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Mermaid Melanie has excellent advice and Caltuna has an excellent grasp of the freediving/breathholding situation! Congratulations to you both! :mermaid kiss:
I must admit that you have more dedication to this sort of thing than I, though I have at times engaged in casual breathholding to see how long I can go without having prepared or taken a good gulp of air. My latest is just over three minutes, but then my vital lung capacity (though not musculature) did partially develop like a male's.
With training you can extend your breath hold as your body adapts and gets used to the high CO2 levels - Natalia is in her 50's now and can hold for just over 9 minutes - she hold all but one of the world records for freediving ( Tanya Streeter - No Limits 160m ) Tanya will probably hold that record forever as they have suspended the No Limits record attempts due to people dying from this discipline.Otherwise Natalia would probably have broken it already - if anyone beats her record she simply gets in the water a week later and sets it again - she's incredible. You can check out all the current record on the AIDA website as well as competition history for each athlete ! I managed to rank No.10 in the UK for DNF ! but hoping to do better for the Dynamic !
I have a weird as hell problem; my mother and I were actually just talking about this the other day. I have a very weak static hold (IMO, you'll see why in just a second) of about 1:47, give or take a few seconds, but 1:47 seems to be about average. But I have a dynamic of almost 45 seconds greater on average. Like anywhere from about 2:30 to 2:35 dynamic. (So see, it's not that 1:47 is actually weak, it's that compared to my dynamic, it looks like my times are mixed up)
My mom and I think it has to do with my lung condition rather than my oxygen intake. Because my lungs hurt often, and so any static breathhold results in me paying more attention to my diaphragm and its twitching that serves as a reminder to me to breathe. The problem is that the twitching feels like it's causing my lung inflammation to exacerbate. But I can ignore this more when I do activities. So, not a lack of oxygen, but the fact that I can't actively ignore the spasms without a real distraction. It's kind of frustrating, because it makes me feel like I need my medication even though I know I don't.
Same thing happens, too, when I perform vocals... If I'm not moving and singing, I can't do tahrir nearly as well. I need to either play an instrument so I can focus on that, dance, so I can focus on that, or make big, dramatic movements so I can focus on them.
It sounds like you are experiencing contractions, which is normal in Apnea but I don't know enough about lung conditions to say whether it might be a mental block or physical block - you can try counting the contractions starting at say 1 contraction on the first breath hold then hold for 2 on the second and so on... contractions don't usually happen till after at least 1 minute - maybe it is a mental block stopping you from holding longer ? Over time your body learns to cope with the contractions - while it might be uncomfortable, you do get more "used" to it I guess. I try to let my mind go and not think too much just relax my muscles and body for the breath hold - when I over think the time it really works against me!
Yeah, I just looked "contractions" up in my dictionary... That's definitely what's happening. And I'm probably thinking now that maybe they do warrant my medication for my pleurisy, because I'm pretty sure that contractions + deep breathing are actually inflaming my lungs rather than making me just a bit uncomfortable.
I guess I should make sure I either dope up or keep my stuff under 1 minute at a time, lmao. ;)
Is it weird that I never get diaphragm contractions in the water? Only on my static dry breath holds?
Some people don't feel contractions till later in their breath hold - if you don't feel it I'm pretty sure you can hold for longer than you are already x
Yeah, I don't really get contractions until past the minute mark, sometimes not until I get to 1:30. I guess I'm just more cautious when I'm underwater about coming up for air. I'm just bad at knowing how much longer I can hold it... If I misjudge, I still have to swim all the way to the surface, whether I need air NOW or not (I'm typically at the bottom of the deep end, which depending on the pool, is 9' - 12').
I must be really bad at breath holding. Whenever I take a deep breath to go under, my heart starts pounding like I'm drowning and I come up gasping for air!
How long will it take to master it so I am relaxed that my heart doesn't pound like that anymore?
It's different for everyone but you should try dry holds and practice being calm
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That is precisely what I was going to say, MerHopefully, and dare I say excellent advice! :mermaid kiss:
I would also add that, once you are calm holding your breath on land, find a time with which you are comfortable doing so. Then, when you are beneath the waves, you can reassure yourself that you are capable of holding your breath for at least that period of time; it works! :pearl:
Yes exactly. :)
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Ok. Thanks! I'll try breathing exercises before bedtime. That's when I feel most relaxed.
I used to be able to hold my breath for about 2 minutes and 34 seconds but ever since I had bronchitis and a small case of pleurisy (I had it from the end of November till about the beginning of February and I still have a slight cough from it now that is barely noticeable, but now I am lucky if I can hold my breath for 1 minute.
Time to start practicing again...
I got sick and lost a minute too :( but I'm back to practicing now. I do breath holds in class when I'm bored. Hehe
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Oh and I forgot to add: does anyone else yawn a lot when practicing breath holds? Or am I just really bored? lmao
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Yep, I do. Thought it was just me.Quote:
Originally Posted by MerHopefully
Haha, Everytime. It's not just you.Quote:
Originally Posted by MerHopefully
3 minutes is my new best, but that was last year.
Something I want to check is the Sp02 and Sa02 levels in our bodies while holding our breath. Oxygen saturation is an important factor. I want to see the difference between static and dynamic apnoeas and also get a blood count on hemoglobin. When I held my breath for 3 minutes, I was calm and my heart rate was about 56 bpm. I took deep breaths. That's all i know. pressure.That can also be a factor. I was at the surface with my head just bobbing around.
When I did my worst (just breathing), my SpO2 was at 68. That's pretty dang low! I felt I couldn't breathe. Was very tired. I was in the er though. They did do a CBC and i just learned that night that I had really low hemoglobin when i was born. I wanna see my results now and hopefully applying this with techniques can be another tool to be better or even determine if hypoxia is an issue for any reason. :rainbow:
I can't seem to hold past 45 seconds static. I just can't get over the panicky feeling and relax! I also don't practice as much as I'd like to since I don't have a spotter and don't want to pass out and hurt myself. :-S I hope to take a freediving class soon, but my mermaid schedule keeps me busy in the summer and work schedule keeps me busy during the school year.