present" their spare 2nd stage by simply moving their arms out of the way and facing the diver so the ooa diver can grab it...they do not teach a "handover" of the 2nd stage.

If you are unfortunate to be in a situation where you ru n lut of air, then your priority should not be on pleasantries and holding your breath until your partner figures things out. The priority is getting air into your body...in thay vain you should just get a 2nd stage in your mouth and worry about the explanation for "why" once you are at the surface or out of the water.

I think there are good reasons for extending one's ability to hold their breath, but the scenario you described is just not one of them.

-Z

 

[sea_ledford]

Practice negative ventilation breath holds. So exhale completely then hold your breath as long as you can. Then move on to doing the same thing, but walking rather than sitting down. No prep, just a regular exhale and go. Don't do this in the water!

I don't know that it will actually help max breath hold times, but it will increase your comfort with needing to breathe. Freedivers build up resistance to the CO2 trigger to breathe, and also have the built in comfort of holding their breath from the get go. Being surprised that you can no longer breathe is not the same thing! But knowing that you can hold your breath and walk for 30 seconds on an exhale and with no preparation will help keep you calm. You can swim a long way in 30 seconds.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

Ok, serious answer time. What technique do you use for this? I can travel the farthest underwater without fins by doing breaststroke but pulling all the way through so the hands end up by the legs. You want a slow cadence with lots of glide from both the kicks and pulls to minimize aerobic effort.

My furthest swim like this was 200', but that was when I was a college water polo player.

Freestyle, Sidestroke, Combat side Stroke, and Fatmans breaststroke (Underwater) <- My sis was a competitive swimmer. I can do 90' on a "underwater" breaststroke. I can pass the 60' requirement no problem it that I just want to be able to go farther underwater.. Say 120' with no issues.

 

[OTF]

Do not hyperventilate to increase breath hold when freediving. This technique kills children and untrained freedivers every year. Freedivers do not hyperventilate, they do some other breathing techniques that might look similar.

The reason not to hyperventilate is that your body judges the need to breathe based on CO2 buildup in the blood, NOT the level of oxygen reaching your brain. Hyperventilating can reduce the CO2 level to a point that you won't know how badly you need air until you pass out. Passing out in water = not good.

I strongly recommend you take a basic freediving class with a good instructor to learn about safety issues like this, and massively improve your technique/ breath hold time. I had been freediving quite seriously for over 20 years before getting any formal training, and a basic class taught me a LOT of things that I didn't know I didn't know.

As for increasing breath hold time, it's down to practice. Practice on dry land in a place where you won't be hurt if you pass out. When you're training in water HAVE AN ATTENTIVE BUDDY. Just practice increasing your hold time with a timer, look up how to do "freedive tables" (a training method), or get the "STAmina" app which helps you do tables.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

You should not be waiting for your buddy to hand over his reg in an out of air scenario. The idea that one will swim to their buddy, get their attention, signal "out of air", and wait for them to process and respond is ill-conceivedand perpetuated by instructors who could do a better job teaching/reviewing/discussing this aspect of their courses. It is often done exactly like that in a training scenario because it is a fairly controlled environment, but in real-life situations, anything goes.

Some training organizations, like BSAC, educate the donating diver to "present" their spare 2nd stage by simply moving their arms out of the way and facing the diver so the ooa diver can grab it...they do not teach a "handover" of the 2nd stage.

If you are unfortunate to be in a situation where you ru n lut of air, then your priority should not be on pleasantries and holding your breath until your partner figures things out. The priority is getting air into your body...in thay vain you should just get a 2nd stage in your mouth and worry about the explanation for "why" once you are at the surface or out of the water.

I think there are good reasons for extending one's ability to hold their breath, but the scenario you described is just not one of them.

-Z

I was implying it more tongue in cheek. I agree you need to get that air ASAP.

Funny thing is.. a number of years ago when I was trying out a "new" diving system from UTD. I rolled of the valve with my head. I had thought the instructor at the time was messing with me and asked him underwater what was with doing, as he told me they would not turn off my air underwater during drills. He looked as confused as me. I would say a good 60 seconds transpired between the breathing down the reg and then giving the OofA signal to him. So I could deal with turning the valve back on. No panic just resolve.

Kinds of forgot about it tell today so went and tested in the pool and low and behold cant hold my breath for 60sec.. comfortably. So hence this forum post.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

Do not hyperventilate to increase breath hold when freediving. This technique kills children and untrained freedivers every year. Freedivers do not hyperventilate, they do some other breathing techniques that might look similar.

The reason not to hyperventilate is that your body judges the need to breathe based on CO2 buildup in the blood, NOT the level of oxygen reaching your brain. Hyperventilating can reduce the CO2 level to a point that you won't know how badly you need air until you pass out. Passing out in water = not good.

I strongly recommend you take a basic freediving class with a good instructor to learn about safety issues like this, and massively improve your technique/ breath hold time. I had been freediving quite seriously for over 20 years before getting any formal training, and a basic class taught me a LOT of things that I didn't know I didn't know.

As for increasing breath hold time, it's down to practice. Practice on dry land in a place where you won't be hurt if you pass out. When you're training in water HAVE AN ATTENTIVE BUDDY. Just practice increasing your hold time with a timer, look up how to do "freedive tables" (a training method), or get the "STAmina" app which helps you do tables.

Just grabbed the Stamina Apnea trainer! Thanks