I have the app on my phone but haven't used it, and don't really have any plan to do so. I use the YT video for the pacing, but I add 30 seconds to the first two breath holds and a minute to the third, so 90 and 120 seconds respectively, and about 150 seconds on the 3rd and last hold. I've only ever been able to hold about 165 seconds max (2:45), and can't seem to go higher yet, if ever. This after the outbreath, of course. But I've been raised in a serious cloud of second hand smoke from infancy, so that probably isn't doing me any favors.
In the YT video, he mentions towards the end of each breath hold that if you want to hold longer you should pause the video. So I figure it's a progressive thing, to a point. I think the idea is to make it challenging, so as you get better at it, you hold a little longer. I refer to this video:
I hope you get a reasonably good one. I bought mine on Amazon in Canada for CDN$34.99. It wasn't the cheapest one, and I figured it would be reasonably accurate. Amazon no longer carries it. Its accuracy is stated to only be good to 70%, as I mentioned in a prior post. So the brief reading of 34 that I got towards the end of the third round a while back was almost certainly inaccurate! I imagine the pule rate is accurate, and I achieved a low of 43 towards the end of the third round, and a high of well over 100 closer to the beginning. In due course, let us know what numbers you get, and the accuracy range for your oximeter.
This is the one I was looking at: Amazon.com: Zacurate 500E Premium Fingertip Pulse Oximeter Oximetry Blood Oxygen Saturation Monitor with Silicon Cover, Batteries and Lanyard : Health & Household The first one was the same company, but was +/- 2%, this one claims 1%. Not sure it matters but the price has dropped so what the heck. Funny, my dad was a pipe and cigar smoker, previous to me being born cigarettes also. My high school was downtown, so I rode with him to school and the car was filled with a cloud everyday. I can't imagine how much I must have reeked by the time I got to school.
Looks like our dads were raised on film noir. I've been bingeing on Bogey movies over the summer, and you'd be hard pressed to see a scene without cigarettes. Regardless of time of day or circumstances, both the good guys and the bad would reach for a cigarette.
Having issues with the oximeter, I have cold hands. It maybe a function of Raynuads syndrome the doc says I have. I will try to remember to run my hand under hot water before I start next time. So far the only reading I have is a 46% after the 3rd round. The other times I had no reading or high 90's.
Yeah, that happens with mine as well from time to time, although I don't think I have Raynaud's. (At least no one told me yet.) I generally keep my home office fairly cool, especially for the breathwork, which I find warms me up. Plus I think the hyperventilation causes the extremities to cool as blood is directed towards the core. Also, I guess some oximeters are better than others, not only in accuracy and speed of readings, but also with the ability to provide numbers with a fairly low perfusion index. Perhaps we both got cheapos. How much did you pay for yours?