Free tool · Trains dry, on land
Breath-hold trainer.
The single biggest lever for a spearo at the shot window is breath-hold. This tool runs CO2 tolerance and O2 extension tables against your current static personal best, with audible cues, safety protocols, and a log that tracks your progress over time.
How to use this tool
Two tables. You pick one per session. Train three to four sessions per week, never two in one day, never in water without a trained buddy.
- CO2 table. Fixed breath-hold time, shrinking rest. Teaches your body to tolerate the urge to breathe. Run when you want to push past discomfort.
- O2 table. Growing breath-hold time, fixed rest. Stretches your absolute ceiling. Run after two weeks on CO2 tables.
The tables are built from your honest current maximum — not your best one-off. Start conservative. The numbers mean nothing if the training breaks your nervous system.
Safety first. This is not negotiable
- Never train breath-hold in water without a trained buddy watching you. Blackouts are silent and happen without warning. Dry apnea at home or poolside with a spotter only.
- Never hyperventilate before a hold. Purging CO2 disables the warning signal that keeps you breathing and is the primary cause of shallow-water blackout.
- Stop any contractions longer than two minutes. Diaphragm spasms past 120 seconds are a sign to abort the round and rest.
- Skip sessions if you slept badly, are sick, hungover, or hungry. Every variable that makes a bad diver worse makes breath-hold training dangerous.
- If you feel dizzy, disoriented, or see static vision on inhale recovery, stop the session. Log it and resume only after 48 hours.
Recovery breathing (the hook breath)
After every round, do three recovery breaths:
- Sharp passive exhale through pursed lips (about 1 second).
- Fast sharp inhale to roughly 80% lung capacity (about 1 second).
- Hold briefly and exhale with a small pressure release.
Repeat three times. If your vision greys out, keep going until it clears.
1. Enter your current static personal best
Honest static max, dry, seated, no purging. If you have never done a static, start at 60 seconds and build up.
Your PB is stored locally on this device. Clear site data to reset.
2. Pick a table
Round 1 of 8
Phase: Ready
00:00
Press start to begin
Session log
Each completed session is saved locally. Trends show real progress.
No sessions logged yet. Finish a table to see it here.
A realistic progression
- Weeks 1-2. CO2 tables only. Two to three sessions per week. Goal is calm through the urge to breathe, not a bigger number.
- Weeks 3-4. Alternate CO2 and O2 tables. Keep PB conservative. Breath-hold grows by tolerance, not willpower.
- Week 5 onward. Retest your PB monthly. Update it in the tool. Your tables scale automatically.
Three quiet, disciplined months beats a chaotic season of max-effort holds. This is how real freediving coaches train, and it transfers directly to your shot window underwater.
Common mistakes
- Hyperventilating before a hold. Never do this. Breathe normally for 2-3 minutes before any static attempt.
- Chasing a number. PB means best honest static, not a one-off you fought through. If you cannot repeat it next week, it is not your PB.
- Skipping recovery. Three hook breaths after every round. Every time.
- Training tired. Sleep, hydration, and food status change your tolerance massively. A bad day is a rest day.
Sister brand · Apnea Total
Run by Diego PauelThe real tool for this is a coach in the water.
Dry training extends your ceiling. In-water training teaches you what to do when the ceiling arrives. The Static Apnea Clinic runs exactly the drills on this page, in a pool, under supervision, with a coach who has pushed past every contraction you are about to meet.
Beginner Freediving Course
from 9,500 THB3 days · Apnea Total Level 1 certification.
The foundation every spearo should have. Duck diving, equalisation, open-water safety, rescues. Train at Sail Rock and Koh Tao. Max 3 students.
Fit for: Spearos who want a real certification before hunting deeper than 10 m.
Read full course →
Advanced Freediving Course
from 12,000 THB3 days · Apnea Total Level 2 certification.
Frenzel mastery, exhale dives, depth training past 20 m. For spearos who want to hunt the thermocline and below.
Fit for: Certified Level 1 divers ready to progress past 20 m.
Read full course →
Static Apnea Clinic
Message for pricing1 day, on request · No certification. Pure breath-hold training.
Focused on extending static apnea through CO2 tolerance drills, O2 adaptation, and mental protocols. The real-world sibling of the Breath-Hold Trainer tool on this page.
Fit for: Spearos whose shot window is capped by breath-hold, not dive skill.
Read full course →