# How long can you hold your breath? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359 "2003-05-10T19:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/1 "2003-05-10T19:02:02Z")
I was at a party last night where we had a breath-holding contest. I won at 1:53, although I was REALLY dizzy afterward. (In the words of Homer Simpson, “Me lose brain? Uh-oh!”) I’ll also point out that this was in normal atmospheric conditions. Holding your breath underwater is a LOT harder. Anyway, I’m curious on the Doper record. (And please: I hope nobody out there is going to try holding their breath alone and timing themselves. I don’t want anybody passing out and hurting themselves.) ---
**Author:** ![severin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@severin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/severin)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/2 "2003-05-10T19:15:46Z")
We always have such a contest in the pool. I can hold my breath for nearly a minute. But I never hold it until I feel like I have crayon in my head 😉 Someone please tell me how pearl divers hold their breath for 5 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/3 "2003-05-10T19:16:26Z")
Right now I just held my breath for around 2 minutes. A while ago as a camp counsellor, a bunch of the kids wanted to see how long I could hold mine and I held it for 3m45s. The strange part was, that for the first 1m30s it was very hard but then all of a sudden it got very easy. At the 3m45s part a bunch of people got scared and made me stop. I’m not sure how much more I had in me though anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![severin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@severin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/severin)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/4 "2003-05-10T19:18:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyway, I’m curious on the Doper record. Ok, let me try to beat ya! I start now and I will post again when I’m finished! ---
**Author:** ![Qis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Qis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qis)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/5 "2003-05-10T20:08:21Z")
i can do 1:30 without any strain ( i get bored late at night ). i’ll give it a go, and post when i’m done. should there be some kind of disclaimer kicking about??? ---
**Author:** ![sivispacem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@sivispacem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sivispacem)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/6 "2003-05-10T20:12:07Z")
To get a real reading you have to do it underwater, no matter how hard you try diffusion (or osmosis or something) makes you cheat a little if you just try holding it without having your nose and mouth underwater. Navy SEALs have to be able to swim 100 meters underwater IIRC without a kickoff to get past the first few weeks of training (be careful trying this at home, pretty easy to drown yourself if you black out underwater). I’ve been able to build myself up to just over 2 minutes at a pool in the summer after a week, when I was younger and had little else to do. Then I discovered bikinis. ---
**Author:** ![Qis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Qis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qis)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/7 "2003-05-10T20:14:25Z")
Well that was 2:20 for ym first serious attempt. everything was as expected until about 1:50, and at 2:00 i could hear the blood schooshing in my ears. the fact taht it was almost exactly on 2:00 suggests to me it was probably something i diid, rather than a result of the time past. anyhow, interesting fun ---
**Author:** ![Qis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Qis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qis)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/8 "2003-05-10T20:16:06Z")
ohkio. trying to think of a safe way to do the water thing… ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/9 "2003-05-10T20:20:50Z")
I’d like to disclaim any liability in the event that anyone here ends up hurting themselves while holding their breath underwater… :rolleyes: People, please: don’t try this alone. ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/10 "2003-05-10T20:48:08Z")
I can usually go about 2:20 out of water, without too much trouble. If someone had a gun to my head, I could stretch it to 2:40 or so. Underwater, I get closer to 2 minutes even. ---
**Author:** ![sivispacem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@sivispacem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sivispacem)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/11 "2003-05-10T20:54:24Z")
As long as you aren’t actually swimming when doing the water thing you can’t drown yourself. Just get a large bowl of water and dunk your face in - if you’re paranoid just balance it on something so if you pass out into it you’ll tip it over. But I’m pretty sure the passing out and dying bit doesn’t happen unless you’re actually swimming in a pool. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/12 "2003-05-10T21:55:52Z")
Severin! Severin! Are you still with us? You can let go! ---
**Author:** ![Qis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Qis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qis)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/13 "2003-05-10T22:56:09Z")
\*\* sivispacem \*\*i just noticed, you were probably typing your post as i was holding my breath. i expect passing out in water would kill you regardless of depth. If you were sitting at your desk with yuor face down in a mixing bowl full of water, i think you would drown unless you upset the bowl when all your weight hit it. My suggestion would be the bowl of water and a friend, but generally plunging your head into a bowl of water and trying to push yourself cant be classed as safe. Qis: " if i pass out save me " Friend: " sure" … Friend: " Qis, that’s been 15 mins now, how am i supposed to know if you’re passed out or still holding your breath?" … Qis: Died fighting ignorance. If i have drowning nightmares you’re all in big trouble. -Qis ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/14 "2003-05-10T23:10:15Z")
Until the Canucks win the Stanley Cup… 33 years and _still_ holding my breath ---
**Author:** ![sivispacem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@sivispacem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sivispacem)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/15 "2003-05-11T01:15:00Z")
I could certainly be wrong on this (and I hope no one proves me wrong) but I’m pretty sure that the reason you can die swimming underwater and not just with your face in a bowl has to do with the body’s “save itself” mechanism. So if you’re swimming underwater and you have one last survival jerk to the surface… might not be enough. But with your face just in a bowl you’ll pull yourself up no matter what. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/16 "2003-05-11T01:26:26Z")
My timed record was 3 minutes and 11 seconds. This was underwater, no cheating. I have no trouble at all holding my breath 2 minutes, but it gets really hard after that. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/17 "2003-05-11T01:28:23Z")
I have a slightly over sized chest capacity and as a young man could do quite well. Indians from high in the Andes have major over size lungs and at sea level with a little mental training can make turtles look average. Like a runners high, you must be real careful under water because you CAN suppress your bodies instinct to live. All those that are messing about in pools should have in the water trained assistance if you are normally capable of self inducing trances or are used to going for the runners high. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/18 "2003-05-11T02:39:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flymaster \* > \*\*I can usually go about 2:20 out of water, without too much trouble. If someone had a gun to my head, I could stretch it to 2:40 or so. Underwater, I get closer to 2 minutes even. \*\* I always found it easier to hold my breath when I was underwater. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/19 "2003-05-11T03:03:37Z")
My personal record is 2 minutes precisely. Hang on… _breathes in deeply_… …Crap, 1 minute 9 seconds ---
**Author:** ![kitarak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kitarak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitarak)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359/20 "2003-05-11T03:22:49Z")
It depends. If I’m just sitting there underwater not doing anything except trying to hold my breath, my record is exactly two minutes (my lungs were bursting by that point, and I was timing). If I have some sort of goal in mind then I can usually manage longer - I think I’ve managed close to 100 meters underwater (2 1/2 lengths of a largest pool), and 10-20 meters straight down in salt water. (It was a while ago, so I forget exactly how deep it was - part of the great barrier reef in Australia). It’s been a while though, so I’m woefully out of practice. I doubt I could manage very long right now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath/174359.md?page=2)