Holding One's Breath

[boo radley]

Some fellow squad members pointed out to me, with great amusement, that I wasn't breathing when shooting an array.

I had never really thought about it -- probably a hold-over from practicing shooting groups, when I'd try to keep as still as possible.

Now I don't know whether I SHOULD think about it.

[davidball]

Now I don't know whether I SHOULD think about it.

Nope .. . according to those smarter than me (Bassham, Kirsch), holding one's breath (actually exhaling very slowly) is a natural part of shooting . . .

[Crusher]

As long as you ARE breathing I think you are fine.

[short_round]

"If you don't breathe you'll die." - B. Webb (my Karate teacher)

Edited February 28, 2006 by short_round

[ima45dv8]

Don't worry too much about it. Most people who intentionally stop breathing have an automatic "Restart" feature.

[AikiDale]

If you pause, very briefly, for a difficult shot, there should be no harm. However, if you hold your breath for more than a couple of seconds, especially on a course with movement, your vision will begin to fade and you will tire more quickly than if you continue to breathe normally. If you discover you are holding your breath unintentionally, then you should think about it, practice breathing out slowly as you shoot and learn to stay oxygenated.

Short_round's Karate teacher was correct.

Edited February 28, 2006 by AikiDale

[Bigbadaboom]

Holding your breath effects your vision.

[Chills1994]

Maybe how quickly your eyes are adversely affected by O2 deprivation is a function of your fitness level, age, sex, smoker status, yada yada....

Back in the day, I had an altitude chamber ride. I was in pretty good shape. All of us had our masks off while they slowly decreased the pressure in the chamber. At no time whatsoever did I experience any "greying out", loss of peripheral vision, or cognitive problems. (Think of the scene from Officer and a Gentleman).

I went chugging right alone doing written math problems, looking at color wheels, etc, while my class mates one by one started putting on their masks for O2 and positive pressure breathing. I finally put my mask back on when the trainer started hovering over me. Later on my classmates said I looked and acted just fine, just my lips were real blue (aka cyanotic).

The average respirations per minute for a healthy person is like 11 or 12. Most (IDPA)stages I've shot are just some fraction of a minute, so I think it is kinda a moot point.

If you wanted to test it out, you could shoot a match while wearing a portable pulse OX meter. Usually they clip on your finger, but you may be able to clip it on your ear lobe.

Plus, I think any O2 deprivation is probably offset by that small adrenaline dump I get when that buzzer goes off.

Chills

[boo radley]

Thx all -- so far I haven't keeled over, but I'm not sure I want to maintain the status quo, and will probably work on breathing when dry-firing, but otherwise not worry about it. I certainly don't want to have this floating around in my mind as a *conscious* thought/concern when shooting.

It's just a bit weird. I noticed myself doing it dry-firing, too, in my garage. I'd move to a box, aim and squeeze and be focusing so hard at the small dry-fire targets, when I left to go to the next position, I'd take a huge gasp of air....

We're only talking a couple seconds at a time, but it does seem I'm in the minority.

[andrewcolglazier]

My understanding is that when you are actually pulling the trigger, you will naturally hold your breath. Some people evidently hold their breath throughout a course of fire, which could be a real problem, depending on length.

Great! One more thing to think about!

Andy C.

[bountyhunter]

Some fellow squad members pointed out to me, with great amusement, that I wasn't breathing when shooting an array.

I had never really thought about it -- probably a hold-over from practicing shooting groups, when I'd try to keep as still as possible.

Now I don't know whether I SHOULD think about it.

just remember, that means you are inhaling less lead vapor than the guys laughing at you. That means their collective IQ's will drop faster than the rest of us breath-holders.

[Accord]

The Marine Corps teaches taking the shot during the ~3 second long natural respiratory pause which automatically happens everytime after each time you exhale. You should breathe normally, you should never actually force yourself to hold your breath, the natural respiratory pause happens automatically and is more than enough time to get your shot off, if you miss the 3 second window then just continue the breathing process normally until the next natural respiratory pause after the next time you exhale.

This is for slow fire precision shooting of course, if you're shooting a string of the whole magazine or rapid firing or something along those lines, then this won't apply.

[Crusher]

For me breathing comes natural, so I don't worry about breathing while shooting.

[cz75ipsc]

The Marine Corps teaches taking the shot during the ~3 second long natural respiratory pause which automatically happens everytime after each time you exhale.

The only time during a stage I'm conscious of my breathing is when I'm waitin for the beep. I try to time the beep so that it happens during the natural respiratory pause (or, actually unnatural pause because I force my breathing to it).

Like so:

- dry grip

- give the nod that I'm ready (breathe in at the same time)

- are you ready (by the end of this the inhale is completed, exhale begins)

- standby (exhale during this)

- hold the normal amount of air (not holding your breath, just pausing)

- be- (draw)

- -ep (first shot )