Can dry Apnea training cause permanent damage to the respiratory system?

[James Edwards]

I found this warning on a website about using co2 tables and o2 tables.

"Violation of the table limits may cause permanent damage to the respiratory system, do not practice more then one table per day"

But it does not say why, and I cannot find any information about why holding your breath would do this. So I thought before I go crazy with doing lots of different exercises I should ask a few questions because I am so new to this, I really have no clue what I am doing.

Why should you never do more than one table a day?

For co2 tables should you hold your breath on the breath out or breath in? (I am assuming the breath out would give you even more exposure to co2?)

What are the dangers of using apnea tables?

How many times should try maximum breath holds in one day?

Is it dangerous to practice other breath holding exercises directly after practicing apena tables? or even on the same day?

Is it ok to do the exercises lying down on a Tai triangle cushions or does the head position cut off circulation to the brain or anything like that?

This is what one of those cusions look like if you don't know:
http://cdn3.volusion.com/ymaxg.lfnas/v/vspfiles/photos/YOGAMAT7-3.jpg

When is the best time to practice the tables, I was thinking first thing in the morning. Is hydration important? I am guessing my body will be a bit more dehydrated in the morning which I think increases blood pressure... would this have any kind of effect?

What about eating, is it best to avoid the exercises directly after eating?

Any other advice you can think of that a complete beginner might not know?

 

[Nathan Vinski]

In short;

You cannot damage your respiratory system by doing dry tables, whether they are co2 or o2, apnea walking, or doing any other dry breathhold stuff.

To answer a few of the questions.. In theory there isn't a limit on breath hold exercices per day, it just depends on the intensity of each hold. For example you could do 200+Static breathholds of 25 seconds with decent/long recovery per day everyday without adverse affects. However You can realistically only do 1 max attempt per day maybe 2 times per week (at the absolute most.. once would be safer). The reasons for this is because, if you train too often, the hypoxia will depleat your iron levels and eventually cause anemia, and the co2, bloodshifts, and hypoxia will create free radicals and cause neurological fatigue. Overtraining has many symptoms, and that's the real danger of doing too many tables/ training per day.

The best advice if your bengining would be to do no more than 3 breathhold trainings per week. You should not try to make all of them very difficult either. 1 more challenging session and 2 session that are relatively easy would suffice. And yeah it's possible to do a static table followed by an apnea walk session but the same rules apply.. if you are pushing every hold to your CO2 or O2 limit, you will quickly become overtrained.

Dehydration will cause your CO2 tolerance to be much worse..

My opinion is not to worry about eating, especially as a beginner. It's better to be comfortable than hungry, or too full so don't go crazy.