This is how people can hold their breath for tens of minutes. Check out our sponsor: https://betterhelp.com/veritasium to get matched with a professional therapist who will listen and help. ▀▀▀ A huge thanks to Brandon Birchak for all his help with this video. To learn how to hold your breath for 5 minutes, or see one of Brandon’s performances, visit https://eliteperformancedesign.com/ and https://Sixfootcreations.com/ A special thanks to Juan Valdivia for his expert advice on the science of extreme breath holding. ▀▀▀ References: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). How your body controls breathing. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. - https://ve42.co/BodyBreathing Anatomy, autonomic nervous system - statpearls - NCBI bookshelf. (n.d.-a). - https://ve42.co/ANS Biochemistry, oxidative phosphorylation - statpearls - NCBI bookshelf. (n.d.-c). - https://ve42.co/ncbiATP Acidosis. Acidosis - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.). - https://ve42.co/Acidosis Evaluation of respiratory alkalosis. Evaluation of respiratory alkalosis - Differential diagnosis of symptoms | BMJ Best Practice US. (n.d.). - https://ve42.co/Alkalosis Wilmshurst, P. (1998, October 10). Diving and Oxygen. BMJ (Clinical research ed.). - https://ve42.co/DivingO López-Barneo, J., Ortega-Sáenz, P., Pardal, R., Pascual, A., & Piruat, J. I. (2008). Carotid body oxygen sensing. European Respiratory Journal, 32(5), 1386-1398. - https://ve42.co/Barneo2008 Jeff, & Huffy. (2022, November 17). The Bolt score test: Measure your breathing volume capacity. Marathon Handbook. - https://ve42.co/BOLT Lindholm, P., & Lundgren, C. E. (2009). The physiology and pathophysiology of human breath-hold diving. Journal of Applied Physiology, 106(1), 284-292. - https://ve42.co/Lindholm2009 Physiology, lung capacity - statpearls - NCBI bookshelf. (n.d.-c). - https://ve42.co/LungCapacity Panneton, W. M., & Gan, Q. (2020). The mammalian diving response: inroads to its neural control. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14, 524. - https://ve42.co/Panneton2020 Baković, D., Eterović, D., Saratlija‐Novaković, X., Palada, I., Valic, Z., Bilopavlović, N., & Dujić, X. (2005). Effect of human splenic contraction on variation in circulating blood cell counts. Clinical and experimental pharmacology and physiology, 32(11), 944-951. https://ve42.co/Bakovic2005 Gooden, B. (1971). The diving response in man, rat and echidna (Doctoral dissertation). - https://ve42.co/Gooden1971 Longest duration breath hold - freediving static apnea (male). Guinness World Records. (n.d.). - https://ve42.co/DivingRecord What’s the longest a human can hold their breath underwater? BBC Science Focus Magazine. (n.d.). - https://ve42.co/Southwell2023 ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Adam Foreman, Amadeo Bee, Anton Ragin, Balkrishna Heroor, Bernard McGee, Bill Linder, Burt Humburg, Dave Kircher, Diffbot, Evgeny Skvortsov, Gnare, Jesse Brandsoy, John H. Austin, Jr., john kiehl, Josh Hibschman, Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Mario Bottion, Max Paladino, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Stephen Wilcox, Tj Steyn, TTST, Ubiquity Ventures ▀▀▀ Directed by Derek Muller Written by Felicity Nelson and Derek Muller Edited by Trenton Oliver Animated by Ivy Tello Filmed by Derek Muller Produced by Derek Muller and Han Evans Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images and Pond5 Music from Epidemic Sound