Getting To Five minutes

[jwp266]

Hi,

I have set myself a goal with my static apnea of reaching 5 minutes. My current best is 4:32

Every time i reach around 4:00 i think i'm not going to make it, try again tommorrow. i can't find the push to get me through the final minute. Does anyone have any tips/methods to help me reach my goal? Would packing help?

Also, should i fill my lungs to the full? i find it uses a lot of energy keeping it in, whereas if i use a little less there is less stress.

Thanks,

James

 

[SanderP]

I think packing would help and maybe give you the extra 30 seconds. But if you feel uncomfortable with full lungs, you'll feel VERY uncomfortable with packed lungs. If you think you can tolerate the discomfort, go for it.

Many people say they can't hold their breath with full lungs. I inhale always 100%, doesn't make me feel uncomfortable at all.

When I did my first 5 mins, I just said to myself that I won't inhale before the stopwatch says 5:00, even if It means a blackout - it worked.

 

[jwp266]

thanks for the reply.

i'm not so much concerned about discomfort, i don't feel any, its that i am worried i am using energy holding in the extra air.

 

[jwp266]

just did 4:15 in an attempt, i have just eaten so iwill try in the morning once my stomatch is empty

 

[matrixed82]

Maybe try different breath ups, different amounts of warm up holds ect... see what works best for you.

Packing might help in the long run, but initially your times might drop a little. I suppose it takes time to get use to the feeling of holding that much air in. I haven't done enough statics with packing to get use to the feeling so I don't know how much more seconds could be gained by doing so.

Another thing, are you looking at your watch during the static? My best statics are when I don't keep track of time and focus on other things.

 

[jwp266]

i usually become desperate to check the time around 3:30, which is demoralising as i think i have done more than i have.

 

[DeepThought]

What is stopping you from doing a longer static? Are you blacking out?

 

[SEDATE]

i got the same situation before , my best was 4:30 and stuck there.,my aim is to break 5+ and i did not break it ., i never do packing i never do full inhale., i do max 3/4 inhale now in holding breath , i mean only i get one deep breath and hold (very short warm up before max hold)
the reason should be making stress and the reason should be not clearing your brain or the reason should be you doing everyday breathhold...stop holding 3-4 days and relax and feel that i am ready...go., if not., wait next day and when you feel you can break 5+ very easyly...the next trick is find out best warmup i mean what works for you is for you., breathold not realated with how much breath you take in., and if you holding at night before sleep., within day drink as much as water you can and never eat anything consist sugar ., cos' brain consist more water i mean it is %45 or %55 water has...the water gives brain much more sense and abilty .,., clean your brain my aim is 5+ never say to yourself ., think only i ll do my best ..just do it!., what hapen it is.., it would be jump from 4:32 to 5:32 ..it hapened me like that..my english is very bad., i hope you understand a little, all the best to you., i am working and trying to do 6:32 with very low breath inhale i mean 1/2 inhale..but finshing 5:30.... i also sugest you read all post of tylerz, jome, eric and other best freediver's post..may be you can jump 7+ drectly who knows

 

[SanderP]

What is stopping you from doing a longer static? Are you blacking out?

I assume the urge to breath becomes intolerable?
Any recommendations in that case? CO2 tables? :t

 

[Sergiu]

Here's my similar experience and a bunch of tips that might help you.

I have been doing over 4min for a few months with a pb of 4.35min back in April when i did a max attempt and had a big samba (some guys called it BO) at just about 5min mark, which was my aim. Wrong. A 30sec increase is too much if you do max attempts regularely, as i used to. After the samba i stopped doing max attempts for almost two months, call it a bit of fear but also trying a different approach to go maximum only once in a while when i feel ready for it.

In June, after several easy 4.30min to 4.45min i went again for the 5 and did it with some room to spare. I found the mental reward the greatest, once you know it's done (be it 5, 6 or whatever minutes) doing a 4,30min now feels much easier. I think we set our minds to arbitrary limits and this is somewhat detrimental to performance. Another proof is timing yourself. i used to do it all the time and that was the only way (i thought) to reach a desired time. Just receintly I was forced not to have a timer as somebody else was timing me and it was so much easier to reach very good times that now i am thinking to use a timer only for max attempts and only when somebody else is timing me.

To conclude, I suggest you to stop timing yourself (unless doing tables) for a while (2-3 weeks) - dont cheat - then have somebody as safety (which you should anyway) to time you and also to give you signals or talk to you on the last part of the attempt - it can work miracles.

