"Breathe in, and never breathe out..." - Stephen Chen
DISCLAIMER
I must tarnish the thread with an ugly, but very important and necessary disclaimer. This technique is DANGEROUS, and, as such, I am forced to advise you not to try it. This post, officially, is for Informational Purposes Only. If you do choose to proceed, DO NOT do it underwater, or without adult supervision. You may feel hyperventilated. Your limbs and chest may go numb. You vision may blur. You may begin to feel faint. You may suffer brain damage. Neither I, nor David Blaine, are at all to blame for any injuries resulting from this thread. You have been warned - Be Careful.
Mod Edit: An Extra Disclaimer
On September 05 2010 16:23 Physician wrote: My advice to anyone doing room temp no pure static apnea; stay under 3:30 minutes otherwise you will pay for it the rest of your life with retinal problems and a tiny little less I.Q (both that you won't initially notice, specially when you break over 4 minutes). : )
Now that that's out of the way...
Inspired by all the other threads of instruction, I have decided to write my own guide on How to Hold Your Breath. Take a step closer to becoming the superhuman you always wanted to be.
David Blaine can be credited for advancing this technique. He's more than just an illusionist.
My Story
When I was a kid, I saw a Baby Looney Tunes episode where characters held their breaths while passing through a tunnel in order to make a wish. From that day forward, I became obsessed with holding my breath for longer periods of time.
At around age 13, however, I stopped this habit; my wishes simply weren't coming true. At that time, my record was around 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
5 years later, I decided to see how long I could hold my breath, just for fun: 2 minutes. Disappointed by this regression, I tried to follow David Blaine's technique. Two tries later? 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Now, I am at roughly 4 minutes.
If you're one of those people who are terrible at holding their breaths, this may seem incredible. If you're one of those people who can already hold their breaths for over 3 minutes, this technique would only make you more impressive than before. In essence, it is simply astounding.
Harry Houdini's lifelong record was 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
Definitions
The first thing to do is to go over some definitions. There is a bit of "breath holding" jargon here. All exercises are completed through the mouth.
Deep Breathing: "Deep breathing" is where you inhale a big breath of air, hold it for 1 second, and then exhale for 10 seconds. When you exhale, your mouth should be almost closed, with your tongue pressing against the back of your bottom teeth. A "ssss" sound should be produced naturally.
Semi-Purging: "Semi-Purging" is an intermediate step between deep breathing and purging. It is more forceful than deep breathing and less intense than purging. This acts as a resting period between trials.
Purging: “Purging” is where you exhale strongly, as if you were trying to blow out all the candles on your 90th birthday, followed by a strong but fast inhalation. Your cheeks will probably be puffed during this stage, and that's okay. Make sure you stay still and do not rock back and forth. It wastes your energy, and therefore your oxygen.
Just like this. Don't puff out when you're holding your breath, however!
The Method
By now, you've probably figured out the trick to this technique is hyperventilation. Have you ever tried breathing very fast a few times before holding your breath? This is essentially the same thing, but on a greater scale.
Your body works by measuring the amount of Carbon Dioxide in your bloodstream. When the level is too high, it assumes that your Oxygen level is too low as well, causing you to want to breathe. Hyperventilation tricks the mind by taking away the Carbon Dioxide, but not truly giving the body the amount of Oxygen it thinks it is receiving. By eliminating the Carbon Dioxide through rapid breaths, your mind will not tell your body to breathe.
Take out a timer, and make sure you are accurate. Don't be clumsy like me and forget to press the buttons! It's better to be careful than to waste the whole attempt.
The Steps:
1:30 of Deep Breathing 1:15 of Purging (if you feel like you’re going to pass out, do it less intensely)
Hold your breath for a target 1:30, no more
After 1:30: Take 3 Semi-Purge breaths
1:30 Deep Breathing 1:30 Purging
Hold your breath for a target 2:30, no more
After 2:30 Take 3 Semi-Purge breaths
2:00 Deep Breathing 1:45 Purging
Hold your breath for as long as possible
After exhalation: Take 3-10 hard Semi-Purge breaths until your recover.
How did it go?
Tips and Tricks
None of my pictures want to load. As a result, this substitute is completely irrelevant.
- When you inhale, your abdomen is supposed to protrude and not shrink in. Think as if you were filling your whole body with air.
- This is easier if you haven't eaten in 4 to 6 hours. Being light helps too.
- Do not puff out your cheeks; this will stress out your cheek muscles.
