Can someone explain this to me simply?

[Clarkey96]

I'm 16, I like to try and hold my breath for as long as possible whilst swimming, but I can only do 2 laps of my pool before having to re-surface, after a bit of research into 'dynamic apnea' and other forms of apnea I am fascinated by freediving, can someone explain this chart to me

Training Tables

CO² Tables
CO² is the common trigger for the urge to breathe. CO² Tables are meant to increase your tolerance to high CO² Levels, you do this by decreasing resting periods before a breath hold. The breath holds in a CO² table are usually 50% of your personal record.

An example of a CO² Table:
1. ventilate 2:30 static 1:30
2. ventilate 2:15 static 1:30
3. ventilate 2:00 static 1:30
4. ventilate 1:45 static 1:30
5. ventilate 1:30 static 1:30
6. ventilate 1:15 static 1:30
7. ventilate 1:00 static 1:30
8. ventilate 1:00 static 1:30
total duration 25:15

O² Tables
O² Tables are meant to increase your tolerance to low O² Levels, you do this by increasing breath holds while keeping the resting periods the same. The last breath hold in an O² table is usually up to 80% of your personal record.

An example of an O² Table:
1.ventilate 2:00 static 1:00
2.ventilate 2:00 static 1:15
3.ventilate 2:00 static 1:30
4.ventilate 2:00 static 1:45
5.ventilate 2:00 static 2:00
6.ventilate 2:00 static 2:15
7.ventilate 2:00 static 2:30
8.ventilate 2:00 static 2:30
total duration 30:45

The CO² and O² tables can be modified to suit the divers will and feeling. I personally do these tables twice a week.


What does the 'ventilate' part mean, I assume its breathing?

and what is the difference between o2 and co2 tables?

 

[Scoobaru]

I'm by no means a freediver (I spearfish) but I will give my view on it. The cO2 tables are designed to allow your body to tolerate higher levels of carbon dioxide, which helps you get used to the feeling of contractions etc. The O2 tables are designed to increase your tolerance to low levels of oxygen as the body reacts differently to high levels of CO2 and low levels of O2.

Ventilate means to breathe, then static means to hold your breath for the time stated.

Hope this helps a bit and if I'm wrong someone else will come along and correct me

 

[manalive!]

Hello Clarkey, Welcome to the forum.

What Scoobaru has said is correct.

I must stress in the strongest possible terms that you should NEVER attempt any breath hold in the water without dedicated safety cover, not even with just a life guard present in the pool, a blackout (BO) can occur quickly without warning. You must have someone in the pool with you. If someone is not with you if you blackout the consequences can be very serious and can easily end in death as a resulting of drowning!!!! A lifeguard sitting on the side of the pool may not notice your problem soon enough to prevent a problem.

Furthermore, the breathing techniques employed for freediving are usually different to what most people expect, using the incorrect techniques can significantly increase your chances of blackout. If you haven't already done so, I'd recommend contacting your nearest freediving group/school/instructor and getting some formal training.

I'm sorry if this seems to put a bit of a downer on your training, but safety is paramount.

Happy and safe diving.

Paul

 

[gwpcasey]

Hi Clarkey,

Exciting times, welcome to the club! Manalive! is of course correct about safety and the buddy system has saved many lives and failure to use it has cost quite a few lives (including people in swimming pools).

It is possible though to learn quite a bit about freediving by reading stuff online (this website and the forums are FULL of information), by reading books (check out the books in the deeperblue store), by following the few vloggers on YouTube that focus on freediving and by meeting up with some people nearby. Courses are fantastic but we don't all have time or money to do that right off the bat.

Happy exploring and good luck - come back with more questions!

Gordon.

 

[SofaKingDeep]

Hey Gordon,

your post caught my attention:
Could you point me to some of those "vlogger on Youtube" you mentioned?
Never heard of any of those, might be interesting

 

[gwpcasey]

Hi SofaKing - there are a few that just post videos of actual dives, but there's this guy who talks to the camera about his experiences a fair bit. And then there's William Trubridge's channel , Stig's Breatheology channel and this one (Freedive International).

I hope this helps!

Gordon.