Need Help Big time on breath holding.....plz help

[DiveDeep3r99]

hey im not very good at holding my breath....about a minute right now....ive heard about relaxing and breathing exercises and stuff..but i want to hear something about " getting past the burn" and " the barrier" it starts to hurt at 50 seconds....is it really easier once you get by? please tips and secrets

EDIT (sanso): Reverted to normal font - no boldface please.

[cdavis]

Do some statics dry, NOT WET. 2-3 minutes of complete relaxation between holds, 3-5 holds in a row, a couple of big breaths before the hold, then don't move, relax totally. You will quickly exceed 1 minute with no strain. Build on that, you can go a long way. Use the seach function and learn more as you go.

Connor

[bite ya]

Hi, i'm quite new to this stuff myself but i have been training for about 9mths now. Some advice

1. make sure someone else is with you
2. Take three or four really deep breaths
3. Breath out as much air as possible and empty out your lungs completly
4. Take a big inhalation fill your diapham up (belly will expand) first then your upper chest (chest will expand)
5. Lay face down in the water with your hands on the side
6. Do not look at your watch
7. Go through a process in your mind (i usually imagine someone massaging me from the tip of my toes to my head)
8. When you feel the first contraction (dont worry this is only CO2 building up, not a lack of Oxygen) go for about 10 of these contactions.
9. Come up and stop your watch, take some quick breaths to recover and tell your buddy your o.k.
10. Repeat again 2-3mins after, when you breath up before a breath hold just relax and breath as you would if you were watching TV.

Do this at least three times only going to 10 contractions at a time, the first contaction will start later and later.

To build up your tolerance level to CO2 try and beat the contactions you go through so after doing 10 contactions do 15 or 20.

I can get up to about 60 of these...

Please please please ensure someone else is with you though...

Give me a shout and let me know how you get on.

Regards
Chris

[DiveDeep3r99]

hey chris, thanks for the tips, i tried them. i can easily get to 1:10, contractions start at about :45 to :50... is there a initial burn to get by or is that just a hoax?

thanx- mike...

[TampaBrian]

You don't ever want to get by the burn...you'll be dead
I recommend working on o2 tables for a couple weeks, then throw in some co2 tables.
Here's what i started with when i was new:
Monday: o2 tables
tuesday: o2 tables
wednesday: co2 tables
thursday: o2 tables
Friday: co2 tables
Sat and sunday rest.
If you don't know where they are, look up the sticky in the beginning freediving forum near the top of the forum.

[bite ya]

Mike
That burning feeling sounds like your first contraction, once they start they dont go away as TampaBrian explains. Just learn to accept them. They are only your body saying to you breath out as CO2 is building up. Tell yourself its o.k and see how many you can take (its all about a little bit of mental toughness) Instead of timing yourself see if you can beat the amount you can take instead of how long you can hold your breath for.

Chris

[DiveDeep3r99]

hey brian,
i looked at the o2 tables, theres 8 sessions or whatever, 2:00 ventilating then a longer hold each time. Do i just try to make it all the way, because theres no way at this point that i can hold my breath for 2:00....so do i just get as far as a can and work up? also, do i do these dry or wet?

[bite ya]

Just adjust the tables to suit your abillities. If your max hold is 1min 10secs then train to 80% of this on your o2 tables and 50% of your best on the co2 tables....

Chris

[DiveDeep3r99]

i did the c02 tables that are in the sticky post on the top of the forum with ease.....you know, decreasing your rest time but the same static, i can get the 1:30 on every attempt decreasing my rest time, i can go longer, so for the o2 i geuss illl just go around 2:00....is it dangerous, or unhealthy to do the co2 tables 3 times a day? thanks
-mike

[bite ya]

Do them as many times as you like, the more the merrier in my books. You need to teach your body to tolerate co2 build up and o2 depravation so the more you do this the more you can take.

Safety is key, if you feel it's too much stop! Freediving is supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable and if you keep pushing harder and harder you will slowly begin to dislike it.

I train twice a week in the pool and twice a week running etc but every month i make sure i go down the pool and just goof around (blowing bubbles rings and generally being stupid with my monofin!!)

Chris

[DiveDeep3r99]

so its safe to do them as many times as i want? for the co2 tables do you think decreasing rest by 15 seconds every time, and a 1:30 static is good for my begginer status? or should i be doing 2 mintues....what should i breathe like before a breath? deep,slow,hard,fast?
thanx

Mike

[TampaBrian]

for a breath up, do a slow deep 5 second inhale, and 10 second slow deep exhale. Just relax and focus on it taking time. After about 2:30, take a huge breath and go, you should be able to hit 2:00 or close after about 2 of these. Remember to do the 2:30 recovery breathing. Some may say the breath up I explained is semi-hyperventilation, but if your doing it very slow, I wouldn't consider it hyperventilation. If you don't want to do that, than simply breath normal for 2:30 and think about something that calms you, better yet think of something that makes u sleepy.

On a cooler note, I tried a few extreme co2 tables with much success after only a few days. First, take a deep breath, no breath up. Hold it for 45 seconds, let out all the air, take another deep breath immediately and hold again for 45 seconds... See if you can do 2 or 3 of these. Don't do them in the water!!!!!!! Once you work your way up to 6 7 or 8 of these, you should in theory be able to do 2/2:30. Once you got that down, change the 45 seconds to 55 or a minute. At that point you probably won't need/be able to do any more than that consistently in a row. During all this, don't forget your o2 tables, its important to build both tolerances. Good luck and keep me posted.
-brian

[DiveDeep3r99]

alright thanks brian, so this :45 second no rest thing will help my co2 tolerance and help for a longer dive?

[TampaBrian]

everything we're teaching you, as long as you trin and train right, will help for longer dives over time....be patient and consistent!

[Parapsycho]

I'm finding this thread extremely helpful.

Before reading it and following the advice, my all time dry static PB was just over 2 minutes (a long time ago), with my recent average PBs being 1:15 to 1:30. I used to get scared at the contractions, and would stop.

I just did a PB of 1:57, then 2:20, and finally 2:40.

I'm finding that counting the contractions when they start helps get my mind out of panic mode and thinking of something else. On the first 2 PBs, I held out for 10 contractions. On the last one, I held out for 15.