how long can you hold your breath (underwater)?

[vash]

since i started to jog regularly, i have notice HUGE improvements in my lung capacity.

i went swimming July 4th. i was the "shark" in a pool full of screaming kids. we all had a blast. i wish i timed myself, but it has vastly improved. i noticed i could stay submerged much longer than before (last july 4th)

my friends all abalone dive and spear fish..and beg me to go..but i'll be perfectly honest. i am not that comfy in the big bad ocean. i cant identify the reasoning either.

one friend wants to teach me some stuff and i will take him up on it..cleansing breaths, etc.

how long can you stay under..guesstimates?

me maybe minute and a half..i'm gonna try this weekend.

[Neilk]

Originally Posted by vash

my friends all abalone dive and spear fish..and beg me to go..but i'll be perfectly honest. i am not that comfy in the big bad ocean. i cant identify the reasoning either.

How about, the Pacific Ocean near SF is about 55 degrees? I won't mentioned any large fish that swim in the area...

[ckelly78z]

I used to be able to stay under water well over 1 minute when we had our own pool, but after having a compromised lung with scar tissue from radiation treatments, I lose my breath fairly quickly (25-30 seconds), but we don't have the pool anymore, and i'm not practicing in the bathtub.

[M.D. Holloway]

I held my breath for almost 2 minutes once but that was when I didn't get my way...I din't get my way but did catch a great head rush...

[aigel]

I abalone dive and spear fish in NorCal. I dive 1 minute tops and surface at the first urge of breathing - that leaves another minute of safety before I really will be in trouble.

I used to dive with guys in a free dive / spear fish club in LA that wouldn't even bother coming up before 3 minutes. Truly amazing - but with the continued practice of diving, the urge to breathe is more and more suppressed and it can land you in trouble. Coming up, guys pass out in shallow water.

If you aren't comfortable in the ocean, you definitely don't want to start diving in NorCal. If you want to get going, go to HI or the Caribbean and snorkel there. Also, don't make the mistake of jumping in the NorCal pacific as your first diving experience. Work up to it with pool diving, learning the techniques, then add the gear, also in a pool or shallow lake. Then take it to the ocean. Every year several guys die in NorCal. Usually they are ill prepared, not fit and not reasonable when considering conditions and their limitations. Testosterone probably kills most of them.

If you are interested, I can get you started. I do about 5 trips a year to get my abalone, uni and spear fish fix ...

G

[intakexhaust]

^Free dive, no gear too can get quite risky. No longer do but we used to read the depth gauge, jump off the boat and dare to see who can grab a handful of sand. The pressure in the 15-20 ft. is a plenty enough for me!

Swim regularly and yet never checked exact at a public pool distance under water, but I easily do half length. I get the added distance by less strenuous, lower exertion underwater swim strokes. Little g-kids grab and sometimes choke my neck, but they like playing submarine. LOL

[Captain Ahab Jr]

^^^^ excellent advice ^^^^

I grew up free diving or back then it was known as snorkelling, pretty much every day after school I would go on my own (not recommended at all) and on the weekends with a friend. The sea was warm so surf shorts were enough.

Lots of years later, the wrong side of 40 and living as from the sea as you can in the UK I decided I wanted to see what I was capable of if I pushed myself a bit so I got myself fit and did a weekend course at a 10 story tall submarine escape training tower.

I could easily hold 2 minutes (this is considered a short time in free diving). Over the weekend with the help of a mono-fin and gradually building up confidence I managed to get down to the bottom of the tank which was a 100ft deep and more importantly back up safely to the surface.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr05eCmeorI

Please, please as mentioned do some training, learn some techniques and take it slowly as shallow water black out can hit you without warning and if your buddies don't know what to do when it happens or don't spot you're in trouble you are dead, simple as that.

Don't want to put you off as it is a great sport to do and a lot of fun if done safely

[kach22i]

In an Olympic sized pool just only about 1/3 of the way (other swimmers, and in end lane).

At the Best Western hotel where I had the pool to myself the whole distance, but it's less than half the length of an Olympic length pool (about 1/3 ish).

In an inland lake with waves, less than the length of the pontoon boat.

I have no idea why waves effect what I'm doing under the water so much.

My cardio abilities are sadly lacking, but quickly improving this summer.

Time wise under the water, I have no idea, just do my best and try not to be hard on myself.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by vash

how long can you stay under..guesstimates?

me maybe minute and a half..i'm gonna try this weekend.