- You may begin to feel like you need to breathe right away. Ignore it! From my experience, I felt as if I needed to breathe....but I didn't. It felt as if I had to exhale, but just holding my breath there, I soon realized that everything was okay. Stay calm.
- Don't think about holding your breath! This will make it agonizing. Don't think about the time either; check your timer (when you are holding your breath) as few times as possible.
- Close your eyes and relax when you are holding your breath. Move as little as possible.
- Distract yourself. Go through the alphabet, finding one person you know who's name starts with that letter. Sing a song in your head!
- In the final moments, it is critical that you move as little as possible. Are you 30 seconds off your target? Don't count down from 30 seconds. Count down 10 seconds, then another 10, and then another.
- In the end, when you really can't hold it any longer, just let it out. The 10 extra seconds isn't worth fainting over.
- Please don't try this more than once a day. It really isn't good for you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, when Blizzard decrees that all SC2 tournaments must be held in airless rooms, YOU will have the advantage.
I actually saw that documentary where he lived in that little water ball for a week. I remember he trained by doing something like breathing for 10 minutes, holding for 1, breathing for 9, holding for 2, breathing for 8, holding for 3, so on and so forth. Also is it me or is there no technique in the OP? The images for Tips and Tricks won't load either, I can hold my breathe for 2 minutes easily, but I don't think I'll ever get passed that. I held my breath for 2 minutes and just stopped because I thought it was good enough
You know there are clam divers that can hold their breath underwater for like 10 minutes no problem, right? A few of my friends can go deep for minutes on end waiting to spear fish.
On September 05 2010 14:33 MyHeroNoob wrote: [G] How to Hold Your Breath
-Use your diaphragm
Not only will that help you hold your breath, but it will also give you a more efficient way of running, swimming, singing, playing any brass instruments, preventing mild cases of asthma, and achieving an effortless lifestyle overall.
After a few singing lessons on learning how to breathe properly, I don't think i can ever go back to breathing with my chest.
With the technique I outlined above, David Blaine achieved a time slightly under 8 minutes.
What David Blaine did for the 17 minute and 4.4 second record was breathe pure oxygen before holding his breath. This record was actually broken just four months afterwards.
I'm a swimmer, I can't even hold for a minute. I always breathe, why not breathe? I notice that a few have polled their initial times, but no one has taken the time to actually complete the exercise.
On September 05 2010 14:54 hellokitty[hk] wrote: I'm a swimmer, I can't even hold for a minute. I always breathe, why not breathe? I notice that a few have polled their initial times, but no one has taken the time to actually complete the exercise.
Breathing takes time. Back when I was in middle school, when I still swam, I breathed only once every 30 minutes. That has nothing to do with this technique though.
So is holding your breath a physical or mental achievement? You seem to suggest that anyone should be able to achieve 2-3 minutes just by using your technique. You said that hyperventilating "tricks" your body into thinking it doesn't have as much carbon dioxide, so the feeling of dying isn't as strong. So technically "sheer willpower" (however hard it may be) should be enough for us to hold our breathes for 2-3 minutes, even though we have had zero physical practice/conditioning?
On September 05 2010 14:54 hellokitty[hk] wrote: I'm a swimmer, I can't even hold for a minute. I always breathe, why not breathe? I notice that a few have polled their initial times, but no one has taken the time to actually complete the exercise.
Breathing takes time. Back when I was in middle school, when I still swam, I breathed only once every 30 minutes. That has nothing to do with this technique though.
every 30minutes? really? did you grow gills or something lol
On September 05 2010 15:03 NickC wrote: So is holding your breath a physical or mental achievement? You seem to suggest that anyone should be able to achieve 2-3 minutes just by using your technique. You said that hyperventilating "tricks" your body into thinking it doesn't have as much carbon dioxide, so the feeling of dying isn't as strong. So technically "sheer willpower" (however hard it may be) should be enough for us to hold our breathes for 2-3 minutes, even though we have had zero physical practice/conditioning?
Not exactly. Just because your mind thinks you have oxygen doesn't mean that your body has it. If you can block out pain, a saw cutting you in half is still going to kill you, however strong your willpower to block the pain is.
That said, I do believe that a healthy person can achieve 2-3 minutes with this technique (it's not mine). Hyperventilation 1) gives you more oxygen than you usually gets 2) tricks your mind into thinking you have even more oxygen. Through the combination of the two, and the good breath-holding tips I have provided, holding your breath for 2-3 minutes shouldn't be a problem.
