A viral breath test claims that holding your breath for 60 seconds means you have better lungs than 95 percent of the population.
These breath tests have taken social media by storm, with some claiming that those that can last even 40 seconds have “military-grade lungs.”
One of the latest proposals for the trend was published by Gideon Horner, a breathwork specialist, on Instagram.
In a post promoting the benefits of breathing exercises for anxiety, Mr. Horner is seen holding his breath for a minute while a stopwatch ticks from A to B.
Before the challenge, he says: “If you can hold your breath from A to B, you will have better lung capacity and CO2 tolerance than 95 percent of the population.”
It’s unclear where Horner got these figures from, but many people struggled to complete the challenge, with some claiming that it almost sent them to an “early grave” or that they “saw their grandmother” while trying.
However, others claimed to be in this coveted 5 percent group.
‘I did it without any problem. It could have lasted longer. I’m 78 years old,” wrote one successful.
‘I’m 51 years old and I almost didn’t make it! Those last 5 seconds!’ wrote another.
However, breathing capacity varies greatly among individuals and is not considered by doctors to be a good indication of overall lung health.
Studies have found that the average person can hold their breath for between 30 and 90 seconds, although it varies.
Factors that influence it include age, smoking, general physical condition and, fundamentally, tolerance to discomfort.
It’s the latter that means doctors don’t typically consider a person’s ability to hold their breath as a good indicator of respiratory health.
While it was used during World War I as a measure of physical fitness, experts began to realize that it was not a good measure of physical health.
Studies have found that the average person can hold their breath for between 30 and 90 seconds.
This is partly because people can train to hold their breath and endure the discomfort of their body needing oxygen for longer, clouding any potential outcome.
As such, modern doctors often use something called a spirometry test to measure a person’s lung health.
In these exams, a person has a clip placed in their nose and a tube is placed in front of their mouth.
Then, breathing only through their mouth, a machine records how much air they can inhale and exhale.
This is used to see if a person is gathering enough oxygen with each breath.
While people such as freedivers and military personnel can train themselves to hold their breath for long periods, the world record is closer to 25 minutes.
But holding your breath for long periods of time is challenging and not without risk.
People who suppress their natural desire to breathe can end up passing out, risking physical injury from hitting the ground, as well as possible seizures and even brain damage.
When someone holds their breath, not only does the flow of life-giving oxygen stop, but so does the exhalation of carbon dioxide (CO2).
This CO2 begins to accumulate particularly in the blood-brain barrier, a network of blood vessels and tissue, which serves as a protective layer that lines the inside of the brain.
This can cause a drop in the delicate pH balance of the blood that causes the brain to send an urgent signal to the lungs to breathe.
Savvy social media users have also theorized that these breathing challenges may not be exclusively related to helping people measure their lung capacity.
Instead, they suggest that such posts are intended to increase engagement, as viewers stay on the post for the duration of the challenge, whether 40 to 60 seconds, and then read the comments to see how they compare.