any advice?

[Leon Han]

hello there,

I'm looking to hold my breath for longer just as a fun side activity (i go swimming nearly every day)
here are some factors that might affect free diving:
age: 13 (kinda short)
physique: kinda scrawny, short and have a little fat on my stomach (not much anyway)
nationality: Chinese (i heard different races have different lung sizes thus affecting their free diving performances.
misc.: I know how to use the Frenzel maneuver, (i used the Frenzel maneuver to hard and I have this scratchy pain in the back of my throat and in my ears. I can swim underwater for 30 seconds. im pretty good at swimming and bubble rings that it


im in a rush so ill add more things later.

a

 

[Leon Han]

sorry the last little bit was un-edited

this is the bit i want to add on:


Is their any way to improve my underwater skills? Maybe teach me some new techniques? And is their any thing i can do to have lower metabolism higher blood volume and enlarge the lungs?

 

[Leon Han]

idk if my physique affects the dive

 

[Tim B.]

Hey Leon!

Glad you found this site and are keen on progressing your abilities!
You are asking all the right questions but a little in the wrong order. ;-)
From what you wrote I conclude that you did some reading already, which is very good and sets you towards the right path.

I will try and give you some more information that benefits your training.

Since you are still very young a lot of your abilities will develop on their own while you just keep training.
First and foremost: be safe in what you are doing! Don't train alone in the water and don't push yourself to hard.


That said the first thing you probably want to improve is your breathing technique and breathhold. For that you don't even need to be in the water! ;-)
It will take you almost no time at all to hold your breath for more than a minute and probably very soon even two.
A lot of it takes place in your mind.

Unfortunately it is hard to show you correct breathing through text but I can try to give you some pointers.

First about breathing:
There is two modes in which you can fill your lungs.
The first is what we usually do: You breathe by expanding your chest.
The second that most people don't do but which is of great importance for breath holding is the so called abdominal breathing.

Sit upright or lay down in your bed with a relaxed, straight back.
Lay one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest around where your heart is.
Try and fill your lungs not by expanding your chest but by using your belly muscles!
You've just used your diaphragm to fill your lungs, congratulations!

Now, the next step would be to combine the two.
Your goal is to first belly breath approx. the first half of your lungs and then fill the second half with a chest breath.
It can help to try and imagine and feel where the two go:
The belly breath is directed towards your belly button or your solar plexus and your chest breath towards your sternum and claviculae.

Finally you try to to both in one fluid motion: Belly until you think that it's almost full and then direct transition into chest breathing for the rest.
If you have that down you are in a very good position because you're lungs should now be filled almost to their full capacity.

Now you can get a stopwatch (phone) and time your first tries of breath hold with the new technique.
Relax, breathe normally and then, when you feel ready do one big breath, hold it and start the clock!
While holding your breath, do not look at the watch!
Just try to stay calm and don't think about numbers.
Maybe go through the alphabet and name one person you know for every letter.
Hold your breath completely! Do not let air out inbetween.

When you cannot go on anymore stop the clock, slowly let the air stream from your lungs and breathe as relaxed as you can.
Look at the time. Come back here and post it. ;-)

 

[Leon Han]

hey zym,

thanks for the advice!

I think I got a hold of abdominal breathing and can kinda use it in the pool.

another question I have is,
if you lung pack at a young age will it expand your lung capacity?
and is there any way to see your lung capacity?

 

[Tim B.]

Hey again!

Hope you could increase your breath hold!

There is no scientific research about that as far as I know, but consensus is, that lung capacity is defined genetically and can only be changed in very narrow margins. If I remember correctly William Trubridge has a pretty average lung capacity and still is one of the top divers in the world.
Another problem is, that packing done wrong can seriously harm the tissue in your lungs. It can cause micro ruptures which do heal but most likely will consist of scar tissue and not functional lung tissue which in turn will gradually reduce your ultimate performance.
Conclusion: don't do it. There is heaps of things you can do to increase your freediving performance that are safe and don't damage your body.
And packing itself is not a necessary thing at all. A lot of freedivers actually do really deep and long dives without packing. There even is a technique called FRC (Functional residual capacity) which basically means that you are diving with less then half full lungs. This reduces your buoyancy but your bottom time as well obviously. Still it is an advanced technique but it is really important to know, that packing is not mandatory in any way!

Best thing you can do is work on your breathhold with CO2/O2 tables (google it ;-)) and improving your technique. Maybe there even is a freediving club or an instructor around your area who could teach you some of the basics face to face.

But please: BE SAFE! It is a safe sport in itself but even small mistakes can make it a very dangerous one in a heartbeat. Every damage you do to your body right now has a good chance of impeding your performance later on.

For the "what's my lung capacity?": Yes, there is ways to test that. Usually your doctor can do that, but in most cases only will do if there is signs that something is wrong with your lungs.

I admire your curiosity but your body is in a state of constant flux and evolves every day. There is absolutely no need to check those numbers now, because they will change in the coming few months and years. And even if you knew, what benefit would it give you?
If you knew that you have 4.5 litres of TLC, what's the point? It does not make you dive deeper or hold your breath longer to know.

Work on your technique, dive for fun and have a great time in the water. Results are coming on their own, trust me! I understand your impatience very good but everything will work out. ;-)

 

[Tim B.]

Oh and read these: https://www.deeperblue.com/beginners-guide-freediving/

 

[Leon Han]

thanks again zym!