• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

Table Questions

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

Admirator

New Member
Jun 17, 2015
9
1
3
35
Hey Guys,

I'm fairly new to freediving, having lot's of fun so far, now getting into training with tables (static, CO2 for now).

My personal best without training that I did starting out was 2:45 (may be able to push it a little more, but the last seconds of contractions felt like driving through a hurricane). Thus I've started with a CO2 table of 1:22 hold. Based on example tables, I've seen that the breath-up times (8 cycles, decrease by 15s) vary between about 100-166% of the hold times. So right now I am doing this table:

Breathe: 2:15, Hold: 1:22
Breathe: 2:00, Hold: 1:22
Breathe: 1:45, Hold: 1:22
Breathe: 1:30, Hold: 1:22
Breathe: 1:15, Hold: 1:22
Breathe: 1:00, Hold: 1:22
Breathe: 0:45, Hold: 1:22
Breathe: 0:30, Hold: 1:22
I am getting some minor contractions on cycle 7-8 sometimes. Couple questions:

1. Is there a rule-of-thumb on the breathe-up time, how long it should be?
2. During the breathe intervals, how should I breathe? Just normal, everyday breaths? Am I allowed to do a big breath out and the end before my big breath in?
3. Doesn't these long breathing times mean that I breathe out all the CO2 that I'm building up? Thats for example what is being talked about in this article, where they suggest to do just one(!) breath in between holds, with variable hold-times..
4. How many tables per day and per week should I do to get optimum results? People in this thread talk about doing only 3-4 tables per week while others say you should do at least 1-2hrs per day (so multiple tables) and 4-5 of those sessions per week, otherwise your body won't adapt physiologically. Whats the way to go?

Thanks so much for your help, very very helpful forum!
Best, Admirator
 
Reactions: John B Griffith Jr
Good, solid questions! So, I am not an expert on physiology, and there are quite a few divers on here who are very knowledgeable about the retention of CO2 between breath-holds...my understanding is that the CO2 does not flush from the body during the decreasing intervals of breath-up time...but the body does reach max saturation of O2, therefore you are building a tolerance to the effects of CO2 on the body as it becomes harder to hold...in your example...that 1:22 gets harder to do with each repetitive cycle because the CO2 tolerance diminishes. Now, I may be completely wrong...but that is how it's always been explained to me. There seems to be some value in doing "One Max Reps", or O2 table-like exercises...and I know that if I do a "no-warm-up" static hold, I can usually hit a 4-5 minute hold first time, breathe up for maybe 5-6 minutes in between, then do another for max time, and I get an increase...that's regular breathing in between. So my holds increase, and I keep the breath-up times the same. Using this methodology, I can achieve 6+ holds pretty routinely. Don't know if this is "correct", but it's been what I have developed over the last few years. I don't have a really big STA time; PR is 7:13, but I imaging if I really focus on training, diet, exercise, meditation and all those other really cool things, I could extend that to an 8+ over time. I look forward to seeing the feedback...and the critiques...we can both learn more on this! Safe diving!
 
Reactions: Admirator
"Doesn't these long breathing times mean that I breathe out all the CO2 that I'm building up?"

Yes!

Those long rest periods for the first few cycles just allow you to blow off most of the CO2 you've worked so hard to build up.
I've totally given up on "conventional" CO2 tables.
I am advocate of the one-breath CO2 tables - they are fast and will clearly show you where you stand and any improvements you make.

I currently do a 1:25 one-breath CO2 table, like this:

lay down, relax, breath up - when ready, inhale for you first hold and..

hold for 1:25
exhale
inhale

hold for 1:25
exhale
inhale

hold for 1:25
exhale
inhale

etc....

I do this for 8 cycles. Note that I include the time for exhale/inhale in the 1:25 - just doing a cycle that totals 1:25
Of course you may want to adjust the 1:25 up or down to suit your abilities.

I really have gotten to like these.

As far as how often - I do one or two tables a week just to keep "fresh" - in addition I do a pool diving session on another day.
 
Last edited:
Reactions: Admirator and John B Griffith Jr
I think I will definitely work towards those tables eventually, it makes a lot of sense, CO2-build-up-wise.

However, I believe now as a beginner I will get best results by just getting used to holding breaths for longer with the beginners tables, feeling out contractions etc., like many people said for the beginning, the main difference will be psychologically, breaking done those barriers.

Would there be any adverse affects to my training if I do more than one table per day / more than 7 per week? What do you guys think about clustering them into longer sessions (ie. 2-3 per day), but only doing 3-4 of those longer sessions per week?
I understand from what other people here have said that it might be too strenuous on the body, but tbh I don'r really feel exhausted or so doing just one table per day, ~20mins. It feels equivalent to just doing 3 push-ups when I could do 20.
 
I agree, for a beginner the most important thing is to learn to relax into a breath hold, learn to recognize the different feelings your body goes through, learn to push through the struggle phase.
People react in a wide variety of ways to freediving and breath holding. Many (most?) get a headache from prolonged hypercapnia. But if you are comfortable doing several tables a day, every day, then I don't really see anything bad about it. But I doubt you need to do that many to make improvement. But then again maybe you just enjoy it.
I remember when I realized I could hold my breath for 3 mins I was stoked and for the next couple of weeks I would constantly be holding my breath, at work, in bed, at the pool. I still enjoy doing medium length breath holds just for fun - kind of meditative.

You said "It feels equivalent to just doing 3 push-ups when I could do 20" - maybe you aren't pushing into the breath holds long enough - the last hold of a table should not be "easy".
 
Reactions: John B Griffith Jr
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…