Dry apnea training on
iPhone and Apple Watch Ultra
Breath hold training on land. Find your max breath hold, then run CO2 and O2 tables built from it on your iPhone or your watch. Free.
CO2 and O2 tables from your max
Dry apnea is breath hold training on land: rounds of a breathe up, then a hold. Train, in the FreeDive Ultra iPhone app, builds both tables from your max breath hold. Set yours.
- CO2 table: same hold, shorter rests For the urge to breathe. Holds of 50% of your max on Normal (40% Easy, 60% Hard); breathe ups from 2:00 down 15 seconds a round to 0:15.
- O2 table: same rest, longer holds For low oxygen. Breathe ups stay at 2:00; holds grow from 40% of your max to 70% on Normal (60% Easy, 80% Hard).
Both are 8 rounds and need a max of at least 0:20. A 3:00 max on Normal gives CO2 holds of 1:30 and O2 holds from 1:12 to 2:06.
Before you start
Train on land only, and follow these rules every time. The app shows them before your first session, on iPhone and on the watch.
Sit or lie down
Somewhere you cannot fall if you feel faint.
Never in or near water
Not in a bath, a pool or the sea, and never while driving.
Do not hyperventilate
No fast or extra-deep breaths before a hold. Take a few slow recovery breaths after every hold.
Stop if you feel unwell
Stop if your muscles start to twitch or shake. Do not combine with exercise. Ask a doctor first if you have a heart or lung condition, epilepsy, or are pregnant.
Find your max breath hold
- Open Train and tap Test on the max breath hold card.
- Breathe up slowly for two minutes, or tap Skip breathe up.
- Hold until you need to breathe, then tap Stop. The voice calls out each full minute.
- A longer hold becomes your max; a shorter one changes nothing. Beat your best ever: New personal best.
Know your max? Tap Edit on the Train tab and set it. Hold longer on the watch and Train offers to use it.
Make your own table
Not scaled to your max: 3 to 50 rounds, holds of 0:15 to 9:00, breathe ups of 0:15 to 4:00, growing the hold or shrinking the breathe up by 5 to 30 seconds a round.
- Edit any round on its own, add or delete rounds, or tap Reset Rounds.
- Tap Edit on a CO2 or O2 table to start from it.
- Edit it round by round on the web dashboard too.
Tap each contraction
During a hold your diaphragm tightens on its own, in small pulses: contractions. Tap Contraction each time you feel one. The later the first one comes, the better your CO2 tolerance, and Progress tracks your 1st contraction from every table.
Voice, beeps or silent
Train calls out each phase, so you can close your eyes. Choose in Settings, Dry Apnea Training, or mid-table.
- Voice Round and phase, time left every 30 seconds, then ten, three, two, one.
- Beeps The same cues as tones.
- Silent No sound, just vibration.
- Vibration On by default, and always on in Silent.
- Watch A wrist tap as each hold and round starts and when the table ends.
On your iPhone or on your watch
Both count in Progress. Wear your watch while a table runs on iPhone and your heart rate shows live. Train runs on iPad too, without heart rate.
Start Dry Apnea
With Dry Apnea as your session mode, tap Start Dry Apnea: Free Hold, the CO2 or O2 Table, or your Custom Table, from Train on iPhone. The Action Button starts a Free Hold.
Try it: tap the watch screen to start and stop a hold.
Free Hold
One hold, no table, with your max underneath; Past your max once you beat it. Breathe Up adds a 0:30 to 3:00 countdown first: Settings, Dry Apnea Training, On your watch.
A table on the watch
Round, heart rate and the table as a strip; a large Contraction button, with Pause, Skip and Stop.
With HealthKit Integration on (Settings, General), sessions with the watch go to Apple Fitness as Mind & Body workouts.
Progress
Open Progress from the Train tab and pick 7 days, 30 days, 90 days or All.
Your numbers
Longest hold against your best ever, heart-rate drop, 1st contraction and time held.
Trends and the calendar
Your breath hold tests, a trend chart and the days you trained.
After every table
Total hold time, heart-rate drop, contractions, every round, and How did you feel?
Equalise
Equalise sits next to Dry and Pool in Train, on iPhone and iPad. Learn how equalising changes with depth, plan your mouthfill, then practise on land.
The progression
Valsalva, Frenzel, mouthfill and reverse packing, in order, with the depth each one suits and how it works.
Mouthfill calculator
Set the depth you take your charge and the deepest you equalise from it, then try a deeper charge and see how far it could take you.
Dry drills
Frenzel reps, the Frenzel control ladder, a mouthfill rehearsal and reverse packing (advanced), guided by voice. Practise on land only, seated or lying down.
Common questions
Is dry apnea training free?
Yes: the test, every table, Progress and Equalise are free. Only running pool workouts on the watch is Pro.
Do I need an Apple Watch?
No. Everything runs on iPhone or iPad alone. The watch adds your heart rate.
Can I see my dry sessions on a computer?
Yes, at app.freediveultra.com, where you can also set your difficulty, Breathe Up, max and Custom table.
Does Auto Launch start it?
No, Auto Launch is for the water. Start from Train or Start Dry Apnea on the watch.
Which Apple Watch does it work on?
Every Apple Watch Ultra: the original, Ultra 2, Ultra 3 and Ultra 4.
Find your max breath hold
Download FreeDive Ultra, sit down and take your breath hold test.