Whats the secret to holding your breath?

Level 2 l Intermediate
1 Warmer
a. How long do you think you can hold your breath?

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

1 minute

longer

b. How long can you really hold your breath? (Time a partner.)

10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 1 minute longer
c. Was it easier or more difficult than you thought it would be?

2 Key words
a. Match the key words with the definitions. Then, find the words in the article to read them in context.
The paragraph numbers are given to help you.
b. Mark the stressed syllable on each key word of more than one syllable.

e.g. definition
lungs

pounding

resist

urge

voluntarily

width

1. beating strongly and quickly because you are nervous, excited or afraid _____________________ (para 1)
2. the two organs in your chest that fill with air when you breathe _____________________ (para 1)
3. the distance from one side of a swimming pool to the other _____________________ (para 2)
4. to stop yourself from doing something that you would very much like to do _____________________ (para 3)
5. a strong feeling of wanting or needing to do something _____________________ (para 3)
6. done because you choose to do it and not because you have to _____________________ (para 4)
diaphragm

dose

drowning

precisely

reflex

evolution

7. the scientific theory according to which types of plant and animal change gradually over long periods of time to
become more suitable for their environment _____________________ (para 4)
8. a way of reacting to something very quickly, without thinking about it _____________________ (para 5)
9. sinking under water and dying _____________________ (para 5)
10. exactly _____________________ (para 6)
11. an amount of a drug that has been measured _____________________ (para 6)

NEWS LESSONS / Whats the secret to holding your breath? / Intermediate

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12. the large muscle between your lungs and your stomach that helps you breathe _____________________
(para 7)

Whats the secret to holding your breath?

Level 2 l Intermediate
Whats the secret to holding your breath?

doesnt drop during breath-holding. At least, it

doesnt if youre breath-holding on land. When
youre in cold water, its different: this leads to a
slower heart rate in most people. But, once again,
this isnt evidence of an aquatic ape ancestry.
This reduction in heart rate is just one of the
physiological responses that are sometimes called
the mammalian diving reflex. But physiological
responses that are useful in diving are also and,
perhaps, even more importantly useful for
not drowning.

Some people can manage five minutes, others not

even one. But the trick to holding your breath is
actually rather surprising
Alice Roberts, Professor of Public Engagement
in Science at the University of Birmingham
30 November, 2014
1 How long can you hold your breath? Im trying it
right now. The first 30 seconds are easy. Im ready
to give up at 45 seconds but I continue and it
seems to get easier for a while. But, as the second
hand ticks past a minute, my heart is pounding. I let
out a tiny breath and this helps. Eventually, I give
up, releasing the air in my lungs and taking a huge
breath. I manage one minute and 12 seconds. Im
quite impressed with myself.
2 The ability to hold your breath is extremely
important in some sports, particularly freediving.
In 2006, I was filming a programme about the
anatomy and physiology of the lungs for a BBC
series. I was lucky to meet Sam Amps, who was
captain of the UK freedive team. At a pool in
Bristol, she taught me some simple exercises to
help me hold my breath for longer while swimming
underwater. By the end of the session, Id managed
90 seconds of breath-holding, enough to let me
swim a width. Sam swam three widths easily.
She could hold her breath for five minutes, while
swimming. Five!
3 I asked how she did it: very slow breathing for
several minutes before each dive, then a big, deep
breath before diving in. She also said that training
helped her resist the urge to breathe for far longer
than most people.
4 Some have suggested that the ability to voluntarily
hold your breath is evidence that, at some point
during our evolution, we lived in water. Some even
say that humans have an ability to lower their heart
rate in order to breath-hold for even longer. Other
facts our hairlessness, the distribution of our
subcutaneous fat and even that we walk on two
legs have been linked to an aquatic phase of our
evolutionary development. But, unfortunately, the
aquatic ape hypothesis is not true.

