Question Beginner apnea walker. Will I Black Out or Samba that soon?

[Babyblue]

I am beginner, and have started doing apnea walks. I have noticed while walking, the urge to breathe comes on more suddenly, more intensely and with other sensations compared to doing statics (lying on my couch)

With statics I will get mild contractions at a little over a minute, and I can work through them for another 20-40 seconds, and usually get to 1:30. My PB 2:10)

However, while walking, I am not sure what to expect if I try to push through the the contractions because Urge to Breathe comes on so much faster and intensely compared to static. At 30 secs I feel it in my throat - I try to resist swallowing, and by 35 secs I start to feel numbness in my fingers and heaviness in my legs, and possibly the start of dizziness. This all comes on very fast. Is it possible that I am close to BO or Samba at only 35 secs?
TIA for any thoughts or guidance
-Mike

 

[Sorandril]

With a static best like that? Probably

 

[Babyblue]

With a static best like that? Probably

Thanks, kind of

 

[Sorandril]

Thanks, kind of

Well, it only makes sense that you would start having problems around 30-45 seconds if your average is 1:30...

 

[Leander]

Time doesn't say much in apnea walking. Distance is more a measure of used energy (and so used oxygen). When I started doing walks I did some testing to see whether fast or slow walking would be better. It turned out ti be exactly the same in distance but a big difference in time.

As long as you don't hyperventilate before doing the walks you won't manage to push yourself to blackout. Not as a beginner. (Don't hyperventilate.)

Don't do apnea walks on a hard surface. Do them on the beach or in the park; somewhere where if you do blackout you won't break anything and you just wake up again a few seconds later and 1.5 meters lower.

A tip I have for apnea walks is to make them fun. Don't do them as 'the walk' and don't even time them. Do them somewhere where theres lots to see and to explore, or said differently, do apneas while exploring. This distracts your from the contractions and makes them feel more nice, and even pavlovs the whole apnea to exploring, being curious and having fun. The mind is the limiting factor in apnea, so trick it the best you can.

If you have a friend to do the apneas with you could change them into games like apnea-hide&seek. Climbers do a similar thing where they boulder around everywhere saying 'the floor is lava'. Different sport but same idea of disguising training as a game, to distract the body from all the pains and effort.

 

[ClimbAndDive]

I'm a beginner too, and train very erratically.
With apnea walks, I like to do the same route and hold breath at the same places. Then I can judge how I'm doing by how far I get at each place. It's like 'Wha-hoo! I made it from the corner to that lampost this time!'
Without timing I can concentrate on body sensations and trying to find my calm zone. And also keep awareness of my surroundings! Blundering into the road while a bit dizzy and looking at a stopwatch might not be the best idea...