Hello friends, I hope it is good at this precise moment that I will talk to you about apnea and I hope you have fun reading this.
Freediving apnea or diving is an extreme sport, which is based on the voluntary suspension of breathing in the water while traveling long distances or descending to great depths. This voluntary suspension of respiration is also the basis of an ancient and current activity such as underwater lung fishing, practiced, for example, by the lovers in Japan, by the Bajau in Indonesia and the Philippines, and by the Wayú in Colombia and Venezuela Although, at first, it may seem like physical training, the sport of apnea is mainly based on the mental relaxation of the individual, good nutrition and hydration, the promotion of mammalian reflexes in humans, and training in environments of hypoxia and high hydrostatic pressures where the gases are dramatically compressed and the volume of the lungs is considerably reduced.
This very particular activity practices the descent to the depth of the sea to free lung, that is, without traditional diving equipment such as snorkeling. At first the discipline allowed to descend a few meters (30 meters with variable weight in 1849) but, as the practices were sophisticated, it exceeded the limit of 120 meters with variable weight, 1 for which it was required a rope tied to a perfectly vertical anchor to avoid disorientation of the apneist. With this mechanism only the rope is followed in the descent and ascent without the need to orient yourself by opening your eyes.
The human body adapts to be able to do free diving. First the heart rate decreases between 10% and 25% to slow down body functions and consume less oxygen. The blood vessels contract to slightly raise oxygen levels and the spleen releases more red blood cells so that oxygen reaches the vital organs, especially the brain and the heart (restricting oxygen in the extremities). To help this process, large muscles contract. Depending on the depth, the blood plasma fills the blood vessels of the lungs to reduce the volume and prevent damage that could cause pressure to more than 35 meters deep. There are studies that show that the immersion mammalian reflex is activated more quickly if there is a direct shock of the face with water at a low temperature.
