[wjohnson100]

Hi to all. I have been working on no-warmup holds since the middle of April, 2007. Initially the holds were very uncomfortable. My personal best at the time was a very very difficult 6:30, and then only once at the end of a training table. During the time I have been doing this, my previous personal best of 6:30 (after 7 warmup holds) has been exceeded many times, with a new personal best of 6:52 and a best no-warmup hold of 6:35. Comfort level has improved drastically and as a side benefit, my contractions have been coming later and later. This morning I did a no-contraction hold of 6:00 on the first hold of the day with no hypoxic symptoms. I am hoping that this track will eventually leverage my holds past the 7:00 mark. For those of you just starting this training method, I know it will be very uncomfortable at first, but as your breathe up matures and with continued effort, I think you can achieve comfort levels and hold times that you only dreamed of previously. In previous posts, I have outlined what I believe are the benefits of ditching warmup holds. Today I am adding to this list "delayed contractions". I am not sure how far this will ultimately take me, but for now, I am learning alot. Good luck to all.

Walt