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Disappointed with my breathold

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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FranP

New Member
Jun 5, 2021
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Hi All,

I've been practicing my CO2 table (via STAmina) for 2 months at least once or twice a week and I'm disappointed as I can't get past one minute :( Generally it's around 45 seconds to 1 minute)

Some context around me, I am over weight, short and quite an anxious person but I'm working on this. I only try and do the breath hold when I know my body is relaxed and ready.

I'd appreciate your advice, many thanks.

Is it just a matter of me persisting?

F :)
 
Hi All,

I've been practicing my CO2 table (via STAmina) for 2 months at least once or twice a week and I'm disappointed as I can't get past one minute :( Generally it's around 45 seconds to 1 minute)

Some context around me, I am over weight, short and quite an anxious person but I'm working on this. I only try and do the breath hold when I know my body is relaxed and ready.

I'd appreciate your advice, many thanks.

Is it just a matter of me persisting?

F :)
P.s I practice lying down.
 
Hi All,

I've been practicing my CO2 table (via STAmina) for 2 months at least once or twice a week and I'm disappointed as I can't get past one minute :( Generally it's around 45 seconds to 1 minute)

Some context around me, I am over weight, short and quite an anxious person but I'm working on this. I only try and do the breath hold when I know my body is relaxed and ready.

I'd appreciate your advice, many thanks.

Is it just a matter of me persisting?

F :)
I'm not an expert on this, so I'll share my thoughts. If there's one thing that helped me up my game it's being relaxed in the mind. So being anxious can and will affect your need for air. A good friend of mine suffers from being anxious in the water, so his breath hold is affected. We've been diving together for several years, very often, and his breath hold is maybe a minute on a drop. He also keeps his hood off because of the anxiety.

One thing you might want to try is going to the pool or ocean (with someone to spot) and try a breath hold there. Just make sure you're comfortable and not cold or too hot. That will also affect your breath hold. I suggest this because it can help take the pressure off certain parts of the body.

Is there a different body position you can get into that will perhaps help manage a deeper breath? Also remember to relax the body. It's something I remind myself often when making a drop or just static holding.
 
I'm not an expert on this, so I'll share my thoughts. If there's one thing that helped me up my game it's being relaxed in the mind. So being anxious can and will affect your need for air. A good friend of mine suffers from being anxious in the water, so his breath hold is affected. We've been diving together for several years, very often, and his breath hold is maybe a minute on a drop. He also keeps his hood off because of the anxiety.

One thing you might want to try is going to the pool or ocean (with someone to spot) and try a breath hold there. Just make sure you're comfortable and not cold or too hot. That will also affect your breath hold. I suggest this because it can help take the pressure off certain parts of the body.

Is there a different body position you can get into that will perhaps help manage a deeper breath? Also remember to relax the body. It's something I remind myself often when making a drop or just static holding.
I appreciate your reply thank you.im probably like your anxious friend, I'm determined to keep pushing through this.
Thats a really good point, I do have a friend who I can go and practice this with. I have the Hoodie and a 5mm wetsuit which really keeps me warm (its winter here in NZ).
I really need to work on this relaxation!
Many thanks:)
 
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I appreciate your reply thank you.im probably like your anxious friend, I'm determined to keep pushing through this.
Thats a really good point, I do have a friend who I can go and practice this with. I have the Hoodie and a 5mm wetsuit which really keeps me warm (its winter here in NZ).
I really need to work on this relaxation!
Many thanks:)
Hi Fran,

Three questions: 1. have you had any training?; 2. are you lying down in water or on dry land?; and 3. do you experience contractions during your holds?

Regards,

Sam.
 
I had the same problem, until i tried 30/30.
Work for 30 sek, hold you breath for 30 sek.
work=walk
I walk up some stairs near my home.

i did that 2-3 time a week for about 20-30min each time.
I went from a hard 20 sek underwater breathhold, to a easy 1min, in 3 weeks.
 
Have you joined the Lazy Seals? They are a a friendly inclusive bunch, training with them will certainly help with your breathold.
Phil
 
