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Your first four weeks
Learn to hold your breath — calmly, safely and step by step. No prior knowledge needed. Follow the path: each station tells you what to do and where to find it in Atmea.
- 7 stations
- about 5 minutes
- With exercises to try
Before the first time
Start safely
Five rules. They apply to every exercise — no exceptions.
Never train in or near water, and never alone in water.
Only lying down or seated securely — never standing, never while driving.
Don't hyperventilate. Breathe calmly and normally before every exercise.
If you feel dizzy or unwell, stop at once and keep breathing normally.
With pre-existing conditions or during pregnancy, check with a doctor first.
In Atmea: You confirm the same five rules the first time you open the app.
Why so strict?
While you hold your breath, your oxygen drops without you feeling it. What you feel is the rising CO2. Hyperventilating beforehand pushes this warning signal back — but your oxygen falls just as fast as always. In the worst case you pass out without warning.
Lying down on land, your body simply starts breathing again in that moment. In water, the same moment can be fatal. That's why you train with Atmea on dry land only.
More background under LearnDay 1 · 3 minutes
Breathe right
Before holding your breath, you breathe calmly — not a lot. Try it right here.
Ready?
Breathe calmly through your nose. After the third breath in, breathe out fully through your mouth, deep in — and hold. Takes just under a minute.
- breathe calmly
- all out
- deep in
- hold
- Breathe through your nose into your belly, a little longer out than in.
- Don't deliberately breathe fast or deep.
- After your last breath in through the nose: breathe out fully through your mouth, then in deeply through your mouth — belly first, then chest.
- While holding, let go: shoulders, jaw and forehead.
Why not just take big breaths?
Breathing a lot feels like more oxygen. In fact, at rest your blood is already almost fully saturated. What you get rid of by breathing fast and deep is CO2 — and that is exactly your warning signal.
Calm breathing keeps CO2 where it belongs. The hold may get uncomfortable a little sooner, but it stays predictable.
More background under LearnDay 1 · before you experience it
What happens when you hold your breath
Every breath hold has two halves. The second one feels more dramatic than it is.
0:15
Calm
Your body has plenty of oxygen. You hardly feel anything — enjoy the stillness.
calm phasestruggle phasestruggle tap- The first contractions are normal. They come from the rising CO2.
- In Atmea you tap the screen once as soon as they start.
- Stop while you still feel in control — then keep breathing calmly.
What is the struggle tap?
Atmea measures two times: the whole hold and the part from the first contractions on, the struggle phase. That's how the Coach sees how hard a table was for you.
The more honestly you tap, the better it adjusts the next one. There is no right or wrong — only your body on that day.
More background under LearnWeek 1 · once
Your first maximum attempt
Not a test of whether you're good. You just need one number that everything else builds on.
The maximum attempt in Atmea
- Lie down, keep your phone next to you and plan a few minutes with nothing else afterwards.
- Ideally on an empty stomach, about two hours after your last big meal. Holding your breath is usually harder on a full stomach.
- Atmea guides you through three warm-up rounds, then the stopwatch runs.
- Set the hold times of the warm-up rounds by feel. They should feel easy — they warm you up, they are not an attempt of their own.
- Tap once at the first contractions, a second time when you stop.
- Repeat every one to two weeks — never on the same day as a table.
In Atmea: The “Max” tab. You adjust the warm-up phases to suit you under “···” → “Edit”.
Why so early?
Every training table is calculated as a percentage of your maximum time. Without it there is no sensible starting value.
Expect big jumps in the first weeks: you learn to relax, and your body genuinely adapts. That's why it pays to repeat the attempt regularly — so you always train with current values.
From week 1 · 2–3× a week
Your first table
A table is eight short holds with breathing breaks in between. There are two basic shapes — set your maximum attempt and take a look.