6 While our ability to breath-hold may not be special,

when we compare ourselves with other animals, its
now becoming very useful in one particular area of
medicine. Radiotherapy for breast cancer involves
pointing radiation, very precisely, at the tumour. This
may require several minutes of radiation and, so,
its usually done in short periods, between breaths.
But, if the patient can keep her chest perfectly
still for several minutes, it means that the entire
dose can be given, in the right place, in one go.
The problem, of course, is that most people, just
like me, cannot hold their breath for much longer
than a minute. But doctors at University Hospital
Birmingham have shown that, if patients are given
oxygen-rich air before holding their breath, they can
hold it for five-and-a-half minutes.
7 Surprisingly, the trick seems to be the ability to
fool the diaphragm. When you breathe in, youre
pulling the muscle of your diaphragm flat so that
the volume of your chest increases and air is
pulled into your lungs. When you hold your breath,
you keep your diaphragm like that. If you artificially
raise oxygen levels and reduce carbon dioxide
levels before a breath-hold, as in the Birmingham
radiotherapy experiments, you may be able to delay
tiredness in the diaphragm. So, its your diaphragm,
the main muscle of breathing, that is in charge
when it comes to holding your breath. Eventually,
even if youve fooled it for a while, the signals from
the diaphragm are just too strong and you have to
give up and take a breath.
Guardian News and Media 2014
First published in The Observer, 30/11/14

NEWS LESSONS / Whats the secret to holding your breath? / Intermediate

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5 Looking at voluntary breath-holding, we are, in

fact, not the only non-aquatic mammals that are
able to hold their breath. (But its a difficult thing
to investigate in other mammals because, unlike
humans, its difficult to get them to hold their
breath.) And evidence shows that our heart rate

Whats the secret to holding your breath?

Level 2 l Intermediate
3 Comprehension check
Answer the questions with information from the article.
1. What is the name of the sport in which people swim under water while holding their breath?
2. How does being in cold water affect our ability to hold our breath?
3. What is the name of the hypothesis that says that, at some stage during our evolution, we lived in water?
4. Why is it difficult to test for how long other mammals can hold their breath?
5. How might holding your breath affect treatment for breast cancer?
6. What is the trick to holding your breath for longer?

4 Adverbs
a. The adverbs in brackets are used to emphasize the words that follow them. Decide where in each
sentence they should be.
1. The trick to holding your breath is surprising. (actually, rather)
2. Im impressed with myself. (quite)
3. The ability to hold your breath is important in some sports. (extremely)
b. Make sentences of your own that contain these adverbs.

5 Discussion
a. Do you do (or have you ever done) any exercise or sport that involves special breathing techniques? What
are they?
b. How many situations can you think of in which it would be advantageous to be able to hold your breath for
longer than a minute?

6 Storytelling
a. Make brief notes for a short story that involves someone holding their breath. Your story can be true or not.
Use the ideas from task 5b to get you started.
b. Tell your story to the class and be prepared to answer questions. Afterwards, the other students should
decide whether your story is true or false.

7 Webquest

NEWS LESSONS / Whats the secret to holding your breath? / Intermediate

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a. Read about freediving and watch a video here: http://www.freedivers.co.uk/.

(Hold your breath at the start of the video. At what point in the video did you have to take a breath?)

Whats the secret to holding your breath?

Level 2 l Intermediate
KEY
2 Key words

5 Discussion

1. pounding
2. lungs
3. width
4. resist
5. urge
6. voluntarily
7. evolution
8. reflex
9. drowning
10. precisely
11. dose
12. diaphragm

a. (possible answers) swimming; running;

yoga (Ask students to explain the relevant
breathing technique.)
b. Teachers note: Get students to do this task in
teams. To add a creative element, get them to note
unlikely and fictitious situations, as well as serious
ones. The ideas they come up with in this task can
be used as the basis for the next task.

3 Comprehension check
1. freediving
2. It slows the heart rate, which helps us hold our
breath for longer.
3. the aquatic ape hypothesis
4. Its hard to get them to do it.
5. If a breast-cancer patient can keep their chest
perfectly still for several minutes (that is, hold their
breath), it means that the entire radiotherapy dose
can be delivered in one go.
6. You need to fool your diaphragm so that it doesnt
get tired so quickly.

4 Adverbs

NEWS LESSONS / Whats the secret to holding your breath? / Intermediate

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a.
1. The trick to holding your breath is actually rather
surprising. (Actually could also be found in the
following two locations: Actually, the trick to
holding your breath is rather surprising. and The
trick to holding your breath is rather
surprising, actually.)
2. Im quite impressed with myself.
3. The ability to hold your breath is extremely
important in some sports.