Sudden Gain Loss after Dry Static Practice

[embronxer]

Hi All,

After practicing with the Apnea Trainer app for a few days I was able to increase my breath holds from 2:30 to 3:20. In my routine I practice basic pranayama which is counted inhalation, retention and exhalation and after that I would practice three breath holds after doing breathe ups of around 90 seconds. I was doing well with a ratio of 12:48:24 for 20 minutes. But after I set my new breath hold record of 3:20 I suddenly struggled with my current ratio of 12:48:24 and had to cut back to 9:36:18. Needless to say I was really bummed out at the sudden loss of my gains. The next two days remained the same and I'm not able to hold my breath longer than 2:30. I also noticed that my heart rate quickly but slightly increases during my pranayama practice which I think is the culprit here. As far as I'm aware, this didn't happen before. Still I have no idea what might have caused my sudden gain loss. Does anyone have an idea what may have happened here? I hope I didn't break anything.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

[Nathan Vinski]

It's called over training.

It often occurs a right after a major improvement. You need to rest and do less trainings during the week. 2-3 breath hold sessions is pretty much the most you can do unless they are really easy, everyday is wayyyy to much breath holding.

 

[embronxer]

Thanks for your answer, Nathan. How much breath holding should I do then? And should I also cut back the pranayama practice? In Yoga, pranayama (sometimes including breath holds to capacity) is usually done every day, sometimes even for more than an hour.

 

[Nathan Vinski]

In my opinion breatholding or hypoxic/hypercapnic breathing like pranayama should be done 1-3 times ( depending on intensity)per week for average people. Unless you are working with professional dietitians and trainers the recovery is too difficult to manage and overtraining becomes really easy with more workouts than that. When training for peaks you can do 5-6 times per week for very short periods nd then you'll need weeks of rest after your max performance.


It depends on if you want max performance for 1 competition or steady improvement over time

 

[bboynaki]

Keep track of your contractions during breath holds. If you notice they increase greatly and the conditions of your training are the same, take 3-4 days off. You might be low on hemoglobin, your diaphragm/throat might be tired, you might be mentally exhausted, etc etc etc