November 10, 2025: The Reserve Tank

A man held his breath for nearly half an hour.

Budimir Šobat of Croatia set the Guinness record at 24 minutes 37 seconds.

How did he go that long? By floating face down and conserving energy.

Prior to the attempt, he inhaled medical-grade oxygen. Imagine filling your car’s gas tank to the brim before a cross-country trip. Šobat began with his reserves completely maxed out.

Without this assist, his personal best is a still-impressive ten minutes.

There’s fascinating science behind all this.

According to experts, the panicky urge to breathe is your brain reacting to carbon dioxide buildup, even though your body is likely over 90% saturated with oxygen.

Think of steam setting off an oversensitive smoke alarm.

This means the #1 secret to an extended breath-hold is training to tolerate elevated CO2.

The battle is won in the mind, not in the lungs. It’s learning to be comfortable with the feeling of being uncomfortable.

Life will throw all kinds of challenges your way, so learn to distinguish between discomfort and the real emergencies.

Most limitations are mental, not physical. The impulse to quit usually arrives long before you actually need to stop.

Your “enough” probably isn’t your actual limit.