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Breaking 3 mins.

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 90 days.
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Pacific

New Member
May 10, 2006
7
0
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35
Heya.. its been a while.. been caught up with work and such.

Anyways.. like maybe 3 weeks ago i decided to sit at the bottom of the 6 foot pool i lifeguard at while i was off duty, i like to sit under the ladder to keep me under and its just a really good way for me to think about things where no one else can bother me..unless they decided to jump on the ladder which bothers me a bit but oh well.. its a public pool.

I sorted things out in my head and decided to come up and my co-worker/best friend thought i had died but then another co-worker told him that i was just thinking and they decided they had wanted to time me.. so i was like sure.. gimme a sec. i was under for 2:38, a personal best for me i suppose.. kinda nothing to really flaunt haha..

but yeah, im having some trouble getting past three minutes.. i dunno why but its like i just cant get past 2:30.. I'd really like to be able to get to 4+ before next summer.. Any tips or whatnot? I kinda really dont understand the tables things at all. actually, i just dont get the whole concept.

greatly appreciated.

feel free to instant message me cause i'll most likely be asking alot of questions..
 
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I can remember to had the same problem for a while. It's a barrier in your mind that you can only break through without any selfmade pressure.

Try it often and try it with another person. At first - better be on the safe side and imho it also helps when a buddy is there and checks you at certain time-points (e.g every 30 secs. in the beginning ... later you will find out what suits you best). So you can concentrate on yourself and you have the safety on your side.

And the ladder is practical but it will be better to have a quiet place without any deflection. Or do you want to do this absolutely on the bottom of the pool?

You can also make some shorter stints before you try a new personal best. Perhaps one or two times 2 minutes ... to look if you feel good today and get some sureness.
 
i had the same trouble... i just couldn get past 2:15... but after about 5 tries of about 1 min each, and practicing the tables, i finally got past the barrier... it just takes time, and effort... good luck!!
PEACE!!!
El Capitan
 
what helped me get from 3 to 4 was extreme co2 tables. Hold breath for 45 seconds, exhale, inhale, hold again immediately for 45 seconds....work your way up to 8 times, then goto 1 minute holds...again just try and work up to 8 in a row....tough, but once your there, you should be closer or beyond your goal...worked for me anyhow....i recommend it out of water...but i've been known to be a bit paranoid..but better paranoid and alive than careless and lifeless....:crutch
 
I personally had the same problem until about my 3rd breath hold when i found out that i could hold in my contractions. My PB before i got to contractions was 2:40 flat. I dont know if you have experienced them yet but you need to try, for me after 2:40 my body starts making weird movements, but you can hold them in, its just a bit of pain, since i learned that contractions were normal, my pain tolerance went up, now my PB is 4:01

What i do is relax for 5 min
Inhale deep and exhale deep 2 times
then exhale all my air
then pack my lungs, put as much air as you can in, Try it

Lemme know your new PB
Personally it made me alot better.
 
i did my 1st proper static with fran in a kids heated pool with a 2 piece 7m on and got 4min 18 sec. Now im not 100% fit but ill tell ya what we did up to this.

1,
we did yoga breathing in a group, it was breath in for 6 seconds, hold for 24 seconds and breath out for 12 seconds, i think it was 12 reps of that,
2,
We floated in the pool on our belly with our mask and snorkel completely 100% relaxed thanks to our wetsuit bouyency. Did that for 5 minutes.
3,
Then we did our first breath hold using the same technique as above with some1 standing next to you making sure you dont float into people, timing you and getting you to move your finger every minute.
3.1,
We did our breath holds gradualy, say start with 1 minute, then 1.30, then 2, with a 2 minute breather inbetween each hold. Rember to breathe all your co2 out quick when you come up. But the name of the game is to be relaxed, dont talk inbetween breaths, move as little as you can before breath holds and when you are doing it dont move a mussle just float and think of what pub your going to go to on the weekend and what fish you want to target next etc.

hope that helps :D

give it a try above mate! But if your going to do it have some1 with you and right next to you not 20m away watching that knows what to do. i think that is one of the big relaxing things. you can push yourself to the limit without worrying about blacking out because you have a friend right there thats on to it.

peace and good luck on breaking 3 min, let us all know how you get on!:friday
 
i am just curious....i feel the burn that u guys talk about..but what are these contractions? I dont want to be holding my breath and have a baby come out..... :)
 
I take it no-one bothered to check the date on the first post ???

August 22nd, 2006 11:45

Does anyone know if his training methods have killed Pacific yet?
 
geez! lol whos been digging up the old posts?!

those contractions you get or so im told are friendly little reminders to tell you to breathe. You can go on quite long with them in the right situations (eg with a buddy close). But apparently when you get them your body doesnt need to breathe in oxygen your actualy needing to breath out and get rid of excess co2 build up. correct me if im wrong guys but it think thats right
 
then how come when I attempt an Frc dive(empty lung), I contract immediately. Its not high co2. Its my body wanting oxygen. From what I gather, contractions happen to squeeze oxygen from the spleen or something. Something else about hemoglobin too. Just wanted to share my two cents.
 
yea thats a good point, im just going off what fran told me (one of the international competition judges) i do abit of training with. Ill ask her next time i see her and see what she reckons. They reckon the human body can go for 7 or 8 minutes without oxygen before having any perment effect. Hence why in 1st aid you can shock someone quickly after the accident and they walk away from it fine. Its a matter of fighting that gag reflex for as long as you can basicly to hold your breath.

cher cher
 
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