Hi guys, firstly wanted to say what a great forum! Lots of great information. I'm not new to freediving, but I do need some advice/tips. Basically my breath holds are crap. Static in a pool - 2 mins MAX. I've been getting some tips off this forum and others, and have tried doing 'breathe-ups'. i.e 3 minutes of: breathe in quickly, hold for 1 sec, breathe out over 10 sec and repeat. Is that right? Hopefully not because it's not helping! I'm hoping to do a free diving course soon, but that will be summer (jan/feb time). So any advice and help would be greatly appreciated. Also I do a lot of pool swimming and finish up with underwater swimming. Again I don't get beyond 30m, so not good, but was wondering, should I pushing through the urge to shoot to the surface. Does that feeling of pain/panic etc disappear?
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Breath hold tips
- Thread starterZed
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Thread Status: Hello
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I'm no expert, but it sounds like your breathe-ups are not helping you, but hindering you. Just try breathing normally, no fancy breathe-up routine, and see if that's an improvement. As a beginner, it is really tempting to hyperventilate in a breathe-up. While you're still young, don't get in the habit like I did!
As for that feeling of pain/panic, if you're talking about contractions, then no, they won't go away until you breathe again. The best thing to do is to teach yourself to relax even while that sensation of panic and pain is upon you. Just don't push yourself too hard
Good luck and have fun!
As for that feeling of pain/panic, if you're talking about contractions, then no, they won't go away until you breathe again. The best thing to do is to teach yourself to relax even while that sensation of panic and pain is upon you. Just don't push yourself too hard
Good luck and have fun!
If you're doing this in a pool, do you have a dive buddy who is right there watching over you?
If not, you are working to become another statistic, of which we already have too many!
The life guard, or someone who glances over once in a while don't count.
Aside from that, try to keep at the breathholds for at least 20 minutes, to help kick in the dive reflex. Then worry about your time.
If not, you are working to become another statistic, of which we already have too many!
The life guard, or someone who glances over once in a while don't count.
Aside from that, try to keep at the breathholds for at least 20 minutes, to help kick in the dive reflex. Then worry about your time.
Yes, when you black out :blackeye
Firstly as mentioned, get a buddy - lifeguards REALLY don't count. I've been at the bottom of the pool for a couple of minutes many times and no lifeguard ever noticed, let alone dive to save me! (I was fine but still...)
You can practice dry holds - lie somewhere comfortable, breath normally using your diaphragm and focus on relaxing your body, muscle by muscle. Once you feel you are relaxed take a deep breath in (around 80% of your max capacity) and hold until the point where it stops feeling comfortable.
Don't worry at all about the time - just focus on being relaxed. When you need to breath, start breathing again and keep your eyes closed. Again focus on relaxing your muscles and after a couple of minutes, hold again. Do it another couple of times and I'll be really surprised if you don't do better than your current time (which you probably had to push yourself to get to).
If you happen to have an Android phone, go to the Android Market and install Apnea Tables by Mylix Software. (There's almost certainly something similar in the Apple Store and probably for your computer too if you don't have an Android or iPhone).
Relax somewhere and go through the routine, changing the times in the settings to suit your level.
It's helped my dry static a lot and hope to see positive things when I do some shallow fishing dives in the next few weeks.
Good luck.
Relax somewhere and go through the routine, changing the times in the settings to suit your level.
It's helped my dry static a lot and hope to see positive things when I do some shallow fishing dives in the next few weeks.
Good luck.