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Heart Rate constant during apnea

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bboynaki

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2014
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Hi guys,

I keep reading here how some people's heart rates drop to below 40 bpm during apnea. For me, my heart rate is around 60 bpm resting and it stays at 60 bpm through all static apnea holds. If anything, it speeds up. My typical O2 table goes up to around 4:00.

Do I even have a dive reflex?

Also, no matter how many years I train cardio, it seems like my resting heart rate does not fall below around 60 bpm, but I know a lot of people on here have resting hear rates of around 30-40 bpm.

Thanks
 
I've found it possible to drop my heart rate via mediation. I do have a pretty low resting generally speaking, so that probably helps but you could try spending time in it. Focusing on it. I used to be able to focus enough to feel and hear the blood moving around my body. It takes time and it sounds weird, but it could help - especially with lowering it during dives.

You could try a different cardio program - but it might just be that yours isn't going to drop (easily).

Your dive reflex may not active that well on statics. Have you tried it with hangs? Perhaps at around 10m? I find far more comfortable than in shallow water or a pool.





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I have a decent cardio thanks to a lot of endurance training from when I was 20 to 25. When I do my CO2 tables as soon as I wake up, my heart rate usually goes down to 38 to 42 BPM (using an optical monitor called the MIO Link). I have yet to measure my HR in the water or after a dive.

My resting heart rate is usually around the low 50s.
 
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Bboynaki, are these holds dry on full lungs? If so there's no need to worry, under these conditions bradycardia usually doesn't develop, even in well trained freedivers.
 
Bboynaki, are these holds dry on full lungs? If so there's no need to worry, under these conditions bradycardia usually doesn't develop, even in well trained freedivers.

Yes, dry hold and full lungs. I wonder why this happens...can anyone confirm?
 
The major stimulus for bradycardia is cooling of the face. Without this stimulus bradycardia can still develop but it's usually weak, especially on full lungs. High intrathoracic pressure impairs venous return to the heart. This results in decreased arterial blood pressure which reflexly increases the heart rate. So during full lung hold there are two opposite stimuli, one causing bradycardia (breath hold itself and at a later stage also hypoxemia) and the other causing tachycardia (drop in blood pressure).

Try a FRC or an empty lung hold and check if it makes a difference. In my case dry full lung static induces no bradycardia at all, no matter how long it is. On empty lung HR drops by ~20%. However, if I hold my breath on moderate inhale with face immersed in cool water (28C) HR drops by more than 50%.
 
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