# Does breatholding ability increase with increased aerobic fitness? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2001, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505 "2001-10-05T03:04:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/1 "2001-10-05T03:04:40Z")
I could WAG either way on this question but was wondering if there are any data. ---
**Author:** ![cw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@cw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cw)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/2 "2001-10-05T03:39:50Z")
Because I may be the first post, I will have to WAG. I would say yeah, seems like it would help. ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/3 "2001-10-05T04:18:04Z")
Quick corection: this thread is in regards to breath **h** olding and not breatholding. ---
**Author:** ![cw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@cw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cw)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/4 "2001-10-05T04:22:35Z")
I have heard that slowing your heart rate (dont know how) increases the amount of time your breath can be held. Might try looking up that guy in in Gueiness who held his breath for something like 8 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/5 "2001-10-05T04:29:19Z")
Jeez, just back from a Google search on breathholding. Did you know that there are wacky folks that get off on watching videos of bikini-clad women holding their breath in a bathtub. Sign me up for the bikinis and wetness, but I’ll take my ladies breathing (panting, even), thank you very much. [Yaacov Smirnov voice]America, what a country![/Yaacov Smirnov voice] ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/6 "2001-10-05T04:47:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cw \* > \*\* I have heard that slowing your heart rate (dont know how) increases the amount of time your breath can be held. Might try looking up that guy in in Gueiness who held his breath for something like 8 minutes. \*\* One thing I know about record holders is that they hyperventilate prior to their attempts to reduce blood pCO[sub]2[/sub]. This aids them because blood pCO[sub]2[/sub] plays a substantial role in determining the respiratory drive-when it gets above a certain level, you usually take a forced breath. Hyperventilation reduces the pCO[sub]2[/sub] well below normal levels, allowing any schmo to hold their breath longer. But, there’s a catch. Hyperventilating does little to increase the total amount of O[sub]2[/sub] carried by RBCs or dissolved in plasma. Even hyperventilating on 100% O[sub]2[/sub], does little in this regard. So one may become dangerously hypoxic (low O[sub]2[/sub]), but not feel an irresistable urge to breathe. Try this trick submerged in a swimming pool and it could be adios daddy-o. As far as my WAGs regarding my OP are concerned, I don’t believe that aerobic training will (by itself) increase one’s capacity to hold one’s breath. That is unless aerobic training either decreases basal CO[sub]2[/sub] production or desensitizes the breathing center to elevated CO[sub]2[/sub] levels. Real data would be eminently preferrable to my crap-spewing ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Pinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dr.Pinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Pinky)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/7 "2001-10-05T05:40:13Z")
I’ve found that practicing holding one’s breath increases one’s breathholding ability. Dr. Pinky, former Houdini fan ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/8 "2001-10-05T05:58:53Z")
When I was lifeguarding I was very amused by how long I could hold my breath, both actively swimming underwater and just resting underwater. I found that the more I did it the better I got I also found that hyperventlation didn’t work for me – I actually had better success relaxing as much as I possibly could, slowing my heart rate and breathing as much as I possibly could prior to holding my breath. Relaxing always seemed to work well for me. ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/9 "2001-10-05T06:26:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr.Pinky \* > \*\*I’ve found that practicing holding one’s breath increases one’s breathholding ability. \*\* Funny, that’s what the husband of the bikini-clad lady reported on one of the breathholding fetishist web pages. His wife went from 30 seconds to about four minutes in a month or two. Nevertheless, we’re not looking to improve breathholding ability. We want to know if increased aerobic fitness will, at baseline breathholding ability, give you an edge. ---
**Author:** ![cw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@cw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cw)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/10 "2001-10-05T06:38:00Z")
As a smoker and a newbie to anerobic activity (which don’t mix well) I have found that my lung capacity has increased. I have tested to see how long of a breath I could take and how long it took to exhale, in the past 3 months it has increased by roughly 20 seconds. Not a big accomplishment, but I’m sure it would have something to do with being able to hold your breath. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/11 "2001-10-05T07:32:47Z")
This goes in the same way as what other have written, but when I started scuba diving, I went from being able to hold my breath for a lousy 40 seconds to 3 minutes in a relatively short time just by practicing every day. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/12 "2001-10-05T12:40:48Z")
Sometimes, it is just technique, or the particular environment. I can hold my breath for over three minutes, but there are times when I try–and can’t make it to a minute. Most people probably could hold their breath for a couple minutes, with proper coaching. ---
**Author:** ![Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diver)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/13 "2001-10-05T14:43:13Z")
jovan said "but when I started scuba diving, I went from being able to hold my breath for a lousy 40 seconds to 3 minutes in a relatively short time " Say what?? When I started Scuba diving the first rule I was taught was “Never hold your breath, always breathe” ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/14 "2001-10-05T15:04:28Z")
Maybe you were trying to ask if lung capacity can be raised? Lung capacity & breath holding are two things. You can hold your breath longer if you can control your breathing reflex, you know, where your body says take a breath. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/15 "2001-10-05T15:22:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diver \* > \*\*When I started Scuba diving the first rule I was taught was “Never hold your breath, always breathe” \*\* Sure, but I’m told that divers have some of the larger lung capacities, and can hold their breath longer too. Is it true? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/16 "2001-10-05T15:32:28Z")
Conditioning or fitness decreases your resting heart rate because your heart can pump more blood with each stroke. Hence, it doesn’t have to beat so rapidly. However, there is no correlation between your heart rate, fitness, and holding one’s breath. You can learn to hold your breath more by practice (as noted) or by cessation of smoking (as noted). If you don’t smoke and never have, you’re not going to improve your lung capacity. Stopping smoking does but not beyond what it was before you began. I have no data, but I can’t see how fitness and holding one’s breath has any correlation. ---
**Author:** ![Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diver)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/17 "2001-10-05T15:47:55Z")
RM Mentock: Don’t know of any correlation or any reason for it to be so. While scuba diving you are breathing air at the ambient pressure, but I don’t see how that could affect the ability to hold your breath. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/18 "2001-10-05T21:51:19Z")
RM, If you mean lung capacity as in volume capacity, no - no reason that divers would have larger capacities than anyone else. Anyone can be a scuba diver, and as far as I know, nothing will increase the size of your lungs. As you get better at diving, your learn to make the air in your tank last longer by breathing better, but there are no physical differences. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/19 "2001-10-05T22:18:41Z")
“Sure, but I’m told that divers have some of the larger lung capacities, and can hold their breath longer too. Is it true?” Why? They are breathing from a tank, why would that make their lung capacity greater? ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505/20 "2001-10-05T22:29:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diver \* > \*\*jovan said "but when I started scuba diving, I went from being able to hold my breath for a lousy 40 seconds to 3 minutes in a relatively short time " > > Say what?? > When I started Scuba diving the first rule I was taught was “Never hold your breath, always breathe” \*\* While SCUBA diving if you breathe less frequently, you won’t use up the air in your tank so quickly. It’s mainly important not to hold your breath while ascending. The compressed air will expand and you could embolize your lungs. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-breatholding-ability-increase-with-increased-aerobic-fitness/85505.md?page=2)