Breathing underwater is a challenging thing to do if you are not trained
Breathing Underwater – A person can last this long underwater even though normally, a person can hold his or her breath for just 30 seconds.
The human body is an amazing creation. As they say, humans are very adaptable organisms who have the ability to go along with their environment or situations they are in. There are a lot of things that the human body can do that are truly amazing.
One of these amazing things is the ability to have a longer time of breathing underwater. Based on the video published by Smithsonian Magazine, Eric Schulze, PhD. explained that the human body needs oxygen to continue living and moving.
With this, breathing in air is a very vital thing. Included in this process is breathing out carbon dioxide which is a waste product produced by the body. When holding your breath, none of these processes are being done.
Without breathing in oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide, the blood starts to acidify with the build-up of carbon dioxide. Then, the body starts to experience muscle spasms and the panic starts to creep. This is the reason why usually, a person can only hold his or her breath for just 30 seconds.
However, this time can be extended underwater. It is because of the involuntary reflex that mammals have. When humans hit cold water, the diving reflex kicks in. This caused the blood vessels to constrict in some parts of the body. The heartbeat and metabolism also slow down.
These happenings contribute to the conservation of oxygen in the body and this allows the person to stay longer underwater. Based on the current world record, the longest time a person can stay underwater is 11 minutes and 35 seconds.
However, this can extend to more than 22 minutes and this can happen when a diver hyperventilates pure oxygen first before going underwater.
Check out the video here: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/ROfpGjWi