can't hold my breath longer.......

[chris14]

I can't seem to hold my breath longer than 1:30, i have been trying diffrent techniques for 6 weeks. Could it be my age 14 or my height which is very small or do i need to pratice longer? could i get some tips that you guys use also?

thanks

[IronLung]

I don't think your size or age has anything to do with it, I'd done 3:17 at 14. It's all in your mind. Relax, and fight that urge to breathe, you've got enough air to go past 1:30 no problem. Just fight that urge, it's like a barrier, once you break through it, it's a whole new world. Hope this helps!

Ike

[Cornholio]

Find a quiet place, without distractions. Get comfortable, some people like to lie down. Take slow breaths, pulling the air deep down with your diaphragm first, then filling your chest. Exhale slowly, at least twice as long as your inhale. You are aiming to be really chilled, as if you could fall asleep.

It may help if you build up your times slowly. Maybe start with 0:45 breath-hold, then go up in 15 second intervals. Allow yourself a good period to recover between holds.

If you can get hold of a copy of the apnea tables (http://www.freediver.co.uk/finalsite.../satt/satt.htm) they may help.

Try and practise as often as possible, I do something every day. It really does get easier…

Cheers!

[andystelter]

make sure that you do not eat before you start with your static.

[Qdive]

I'll have to try the apnea on an empty stomach.... BUT, anyway... keep trying, I was hung up at 1:30 for the longest time; finallly the other night I really relaxed and found out what breaking through that barrier was like. I almost doubled my time, I made it to 2:45 (it was 2:30 before i even though about looking at the timer).
It really was just a matter of changing focus, concentrating on my breathing and then my heart rate; everything else just started to blank.
it's a good feeling
-alex

[Kars]

Maybe it's also a good Idea to train without using a watch, I know a bunch of people who get focussed on beating or making a certain time. As you have experienced, time only fires up the heartrate and stress.
Instead I go out to explore the fealings and processes in my body. As I lay down I check every part to be relaxed, including my heart and face muscles. My buddy tells my times afterwards, and I take them lightly.

Good luck, and safe training!

Kars.

[chris14]

thanks, i got up to 2:30! is it bad or unsafe to hold for to many contractions???

[Snorkel Bum]

Hey Chris... Before, I was a lot like you... I could not hold my breath too long! I was always looking at a clock and stressing to beat another time... one day I lied down on my bed and took out my phone and played a game (battleship heheheh :P) I just kept on playing until I started to feel slightly uncomfortable and the conractions were about to start, I then looked at my watch (bedside table) and it really shocked me to learn that I had already held my breath for 3 minutes! Of course all this shock made my heartbeat higher and I quickly lost it, for an impressive 3:15! What I am suggesting is that you try to take your mind of something... try your phone (try and play something boring which doesnt make u stressed.. like cards) or gameboy or whatever and see what happens!

[Kars]

It's not dangerous to hold on over contractions, but you should try to learn to relax these muscles as much as you can, before and while your heaving them.
My contractions evolved into a roll of the belly, They have become very mild these days.

Another tip is to do some good stretching before.
The way the muscles are more prepaired and relaxed an have more room to move. Stretching can make a big difference.

Furthermore about your progress.
It's likely that you'll move on to the 3 min or maybe even 4 in a few weeks or a few months, but do expect a sort of platform time-wise.

Cornholio's advice: "Try and practise as often as possible, I do something every day." may not work for you, and may even work against you.

Statics are a heavy training, heavy for mind and heart and body. It's better to have a few day's of rest in between.

Furtermore there are many exercises that improve your underwatertime. Go swimming, cycling, running. Make yourself flexible, were many easy repetitions are better than once a week a "big" stretch.
Practice your focussing skill, this can be done anywhere, eating, walking, breathing etc. It's very hard to be very focussed on ONE thing for a longer time.

In general, if you want to change something in your paterns do so gradually, your body needs time to addapt. Take a step back and enjoy the journey, it's more fun than the "numbers".

I whish I discoverd freediving at 14 years, well I did a bit, but didn't realise how much I loved it, I quess I was to busy with school and stuff.


Love, peace and water!

Kars.

