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The key to holding your breath is to increase the efficiency with which your body uses oxygen. You can accomplish that in a variety of ways, many of which are outlined below.

Steps

1. Do exercises to increase your lung capacity. While there is no way to increase the size of your lungs, there are many ways to increase the amount of air taken in by your lungs, and the efficiency with which they capture oxygen.
2. Lose weight. Any excess baggage reduces your body’s efficiency in using oxygen.[1]
3. Quit smoking This will considerably increase your lungs’ ability to release carbon dioxide and absorb oxygen.
4. Before holding your breath, inhale and exhale slowly from deep within your diaphragm. By doing this, you’re ridding your lungs of low-quality air.[2] Spend 5 seconds breathing in and 5 seconds breathing out; do this for two minutes, and be sure that when you exhale, you push out every last “drop” of air.[3]
5. Take a massive gulp of air and hold it. Don’t breathe in so much that you’re about to pop; fill your lung capacity to 80-85% so that you still have room to relax.[4]
   • Always do this with a partner watching, since you can lose consciousness without warning.
   • Don’t hold air in your cheeks. This method is meant for an air reserve, but you have to “let go” of the air in your lungs if you want to use the air in your cheeks, and exhaling air in your lungs usually gets rid of the reserve in your cheeks. In other words, it’s not easy to switch out the air in your lungs and the air in your cheeks without letting both escape. But it can be done - see link on “Circular Breathing” below.
6. Splash cold water on your face. It’s been observed that putting a person’s face in contact with cold water triggers bradycardia, or the slowing of the heart rate, which is the first phase of the mammalian diving reflex.[5] You don’t need to actually put your entire head underwater, though. You can splash some cold water on your face right before you hold your breath, or try using a cold, wet washcloth (don’t use an ice pack, though; the same study suggests that the shock of something too cold triggers other reflexes). Just make sure it’s cold enough (21 °C or 70 °F) and the rest of your body is in a relaxed position.
7. Relax every muscle in your body. Meditate so that you can lower your heart rate. Your body will consume less oxygen that way.[6] By closing your eyes, feeling, and focusing on slowing your heart beat, it is possible to lower your heart rate significantly and increase the time you are able to hold your breath for. Concentrate on something that’s relaxing to you. When you can’t concentrate anymore, distract yourself by doing something with your hands, like counting to 99 with your fingers.[7]
8. Exhale slowly. When you can’t hold your breath anymore, try to avoid exhaling all the air in your lungs in a mad rush. First, exhale about 20% of your air, then inhale again so that oxygen gets to your most critical areas faster. Then you can exhale and inhale completely.
9. Repeat these steps 3-4 times per session. It is not recommended to do this any more, as it could damage your lungs and body. Try one session in the morning and one session at night if you wish. Keep practicing and before you know it, you will be able to hold your breath for several minutes.

Tips

• Holding your breath outside may be more effective than doing so inside because there’s probably less oxygen in a closed space.
• The urge to breathe is caused by a build up of carbon dioxide in your body, not a lack of oxygen.

Warnings

• Never hold your breath underwater during ascent if using pressurized air (like a scuba tank). The expansion of the pressurized air during ascent could rupture your lungs.
• Never hyperventilate! Hyperventilation has many undesirable effects, one of the more dangerous being that it tricks your body into thinking that you have a lot more air than possible, making you pass out without any warning sign. If this happens while submerged and without a buddy, you will most likely die.
• If you feel pain in your chest, exhale, and breathe normally.
• Holding your breath underwater for long periods of time can be very dangerous. Never do it without a buddy!

Things You’ll Need

• A stopwatch
• A pencil
• A piece of paper for recording times
• A buddy, especially if you’re underwater, or submerged
• A suitable body of water if you’re going to hold your breath underwater

Related wikiHows

• How to Increase Your Lung Capacity
• How to Breathe Deeply
• How to Hold Your Breath Under Water
• How to Hold Your Breath While Swimming
• How to Circular Breathe

Sources and Citations

1. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4964488.stm
2. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4964488.stm
3. ↑ http://www.shark-freediving.com/blog/2007/03/06/top-10-on-how-to-hold-your-breath-longer/
4. ↑ http://www.shark-freediving.com/blog/2007/03/06/top-10-on-how-to-hold-your-breath-longer/
5. ↑ http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/2827
6. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4964488.stm
7. ↑ http://www.shark-freediving.com/blog/2007/03/06/top-10-on-how-to-hold-your-breath-longer/

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Hold Your Breath for Long Periods of Time. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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Illustration of Atthack gaming!

Ever get that feeling that you just want to kick someone when he or she gains a life or get the “You Win” screen? This is a simple guide of how to keep your pants on and not lose your cool.

