Static On Land: Walking Apnea

Here is the second training tip in this series. You have now been training laying down and holding your breath, see tip no 1, and are now ready to move further in your training.

Walking apnea

Walking apnea is perhaps the exercise that gives you the most as freediver, and this exercise is also very easy to prepare. What you need is a good chronometer and a place that you can walk around without any disturbance.

Start the exercise in standing position, breath normally using your lower stomach as much as possible when you breathe, this breathing technique values the whole training ! Start the chronometer and start walking, not fast, just in usual relaxed tempo. Continue the usual breathing with help of the stomach all the time.

After 30 seconds of walking, take a deep breath and hold it, without stopping, continue to walk in the same calm and relaxed tempo all of the time. After 15 seconds you start breathing again (dont stop walking at any time), look at the chronometer. After 45 seconds of walking take another deep breath and hold it, dont stop walking. After 30 seconds of holding your breath start breathing again.

Continue the exercise like this, increase the time walking and breathing and the time walking and holding your breath 15 seconds at the time. When you have reached the limit of your high performance, decrease the time with 15 seconds leap (like a pyramid), all the way down to the starting point. If you take turn with exercise tip no 1 and 2 you will notice that the high performance/pyramid will be higher and higher. Soon you will be in control over your breathing, and not the opposite way around.

Do you think that holding your breath is the most important skill for a freediver ? Wrong ! The most important skill is to breathe and breathe in the right way ! Its like this, the time that you can hold your breath depends exclusively on the prepaired breathing before a dive.