[watts]

I agree with kars ditch the watch practice some tables and dont put to much presure on yourself your body will get used to it and youll improve give it time ..cheers Nathan

[Walrus]

Chris,
I do think your age will affect your performance a bit, your heartrate and metabolism will be a lot higher then a 20-30 year old. You will definitely be better at static when you get older, even if you don't practise between now and then. Likewise lung volume tends to go up with height, which is usually an advantage in static. Still the static times that you are doing doesn't sound like it should be any where near your physical limits.

Lots of freedivers, lots of different aproaches.
Personally I've never found any type of exercise has any positve effect on static, and know quite a few people likewise. I know people that have done a lot of swimming at an early age tend to have larger lung volumes and good CO2 tolerance so may be beneficial. As for overtraining I know many people that set PB's by doing statics often ie daily. But in most cases this was doing a lot of training in a short space of time, ie 2-3 weeks leading up to a competition. I think the overtraining that Kars talks about is much more of a mental thing then physical. Not using a watch can be good, but if doing a dry breathold by yourself is a bit hard to do. Try perhaps a timer or an alarm ?
What helps me is having someone tell me the time from about halfway thru, every minute or 30 seconds or so. To me it doesn't break my focus, I hear it and then go back to being relaxed again and don't think about it. That makes my feel like the time is passing by. If I don't know the time at all I start to wonder about it. You could try a tape recorder or use your PC to record your voice anouncing the intervals, then mix it with some music ? Music really helps me doing dry breatholds.

You could try some exhale statics in your warmup, ie breathe up, then exhale and hold your breath. Will be a lot shorter, ie something like 20-30 seconds, then breathe up 2-3 minutes 30-40 seconds exhale static, breatheup 2-3 min, 40-60 seconds exhale static, 3-4 minutes breathe up, go for max static.
Also can try a little more hyperventilation. You will probably need to do that if trying exhale statics. For a dry breathold is ok, but don't try that underwater.

In the end it comes down to being as relaxed as you can during the breathold. You can hold your breath longer then you think, you just have to believe it.

Cheers,
Wal

[IronLung]

I NEVER look at a clock when doing statics, knowing how much time has passed just makes it harder, I like to forget about time. The first time I did over 4 minues, I would have sworn it had only been about 2:30...
Listen to Wal, Believe in yourself.

Ike

[bluecape]

Hi Chris

Kars spoke of 2 area's which I believe are very important.
Firstly - Apnea, even though you are relaxing and slowing your heartrate and 'physiology' down, takes a lot out of you, and it's not a good idea to do static every day.

The other thing is to work on learning to focus. Even if everything is perfect in terms of conditions and your fitness etc, on a day that you are struggling to focus, you will not be able to get anything done.

Most importantly, the worlds best freediver is the freediver who's having the most fun !

Regards

Jeff

[Cornholio]

I couldn't agree more with those who disagreed with my advice to ‘practise as often as possible’. I should probably apologise as I knocked out my post quickly and without much consideration.

It works for me to practise each day. However, I only do a single ‘moderate’ static. At the moment, it’s either a 3:15 (four times a week) or a 4:00 (twice a week), but I’m slowly inching them up. I would certainly never consider going for a max this often (in fact, I hardly ever go for a max as it’s not my thing). Just because I find this routine good, it’s certainly not right for everyone. It may not even be the best for me, but it’ll do.

My wife is an excellent musician. I’ve known her pick up an instrument that she hasn’t played for twenty years and it’s sounded like she only played it yesterday. If I don’t play my guitar three or four times a week, my hands become weak and I loose a lot of technique and tone. I have the same thing with apnea; if I miss a few days it takes me a week or more to get back to where I was.

I set a countdown timer on my watch, then close my eyes and wait for the alarm. In the early days I’d sit and watch the seconds count down, but that certainly doesn’t help!

Best wishes,

Gavin.

[Tommy Engfors]

In addition to all the good advice already presented, I would like to add that in front of a computer, while doing the tables, a computer game can help immensly.

Set the table with voice countdown and load up your favourite game. No more boredom waiting for time to pass!

For me UT2003 works great. Fast and frantic action game that leaves no room for quiet contemplation. 2 mins pass like 30 seconds...