Of course, the best way to improve your time is to practice holding your breath for longer periods, and to exercise. Don't practice with this technique, however. This is only the "test," if you will. Practice as you normally would: Inhale....hold.
On September 05 2010 14:54 hellokitty[hk] wrote: I'm a swimmer, I can't even hold for a minute. I always breathe, why not breathe? I notice that a few have polled their initial times, but no one has taken the time to actually complete the exercise.
Breathing takes time. Back when I was in middle school, when I still swam, I breathed only once every 30 minutes. That has nothing to do with this technique though.
every 30minutes? really? did you grow gills or something lol
LOL I am sorry. Every 30 meters. So a bit further than one lap (not forward and back). I think that's the right number, assuming one lap is 25 meters.
On September 05 2010 14:54 hellokitty[hk] wrote: I'm a swimmer, I can't even hold for a minute. I always breathe, why not breathe? I notice that a few have polled their initial times, but no one has taken the time to actually complete the exercise.
Breathing takes time. Back when I was in middle school, when I still swam, I breathed only once every 30 minutes. That has nothing to do with this technique though.
every 30minutes? really? did you grow gills or something lol
On September 05 2010 14:54 hellokitty[hk] wrote: I'm a swimmer, I can't even hold for a minute. I always breathe, why not breathe? I notice that a few have polled their initial times, but no one has taken the time to actually complete the exercise.
Breathing takes time. Back when I was in middle school, when I still swam, I breathed only once every 30 minutes. That has nothing to do with this technique though.
every 30minutes? really? did you grow gills or something lol
LOL I am sorry. Every 30 meters. So a bit further than one lap (not forward and back). I think that's the right number, assuming one lap is 25 meters.
lol what??? 30 meters is kinda short for a swimmer, and you say you can hold your breath for 4+ minutes.... uh okay. I think I was around 40 meters, and I'm nowhere close to 4 minutes lol.
this method is interesting but if you're a competitive swimmer, you definitely should have known about this before. We do similar hyperventilating exercises when we get ready to swim and stand on the blocks... and if you're really a swimmer (hellokitty[hk]), you'll know that breathing actually slows you down, which is why people don't breathe every 2nd/3rd or whatever stroke, and why your coach should be drilling your breathing exercises every single practice.
edit: fyi I can only hold my breath for like 2 minutes. 4 minutes is too intense for me lol
On September 05 2010 14:54 hellokitty[hk] wrote: I'm a swimmer, I can't even hold for a minute. I always breathe, why not breathe? I notice that a few have polled their initial times, but no one has taken the time to actually complete the exercise.
Breathing takes time. Back when I was in middle school, when I still swam, I breathed only once every 30 minutes. That has nothing to do with this technique though.
every 30minutes? really? did you grow gills or something lol
LOL I am sorry. Every 30 meters. So a bit further than one lap (not forward and back). I think that's the right number, assuming one lap is 25 meters.
lol what??? 30 meters is kinda short for a swimmer, and you say you can hold your breath for 4+ minutes.... uh okay. I think I was around 40 meters, and I'm nowhere close to 4 minutes lol.
this method is interesting but if you're a competitive swimmer, you definitely should have known about this before. We do similar hyperventilating exercises when we get ready to swim and stand on the blocks... and if you're really a swimmer (hellokitty[hk]), you'll know that breathing actually slows you down, which is why people don't breathe every 2nd/3rd or whatever stroke, and why your coach should be drilling your breathing exercises every single practice.
edit: fyi I can only hold my breath for like 2 minutes. 4 minutes is too intense for me lol
Yup, you're right. And btw, I'm not a swimmer; I quit after 7th grade. That 30 meters was back in middle school, when I was 12. I don't know how long (distance) I can hold it for now. The 4 minutes is for the present (almost 18), lying like a dead fish on the ground.
On September 05 2010 14:54 hellokitty[hk] wrote: I'm a swimmer, I can't even hold for a minute. I always breathe, why not breathe? I notice that a few have polled their initial times, but no one has taken the time to actually complete the exercise.
