The most common question every freediving instructor gets is: "How can I hold my breath longer?"
While the best way to improve your freediving is to spend time in the water under the supervision of an instructor, you can actually make massive improvements to your breath-hold from the comfort of your own living room. In fact, professional freedivers spend hours every week doing "dry training."
Here are 7 safe, effective dry training tips to help you hold your breath longer.
CRITICAL SAFETY WARNING: Never practice breath-holding in the water alone. The tips below are for dry training only (practicing on a bed or sofa). If you push yourself on land and pass out, you will simply wake up a few seconds later on your bed. If you pass out in a bathtub or a swimming pool alone, you will drown.
1. Master Diaphragmatic Breathing
Most people are "chest breathers," using only the upper part of their lungs. To hold your breath longer, you need to use your full lung capacity. Practice breathing deep into your belly (using your diaphragm)โsee our guide to freediving breathing techniques. Place one hand on your chest and one on your stomach; when you inhale, only the hand on your stomach should move.
2. CO2 Tolerance Tables
The urge to breathe during a breath-hold isn't caused by a lack of oxygen; it is caused by a buildup of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in your blood. CO2 tables are a structured training method where your breath-hold time remains constant, but your resting time between holds decreases. This trains your brain to tolerate higher levels of CO2 and delays the uncomfortable contractions in your diaphragm. (You can download a free apnea app on your phone to generate these tables, or follow our static apnea training guide.)
Never hyperventilate before a breath-hold. Fast, deep breathing lowers your CO2 and hides the urge to breathe, which can lead to a sudden blackout. Read why in hyperventilation: the hidden danger.
3. O2 Deprivation Tables
If CO2 tables train your body to tolerate waste gas, O2 tables train your body to function on low oxygen. In an O2 table, your resting time remains constant (giving you time to fully oxygenate), but your breath-hold time increases with every repetition. Note: Only do one type of table (CO2 or O2) per day to avoid exhausting your nervous system.
4. Apnea Walking
This is a fantastic way to simulate the oxygen burn of swimming underwater. Find a soft, grassy area (or walk around your living room). Sit down, take a deep breath, hold it, and stand up. Walk at a normal, relaxed pace while holding your breath. Count your steps. When the urge to breathe becomes strong, sit down immediately and recover. Only do apnea walks on soft, flat groundโnever near water, stairs, roads or anything you could fall onto.
5. Thoracic Stretching (Lung Flexibility)
Your lungs are encased in a rib cage. If your intercostal muscles (the muscles between your ribs) are tight, your lungs cannot expand fully. Incorporate daily chest stretches, side bends, and yoga (like the cobra pose) to increase the flexibility of your rib cage. Our lung capacity exercises show you exactly how. More flexibility = more air volume.
6. Mental Relaxation (The Body Scan)
Your brain consumes about 20% of your body's oxygen. If you are anxious or your mind is racing, you are burning precious air. Practice meditation during your breath-holds. Start at your toes and mentally scan your body all the way up to your face, actively relaxing every single muscle. Tension destroys breath-holds.
7. Fast Before You Train
As discussed in our Freediver's Diet Guide, digestion consumes massive amounts of oxygen. Never do dry training immediately after a heavy meal. Wait at least 2 to 3 hours after eating, or practice your tables first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
Take It to the Water
Dry training is incredibly effective for your physiology, but nothing replaces the magic of actually being underwater. If you have been practicing on the sofa and are ready to test your new breath-hold skills in the ocean, join us in Phuket for a Wave 1 Beginner Course.