Custom Apnea Table Builder

Static apnea training tables

A dry static table, loaded and ready: seven 45-second holds with the rest falling from 30 seconds to 10, built from a 90-second base. Seven minutes and fifteen seconds from the first hold to the last breath.

Static apnea is the discipline where you float face down and do nothing. This is the land version of the same job, and every round here is editable before you start.

Opens with the static apnea table already loaded

  • Shape: CO2 — fixed hold, shrinking rest
  • Static base: 90 seconds
  • Seven rounds: 45-second holds, rests from 30 down to 10
  • Session length: 7 minutes 15 seconds

Ninety seconds is the entry-level certification static. Put your own dry figure in and rebuild, or edit the rounds directly.

Table shape

Your dry static, not your pool personal best.

RoundHoldBreathe (rest)Remove
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Session length
7:15
Rounds
7
Longest hold
0:45

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

Why the base is 90 seconds

Ninety seconds is the static requirement for PADI Freediver, the first certification most pool athletes hold. AIDA 2 asks for two minutes. So 90 is the number a person who has just started training statics can actually produce on land, and the one the widest group of readers will recognise.

It is a base, not a target. The CO2 shape halves it for the hold, so you get 45 seconds seven times over — long enough to be work, short enough that the seventh round is still a static and not a survival exercise.

Seven holds is a block, not seven attempts

Competition statics are single efforts with a long, careful warm-up in front of them. A table is the opposite: repeated identical work with recovery that gets thinner. Nothing in it is meant to be your best.

Judge the session on whether you stayed still and unhurried through round seven, not on how the holds compared with your personal best. If you finished tense, the base is too high — take 15 seconds off it and rebuild rather than shortening one round by hand.

Turning it into a static ladder

The builder is here so you can change the shape rather than accept it. A common static edit is a ladder: keep the falling rest, but let the hold climb 5 seconds a round instead of staying flat. Type the new holds into rounds two to seven and watch the session length move.

The other useful edit is length. At the 90-second base, duplicating the last round takes the session from 7:15 to 8:10 and gives you eight rounds. Deleting the last two leaves 5:25 and five rounds, which is the version to run on a tired day.

Do not put a maximum on the end

  • No max attempt after round seven. A table leaves you with elevated carbon dioxide and a tired diaphragm. A personal best attempted there is neither a real measurement nor a safe one.
  • No competition warm-up before it. The purge-and-hold routine some athletes use before a single static changes the whole session. Breathe normally and start.
  • No pool, alone. This is a dry table. Statics in water need a trained buddy on the surface for the hold and the recovery. The safety guide explains why a timer is not supervision.
  • No hyperventilation between rounds. It removes the urge to breathe without adding oxygen. That is the mechanism behind most shallow-water blackouts.

What the table looks like across the static range

Run 2026-09-04: generateCO2Table from lib/training-tables.ts, the function this builder calls, at static bases from 60 to 180 seconds in 15-second steps — nine inputs, seven rounds each.

Static baseHoldFirst restRest dropFloor at roundSession
60s30s20s3s55:02
75s38s25s4s56:12
90s45s30s5s57:15
105s53s35s5s68:36
120s60s40s6s69:40
135s68s45s7s610:51
150s75s50s8s611:55
165s83s55s8s713:21
180s90s59s9s714:19

Nine bases produce sessions from 5:02 to 14:19. Every one reaches the 10-second rest floor. Between a 60-second and a 90-second base the floor lands on round five in all three cases, so the last three rounds are identical — that block is the session, and it is where people stop.

From 105 seconds up the floor slides to round six, and at 165 it reaches round seven, meaning the rest is still falling on the final round. Longer bases give a steadier ramp; shorter ones give a plateau. If you want the ramp at a 90-second base, edit the last two rests by hand — the generator cannot go below 10 seconds.

Two edits, measured at the 90-second base: duplicating the last round makes it 8:10 across eight rounds, and deleting the last two leaves 5:25 across five. The builder accepts up to 30 rounds and 15 minutes per interval, so it will also let you build something no one should attempt.

Questions

What is a static apnea training table?
A sequence of dry breath holds with planned recovery between them. This one runs seven 45-second holds with the rest falling from 30 seconds to 10, built from a 90-second base, 7 minutes 15 seconds in total.
What base time should I use for static apnea tables?
Your dry static, measured seated with no warm-up, not your pool personal best. The page opens at 90 seconds because that is the PADI Freediver static requirement; AIDA 2 asks for two minutes.
How often should I train static apnea tables?
Two sessions a week, on separate days, and not the day before pool work you care about. Repeat the same table until round seven feels unremarkable before you raise the base.
Should I finish a table with a maximum attempt?
No. A table leaves carbon dioxide elevated and the diaphragm tired, so a personal best attempted there measures fatigue rather than capability, and it is the least safe moment to try one.
Can I make the holds get longer instead of staying flat?
Yes. Type new hold values into rounds two to seven to build a ladder, or switch the shape to O2, which grows the hold from 40 to 80 percent of your base across eight rounds with two minutes of recovery between.
Can I practise static apnea alone?
On dry land only, seated or lying somewhere stable, away from water. Every in-water static needs a trained buddy watching the hold and the recovery. An app or a timer is not supervision.

Where to go next