newbie from Bahamas/NJ

[bit-part]

Hi folks,

Bit of background - I grew up in the Bahamas as a keen freediver and spearfisherman but for the past 20 years have been stuck behind one desk or another. Now a keen triathlete.

20 years ago I held my breath for 3:30 in a hot tub and never considered I could ever beat that, but last weekend I was fooling around in a warm hotel pool in FL and managed 3:14 pretty easily, so I tried again ten minutes later and hit 5:02.
I stumbled across this site trying to figure out where that time ranks me - guess it's fairly mediochre! Anyway, I had another couple of questions too -

before my 3:14 hold I did another untimed hold that was probably about 2:30. Would these earlier holds (within 20 minutes before) have helped or hindered my 5:02 hold?

And what is the optimum water temperature? This pool was nice and warm, but not as hot as the hot tub 20 years ago!

Thanks!
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[trux]

Welcome to DB.

Well, 5 min is already pretty good, especially in a hot tub. You'll do much better in cold water where the diving reflex preserving oxygen kicks in much easier. It is normal to do better in subsequent attempts - that's why people do warm-ups. Though, a no-warm-up technique works well too.

One word of caution - never do any breath holds in water without direct supervision of someone who understands what may happen, and how to handle you if you black out. The person needs to check you each couple of seconds towards the end of the apnea, to see whether you are still conscious and return signals. You can black out easier than you imagine, and it can happen at times you are very well used to do without problems otherwise. And it happens even easier if you hyperventilate prior the breath-hold. Just at the last competition I blacked out a minute short of my personal best, without seing anything coming. And I do not hyperventilate. If I did, it would have been even shorter. Hyperventilation makes the breath-hold easier, but it reduces your hypoxic tolerance threashold, so you can black-out while still feeling relatively comfortably.

 

[bit-part]

Thanks for the tips and information. I did slightly hyperventilate beforehand with about 8 deep breaths. Not sure what's typical, but good to know about the risks of blacking out. Presumably though those risks are amplified by diving down and resurfacing, compared to being static at the surface of a pool?

Happily my friend timing me and his wife who was nearby were both doctors so would hopefully have been in good hands.

One other question - towards the end, when I was basically at the point of giving up, I would purge tiny bits of air to give me the sense that I was breathing out and take away the urge to surface and breathe. Is this good technique or silly because of the air (even small quantities) that I'm foresaking? I feel like it gave me at least an extra 30 seconds doing this.
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[Salehthefish]

Hello and welcome on DB...

All best

 

[agbiv]

Nice stats--welcome from Texas!