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You could look at it the other way round? Instead of anxiety preventing your breath hold, learning to hold could become part of the solution to your anxiety?
I've been very anxious, from being a small child, and was depressed for many years. It really messes up my climbing. I get stressed and scared, stop breathing, hold on too tight, muscles fatigue and then I fall :) Or I push past the hard move and pull a big breath in and realise I was all tensed up, and not breathing! Training breathholding can be a great way of discovering the process of how stress responses can throw you off in life, in a safe environment.
For your breath hold, purely from an anxiety point of view, I'd say take all the pressure off. Don't even time it, and just focus on the sensations you have when holding; in your body, mind, emotionally. Most of all, smile!!! Smiling is the most powerful mental health medication in the world! Just let things happen, observe. And you'll learn the difference between an anxious response to not breathing and calmly going into it. Then as you become more aware of positive and negative responses, you can choose the positive ones. And then it gets easier. You can use that in general life as well as breath training.
I've found that anxiety pulls me up into the conscious layers of my mind, worrying. (Where panic about not breathing ends a breath hold early.) And this is where all the counselling and therapy stuff works too, challenging negative thoughts etc. But after many years of therapy, meditation, breath work and so on, I'm learning that, for me, there's an order to things:
An unconcious anxious thought happens, undetectable. Then a physical sensation in my body comes on a fraction of a second before the emotional response, and then the conscious thinking starts to amplify it all. But breathholding is an excellent way to learn the physical sensations associated with the anxiety response. And that allows you to cut it off before it triggers the emotional and conscious thinking amplification cycle. If you learn to do that, and stay with the positive response, smile at it to make it stronger, negativity or anxiety kinda bounce off, and your breath hold will become easier.
And you can do the same with anxiety in everyday life, too :eek:)
 
You could look at it the other way round? Instead of anxiety preventing your breath hold, learning to hold could become part of the solution to your anxiety?
I've been very anxious, from being a small child, and was depressed for many years. It really messes up my climbing. I get stressed and scared, stop breathing, hold on too tight, muscles fatigue and then I fall :) Or I push past the hard move and pull a big breath in and realise I was all tensed up, and not breathing! Training breathholding can be a great way of discovering the process of how stress responses can throw you off in life, in a safe environment.
For your breath hold, purely from an anxiety point of view, I'd say take all the pressure off. Don't even time it, and just focus on the sensations you have when holding; in your body, mind, emotionally. Most of all, smile!!! Smiling is the most powerful mental health medication in the world! Just let things happen, observe. And you'll learn the difference between an anxious response to not breathing and calmly going into it. Then as you become more aware of positive and negative responses, you can choose the positive ones. And then it gets easier. You can use that in general life as well as breath training.
I've found that anxiety pulls me up into the conscious layers of my mind, worrying. (Where panic about not breathing ends a breath hold early.) And this is where all the counselling and therapy stuff works too, challenging negative thoughts etc. But after many years of therapy, meditation, breath work and so on, I'm learning that, for me, there's an order to things:
An unconcious anxious thought happens, undetectable. Then a physical sensation in my body comes on a fraction of a second before the emotional response, and then the conscious thinking starts to amplify it all. But breathholding is an excellent way to learn the physical sensations associated with the anxiety response. And that allows you to cut it off before it triggers the emotional and conscious thinking amplification cycle. If you learn to do that, and stay with the positive response, smile at it to make it stronger, negativity or anxiety kinda bounce off, and your breath hold will become easier.
And you can do the same with anxiety in everyday life, too :eek:)
Sorry, that last one was meant to be a smile, not whatever that is!
 
I had the same problem, until i tried 30/30.
Work for 30 sek, hold you breath for 30 sek.
work=walk
I walk up some stairs near my home.

i did that 2-3 time a week for about 20-30min each time.
I went from a hard 20 sek underwater breathhold, to a easy 1min, in 3 weeks.
I'm going to try this! On land I can hold for about a 1:45, but underwater I can do maybe 30 secs.

The breath hold you do it after walking, or during?
 
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Do you visualise in your mind whilst you doing your stamina training? A lot of this is just about being relaxed and in the right frame of mind. I'd try not to worry about how long you're trying to hold for and instead focus on the calm you get from the training. I often picture myself descending calmly along a drop line, the sounds, and the dark. I find it takes my mind off everything and makes it a lot easier.
 
Please stop doing co2 tables NOW! what you need is to develop the skill of relaxation (yes it's a skill and any skill can be learnt). I repeat: you do NOT NEED co2 tables. Please take a look at following tutorials:



Here some easy exercises to get you going and find peace in your brerathholding:
 
Hi All,

I've been practicing my CO2 table (via STAmina) for 2 months at least once or twice a week and I'm disappointed as I can't get past one minute :( Generally it's around 45 seconds to 1 minute)

Some context around me, I am over weight, short and quite an anxious person but I'm working on this. I only try and do the breath hold when I know my body is relaxed and ready.

I'd appreciate your advice, many thanks.

Is it just a matter of me persisting?

