How to Use a CO2 Table for Dry-Land Breath-Hold Training

Before you start

Read the breath-hold safety rules. Train alone only on dry land, never in or beside water. Every in-water attempt requires a trained buddy.

A CO2 table is a sequence of breath holds with a consistent hold duration and progressively shorter recovery periods. The name describes the session pattern; it does not guarantee a particular physiological adaptation or improvement time.

Build a starting table

Choose a dry-land hold duration you can repeat without a maximum effort. If you use a recent test, treat it as a reference rather than a target you must exceed.

The free CO2 table generator calculates a table from the time you enter. Review every round before starting and shorten the session if it looks too aggressive.

Follow the table

During each recovery interval, allow your breathing to return to a calm, normal rhythm. Start the next hold only if you feel steady. End the session if you feel faint, confused, unwell, or unable to recover normally.

The later rounds will usually feel different because the recovery periods are shorter. Discomfort is not a command to continue. Stop rather than forcing completion.

Adjust the next session

Keep a simple record of the table, whether you completed it, and how the last rounds felt. If several sessions feel manageable, change one variable: hold duration, recovery time, or number of rounds. Small changes make it easier to tell what altered the difficulty.

There is no evidence-backed universal rule that everyone should train a fixed number of times per week or improve by a set percentage. Leave recovery time between demanding sessions and reduce the load when you are ill, sleep-deprived, or unusually fatigued.

Understand what the table trains

During apnea, rising carbon dioxide contributes to respiratory drive, while oxygen, lung volume, and other signals also affect the breakpoint. Read CO2 tolerance explained for the physiology and limits of the term.

Research on apnea training is mixed and protocol-specific. A table may help someone practise repeatable dry-land holds, but it should not be sold as treatment for anxiety, sleep, cardiovascular disease, or another medical condition.

Continue with the right tool

• Generate a session with the CO2 table tool.
• Measure a dry-land attempt with the breath-hold timer.
• Review broader technique in how to hold your breath longer.
• Compare the apps that run these tables for you in best breath-hold apps in 2026.