Well, we believe that we all know the benefits of breathing, so we are going to explain some benefits of apnea and how to get to hold your breath longer without dying in the attempt. We know that if we do not breathe for a while we can suffer various damages, but without reaching that extreme, we can train lung capacity and hold our breath for a while and it becomes a safe and healthy activity.
Before going into the bulk of the topic, we want to clarify that this text does not encourage anyone to hold their breath, we simply explain some key points and some benefits of improving lung capacity and developing controlled apnea.
Holding your breath for a long time has negative consequences such as damage to the body, fainting, brain damage and even death. We are just going to explain some interesting things and we are going to give some basic tricks to be able to hold your breath in a conscious and healthy way.
We breathe badly
Experts have been saying for years that we breathe badly and that is that we only take advantage of 30% of our lung capacity , and not only that, but we are used to breathing through our mouths. This is a very common mistake and it is that our respiratory system does not work as well if we breathe through the mouth than through the nose.
Our respiratory system is designed so that the nose receives the air, cleans it and warms it, however, when we breathe through the mouth, there is no type of filter for dust, bacteria and other elements, nor does the air heat up. , but enters directly.
If we do not carry out complete breathing cycles, the oxygenation of our body is not adequate. Bad breath leads to headaches , fatigue, stress, back pain, lack of stability, etc. On the contrary, when we take good breaths we can even calm pain and even anxiety.
To take good breaths, experts indicate that the best posture is sitting at a 90-degree angle, with your back straight and with your head high, but slightly tilted down. Another relevant fact is to take into account the diaphragm and that it expands well. Notice how the ribs and muscles in the area open and close well is key.
Good breathing has to be noticed even in the movement of the lumbar. If we don’t notice the lumbar shifting, good breathing shouldn’t be considered, experts say.
Maximum time we can take without breathing
A person without training can last little more than a minute without breathing, a person with some training can last up to 3 minutes and those who train their lung capacity are able to last up to 5 minutes or more.
The record is held by Budimir Buddha Šobat, who managed to hold his breath for 24 minutes and 33 seconds just a few months ago. We may have ever tried to hold our breath, but our own body prevents us, so we have to train our lung capacity and our mind.
When we hold our breath for more than 1 minute, the oxygen level in the blood begins to decrease and the CO2 in the bloodstream increases. When carbon dioxide begins to accumulate is when we feel the urgent need to breathe again . It is another reason why when we breathe again we take such deep breaths, and that is the opposite of when we breathe a lot or hyperventilate.
It is estimated that we take about 20,000 breaths a day, and experts recommend taking various breaks throughout the day, both at rest and on the move.
Tricks to last more 2 minutes
There are a series of tips and tricks to enter our lung capacity and be able to hold our breath for more than 2 minutes without putting our life at risk.
There is something that we have to be clear about, not by following these tips we are going to be able to endure much longer underwater or artificially doing voluntary apnea while we run, work or shower.
Comfortable posture and deep, relaxed breathing
We have to sit at a 90 degree angle or lie on the bed and take several full, relaxed breaths for 2 minutes. One detail to keep in mind is that these breaths should not be rapid or forced, as it could trigger hyperventilation.
We must take conscious breaths that are not deeper in a forced way than those we do normally in our day to day life. We recommend not checking the stopwatch, so it is better to set an alarm, and thus we do not generate stress watching the seconds go by.
We hold our breath for 1 minute
After the preparation process, we must breathe deeply and release all the air as if we were blowing a paper boat. Then we take a deep breath and hold.
We continue the process of mental and body relaxation. It helps to think of happy situations where we feel happy and safe . The question is to disconnect from reality. When we can’t take it anymore, we release our breath and empty our lungs.
It is the accumulation of CO2 that exerts pressure on the lungs and forces us to stop apnea and breathe, since our body wants to expel it and take in oxygen. Once we let go of everything, we take several deep breaths to recover.
Repeat the preparation and hold for 2 minutes
We have to go back to the starting box several times to get past the minute and a half. After that, we will get to 2 minutes and then 2 minutes and 30 seconds. There we must stop and continue practicing for a while, since we must see how our body reacts.
If everything goes well after several days of training, we can propose to reach 3 minutes, but it is not recommended to force the body or do it while at home alone.
Benefits of controlled apnea
It may seem crazy to us, but making conscious cuts in our breathing throughout the day and training lung capacity is quite beneficial for the body.
The benefits of breathing are already known to all living beings on the planet, but no one ever told us that stopping breathing for certain periods of time also had benefits. Next, we are going to see some of the more direct benefits of performing controlled apnea.
- Improves the flexibility of the diaphragm: this is important to facilitate the connection between the two trunks of our body and creates a direct relationship with the oxygen levels in the muscles of the whole body.
- It helps us breathe better. Good breathing helps us with our well-being and keeps the brain and the whole organism oxygenated, including the heart. This way we get more energy and resistance.
- Increases endurance in low oxygen conditions: when oxygen is low, our body will be able to function just as well.
- Increases lung capacity: with this we create more red blood cells, cleanse the body of toxins, improve the nervous system and help us relax.
- We optimize the use of oxygen: the body learns to use the amount of oxygen it needs at all times.
- The number of times we need to breathe during a workout is reduced.
- We manage to calm our stress, fear or anxiety.
- Helps concentration.
