Breath holding techniques

[knobber]

Anybody have any recommendations or websites as to how to increase it?

Also, how long can the average freediver hold their breath while sitting completely still? I want to work on mine, and use that as a gauge.

[Rolo]

Knobber,

Spearboard is by far the best spearfishing web site run in the states. However, if you want more information, I suggest you check out deeperblue.net. This web site has a wealth of freediving information and may hold some of the answers to your very subjective questions. The moderators on that site are excellent freedivers and some are also very accomplished spearos.

Where do you freedive?

[knobber]

no freediving--yet. I can only hold my breath for 1:40 so far, and much less when I try swimming with my fins on in the pool.

I have some friends that fish a lot of the rigs in the gulf, and instead of me being the only scuba diver, I figure it may be easier to jump off and freedive. I wanted to work on the breath holding during the colder months.

[RabiSpear]

Knobber,
Static Breathold is not crtitically important for somone just getting into the sport of freediving. It is undoubtedly helpful, but I think it is kind of like a triathlete doing interval training before building an aerobic base. (I am realizing that probably makes absolutely no sense to you) Anyway, your time will initially be better spent getting aquainted with the water and focusing on relaxation. There is no substitute for repetitive diving. I have heard it said that somone with a two minute breathold can dive 60 feet. That makes sense to me. If you can not get in the water, but have access to a pool. Porpoise swimming is a great training tool. That is, swimming as far as you possibly can on a breath, surfacing for a single breath, and then continuing to swim for several breaths until you can no longer go but a few feet. Rinse and repeat. Remember that it is more important to relax than it is to push yourself to almost blacking out. In time, you will realize that by relaxing too much, you push yourself to pass out without knowing it. Never do anything related to breatholding alone in the water, unless you are very conseravtive and know your body. Last thing, train your body by running or cycling. Aerobic exercise trains your body to operate on reduced oxygen, so it postively correlates with your freediving. Having recently returned from the desert, I had not put my face in the water for 8 months, but I was diving to over 65 feet on my first trip back in the water due to a high level of fitness. I have a static hold of just over 4 minutes, yet I have only recently begun to push the 100 foot barrier in my diving. All that to say that it is much more of a mental game than physical one in the end.

Check out deeperblue and read everything the more experinced guys in this forum write. I have been doing this literally my entire life, yet I have never learned as much as I have here in the last few months. Be safe!

[rigdvr]

Rabbitech is right on about just getting in the water and becoming comfortable. Nothing will improve your diving more. If you do decide to utilize a pool make sure you always have a spotter as many great freedivers have died in the shallow end of a pool all alone. The best idea would be to go out hunting. There are plenty of fish to shoot shallow(mangroves, cobia, and sometimes the snapper and aj's will swim up to greet you) go have fun.

Where on the gulf coast do you dive? I dont care how long you can hold your breath...your first rig dive will leave you breathless for sure. Great vis out there right now and we saw several mantas this weekend and got some nice cobia off them. Good luck.

[JCACTION]

I totally agree with the above posts. If you want some real good techniques try the European websites under freediving. There is a site in Spain that Pedro Carbonell contrinutes to and it is extremely informational. You can do nothing better than learn relaxation while diving! Thats the key. This is truly a mental thing. Some guys can not break the 100 foot barrier just because they cant relax and cant imagine it yet they can breath hold 4 minutes. If you can hold 2 minutes you are more than average. The avg is 1 1/2 for a regular person. Add cardio and you immediately will see and increase. But most of all, get in the water and dive dive and then dive some more. You will learn your rythm and when you do, you can start working on your time and it will improve dramatically. Also, whatever you do, do not get into bad habits from the beginning, they are difficult to get rid of. Your entry and descent should be your primary goal when you begin to practice. A bad entry or descent will cause you to be very disappointed if not learned properly.

[frogman]

Don't set time limits for yourself. That's how people get into trouble. I have found that 1:20-1:40 min is plenty to get down to 70-80 fsw, stalk a fish (for about 20-30 secs) and get back up safely. Honestly, I don't think you need much more bottom time. If you haven't seen anything in 30 secs down, you better head back up again. This can be done only if you have proper technique, don't waste time equalizing and as mentioned previously, perfect relaxation. Good luck and dive safely!

[ROCK BOTTOM]

Rigdvr,

Where were you diving when you saw the mantas. I spotted one in MP299. Beautiful water out there but it got very murky in shallower.

Z

[rigdvr]

we were on the FH-7 area(von rosenburg site)50 miles south of biloxi(just north of 175-A). Beautiful water, plentiful fish.

[Prodigal Son]

Knobber, I want to emphasize what these fellows have told you...DON"T DO APNEA TRAINING ALONE! It's way too easy to get hurt or killed by taking things for granted. You can still black out and drown in a pool, even with a lifeguard present. I started doing weekly pool sessions with a few other guys from my dive club; one of them went through the Performance Freediving course. When I started almost 2 months ago, my static time was barely over one minute. Now I'm up to 3:40, and itching to hit the 4:00 mark. It really helps to have a buddy around who's watching you and knows what to look for; it gives you the confidence to push the envelope a little at a time. I know freediving is not just about static apnea, but increasing both your anaerobic and aerobic endurance really helps. Best wishes.

[JAL1639]

You can also work on your breath holding indoors. Feed the dog some mexican food and beer and later when he cuts one....... you'll be holding on for life!!! LOL

[zeN||]

I'll share with you what I have learned:
Get fit, the better in shape you are, the better your freediving
Relaxation is number one. Moving in the water is very different than what we are accustomed to on land, think relaxed, move relaxed, it is amazing what improvement you will derive from this key concept.
You do work on breathold, you are training your brain to get used to deprivation, air hunger, your body can tolerate a great deal more than what you normally expect, you are learning to accomodate this brain reflex, accept this sensation, and master it, when you surface, you will be uncomfortable, starved for air, relax, take deep controlled breaths, and you find the uncomfortable feeling dissipates quickly.
I use the pool to practise extending my dives underwater after my workout, if you are consistent you will see improvement. There are advanced breathing techniques, I use zen meditation myself :) zeN

[Copino]

JC,

I did a search looking for freediving websites in Spain but could not find the one you mentioned. The ones I found are not very informative in my opinion. I would appreciate if you can post some good sites there. Thanks.

Miguel

[Rolo]

Miguel,

This is a good site run out of Spain...very informative, fairly good articles;

http://www.larompiente.com/

Rolando

[IB Boyd]

I ordered one of those expand a lung things. I keep it in the car, so I can do something constructive with my daily comute. aside from getting wierd looks from other motorists, it also seems to be helping my lung cap. Havent had a chance to do some time tests to see how much it has improved. wife says I snore less to since using it.dont know if thats true or not. Pretty cool thing for somebody like me who doesnt get to train as much as I would like.

[cosmo]

Im pretty new to freediving and dont know if im really doing something wrong but frogman said dont equalize!your sinuses?!frogman please elaborate on that.maybe i missed something or i am completly ignorant.if i dont pop my ears i can t get past 15ft.

[Darshawn]

I beleive that he is refering to the Vaslava Technique (jaw rotation) that dosn't require you to use your hands. If I am wrong please correct me.