Pushing The Limits Of Extreme Breath-Holding
2,704,273
Published 2023-09-30
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A huge thanks to Brandon Birchak for all his help with this video. To learn how to hold your breath for 5 minutes, or see one of Brandon’s performances, visit eliteperformancedesign.com/ and Sixfootcreations.com/
A special thanks to Juan Valdivia for his expert advice on the science of extreme breath holding.
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References:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). How your body controls breathing. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. - ve42.co/BodyBreathing
Anatomy, autonomic nervous system - statpearls - NCBI bookshelf. (n.d.-a). - ve42.co/ANS
Biochemistry, oxidative phosphorylation - statpearls - NCBI bookshelf. (n.d.-c). - ve42.co/ncbiATP
Acidosis. Acidosis - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.). - ve42.co/Acidosis
Evaluation of respiratory alkalosis. Evaluation of respiratory alkalosis - Differential diagnosis of symptoms | BMJ Best Practice US. (n.d.). - ve42.co/Alkalosis
Wilmshurst, P. (1998, October 10). Diving and Oxygen. BMJ (Clinical research ed.). - ve42.co/DivingO
López-Barneo, J., Ortega-Sáenz, P., Pardal, R., Pascual, A., & Piruat, J. I. (2008). Carotid body oxygen sensing. European Respiratory Journal, 32(5), 1386-1398. - ve42.co/Barneo2008
Jeff, & Huffy. (2022, November 17). The Bolt score test: Measure your breathing volume capacity. Marathon Handbook. - ve42.co/BOLT
Lindholm, P., & Lundgren, C. E. (2009). The physiology and pathophysiology of human breath-hold diving. Journal of Applied Physiology, 106(1), 284-292. - ve42.co/Lindholm2009
Physiology, lung capacity - statpearls - NCBI bookshelf. (n.d.-c). - ve42.co/LungCapacity
Panneton, W. M., & Gan, Q. (2020). The mammalian diving response: inroads to its neural control. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14, 524. - ve42.co/Panneton2020
Baković, D., Eterović, D., Saratlija‐Novaković, X., Palada, I., Valic, Z., Bilopavlović, N., & Dujić, X. (2005). Effect of human splenic contraction on variation in circulating blood cell counts. Clinical and experimental pharmacology and physiology, 32(11), 944-951. ve42.co/Bakovic2005
Gooden, B. (1971). The diving response in man, rat and echidna (Doctoral dissertation). - ve42.co/Gooden1971
Longest duration breath hold - freediving static apnea (male). Guinness World Records. (n.d.). - ve42.co/DivingRecord
What’s the longest a human can hold their breath underwater? BBC Science Focus Magazine. (n.d.). - ve42.co/Southwell2023
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Directed by Derek Muller
Written by Felicity Nelson and Derek Muller
Edited by Trenton Oliver
Animated by Ivy Tello
Filmed by Derek Muller
Produced by Derek Muller and Han Evans
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images and Pond5
Music from Epidemic Sound
All Comments (21)
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Cannot believe that this man went through so much trouble just to remind me to manually breathe
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"Breathing is so important, it happens without conscious thought" GREAT, THANKS A LOT DEREK
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"Stretching can help expand what you've got" - Veritasium 2024 Thanks that will be noted for future endeavours
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The end of his breath was so intense. His neck and chest convulsing and he is losing track of time. Such a great edit with him explaining it as well.
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I enjoy the fact that the subtitles describe Brandon's laughter as maniacal.
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I've been consciously breathing the whole video, which is arguably more torture than what Brandon's doing.
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I love the explanation of how hyperventilating before holding breath is actually bad in very concise way as well as teaching us how to do it properly through other techniques. Thanks for the awesome video Veritasium!
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The human instinct to hold your breath when you see someone submerged
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This is breath taking
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I remember learning lung packing from Bear Grylls. I'd sit at the bottom of the pool as a kid for 3 or 4 minutes at a time. It was one of the most euphoric, meditative things to just be floating in silent weightlessness. There was a point halfway through where you just felt like you could stay down there for another hour as long as you didn't move.
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As a free diver and spearfisherman, this was a lovely watch. Breath training and holding is a meditation. It's as much a physical practice as it is a psychological one.
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I fast forwarded through the ad to help Brandon out
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Learning how to hold your breath that long in that short of a period of time is honestly very impressive.
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Brandon seems like such a nice and kind person, so much endearing and motivation from him. Incredible teacher.
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Really interesting video, and very well explained. As someone with a background as rescue swimmer, I had the "fortune" to experience a pool blackout under controlled and supervised conditions. The really dangerous thing is, as mentioned in the video, when hyperventilating, is the feeling of sensation and happiness while actually passing out. You are (without help from others) dying without noticing.
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This is fascinating. I live at high altitude (around 6500 ft) so i was waiting for him to bring it up. Genuinely, the increase of how long i can hold my breath at Sea level is amazing
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Actually so proud of Derek to last 2 and a half minutes! But, my God, 17 minutes is just WILD
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I'm a freediver, so this video is right up my alley! I have a dry static breath hold of 9:15 and I'm working myself up towards the 10-minute mark. Breathing exercises were mentioned in the video, but I wanted to repeat just how important it is to be in the right state of mind. Things like meditation and yoga are huge, and pranayama (a meditation/yoga focused on breathing) is a great mix of all three.
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I've been freediving since about the age of 7. Whenever I dive, music will start to play in my head, as I go longer and longer the more it becomes noticeable. It's kinda like the mantra that Brandon talked about, after a while, my mind would be completely clear and the only thing left was a wordless song. It's actually extremely therapeutic, I reckon everyone should make a habit of holding their breath underwater.
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as a doctor, i was pretty darn impressed with the explanation of the physiology of breathing. expertly done, as per usual
