Thread by @ErwanLeCorre

For untrained people, hypercapnia - a buildup of CO2 leading to blood acidosis caused by the temporary absence of exhalation - is the limiting factor in their ability to prolong a breathhold; the urge to breathe happens long, minutes before the brain starts lacking oxygen.

For me it is hypoxia, a significant desaturation of oxygen blood levels, that’s the limiting factor leading to my breaking point.
This is particularly evident when I transition from sea level training to altitude training.

Here in New Mexico I train dry static apnea (prolonged breathholding) at 2500 meters/8500 feet of altitude.
My breaking point is at 3’45” instead of being at nearly 7 minutes at sea level.

At 3’30” at such altitude my SpO2 is already down below 80% which is why I am nearing my breaking point, whereas there’s no way my CO2 levels have reached my tolerance threshold in such a short amount of time.

Chemoreceptors in your body are hypersensitive to changes in blood biochemistry, particularly in an increase of CO2. An increase in CO2 levels makes you breathe faster and more as when you exercise and cam breathe. But with training you can tolerate very high levels of acidosis.

With training you can also learn to tolerate high levels of acidosis (CO2 buildup in your blood) even when you don’t “flush” it out by exhaling as in a prolonged breathhold.

However your brain knows what you ultimately can’t tolerate: an actual lack of oxygen.

A static Breathholding beginner rarely reaches hypoxic levels: they resume breathing long before. An experienced static Breathholding practitioner can push beyond high hypercapnic symptoms and push themselves to their true hypoxic limits.

Hypoxic symptoms include blue lips and ears, tunnel vision, tingling fingers, and loss of motor control...you can also pee yourself...

You don’t have to worry or wonder if that’s good for you or not - that’s a whole different topic - because if you’re not trained it’d take you incredible willpower to attain such symptoms: you’ll exhale and resume breathing a very long time before such symptoms occur.

That’s about it this morning for a thread that’s probably not of use or even of interest to most of you. However I’m very excited to start working on exploring the psychotherapeutical potential of the specific Breathholding protocol and method I’ve been working on.

Don’t mess with your nervous system unless you know exactly what you’re doing 😱 in which case you’re becoming your own nervous system’s best friend 😎