How long should i be able to hold my breath static?

[FreeRestriction]

I begin to get contractions at 1:30 and my PB static is 3:14 but could i theoretically hold longer? I probably can but i suppose my question is how long do i push it safely? What is a description of the feeling one gets when theyve maxed out and need to breath to avoid blacking out? Is it "oh god i need to breath NOW!" or are you comfortable all the way throuh? Perhaps the more accomplished divers can give me some insight.

 

[Ms Mer]

FreeRestriction
I am new to freediving but saw some BO at training this week - another beginner too, and it came on VERY quick. We were doing statics and were on our last dive for the night. He had done a 3.35 dive, then we had a 3 min rest then on his final dive he did 3.55 which may have been pushing it. He reported after that he started to feel uncomfortable - more than just not liking the contractions - he said his hands felt funny and he began breathing into his mask and he decided he'd had enough and should come out of the dive. He went to do that and that's when BO occurred. We saw him blow bubbles and then he was out.

So it seems that BO can come on so quickly there may not be much time to recognise the signs before it happens. Moreso for new people no doubt.

Ms Mer

 

[FreeRestriction]

Interesting.. I guess youll never know the limit until you cross it. Unfourtunatly its an ever changing limit from one dive to the next. I guess i just need to do what feels right and keep my dive buddy near by.

 

[growingupninja]

I begin to get contractions at 1:30 and my PB static is 3:14 but could i theoretically hold longer? I probably can but i suppose my question is how long do i push it safely? What is a description of the feeling one gets when theyve maxed out and need to breath to avoid blacking out? Is it "oh god i need to breath NOW!" or are you comfortable all the way throuh? Perhaps the more accomplished divers can give me some insight.

In a training session or day of diving/spearing, your first holds or dives will probably be some of the more uncomfortable ones and ALSO ones where dive reflex (with its sensations, not all of them always pleasant) is strongest. Throughout the session, your body starts getting accustomed to the high CO2 levels/low O2 and responds less dramatically. What that means on a practical level is that your last dives of the day may FEEL much, much easier than your first dives, but you are burning every bit as much O2 (and because of muscle fatigue perhaps even more). Your body has just stopped shouting 'BREATHE!' quite so loud. So a more comfortable dive does not equal a safer dive.

 

[FreeRestriction]

Growingupninja, thanks for the reply. So i guess my next question is, is it standard practice to push to the same "BREATH" feeling once your dive reflex is in full swing Being youd be pushing way beyond your non dive reflex low o2 levels?

 

[growingupninja]

Growingupninja, thanks for the reply. So i guess my next question is, is it standard practice to push to the same "BREATH" feeling once your dive reflex is in full swing Being youd be pushing way beyond your non dive reflex low o2 levels?

Standard practice is very individual when it comes to freediving. If nobody pushed it nobody would black out and die, and nobody would set records either. My point to the first post was that comfortable does not always equal safe...

 

[FreeRestriction]

Standard practice is very individual when it comes to freediving. If nobody pushed it nobody would black out and die, and nobody would set records either. My point to the first post was that comfortable does not always equal safe...

I understand, thank you.

 

[FreeRestriction]

Ok so i did my first o2 table today started at 66 second hold and ended @ 2:30 hold with 60 second rests... I got pretty light contractions and not starting until around 1:45-2:00. I think im on to something.

 

[FreeRestriction]

Ok sorry to keep buggin on here but i re ran the o2 table with 3 mins as my max and 80 second rests and i didnt get contractions until 2:30 towards the end. My second to last hold i dont think i got any. Also i felt my heart rate slow way down. And the pronounced thud type beat turned into more of a rolling soft gleeerp. Im pretty stoked. Safe to say my dive reflex was in action?

 

[Felipe M]

Ok sorry to keep buggin on here but i re ran the o2 table with 3 mins as my max and 80 second rests and i didnt get contractions until 2:30 towards the end. My second to last hold i dont think i got any. Also i felt my heart rate slow way down. And the pronounced thud type beat turned into more of a rolling soft gleeerp. Im pretty stoked. Safe to say my dive reflex was in action?

Hey dude...i have two months of freediving practice by myself...where can i get these o2 co2 tables everyone talks about?

 

[ReefTroll]

Mate check out the following : http://forums.deeperblue.com/beginner-freediving/64959-how-start-freediving.html
You can also get apps for smartphones that cover tables as well.

 

[FreeRestriction]

Oh..thought that post was directed at me sorry. But yeah the tables app. Works awesome.

 

[Felipe M]

Oh..right!..thanks!

I'll make my own tables. I'll post them as soon as i get them..and comment all the stages/feelings i get...they are used to do static in the water right? if so....can i actually submerge my face in a bowl?..i dont have at my disposal a pool for 20 min o2/20 min co2 training.

 

[Siku]

You don't need water, you can just sit quietly mouth closed. You might get a bit of leakage in the nose so the times you do are open to dispute. But this is still valuable training AND allows you to train on the bus/tube etc. without taking a nose clip and/or a bowl of water with you. (Here in England people think you're weird if you take a bowl of water on the bus or tube).