What are some tricks for holding your breath while swimming?

For people who like swimming, practicing holding their breath is essential. Some people like traveling, especially going to the sea to see various sea scenery. Sometimes they also need to hold their breath, but the normal time a person can hold their breath in water is very short. However, you can train yourself to hold your breath in water for a long time. Holding your breath actually requires methods and techniques. The following introduces the methods of underwater breath holding training.

Underwater breath holding training method

1. Preliminary preparation

Do not eat within 2 hours before any water activity. Some people who digest food slowly may need a longer rest period. Avoid stimulating your nerves with caffeine or other similar substances. Remember that sometimes your own expectations of how long you want to achieve can actually hold you back from completing your task.

2. Always need a diving buddy!

Do not do any in-water training without a dive buddy who understands freediving safety. Remember, it is possible to drown in a shallow pool or even a bathtub if there is no one around to help! Taking a freediving course will teach you and your friends how to look out for each other while you practice holding your breath. Have your buddy follow you every thirty seconds or less by tapping your shoulder and touching your arm. This check-up is best started two minutes before your personal best time. You can give him a small and clear cue, and if your buddy doesn't see a response, check again and do some rescue techniques. A lifeguard or someone who has not been educated in safety procedures cannot be a dive buddy who can watch over your life.

3. Relax

If you want to hold your breath for a long period of time, it's best to relax your body and mind before attempting it. So, first of all, don't schedule your practice time between lunch and afternoon tea. Take time to calm your body and mind. Don't stand in the water to calm and relax, as that uses a large number of muscle groups. Find a position by the pool that doesn't require a lot of leg and torso exertion. Use whatever relaxation techniques you have learned such as the third eye or any other relaxation techniques you know to calm and relax your mind. If in water, a "face immersion" technique can be used, which takes at least 3 minutes to enhance the diving reflex.

4. Adjust your breathing

Start with deep, slow abdominal breathing for about 5 minutes. Try to exhale longer than you inhale, and don’t forget to pause after the exhale. Never hyperbreathe! It's easy to hyperbreathe involuntarily by focusing too much on your breathing. If you feel you're showing signs of hyperventilation (dizziness, tingling fingers), slow down your breathing and make the pauses between each breath longer. After these introductions, do the same deep and slow abdominal breathing for at least 2 minutes before each consecutive breath-hold attempt.

5. Inhale, your last 3 big breaths.

What that means for the last breath: more air equals longer time. Try to breathe as deeply into your belly and chest as you can and hold your breath for as long as you can, even if it feels a little “too full.” For beginners, it is sometimes best to start with 85%-90% of your maximum inspiratory capacity. As you become more experienced, you can slowly increase your maximum inspiratory volume.

6. Hold your breath

Try to start by holding your breath and keep the transition smooth without using any body force. It looks a bit like the movements you make when you fall asleep.

7. Relax

Probably one of the most important things. You have to relax your body as much as possible. Don't be too concerned about a low heart rate. It is helpful, but often during competition or other stressful situations, the heart rate tends to be higher, but this is not a cause for concern because a faster heart rate can also achieve a good result. Try to relax everything, from your legs to your fingers. One of the most common problems is that you can’t relax your neck and shoulders. Last but not least, try to relax your mouth and tongue so that you are not forcing yourself to hold your breath. Continue to feel your body if you relax and remember…

8. Don’t always think about time. Try not to think about things or think about other things.

Don’t start counting or looking at your watch, your main goal is to lose track of time! It would be best to think of nothing at all, but it’s actually very hard to achieve and often takes practice. If you can't let your mind go blank or start counting time while trying to stay calm, it's easy for the mind to wake up and take time to overcome. Like walking through your apartment, or driving to work. Don't think of anything exciting.

9. Challenge yourself in a relaxed way!

When you hold your breath to a certain extent, the state of relaxation ends. For most people, by this time, the diaphragm has already reached the point where it begins to contract—a passive breathing action. At this point, you can try to mentally force yourself to do one last "relaxation phase." Even when my body couldn't calm down, I would tell him to relax until the end. You can imagine yourself lying on a nice lawn. And now you can also slowly shift the air from your abdomen to your chest, which will give you better control over the contraction and add some extra time. Do it at a slow pace and use as few muscle groups as possible. A good dive buddy can make you feel 100% safe, but some tips can be a big help when you feel like you can't hold your breath anymore.

10. Recover your breath

Before you start cheering for your new record, you need to catch your breath. First, get all the waste air out of your body by exhaling a little air (20%) and then immediately inhaling full. This ensures you have enough oxygen to get to the most important parts quickly! You can also try Hook breathing, which has many advantages especially when you are close to the limit of "samba" (LMC, loss of autonomy) or suddenly coma.