Breath Hold Test

By Murat Şahin · Updated November 12, 2026 · How we test

Safety first

Read this before your first attempt. Holding your breath is harmless for most healthy people when done sitting on dry land, but it can be dangerous in the wrong place. Like our balance test, it is a simple stopwatch check that needs a safe setting.

• Never practise breath holding in or near water, including a bath. People can lose consciousness without feeling any warning, and in water that can be fatal.
• Never do it while driving, cycling, standing or doing anything where a sudden faint could hurt you. Sit in a stable chair or on the floor.
• Do not hyperventilate first. Fast, deep breathing before a hold adds almost no oxygen. What it does is lower the carbon dioxide in your blood, which delays the urge to breathe and makes it easier to pass out before you feel you must stop.
• Stop as soon as you feel dizzy, tingly, see blurred or narrowed vision or get a pounding head.
• Skip this test if you are pregnant, have a heart or lung condition (including asthma or COPD), high blood pressure or epilepsy, or faint easily. Ask your doctor first.

For the same reason, this page deliberately has no "preparation breathing" timer.

How the test works

Sit down and relax for a minute. Take one comfortable deep breath, tap Tap to start holding (or press Space or Enter) and hold. A large timer counts up in tenths of a second. The moment you breathe in or out, tap the pad again or press Space. Your time appears on a result card, together with your personal best and a small chart of your recent attempts, all saved only in this browser.

The second tap is ignored for half a second after you start, so a double tap does not end the hold by accident. Reset clears the stopwatch, and Try again sets up a new attempt after you have rested. Rest and breathe normally for at least two minutes between attempts, and stop after three.

What your time means

There is no "normal" breath-hold time to compare yourself with, and this page does not show one on purpose. In his review of the physiology of breath holding, Parkes (2006) points out that even the simplest measure, how long the hold lasts, is highly variable. It depends on how full your lungs are when you start, how you were breathing just before, the gases you were breathing, and how tolerant you are of the rising discomfort. The breakpoint itself is not fully under your control: a powerful involuntary drive eventually overrides your decision to keep holding.

So the most useful comparison is with yourself. If you test under the same conditions, sitting, rested, at a similar time of day, after the same kind of breath, your own trend over weeks is meaningful. Comparing with a friend says little.

This is not a lung capacity test

Many people search for a "lung capacity test" and expect a breath-hold timer. They measure different things. Lung capacity, how much air your lungs can hold and move, is measured with a spirometer in a clinic or pharmacy. A long breath hold does not prove large lungs, and a short one does not prove small lungs. Comfort with the urge to breathe, relaxation and practice matter at least as much. If your interest in breathing comes from singing, the vocal range test measures something more useful for you: the lowest and highest notes you can hold.

If you notice that you get out of breath much more easily than before, that you cough or wheeze, or that ordinary activity leaves you breathless, see a doctor. A breath-hold stopwatch cannot answer those questions.

What changes your result

• Lung volume at the start. A hold after a deep breath usually lasts longer than one after a normal or empty breath. Always start the same way.
• Relaxation. Tension, talking and moving use oxygen and make the urge to breathe arrive sooner. Sit still, loosen your shoulders and keep your face relaxed.
• Recent activity. After stairs, exercise, coffee or a stressful call your hold is usually shorter. Rest first.
• Practice. With repeated attempts people often learn to tolerate the discomfort longer, so your time can rise over the first few sessions without any change in your lungs.

Freedivers train breath holding with instructors and strict safety rules. Training for long holds is not something to try alone at home, and never in water.

Limits of this test

This is a stopwatch, not a medical device. It does not measure oxygen, carbon dioxide, heart rate or lung function, and your result depends on when you tap. To check your pulse, use the heart rate monitor online. How quickly you can tap is a separate question, measured by the reaction time test. It is a self-check for curiosity and practice, not a diagnosis. Nothing you do on this page is uploaded.

More simple body checks are on the body and fitness tests page.

Sources

• Parkes MJ. Breath-holding and its breakpoint. Experimental Physiology. 2006;91(1):1–15.

Frequently asked questions