Hold Your Breath for a Really Long Time

[[Image:St_howto_holdbreath_f.jpg|thumb|315px|right|''Illustration by Lab Partners '']]

Magician [http://davidblaine.com/ David Blaine] has gone without oxygen underwater for a world record 17 minutes. Here’s how he did it.

===1. Hyperventilate.===
The buildup of CO2 in your lungs can get just as painful as the lack of oxygen. Purge as much as you can before you begin. Repeatedly exhale and inhale. Hard. Imagine you’re trying to blow a toy sailboat away from you.

===2. Practice.===
Right before you go for the record, alternate several rounds of purging, holding, and deep breathing. Make the first hold about 90 seconds and build up to about 75 percent of your goal. Then take an extremely deep breath — a hit of pure oxygen if you’ve got it — and submerge.

===3. Go limp.===
The less you move, the less oxygen you’ll need. There will be pain. Lots of it. And then comes tingling in your extremities. (That’s your body redirecting O2 to your vitals.) Quit when the pain is unbearable. Don’t try this alone.

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”Contributed by Aaron Rowe”

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