Human beings breathe to keep us alive. The air that enters through our nose travels through the blood reaching all the cells of our body, oxygenating them and maintaining their physiological and metabolic functions in perfect conditions.
Some people have the peculiarity of being able to hold their breath for a very long time. We observe it in competitions of swimmers or in the very competitions where the breath is held.
For people who are not used to holding their breath, 5, 10 or even 20 minutes, they may seem like a lie. However, there is a logic behind all this.
The static apnea
At first, reaching three minutes without breathing seemed to be the greatest achievement made by Harry Houdini. But the times change and the customs intensify. People began to train harder in the extreme sport of "not breathing."
The sport is known as "static apnea" and it is a sport in which a person must hold their breath as long as possible without even swimming. The static apnea has skills like any other sport, extreme.
In 2001 the greatest record was 8 minutes and 6 seconds, by Martin Št?pánek. But three years later, Tom Sietas surpassed it by 41 seconds. In 2009, the record reached the two figures, reaching 11 minutes and 35 seconds by Stéphane Mifsud. But a few months ago, a Brazilian surpassed the record again.
Ricardo da Gama, an incredible record
*** Ricardo da Gama Bahia *** participated in the static apnea competition and won the recognition of Guinness Wolrd Records.
The athlete breathed pure oxygen before starting the test for 20 minutes. The air we breathe is composed of approximately 78% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, 0.93% argon and 0.04% carbon dioxide.
From a physiological point of view, when aspirating pure oxygen the athlete is eliminating part of the nitrogen that we inhale when breathing air normally. Then the lungs are recharged with much more oxygen, allowing your body to stand much longer without breathing another breath.
So Ricardo reached 20 minutes and 21 seconds without breathing, the new record to overcome.
The people who practice this sport train for many years to achieve holding their breath for so long. During the years of training, your biology begins to change and you begin to adapt to what you do most, not breathe.
As incredible as it seems, it is better not even to try it in our homes.
