Ian Black's video: 4:44 Breath Hold Personal Best

Do Try This At Home!!... Explanation and commentary below. WHY ARE YOU HOLDING YOUR BREATH? First thing I want to say is that breath-holding is kind of a weird hobby of mine. I know it's common among free-divers and navy seals because they actually have a reason to develop this weird ability. For me it's kind of a pseudo-spiritual/competitive pursuit. I like to record my time and aim for the highest I can manage. The spiritual side is also increasingly well understood, though there are some websites and 'gurus' with a vested interest in making out like holding your breath can cure what ails you.... it's partially a relaxing activity during and after the process as well as making you grateful to draw breath, so that's where the spiritual component begins and ends for me. HOW CAN YOU HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR SO LONG? I do not, as you might be able to tell from the start of the video, just randomly stop breathing and hope for the best. In fact, this video was recorded shortly after I woke up specifically because I have heard that an empty stomach lowers your body's demand for oxygen. This started for me by following Wim Hof's method, and I still follow the basic idea although the details are my own. Essentially I spend at least 4 minutes before a breath hold breathing in for 5 seconds and out for 5 seconds with no pause in-between. Sometimes, maybe 3 times over the whole process, I will breathe fully in and then try to suck in a little extra air to expand my lungs, and hold that for maybe 10 seconds - it's normal to get light-headed or kinda spaced out while doing this. After 4 minutes of such deep breathing, I can usually feel my hands and face tingling, and I know that I'm as low on CO2 and full of O2 as I'm going to get. At this point, I breathe in as deeply as I can, first into my stomach and then into my chest. And then I stop breathing. WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE VIDEO? Everything up to 0:43 is the breathing technique I have outlined above, culminating in the deep breath first into my stomach and then my chest - you can see this happening if you look closely. The breath hold begins at 0:43 seconds. The 'relaxation phase' (yes, that is a real thing) basically lasts from 0:43 until 3:33, at which point you see me checking the time. At this point, I am starting to feel uncomfortable. The diaphragm forcefully contracts in the phase that follows, and your body increasingly yells at you that your CO2 levels are uncomfortably high - contrary to popular belief, the unwelcome feeling here is not about lack of O2, but rather the presence of CO2. I have done enough breath holds to look at the clock at 3:33 (2 minutes 50 into the actual breath hold) and know that I will reach at least a 4 minute breath hold. Everything that follows is sheer willpower and mind over matter, with my discomfort becoming increasingly apparent until its culmination at 5:28, at which point I have held my breath for four minutes and forty-four seconds. My most common time is four minutes, and my previous best was four minutes and thirty seconds, so this was something of a coup for me and not something I expected to happen on camera. HOW IS THIS SAFE? I get it; not breathing is violating the most fundamental of biological processes and that's scary for some people... hell, it should be scary for everyone until they've actually done some learning on the subject and seen that it's not hazardous. I will put a word of warning in block capitals here because it would be irresponsible of me not to: DO NOT TRY THIS IN WATER OR A PLACE WHERE YOU MIGHT FALL AND HURT YOURSELF. I have never blacked out doing this, and for a healthy person it would take an ungodly amount of willpower to push yourself far enough to black out, but even if you do black out... so what? You start breathing again automatically. There's a part of the brain that controls this, that knocks you out if it deems you too damn foolish to breathe for yourself, and it takes control of your lungs. Consider the fact that you breathe without thinking about it all day, and also during your sleep. Now, is it dangerous not to breathe for minutes at a time? There is no evidence to suggest this. As stated above, this pursuit is common among free-divers and navy seals, and the only horror stories seem to come from stories of people blacking out underwater and drowning - even very experienced and highly respected people have sadly lost their lives doing this in the water. But to sit in a comfortable space and practice the techniques I have explained here does not seem, according to all the available data, to have any notable health warning attached. QUICK TIPS? Do deep breathing beforehand to prepare your body. Also try to expand your lungs to maximum capacity beforehand. If you want a PB, an empty stomach helps. Carbon Dioxide tolerance is built up over time. Breathe in as much as you can, to the stomach then the chest. Do not panic. Do not think. Focus, and practice self-mastery. Stay safe.