Finally, i do max attempts (and generally statics) only in the morning, on empty stomach. As for the breath up routine, i see no difference in my performance between packing and full inhale, i hear that only at top performers it may add a 30sec, if done properly but at our level i bet the effort of packing and holding the extra air is eating up all the additional oxygen reserves you pack in. So , i dont pack any longer, i think the way forward beyond 5min, in my case, is to increase the period of full relaxation before the first contractions come in and that is done certainly without packing.

good luck hitting the 5s!

serge

 

[DeepThought]

I assume the urge to breath becomes intolerable?
Any recommendations in that case? CO2 tables? :t

Bingo.
Or any other CO2 tolerance training such as apnea walking. Working intentionally on relaxation can sometimes do wonders as well. I would first work in those two routes and then on warmup routines before adding packing to the arsenal.
Sergio's and Sedate's posts show some of the many different attitudes that are out there. One has to experiment to know which is best for him.

 

[BennyB]

I guess my story is quite similar - I was stuck in mid 4mins for quite some time. What made it more frustrating is that nearly 2 years ago I did a 5.00 static and haven't got anywhere near it since. About a month ago (keep in mind I rarely train for static) I changed my warm up routine and have done two 5min+ statics out of the last three.

For me, packing adds time too. Last static I overpacked and felt uncomfortable, let some air out after about 3 min, but felt better at the 5min point than the week before with less packing.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[jwp266]

ye when i get to 4 the urge to breath becomes too much, i missed out on it today by 20 secs, will try 2morro on an empty stomatch with your advice. thanks


does anyone have anyone have any physchological tips?

 

[Boomstick]

I'm no where near the 5 min mark, but if you take note of what the top guys do, just do it in stages, add 5 or 10 sec to each breath hold and don't rush it.

02 and co2 tables all help as well and remember that your 5th breath hold will probably be your best, more than and your performance can start to weaken.

As for physchological tips, stay positive, if you keep using the phrase "I can't do it" you won't, it's that simple. Be pleased with your achievements.

 

[jwp266]

yessss!!! i did 5:15 this morning, and decided to stop there incase i passed out and could not remember my record or something. Whe ni reached 5:05 the contractions started to stop and it changed to a different feeling, and the time went quickly once i reached five. thanks for all your advice :martial

 

[Sergiu]

yessss!!! i did 5:15 this morning, and decided to stop there incase i passed out and could not remember my record or something. Whe ni reached 5:05 the contractions started to stop and it changed to a different feeling, and the time went quickly once i reached five. thanks for all your advice :martial

Congrats!

I figure if you already did a 5.15min with the "different" feeling it can mean two things:
-either you still have a lot of room left and 5 min was just a mental obstacle arbitrarely set while your current (physiological) limit is maybe close to 6min or...
-you just missed your first samba/black out by a few seconds. I leart from own experience and also from one top freediver receintly, when it suddenly gets easier, at the very end of a static, it's a very good sign to stop it if not too late already!

Do several more 5 min + before going for another max - my last advice.

serge

 

[jwp266]

i think it was mental, i think the joy of getting to five distracted me for those 15, because iot did start to get hard again in the last couple seconds. but i'm not sure, i've never gone that far before. the fact that it started going quicker after exactly 5 minutes suggests to me that it was mental, but i'm no expert.

 

[DiverTodd]

Hmmm....MY problem is getting THROUGH the contractions! I've found that I can stave them off for a while, though, by very lightly pushing my diaphragm downward with my held air. Since it has to spasm upward with the contraction, this may be "tricking" it to relax longer. My first few are very strong, seperate, and noticable. Soon after that, my abs are pretty much in a state of constant spasms, coming so fast that I can't count them! I finally hit 3 mins on Fri doing an O2 table, and by the end, I wasn't fighting it too much, and could've gone longer. I guess I'll have to bump the table up to 3:15 now! My goal for now is to reach 4 mins before I go down for the PFI Intermediate Freediver course in Miami in Sept. (using the proper breathing methods and exercises in their student manual has been a GREAT help). And what Sergiu said is very true; it's a GREAT, positive feeling when you reach a goal, it makes you feel really good that you've achieved it. During that table, I concentrated on doing VERY relaxed breathe-ups, and on keeping my mind as blank as I could during the holds; every time a thought came in, I'd push it aside. The only things I ALLOWED myself to think were "Relax......calm.....focus.....excellent"..all positive reinforcements.

Todd

 

[SanderP]

(using the proper breathing methods and exercises in their student manual has been a GREAT help).

Is the manual available online? What do they suggest in that manual?

I've stoped doing static training for a month or so now. I hate static . I'm probably going to take the tables up again in September. Until then, I dive till the water is still warm.

 

[Huw]

Although i played no part in giving you tips... well done!!!

Huw