ILLUSTRATES Raul Aguiar
QUESTION Thales Nassif, Atibaia, SP
With a lot of training and various techniques. An average person can go between two and three minutes without air. After that, the lack of oxygenation in the brain causes fainting – a body protection mechanism that makes the individual breathe spontaneously again.
To circumvent this rule of the human body, record holders in apnea diving (staying submerged without moving) are betting on methods that help store more air in the lungs and improve concentration – since brain activity also consumes oxygen.
To date, only one diver has managed to exceed 20 minutes. In 2012, the Danish Stig Severinsen, 42 years old, joined the Guinness Book after being underwater for 22 minutes. Understand the technique below.
+ Where does the oxygen we breathe come from?
+ If a whale breathes oxygen, why does it die when it runs aground on the beach?
FIRST OF ALL
Before the dive, it is necessary to make a hyperventilation with oxygen to rid the lung of other gases. And the place for the challenge is chosen carefully: warm water helps to hold the breathing. The colder it is, the faster a person loses his breath.
HALF MAN, HALF FISH
Some divers have a rare genetic predisposition of lung capacity, which reaches up to 14 liters – while the average person’s lung holds 5 to 6 liters. But even those who have this advantage still need to practice activities of thoracic expansion, which consists of working breathing (filling and emptying the chest) daily.
DIVE INTO THE BRAIN
The silence underwater and the effort to secure The breathing make you focus on what’s going on in your mind. That’s why divers have meditation and yoga sessions, which improve concentration and help control nerves, anxiety and even avoid panic attacks.
HAJA ABDOMINAL
After being submerged for some time, the muscles begin to contract or spasm. To master these “diaphragm tics”, you need to be in good physical condition. One of the techniques used is the abdominal strengthening. The professionals work breathing in separate and specific areas of the abdomen.
+ What are the survival limits of the human body?
+ How do fish breathe?
Inhale and exhale
Use one of the diver training courses to improve your breathing day to day.
(If you are going to practice apnea underwater, do it accompanied by a professional)
1) Sit cross-legged. Keep your spine straight and limbs relaxed.
2) Inhale and count the seconds that air enters your lungs
3) Exhale slowly (through the nose) and try to use twice as long as it took to exhale
4) Repeat the exercise for five minutes daily
SOURCES Websites Guinness World Records, Breatheology, Discovery ChannelNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, TEDx Copenhagen (Stig Severinsen)and book Breathology – The Art of Conscious Breathingby Stig Avall Severinsen