Breathing takes time. Back when I was in middle school, when I still swam, I breathed only once every 30 minutes. That has nothing to do with this technique though.
every 30minutes? really? did you grow gills or something lol
LOL I am sorry. Every 30 meters. So a bit further than one lap (not forward and back). I think that's the right number, assuming one lap is 25 meters.
lol what??? 30 meters is kinda short for a swimmer, and you say you can hold your breath for 4+ minutes.... uh okay. I think I was around 40 meters, and I'm nowhere close to 4 minutes lol.
this method is interesting but if you're a competitive swimmer, you definitely should have known about this before. We do similar hyperventilating exercises when we get ready to swim and stand on the blocks... and if you're really a swimmer (hellokitty[hk]), you'll know that breathing actually slows you down, which is why people don't breathe every 2nd/3rd or whatever stroke, and why your coach should be drilling your breathing exercises every single practice.
edit: fyi I can only hold my breath for like 2 minutes. 4 minutes is too intense for me lol
30 meters is not short for a competitive event. It all depends on what length you are swimming. In a 50 the body can survive easily on anaerobic systems and oxygen saturated before the start, in this case not breathing is an advantage as it does not disrupt your stoke or body line. In a 100 and 200+ you begin to access aerobic energy systems, so you'll need to breath much more often or face serious performance problems after about a 75. When I competed seriously I either breathed at around 30m/37.5y or went with none, in a 100/200 around every 2-4 strokes. I COULD have held my breath for ~125...but that would be slow as shit.
On September 05 2010 14:52 Karliath wrote: What David Blaine did for the 17 minute and 4.4 second record was breathe pure oxygen before holding his breath. This record was actually broken just four months afterwards.
I hate to break it to you but Peter Colat and Nicola Putignano all cheated too with pfc's. And no I didn't mean the pure o2. The last guy to make an honest static apnea using pure o2 only record was maybe Gianluca Genoni (2002, 12'34") but even he cheated later breaking his own record again making it to 18 minute record in 2008. Bill Stromberg 13'05" and early Tom Sietas record (14'12") are probably honest records too. Anyway lately most of these guys are breaking their own records by 5 minutes plus (i.e. all cheating with pfcs). It is no coincidence that all these records started happening after the advent of commercially available perfluorcarbons (to inject into blood or muscles).
On September 05 2010 14:52 Karliath wrote: This record was actually broken just four months afterwards.
I hate to break it to you but Peter Colat and Nicola Putignano all cheated too with pfc's. And no I didn't mean the pure o2 (that you have to use anyway to get to those records with the help of pfc's). The last guy to make an honest static apnea using pure o2 only record was maybe Gianluca Genoni (2002, 12'34") but even he cheated later breaking his own record again making it to 18 minute record in 2008. Bill Stromberg 13'05" and early Tom Sietas record (14'12") are probably honest records too. Anyway lately most of these guys are breaking their own records by 5 minutes plus (i.e. all cheating with pfcs). It is no coincidence that all these records started happening after the advent of perfluorcarbons.
Mm, I don't really follow all of those records - there are just too many different categories! That said, I do know for a fact that David Blaine got close to eight minutes with this method. That's impressive enough for me.
All those records are a single category: static apnea using pure o2; I have purposely not mentioned any record in different categories. And yeah I do think his 8 minutes static apnea without oxygen was probably honest - and even though I am a fan of Blaine the illusionist I am just giving you a hard time about him advancing anything in the world of static apnea (with or without o2).
My advice to anyone doing static apnea (room temp unaided); stay under 3:30 minutes otherwise you will pay for it the rest of your life with retinal problems and a tiny little less I.Q (both that you won't initially notice, specially when you break over 4 minutes). : ) -
In other words Karliath disclaimer is indeed quite correct so please listen to him: "This technique is DANGEROUS, and, as such, I am forced to advise you not to try it."
On September 05 2010 17:43 alffla wrote: back in high school a bunch of my guy friends were being retarded and making each other pass out LOL.
I wonder how widespread this is. When I was in 7th grade, living in germany, the boys at my school did this. When one of my friends did it, some of the kids "helping" kicked him in the gut after he fell over, so when it was my turn I refused. I thought it was peculiar to the military base I was on, though.
...The dumb shit boys do to prove they're tough... amiright?
To anyone considering trying the ultimate hold breath technique... unless you're planning on being a professional diver or magician... just don't. A cheap thrill like this isn't worth significant brain damage/death.