F :)
You require cardiovascular knowledge oxigenating your body the right way in the pool while doing your basic exercises for breathing! And having more suplements which will clean your bloodstream making you improve considerably on apnea techniques and holding your breath!
In the pool start small, grab yourself from the side and take 20 breath holds, going down underwater and let go with bubbles, come up and breath again! To 2 sets every time you begin any other exercise !
Grab 2 omega 3 pills of 500 mg three times a day so you clean your blood stream in all tour body from the fat inside your heart and veins, and take alkaline water with ph from 7-8 ! Your will improve substantially ! Have 60% of water in your body if you sent me your phone number I will send pictures and give you some other tips!
Aloha
Enrique
 
The advice to smile is actually very important. A snowboarding instructor I know has her student smile at the top of a particularly difficult new run, to great effect in getting the student out of their fear and just enjoy the run. Yes, your mind affects your body but it works the other way around too. Smile even if you don’t feel like it. Tension will ease.
 
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Hi, sorry to hear that you have difficulty holding your breath for longer than one minute. I have been breath-holding for about three months and find it slightly easier to do about thirty minutes to an hour after waking in the morning. On waking, I read for a while then practice breath holding. I practice six or seven days of the week. One or two days a week might not be enough to get the training effect necessary for improvement. Wishing you all the best, Bert.
 
I'm going to try this! On land I can hold for about a 1:45, but underwater I can do maybe 30 secs.

The breath hold you do it after walking, or during?
I walk for 30 sec while breathing, and hold for 30 sec while stading still.

My problem was my contractions startet at 30sec or less, so i really didn't get to relax befor my contractions startet.
So the 30/30 will train your CO2 level. Or you can start at UW rugby,, which damn fun,, and does the same thing to your co2.
 
Most people here indicate that relaxation is very important, and they are correct, but relaxation alone will not suffice. Did you take any training (practical and theoretical)?
Before I took my first freediving class, I was under the impression that I could hold my breath for 45 seconds to 1 minute. After my first class, I made it to 4 minutes. For me, the gamechanger was the knowledge and understanding of the human body, the respiratory system and the signals that your body gives you when holding your breath.
  • What is essential when starting with static apnea is knowledge of the body and its respiratory system. Without knowledge of the respiratory system and the processes in the human body that trigger the urge to breath, it is very hard to impossible to train static apnea, because without this knowledge, you simply do not have a clue where your physical limits are.
  • Once you have a good understanding of the respiratory system, you will understand that having a diaphragm contraction does not mean you are close to dying, and that having the urge to breath not really means you cannot hold it any longer. This knowledge is essential to be able to push your boundaries.
  • I suggest in the beginning to not use time as a reference but rather the number of diaphragm contractions that you have had. Explore your boundaries safely by starting with 1, then go to 2 and up. If doing this in water, make sure you have a buddy keeping an eye on you.
Safe diving!
 
Hi Fran,

Three questions: 1. have you had any training?; 2. are you lying down in water or on dry land?; and 3. do you experience contractions during your holds?

Regards,

Sam.
Hi Sam, sorry for late response I didn't get any notification
I've only been trying lying down on land so far. Its winter here in NZ so gets dark at 5pm so haven't had a chance to do as much as I can out in the water. Keep meaning to catch up with a friend who dives.
I've had no training, just following co2 tables.
When I feel contractions, I start to get anxious and find it very hard to relax so I give up early.
Thank you for your message.
 
Most people here indicate that relaxation is very important, and they are correct, but relaxation alone will not suffice. Did you take any training (practical and theoretical)?
Before I took my first freediving class, I was under the impression that I could hold my breath for 45 seconds to 1 minute. After my first class, I made it to 4 minutes. For me, the gamechanger was the knowledge and understanding of the human body, the respiratory system and the signals that your body gives you when holding your breath.
  • What is essential when starting with static apnea is knowledge of the body and its respiratory system. Without knowledge of the respiratory system and the processes in the human body that trigger the urge to breath, it is very hard to impossible to train static apnea, because without this knowledge, you simply do not have a clue where your physical limits are.
  • Once you have a good understanding of the respiratory system, you will understand that having a diaphragm contraction does not mean you are close to dying, and that having the urge to breath not really means you cannot hold it any longer. This knowledge is essential to be able to push your boundaries.
  • I suggest in the beginning to not use time as a reference but rather the number of diaphragm contractions that you have had. Explore your boundaries safely by starting with 1, then go to 2 and up. If doing this in water, make sure you have a buddy keeping an eye on you.
Safe diving!
Thank you so much for your response, feeling so inspired now!! Will definately research more., I've only had a brief introduction. But I'm a slower learner than most people so takes time.
 
Hi, sorry to hear that you have difficulty holding your breath for longer than one minute. I have been breath-holding for about three months and find it slightly easier to do about thirty minutes to an hour after waking in the morning. On waking, I read for a while then practice breath holding. I practice six or seven days of the week. One or two days a week might not be enough to get the training effect necessary for improvement. Wishing you all the best, Bert.
Bert, you're right - I have not been training enough and must work on this.
Will try this out. Thank you so much.
 
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