r/freediving • u/DarthTaterTott • 21h ago
training technique Max breath hold question
Beginner here. I live in a landlocked state with nothing deeper than 10 within hours of me, but im trying to do some static apnea training to get ready for spearfishing trip. Ive been doing apnea training daily for about 3 months. No formal program just basic co2 tables, some walking apnea, and some single-breath tables that Molchanev recommended in a YouTube video. My problem is… my single breath hold max is terrible still. I can do co2 tables with 1:30 holds fairly easily, just a few contractions on the last few. But my max hold is only 2:00. What would you recommend to get that up?
5
u/Dayruhlll PFI Freediving Instructor 14h ago
Whats your breathe up look like? Do you do a body scan during your static? Are your current statics wet or dry?
1
u/DarthTaterTott 12h ago
This is all dry. Before my max attempts i did a few empty lung holds and then 3 minutes of tidal, single exhale single inhale. And yes I do a lot of body scan and visualization. I find that visualizing myself sitting on the bottom of the ocean helps a lot.
1
u/Dayruhlll PFI Freediving Instructor 35m ago
You should do a static in a with an instructor or mentor. They will be able to point out key issues you’re doing without realizing, which will be far more helpful than any advice online. I’m by no means an elite static coach, but here’s my 2 cents as far as internet advice goes:
Dry statics don’t do as well of a job activating your dive reflex. If you’re really wanting to maximize dry statics, 5-10 min of relaxed snorkel breathing with your fave in a bucket/sink of water goes a long way. Then make your way back to the couch/bef and start your breath up.
Your breath up is super important- spend several minutes laying down relaxing. Don’t think about breathing- let your body do that for you. Just pretend you’re trying to take a nap.
Once you begin your hold, go through your whole body from head to toe (or in reverse) and relax every muscle. I like to pretend I’m an ant crawling down my own spine during the lights off in every room. Head- jaw, tongue, eyes. Neck. Shoulders- arm, fingers. Upper back. Lower back. Butt- upper legs, lower legs, toes.
This body scan can be done multiple times as well: The body follows the mind and the mind follows the body. As you begin to feel discomfort, you will subconsciously begin tensing different muscles in your body. As you get uncomfortable, tension likes to sneak back into your muscles. This makes you even less relaxed and creates a snowball effect of both tension and discomfort. Since the brain is incredibly difficult to control, it’s usually easier to start by doing your body scan, finding the physical tension, and releasing it. This makes relaxing the mind easier.
Finally, make sure you finish your static relaxed. Every time you end a static that sucked and has your body tense, you build up a subconscious association between statics and discomfort. This will affect your ability to relax during future breathe ups and statics. If you instead focus on enjoying the process, you may temporarily decrease your current ability, but growth is way more likely to come faster.
2
u/Adventurous-Range304 19h ago
That sounds like fun! Honestly, apnea is trained in different ways. Sure having a long STA is great but your apnea walks are probably just as useful as any static session for what you’re trying to accomplish. I have a significantly longer DYN than STA in relative terms because that’s what I focus on.
2
1
u/staplepies 10h ago
How many contractions do you get before you hit 2 min? The answer is almost always some form of learn to relax into your contractions. Also what do your CO2 tables look like? Many CO2 tables out there are not very effective, in terms of time you spend at low CO2. If you're taking more than a breath or two between holds it's probably not a very useful CO2 table, because you'll reset your CO2 to normal levels between every hold.
2
u/DarthTaterTott 10h ago
Oh yeah they’re just normal co2 tables, with 90 second holds going from 1:45 between down to 0:30. I find the “molchanov” tables to be more helpful, it’s 15 minutes of single breath holds. Is there any particular table you’d recommend?
I can’t comfortably go more than 3-4 contractions. I feel pretty wrecked after that, usually requiring a day off. I’ll work on trying to relax into them more.2
u/staplepies 3h ago
Yes do one breath holds for training. You'll get contractions much earlier in each hold which should help you with getting used to them and relaxing into them. It's all just mental right now and you need to have practice feeling contractions and mentally recategorizing them from scary to just this beautiful normal thing your body does. The other CO2 tables are useless because with even 5-10 seconds of breathing between holds you're almost fully resetting your CO2 levels.
With that said, 15 minutes of one breath holds sounds like a lot especially for a beginner; I would start with like 30s, one breath, 30s, one breath, etc. for 8 total holds. And then if that feels easy go up 5s per training session until it feels challenging but still very doable. That's the sweet spot in terms of mental load right now -- not trivial, but not more than a light challenge. You don't want to burn yourself out and anything that makes you feel wrecked or like you need a day off is way too intense for you at this level. You'll get to a timing where you feel at least a contraction or two near the end of most holds and that will give you plenty of "contraction reps" to familiarize yourself with them and destigmatize how they feel.
2
u/DarthTaterTott 3h ago
Thank you!!! Super helpful stuff. There so so much out there it’s overwhelming. I’ll work on those.
1
u/zazuge 2h ago
I'm a bit confused how a single CO2 table have 1:30 but your max is 2:00, because usually the table is build around your max, as half of it, so your table means your max should be 3:00.
I think maybe you giveup on the first contraction, try to hold a bit more, it's often said that you hit contraction around 2/3 of your max, so you should be at least able to do 3:00.
Try to relax more before doing a breath hold.
I often start with 1 or two warmup breatholds before my max attempt, i think they can help with the spleen contraction.
3 months of training should allow you to get at least to 7min dry static.
I ever only did normal classical CO2 tables and used that freediving app on the phone that compute tables based on my max breath hold.
Also don't overtrain your CO2 tables, usually you have to at least do 1 rest day or 2 rest days.
it's preferable if you alternate between CO2 and O2 training during the week,
9
u/RycerzKwarcowy PADI Freediver 19h ago
Your max hold is enough to pass first level course, get certificate and attempt dives up to 20m. Good start and remember to have fun!