BreathHold: Apnea Trainer

Breath Hold

In-app purchases

About this app

BreathHold is a dry-land breath-hold training app — an apnea trainer for freedivers, spearfishers, and anyone practising static apnea — on Android and iPhone. Run CO₂ tables, build your own O₂-style tables, record a baseline breath-hold test, and keep every dry-land session in one history.

What you can do

• Run CO₂ tables in Easy, Classic, or Hard — the hold stays steady at 40%, 50%, or 60% of your recorded max, and the rest between rounds gets shorter
• Build custom tables: hold times, rest intervals, rounds, and progression, including O₂-style tables where the holds lengthen and the rest stays fixed
• Take a max breath-hold test and a CO₂-baseline test — the baseline is what the app uses to suggest your intervals
• Follow Equanimity tables, where each hold runs to your first urge-to-breathe signal, or that signal plus 15 or 30 seconds
• Practise box, rectangular, full-cycle, and rhythmic breathing
• Hear each phase called out with spoken cues, with downloadable voice packs for other languages
• Watch instructional videos before you train
• Review your session history, test results, and progress over time
• Browse a directory of freediving schools if you want in-water instruction

Made for

• Freedivers organising dry-land training between sessions in the water
• Spearfishers and surfers who practise static apnea on land
• Beginners who want a baseline test and a table built from it, rather than a stopwatch
• Anyone who practises box breathing and wants the timing handled

Safety — read this before you train

Never practice breath holding in water alone. Use a trained buddy who understands freediving rescue and watches the diver throughout the attempt. An app or a timer does not replace trained in-water supervision.

Do not hyperventilate before a breath hold. Hyperventilating can delay the urge to breathe without preventing oxygen from falling, which increases the risk of loss of consciousness.

BreathHold is built for dry-land practice. Stop a session immediately if you feel faint, confused, or unwell.

If you have any underlying medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease, high blood pressure, or a history of fainting, consider seeking medical advice before engaging in breath-hold training.

Frequently asked questions

How long until I can hold my breath longer?
The app does not promise a specific result or a timeline, and research on apnea training is mixed and protocol-specific. What BreathHold gives you is a record: every test and session is saved, so you can see what you actually did rather than guess.

What is the difference between a CO₂ table and an O₂ table?
A CO₂ table keeps your hold time steady and shortens the rest between rounds. An O₂ table keeps the rest steady and lengthens the hold. Both names describe the interval pattern, not a measurement of your body. BreathHold ships CO₂ tables as presets; O₂-style tables are built in the custom editor.

Is breath-hold training safe?
Breath-hold practice carries serious risks, including loss of consciousness. Never practise in water alone, never hyperventilate beforehand, and stop if you feel unwell. BreathHold is designed for dry-land sessions, and app guidance does not replace qualified instruction.

Why do I get contractions during a hold?
During a breath hold, rising carbon dioxide contributes to the increasing urge to breathe, and involuntary breathing movements — contractions — commonly appear during longer holds. Their timing and strength vary between people and between attempts. They are not a reliable gauge of your blood oxygen and not a signal that a fixed amount of safe time remains.

Is BreathHold free?
BreathHold is free to install. CO₂ tables, box and rectangular breathing, the custom table editor, and both breath-hold tests are included. An optional subscription unlocks Equanimity tables, Full Breath Cycles, and the full instructional video library.

What’s new

Bug fixes and improvements