How long can you hold your breath?

[Dr.P]

Originally Posted by Mullins

That's complete rubbish I'm afraid. Suggest you read up on freediving physiology?

I hear and respect your opinion. A quick google search that maybe I should have done earlier shows this has been a source of hot contention for at least 2 decades by different authors and on the forums. ...even the US Navy has an opinion! I don't think we'll settle it today, so I'll offer up my case study of one as evidence for the aerobic camp, though as will all physical activity I'm sure there are a mix of muscle fiber types and metabolic pathways involved.

[Dr.P]

Originally Posted by growingupninja

Dr. P, I think you are ignoring the effect of vasoconstriction, which we know is particularly strong for deep dives, and for DYN swimmers, although genetic factors seem to come into play outside of extreme pressure. Muscles definitely do not get to consume all the O2 they want during depth and DYN.

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...great point, and it actually was my original argument. My point was that this is more the result of aerobic stimulation, not anaerobic. Blood shunting to vital organs is the goal. The byproducts of anaerobic cellular activity - lactic acid, CO2, potassium - are vasodilators and would counteract the affects we are going for. In other words, these vasodilators would open up the large muscle arteries if anaerobic activity were occurring. I think it also must be considered that these byproducts are produced during regular, basal matabolosm, not only in anaerobic activity.

Again, I think the metabolism is more complicated and intertwined than just black and white. I only offered my original findings to show that when I was lean and aerobically fit, I could hold my breath for a long time. When I was lean and anaerobically fit, I couldn't. This speaks loud to me, but of course there could always be confounders. It would take many years to repeat this experiment, and I'm not volunteering to do it again, ha.

[growingupninja]

Originally Posted by Dr.P

...great point, and it actually was my original argument. My point was that this is more the result of aerobic stimulation, not anaerobic. Blood shunting to vital organs is the goal. The byproducts of anaerobic cellular activity - lactic acid, CO2, potassium - are vasodilators and would counteract the affects we are going for. In other words, these vasodilators would open up the large muscle arteries if anaerobic activity were occurring. I think it also must be considered that these byproducts are produced during regular, basal matabolosm, not only in anaerobic activity.

Again, I think the metabolism is more complicated and intertwined than just black and white. I only offered my original findings to show that when I was lean and aerobically fit, I could hold my breath for a long time. When I was lean and anaerobically fit, I couldn't. This speaks loud to me, but of course there could always be confounders. It would take many years to repeat this experiment, and I'm not volunteering to do it again, ha.

I see what you are saying about various anaerobic byproducts being vasodilators (although I thought CO2 is only a vasodilator in the brain--good for keeping us conscious when we are hypoxic--but not in the muscles?) but I think there is a piece of the puzzle missing, since we know during anaerobic portions of a dive our extremities are most certainly getting less blood. During depth there is evidence that pressure plays a role but for many of us it happens during static's and dynamics.

In your specific case it sounds like you went a bit towards the 'anaerobic extreme'... really yoked guys don't typically do well with breath hold. If during muscle and strength building a certain amount of apnea is included in training it isn't as bad for them but nearly all the top static specialists are a bit on the clothes hanger with lungs side; large muscles are metabolically expensive. If they are trained and adapted to support a specific type of necessary workload under apnea then that metabolic expense may be worth it, but any muscle mass outside of that tends to be dead weight. There also seems to be a good deal of individuality there, I know some great DYN swimmers who do their best when they have starved for weeks and others do better when they train for some power and have more muscle mass than general population.

Anyway thanks for sharing.

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[clambake 50]

2 min but diving like 30 sec

[spearocaleb22]

i think taking the course is a great idea. i could barely hold my breath for 30 seconds before it and now after the F.I.I course i am doing 2-3 min breath holds and doing 50'-60' dives

[BenGreen]

I am not nearly as knowledgeable as some of you guys when it comes to the science of this stuff, but I do have about 30 years of experience lifting weights and other forms of exercise, so my question is this: Bigger muscles require more oxygen and makes your body richer in red blood cells as needed. So if you are just hovering at depth with minimal muscle usage, wouldn't the larger storage of blood (due to bigger muscles) result in increased bottom time theoretically?

[freedivemd]

Originally Posted by BenGreen

I am not nearly as knowledgeable as some of you guys when it comes to the science of this stuff, but I do have about 30 years of experience lifting weights and other forms of exercise, so my question is this: Bigger muscles require more oxygen and makes your body richer in red blood cells as needed. So if you are just hovering at depth with minimal muscle usage, wouldn't the larger storage of blood (due to bigger muscles) result in increased bottom time theoretically?

Generally speaking your breath hold ability depends mostly on your ability to calm down and relax. Elite freedivers seem to be pretty lean, but other than that your build won't have a dramatic effect on freediving.

[SubSub]

2:45 static and about 45sec-1min dives (I'm trying not to push it). Unfortunatly I don't have much of open water to dive in and pool dives are... well, not the same really so I totally lack regular training. Although I'm in Greece a couple of months / year and get extensive water time during those stays. But the "dry" winters take it's toll on routine.

[wyatt youngs]

2:30ish dives are like 1 min tops

[PigStikr]

My experience over a couple decades of SCUBA/NITROX and 5 years free - being relaxed and comfortable in the water is key. Doubled my bottom time on tanks. That's right, doubled after taking up freediving.
Relax, drift thru the kelp with the current, enjoy the colors and small fish. Drop using the mass of your legs above water. Relax, enjoy, come up for air. Why push it?
The pelagics will be upcurrent from the kelp, buzzing in and out. Let them come to you. The WSB will be deep in the kelp, sometimes asleep. So if you cover a kelp bed 2:1, does it matter whether down time was :30 or 1:00? Total down time is the same.
Shoot something big. Kick up and play the floatline.

[Shotmaster]

I couldnt find the category, "Not long enough"! Lol