How long can a human hold their breath underwater?

I believe everyone has played the breath-holding game in the water. According to scientific research, the time for adults to hold their breath in water in a static state is about 30 seconds to 1 minute. After this time, they will feel uncomfortable. However, this is just a baseline, and many people may be able to achieve longer breath-hold times, depending on their cardiorespiratory fitness and training level. Some professional divers can hold their breath in water for several minutes after long-term training, and some even exceed ten minutes. For example, in 2009, French diver Stephane Mifsud held his breath in the water for 11 minutes and 35 seconds; in 2016, Spanish free diver Aleix Segura held his breath in the water for 24 minutes and 3 seconds; In a swimming pool in Sisak, he broke the Guinness World Record with 24 minutes and 33 seconds of holding his breath in water. The existence of these great gods all prove one thing, as long as we go through some professional training, we may not be able to reach their god-level breath-holding state, but it is still possible to hold our breath for a few minutes in the water.

Why can't we hold our breath forever in water?

We cannot hold our breath forever in the water,Because breathing is an instinctive need of our body. When we hold our breath, the oxygen in the lungs is gradually consumed and a large amount of carbon dioxide is accumulated at the same time. When carbon dioxide accumulates to a certain level, our body will have a spontaneous breathing action, forcing us to breathe air again to ensure that our body gets enough oxygen to maintain the normal functioning of all organs in the body. This is the instinct of living organisms to survive, so since the history of mankind, there has never been a case where someone will hold their breath until they die. Otherwise, those who want to commit suicide would not have to rack their brains to find ways to leave the world. I would like to add here that suicide cannot solve the problem, life must find a way out.

Why can you hold your breath longer in water than on land?

We can hold our breath longer in water, mainly because the body has a special physiological response underwater, calledDiving reflex. It's a survival mechanism evolved in animals to allow us to survive in water for longer periods of time. The diving reflex consists of several physiological responses that are automatically activated when we dive into the water. Here are a few important characteristics of the diving reflex:

1. Slowed heartbeat (Bradycardia): When a diver immerses his face in water lower than body temperature, the facial muscles will automatically tense to prevent water from entering the mouth and nose to protect the respiratory tract. The body will stimulate the ophthalmic nerve in the trigeminal nerve and the cold receptors of the maxillary nerve, which in turn stimulate the vagus nerve motor neurons, causing the heart rate to slow down to reduce oxygen consumption.
2. Peripheral vasoconstriction: As the heartbeat slows down, arterial blood pressure will also decrease, which will cause the sympathetic nervous system to constrict peripheral blood vessels, thereby reducing blood flow to the skin, limb muscles and internal organs, so that blood can be preferentially supplied to key organs, such as the brain and the heart to prolong apnea time.
3. Spleen contraction: The diving reflex causes the spleen to release more red blood cells, which help to carry more oxygen, increase the amount of oxygen stored in the blood, and further extend the time of apnea.
4. Blood shift: The internal organs will shrink due to water pressure, and the resulting space will be filled with blood. For example, when diving, the alveoli shrink due to water pressure, and the capillaries around the alveoli will be congested and expanded to protect the lungs from being crushed.

All in all, we cannot hold our breath forever in water, that is because we humans are terrestrial animals, our bodies need oxygen and at the same time we need to expel carbon dioxide to maintain normal physiological functions. Unless we accidentally grow gills one day, please breathe hard and enjoy the fresh air is the most correct way of life!

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References

1. How long can we hold our breath: the lungs can hold oxygen for 4 minutes – Michael J. Parkes; translation: Zhu Ji 

2. diving reflex – Chen Xueqin

3. The pictures in the article are all from the CC0 free gallery.