The calculator also has its own page, with all times to copy down1:35
CO2 tablefirst
8 × 0:52 hold · the break shrinks from 1:30 to 0:20
O2 tablelater
Hold from 0:27 to 1:16 · the break stays at 2:00
HoldBreathe1–8 = roundThe page calculates exactly like the Coach in the app does when you do a table for the first time.
- Start with the CO2 table: the same hold time, the breaks get shorter.
- Add the O2 table once you feel confident with CO2: the breaks stay the same, the hold time grows.
- Never two tables on the same day.
- Ideally on an empty stomach, about two hours after your last big meal. Holding your breath is usually harder on a full stomach.
In Atmea: The “Training” tab. The tables are ready to go; the Coach sets the times from your maximum attempt.
What do the two train?
CO2 table: the short breaks aren't enough to breathe out all the CO2. You get used to the urge to breathe and learn to stay relaxed with it.
O2 table: long breaks, but longer and longer holds. It works closer to your limit — so only once the CO2 table feels solid.
More background under LearnAfter every maximum attempt
The Coach does the maths
You don't have to calculate percentages. The Coach suggests — you decide.
What a suggestion looks like
CO2 table
1:00→0:52After every maximum attempt
New times for all tables, matched to your result.
After your tables
Easier if they're hard for you — harder if they're easy.
Never on its own
Every suggestion waits until you apply it.
In Atmea: After a maximum attempt the suggestions open on their own. Later they appear as a card on the dashboard.
How does the Coach know how hard it was?
From your struggle taps. If the contractions in the hardest rounds come late or not at all, it was easy. If they come early, it was hard.
It looks at your last three sessions for this. Only when they were clearly too easy or too hard on average does it suggest a change. A single day changes nothing.
Weeks 1–4
Your rhythm
Consistency beats ambition. Two to three tables a week are plenty.
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su W1 MaxCO2CO2W2 CO2CO2CO2W3 MaxCO2CO2W4 CO2O2CO2Maximum attemptCO2 tableO2 table, once you're readycalm breathing exercise, any day- At least one day off between two tables.
- Don't do the maximum attempt on the same day as a table.
- Calm breathing exercises fit any day — even alongside a table.
In Atmea: The training plan sets up exactly this kind of weekly rhythm for you — at the “Beginner” level with CO2 tables only — and shows you every day what's due.
Why not every day?
A table is a real training stimulus. As in any sport, progress happens in the breaks in between.
Calm breathing exercises, on the other hand, are no strain. They train exactly what matters most when holding your breath: staying relaxed.
What's normal?
The questions almost everyone has at the start.
My belly is twitching. Is that bad?
No. These are contractions of the diaphragm, a reaction to the rising CO2. Staying calm in this phase for longer over time is actually a real training goal. Just don't overdo it: stop while you still feel in control.
My fingers are tingling.
Then you breathed too much beforehand. Stop, breathe completely normally for a few minutes and start more calmly next time.
I can't finish the table.
No problem. Stop when it gets too much and tap honestly. The Coach doesn't react to a single hard day: only when your last three sessions were too hard on average — meaning you reached the struggle phase early and stayed in it long every time — does it suggest an easier table. You don't have to wait for that: you can change the times yourself at any time, in the table's ··· menu under “Edit”.
My maximum attempt got worse.
Form on the day, sleep, time of day and food all play a part. A single value says little; the trend over weeks says a lot.
Can I train every day?
Calm breathing exercises, yes. Tables, no — your body needs at least one day off in between.
When exactly do I tap?
At the first contraction you clearly feel. Not at the first faint urge to breathe.
The maximum attempt makes me nervous.
Understandable. You stop whenever you want — there is no time you have to reach. A careful first attempt is a good first attempt.
When will I notice progress?
Often within a few weeks. The jumps are big at first and get smaller later. That's normal, not a plateau.
That's all you need to begin.
Lie down, open Atmea and start with station 1. The app shows you the rest when the time comes.
The app launches on iOS in October 2026. The Android version follows by November 2026.
This page gives general guidance for training on land. It does not replace medical advice. Atmea is a training tool, not a medical device.