How Magician David Blaine Held His Breath For 17 Minutes

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David Blaine is a magician and performer best known for highly public stunts. For example, he has been frozen in ice. He has lived in a transparent box for 44 days without food. And so on.But recently Blaine set what might be his most surprising record. He held his breath underwater for more than 17 minutes. And, as usual, he did it in a very public way, on the "Oprah Winfrey Show."So how did Blaine do it? What could he possibly do to make it possible to hold his breath for so long? It turns out he combined a variety of techniques.The reason most people can't hold their breath for more than two minutes is because there are sensors in our lungs that detect the rising carbon dioxide level. Those sensors send signals to the diaphragm telling it to breathe. The signals get so loud eventually, they cause pain. You feel you are about to explode.
To hold your breath for more than two minutes, you must first train your body to get past that pain and suppress the diaphragm's complaints. You can do this with relaxation exercises, and many people can learn to hold their breath for four minutes after an hour or so of instruction.Blaine clearly has mastered this discipline, and then he kept adding techniques. For example, instead of breathing normal air, he breathed pure oxygen before his attempt. That meant his lungs held five times more oxygen than normal (normal air is four-fifths nitrogen).For more than a month, Blaine slept in a special hypoxic tent that reduces the amount of oxygen in the air. He was breathing air that you would find at 15,000 feet — about 10 percent oxygen. By sleeping in the tent for weeks, his blood had more capacity for carrying oxygen and carbon dioxide.Right before holding his breath, Blaine also used a technique for gulping extra air into his lungs. Blaine also fasted before his attempt. That did two things. First, fasting shrinks the size of the stomach and intestines, giving more room for the lungs to expand. Second, it reduces oxygen demand. The stomach and intestines contain a lot of muscle for grinding and moving the food along. With no food in the system, those muscles can relax.— Collection: from source