Exhaling while breathholding

[AlxBlue]

Being a complete noob, this might be a dumb question, but does slowly exhaling at the end 'count' as part of the breath hold?

as in, if I start exhaling do I stop counting the time for my hold?

 

[samdive]

yes, if your face stays submerged - but be careful as your buddy might think you are blacking out and pull you up. Its generally good idea to give some solid OK signals throughout the time you are exhaling, if that's part of your plan.

Better to develop a solid, safe breath hold without the submerged exhale first though, as if you do have a wobble as you exhale and your face is still underwater, it's a lot more dangerous

 

[AlxBlue]

Thanks for your reply samdive!

What about dry apnea training? should I also stick to just counting until I have to exhale, etc?

I can do about 2:15 right now (juuuust started, that was about a minute a few days ago) dry, but if i can exhale that goes up quite a bit, it seems to subdue the contractions.

 

[samdive]

yeah, don't count the exhale on dry ones, and then you'll be even more impressed with your performance when you get in the water!

if you find that the exhale reduces the contractions then maybe you are taking in too much air to start with. Try without such a deep breath at the beginning and see if that helps. I think Pelizarri recommended that you only breath in 70% for statics, and being less full is particularly helpful for dry breath holds.

 

[AlxBlue]

See, another example of why i need to take those classes ASAP

I usually put as much air as I possibly can fit in my lungs. thanks!

 

[waxlips]

I love to blow bubbles underwater.

 

[Salehthefish]

If my buddy will blow out air in pool it is 100% taking him out (I may confuse between this air and black out even though if agreement between me and him will do the job but i would not risk it). I am not sure why taking 70% of the air? The more air i take the more O2 i will have to use any explanation for that please?

 

[Simos]

It's mainly for relaxation I believe. It does take effort to keep the air in if you put in 100% of air in your lungs. Takes even more effort if you are packing (more than 100%). of course with practice you can get used to it and stay relaxed with more air in.. Putting a lot of air in (esp packing) does have other implications I believe as it puts pressure on your heart etc during the hold and might even make you black out...
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[Simos]

By the way Pelizzari recommends 80% to avoid muscular tension of the thorax - this is for static, depth is a different story...
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[John B Griffith Jr]

There are numerous examples of "over-packing" leading to various traumas to the lungs. People do pass out as well. The 80% Pelizzari writes about is indeed about not being overly tense. Try a series of breath holds at full capacity and at 75-85% of your capacity...then time the difference and when the first contractions come...you may find a longer, more relaxed hold when not fully packed. My best time (7+) was on a not-quite-to-capacity hold with a shortened breathe-up period. Go figure