A minute and a half is a lifetime underwater with any physical exertion if you are just getting started.

Th Navy found that people were drowning in as little as 45 seconds because of panic in crashes involving water.

We were issued and trained on HEEDS bottles, which give you 4 minutes of air.

If you get to 1 minute I'll golf clap

[vash]

Oh okay. I was just guessing.

If I find out its 30 seconds, I'm deleting this thread


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by vash

Oh okay. I was just guessing.

If I find out its 30 seconds, I'm deleting this thread

I will also give it a try. If I get to 30 seconds I am a big fat winner!

[rusnak]

Swim in the ocean? Oh hell no. You'll meet sharks that get to play "shark" for real. And one might eat you.

[Deschodt]

As a teen, practicing motionless in a pool w/ weight belt on - worked up to about 3 minutes (big influence from the Luc Besson movie "The big blue" about free divers)... it's 100% about practice...

But that translated loosely to less than a minute bottom time in the ocean though, depending on conditions, weight or not, fins or not, and whether I needed to get close to 10m or not... I only learned about the danger of the 10m threshold 20y later later at Scuba school... And mostly I was by myself... Oops. Sometimes one wonders how we survived... A friend's dad was an animal at the time, he could stay 3 minutes at the bottom in the ocean regardless, fishing for sea urchins, it was crazy to watch him from the surface...

I read something about the commercial free divers recently, the ones who constantly dive for pearls - few live past late 30s... I guess too much of that stuff is not good for you ! I can still do an olympic pool under water, but not much more nowadays.

[intakexhaust]

vash, You mentioned running. Good read about breathing rhythm and swimming.

Breathing right will put you on your way to swimming right | ACTIVE

Anyways, I'm curious of a fellow I observed last year at the pool. Darned if I didn't ask about his technique but maybe someone here can pipe in.

He would stay at the surface but his head fully submerged, except the back and apparently lungs were exaggerated arched, sort of like a hunched back. Super slow forward movement but easily swim the length of pool. Its as if he was breathing under water, but as mentioned his back was hunched and out of the water. Estimating five + minutes! Bizarre. Must be years of muscle discipline and calmness?

[jyl]

Tried just now, 1:52 laying on the couch. I'm guessing with practice, but with physical activity too, I might do a minute underwater.

[syncroid]

When we were in Maui last, my wife timed me at three minutes. It scared her. Typical down time now is about a minute.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by rusnak

Swim in the ocean? Oh hell no. You'll meet sharks that get to play "shark" for real. And one might eat you.

I grew up in SoCal and pretty much lived in the ocean as a kid. When I hit my 30's something changed and I was no longer comfortable swimming and body surfing anymore. Becoming a certified diver has changed all of that and now being underwater and able to see has taken the fear away. YMMV.

Single breath ~ 60-70 seconds.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by intakexhaust

vash, You mentioned running. Good read about breathing rhythm and swimming.

Breathing right will put you on your way to swimming right | ACTIVE

I don't agree with this part of the article, or at least think it needs some clarification or modification. For example, is he promoting taking a breath with every stroke?

Concentrate on calmly exhaling while your face is in the water, and inhaling when you turn your head to breathe. Some novices may not even realize that they are inhaling and exhaling all at once, while their face is out of the water, and while submerged they are holding their breath without bothering to exhale!

To maximize your air intake, make sure you exhale completely while your face is submerged, and when you turn your head to breathe take a big hearty dose of oxygen, filling up your lungs. Do not take little sips of air, as you will become fatigued quickly and start hyperventilating.

If you follow what he says, you will sink (as I was doing for a while).

You need to hold your breath in for buoyancy, the air in your lungs helps keep you afloat. I got this advice/insight from one of the swimmers at the pool a physical therapist (and former carpenter) with a great physique.

The author of the article Alex Kostich has credentials, so I'm not sure what the problem is here.

Is he using a ghost writer?

http://www.swimrace.com/race_summary2012.htm

Alex Kostich of Los Angeles, former member of the U.S. National Team, finished the race first.......

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by JavaBrewer

I grew up in SoCal and pretty much lived in the ocean as a kid. When I hit my 30's something changed and I was no longer comfortable swimming and body surfing anymore. Becoming a certified diver has changed all of that and now being underwater and able to see has taken the fear away. YMMV.

Single breath ~ 60-70 seconds.

Statistically then, you resemble Purina Shark Chow more than I do.

[stevej37]

Six minutes??
Tom Cruise Held His Breath Under Water For Over 6 Minutes to Film a Single Take