On September 05 2010 14:09 Karliath wrote: [i]Now, when Blizzard decrees that all SC2 tournaments must be held in airless rooms, YOU will have the advantage.
im so scared to try it :D my record is something around 2 minutes under water and im happy with it when i see my mates who cant even hold their breathe longer than 30 sec
Well I think you are wrong about hyperventilation. Hyperventilation does not give you more oxygen, it only get rid of the co2 in your body so your body thinks it has more oxygen and it wont feel so hard to hold your breath. This is NOT what you want, you want your body to start saving oxygen as soon as possible, called something in the line of diving reflex. What people have started doing, is slowly breathing in and out, breathing less and less before a dive, then take a big breath. This way, your body has alot of co2, but plenty of oxygen. It starts saving your oxygen. It will be more painful to hold your breath, but man, that is something you need to live with if you want to hold your breath and go free diving.
On September 05 2010 19:47 crappen wrote: Well I think you are wrong about hyperventilation. Hyperventilation does not give you more oxygen, it only get rid of the co2 in your body so your body thinks it has more oxygen and it wont feel so hard to hold your breath. This is NOT what you want, you want your body to start saving oxygen as soon as possible, called something in the line of diving reflex. What people have started doing, is slowly breathing in and out, breathing less and less before a dive, then take a big breath. This way, your body has alot of co2, but plenty of oxygen. It starts saving your oxygen. It will be more painful to hold your breath, but man, that is something you need to live with if you want to hold your breath and go free diving.
Only after you are already 100% oxygen saturated. Before that point hyperventilation certainly increases oxygen levels. The lowering of CO2 levels is also desirable to a certain degree, CO2 being the "exhaust" and O2 the "fuel"....too much CO2 will cause problems holding your breath just as too much or too little oxygen will.
Breathing is largely an involuntary process controlled by higher centres in the medulla oblongata of the brain stem. This area contains chemoreceptors that activate your phrenic nerve (c3, c4 and c5) which regulate the activity of your diaphragm and intercostal muscles to breathe. These chemoreceptors respond to the pH in your cerebrospinal fluid which affect rate of breathing. Hence, protons are very important in respiration. The plasma pH is tightly controlled between 7.35 - 7.45 and shifts in protons concentration in the plasma will alter pH in the CSF which will in turn affect the activity of the chemoreceptors. How does pH relate to CO2? Quite simply via the Henderson Hesselbach equation which postulates that H2O+CO2 <->H2CO3<->H+ + HCO3-. The important enzyme is carbonic anhydrase which is converts H2O+CO2 <->H2CO3, contained mainly in red blood cells.
Normally, your partial pressure of CO2 in arterial blood is between 35-45mmHg. If you have an increase in your CO2, you can appreciate that there will be a right shift in the Henderson Hasselbach equation which will lead to generation of protons in the plasma. This will hence drive chemoreceptor activity and increase respiratory rate. Why do you want to increase respiratory rate? Because your body need to tightly regulate pH by exhaling CO2, you will shift the equation to the right and take up protons. Why is regulating pH important? Because shifts in pH will lead to shifts in activity of enzymes in the body and may cause denaturing. If enzymes do not function optimally, then metabolism is compromised.
By hyperventilating, you are effectively decreasing your pCO2 in the plasma and hence increasing pH in your CSF. This is called a respiratory alkalosis. This will favour your chemoreceptors to reduce rate of respiration to conserve CO2 and hence restore balance of the pH. This mechanism is only temporarily effective in reducing rate of respiration, as metabolism is always occurring in the body and CO2 will eventually rise to normal and then to higher limits. Another mechanism of respiratory drive is hypoxia which initiates respiration when peripheral O2 saturation falls below 80%. I do not recommend anyone try this technique so they can hold their breath longer. It can cause extreme hypoxic states where you lose consciousness. This is especially important for those that are in water and/or have underlying respiratory/cardiovascular compromise as they may place themselves in situation where they can be difficult to resuscitate.
On September 05 2010 17:43 alffla wrote: back in high school a bunch of my guy friends were being retarded and making each other pass out LOL.
I wonder how widespread this is. When I was in 7th grade, living in germany, the boys at my school did this. When one of my friends did it, some of the kids "helping" kicked him in the gut after he fell over, so when it was my turn I refused. I thought it was peculiar to the military base I was on, though.
...The dumb shit boys do to prove they're tough... amiright? .
We did this too as kids... that's weird, now it seems like everyone around the world was doing it. We were 3rd grade at most.,.. I have no idea who taught us the technique, but I remembered it freaked me out and I didn't wanna try it coz some people's reactions were scary..
EPT![[image loading]](http://beehivehairdresser.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/david-the-idiot-blaine.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.corbisimages.com/images/67/7B39CE45-1A8C-4EB7-AE6A-03107FB77951/AM-122-0168.jpg)
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Second post being troll
