CO2 table for beginners
This is the CO2 table generator with the two settings a first session wants: a 60-second maximum and the Easy difficulty. You get 24-second holds and a rest that starts at 18 seconds and walks down to 10.
Nothing here is a test. Every hold is short enough that you should finish the round wondering why you stopped. Dry land, sitting or lying down, no exceptions.
Opens with the beginner preset already set
- Maximum breath hold: 60 seconds
- Difficulty: Easy (hold at 40% of your max)
- Hold: 24 seconds, every round
- Session: 7 rounds, 4 minutes 18 seconds
Both controls below are set. Move the slider if 60 seconds is not your number — the table redraws when you press generate.
Enter your best breath hold time. If you're unsure, try our breath hold timer first.
Your CO₂ training table
| Round | Breathe (Rest) | Hold | Round Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0:18 | 0:24 | 0:42 |
| 2 | 0:16 | 0:24 | 0:40 |
| 3 | 0:14 | 0:24 | 0:38 |
| 4 | 0:12 | 0:24 | 0:36 |
| 5 | 0:10 | 0:24 | 0:34 |
| 6 | 0:10 | 0:24 | 0:34 |
| 7 | 0:10 | 0:24 | 0:34 |
Hold time: 0:24 (40% of your max) — stays constant each round.
Rest time: Starts at 0:18 and drops 2 seconds per round (minimum 10s) while the hold stays steady.
Run this table
Use the browser timer only while seated or lying down on dry land. Stop whenever you need to breathe. Never use it for breath holding in water.
Ready
Review every interval before starting
Train with this table in the BreathHold app
Get guided audio cues, haptic feedback, and automatic progress tracking.
What the Easy setting actually changes
Easy is not a shorter table. All three difficulties run seven rounds. Easy changes two numbers: the hold drops to 40 percent of your maximum instead of 50, and the rest shrinks by roughly a tenth of its starting value each round instead of a sixth.
At a 60-second maximum that gives a 24-second hold and rests of 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 10, 10. Classic at the same input would ask for a 30-second hold and take the rest from 20 down to 10 in five rounds. Same shape, more room to breathe.
Why 60 seconds is the number in the box
Sixty seconds is close to what an untrained adult reaches on a calm second or third attempt, and it produces a table nobody needs to be brave for. It is also the point where the Easy preset behaves properly: enter much less and the rest hits its floor before the table has done anything.
If you have never timed a hold, run the breath hold timer first and use a number you reached twice, not once. Guessing high is the one mistake that makes the last rounds unpleasant.
The last three rounds are the session
At the preset the rest reaches its 10-second floor on round five. So rounds five, six and seven are identical: hold 24 seconds, breathe for 10, go again. Everything before them is a ramp.
That block of three is where the work happens, and it is the part beginners quit. The hold has not changed since round one. What changed is that you started it with more carbon dioxide still in you, which is the whole idea of the table.
What goes wrong on a first table
- Entering a personal best. The generator sizes every round from your input. A best-ever number you hit once gives you a table you can never repeat.
- Taking a big breath before each hold. Breathe normally through the rest. Loading up on air removes the urge to breathe without adding useful oxygen, and it is how people black out. The safety guide covers why.
- Running it two days running. Two sessions a week is plenty at this level.
- Raising the input after one good session. Repeat the same table until it is boring, then add 10 seconds.
What the generator produces across the beginner range
Run 2026-09-04: generateCO2Table from lib/training-tables.ts on Easy, at maximum holds from 30 to 90 seconds in 10-second steps — seven inputs, seven rounds each.
| Max hold | Hold | First rest | Rest drop | Shortest rest | Floor at round | Session |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30s | 12s | 9s | rises | 10s | 2 | 2:33 |
| 40s | 16s | 12s | 1s | 10s | 3 | 3:05 |
| 50s | 20s | 15s | 2s | 10s | 4 | 3:39 |
| 60s | 24s | 18s | 2s | 10s | 5 | 4:18 |
| 70s | 28s | 21s | 2s | 10s | 7 | 5:02 |
| 80s | 32s | 24s | 2s | 12s | never | 5:50 |
| 90s | 36s | 27s | 3s | 10s | 7 | 6:19 |
Sessions run from 2:33 to 6:19. The preset sits at 4:18. Six of the seven inputs reach the 10-second rest floor, and where they reach it decides how much of the table is actually hard: round five at 60 seconds, round seven at 90.
Two inputs show the edges. At 30 seconds the first rest is 9 seconds, below the floor, so round two rests longer than round one and the table stops being a CO2 table at all. Below roughly 34 seconds this preset has nothing to shrink — run an equanimity table instead. At 80 seconds the opposite happens: the drop rounds to 2 seconds, the rest walks 24 down to 12 and never reaches the floor, so the session stays mild the whole way.
Questions
- What CO2 table should a beginner start with?
- A 24-second hold with rests from 18 down to 10 seconds, seven rounds, 4 minutes 18 seconds in total. That is what this page opens with: a 60-second maximum on the Easy difficulty.
- Is 60 seconds a realistic maximum breath hold to enter?
- For most adults with no training, yes. Measured resting means for untrained young adults sit near 30 seconds, and a calm second attempt commonly lands between 45 and 75. Enter a time you have reached twice, not your best single effort.
- How often should a beginner run a CO2 table?
- Twice a week, with a rest day between. Repeat the same table until you finish the last three rounds without strain, then raise the input by 10 seconds rather than adding rounds.
- Why do the last three rounds have the same numbers?
- The rest cannot fall below 10 seconds. At a 60-second maximum on Easy it reaches that floor on round five, so rounds five, six and seven are identical on paper. They are not identical to do, because each one starts with less recovery behind it.
- My maximum is under 35 seconds. Does this table work?
- No. Below about 34 seconds the first rest the Easy preset calculates is already under the 10-second floor, so the rest stops shrinking and the table has nothing to train. Use an equanimity table, which repeats one comfortable hold instead.
- Can I run a CO2 table in a pool?
- Not alone, ever. This is a dry-land session. Any breath hold in or beside water needs a trained buddy watching the attempt and the recovery.
Where to go next
- CO2 table generator — the full tool, with all three difficulties and any maximum from 20 to 300 seconds
- CO2 table for freediving — the same generator at a 120-second maximum on Classic, once a minute is easy
- Apnea table generator — same table shape, but every round editable before you run it
- How to use a CO2 table — the guide behind the progression, including when to change a variable