Freediving Part 2 – Hyperventilation

Posted by in Nugget from Alastair

In Part 1 I briefly explained that the urge to breathe is regulated by a build up of CO2 sensed by the body, rather than an actual lack of oxygen (that the body cannot directly determine). In this post I look at an example of the complex interactions that occur within the body during apnea and what happens if you try to disturb the balance. One of the ways in which a freediver is able to hold his breath for an apparently impossible time (the current record is over 10…read more