Steps

1. Do not hit the controller on the ground or slam the keyboard. When you do this, the stuff inside of it will either break or disconnect and won’t work again (e.g. character won’t stop moving right because the joystick is messed up).
2. Hit something you know that it will not break (e.g. pillows, couch, etc.), but never hit the floor. You could damage something a lot more important than a controller.
3. Stop playing the game for 20 minutes; take a break, have a drink or watch some TV. You can always play another game, of course.
4. When you get back on the game, don’t head right into the level. Warm up on the tutorial missions or the first level. When you are warmed up, you won’t make as many careless mistakes (e.g. fall off an edge or walk into an explosive).
5. Get plenty of sleep, take care of your body, eat properly, and you’ll be amazed at how well you play games due to sharp reaction times. Sleepiness, poor health, and dehydration lead to slower reaction time, which in turn lowers your skill in games that require fast thinking on your part.
6. Repeat steps as necessary.

Tips

• Learn from your mistakes! Games are fun because they offer ‘challenges’. So if you die (or fail a mission, or don’t ‘win’ against a competitor), think, “That’s OK, I’m only competing against myself, and I’m getting better all the time (if you are learning from your mistakes). If you don’t know what you are doing wrong, check the instruction manual, go through the tutorial, or ask someone who knows the game better. We are all ‘newbs’ (new players) at first. Sometimes it’s not you, but a game programmed stupidly, so just sigh and deal with it until you get past the ‘dumb’ parts.
• Realize that not ALL battles can be won. Try to escape, and if you wish, come back after restoring your character’s stats or at a higher level. Some battles are programmed so that they cannot be won in order to advance the story. Others are simply designed to be difficult. Some have a very particular weakness that may not be obvious at first. Pay attention to the scenario and do your best.
• When you are dying, it is okay to stop for a while and strategize. After all, strategy is vital (charging in and button mashing is considered a strategy, but it usually is not the best one).
• It doesn’t matter if you win or lose!
• SAVE OFTEN. The one thing you lose when you get a game over is any progress you made since you last saved. In some games, you won’t always be able to save whenever you want, so take advantage of it while you can. At the earliest opportunity in the game when you can save, DO IT, otherwise you’ll curse at the game due to having to start over (mainly on games with unskippable long intros).
• Make a back up save, especially before entering a difficult area. Some times you can’t leave an area until you complete it. If the area is too difficult, you could be trapped with no back up save. Having a back up save will allow you to get stronger, hone your skills, and make changes for a better strategy.
• During boss fights, it’s natural to focus on dealing as much damage as possible while trading blows. Change focus to avoiding being hit and attacking when it’s safe in between the boss’s attacks. This will draw the fight out longer but it can keep you alive long enough to outlast your opponent.
• Some cheats may help ease your frustration and bypass a part of the game that you feel is too hard. However, cheats really defeat the purpose of a game, and should only be used if you’ve tried so many times (over a reasonable length of time) to get past a stage, that you’re sure it is impossible.
• All of the above can also work in real-life sports (except the cheating, try to remember to show a little sportsmanship).
• RTM! Sometimes just re-reading the manual will remind you of a weapon or technique that you may have forgotten
• Try to remember that if you are playing multi-player, you could hurt one’s feelings with a bad attitude.
• Not all games follow one path. If you can’t beat a difficult part in the main story, try completing any available side quests. You’ll be rewarded with in-game stats or items, as well as the feeling of actually accomplishing something instead of a game over screen.
• If the get a game over, it’s not the end of the world. You’ll be able to identify things that will prevent you from getting a game over next time, such as patterns that a boss follows, the locations of enemies throughout a level, or how to solve a puzzle.
• If all else should fail, play on a lower difficulty setting. You’ll get better knowledge of later bits of the level, and develop strategies to nail that sniper, 100% that solo, and find that powerful weapon.

• If you lose, Then just get away from the game, and think it out, for me the best place is the restroom, Go to the bathroom and sit down use the restroom if you have to, this will give you time away from all the things that are bothering you, and let you think it over. Odds are you will be doing alot better at the game after clearing your head, this will also help in that you will not be as stressed from the game and notice your mistakes.
• Some games are just impossible, yes they can be beaten, and alot of people might have beaten it, but not everyone is the same, sometimes people will come to a game they JUST CAN’T BEAT, If that’s the case then give up, or see if other people are having just as much trouble, oh and stay away form Super Ghost and Goblins.

Warnings

• Make sure that you’re playing the right type of game. Some are poorly designed, not particularly fun and very frustrating to play. Check a gaming forum or go to a review website to avoid buying such games.
• Using cheats might get you addicted to playing it the easy way. Use them as little as possible.
• When playing online, whilst using Voice communication, DO NOT “Rage” after you get killed. i know it will be hard not to but you’ll just end up annoying and enraging your team mates which will aslo aggravate your own rage!
• Do not go into an angry fit and lash out at others. Try to tell yourself that it is only a game!

Things You’ll Need

• Game manual
• A calm mind
• A videogame

Related wikiHows

• How to Avoid Video Game Addiction
• How to Improve Your Multiplayer Gaming Skills
• How to Relieve Stress from Playing a Video Game
• How to Beat Anyone at Any Two Player Game
• How to Relax After a Long Day

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Stay Calm While Losing a Video Game. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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