David Blaine is a professional magician that explored a number of options to fake a long breath hold under water. Eventually he decided that it would be easier to actually learn how to hold his breath for long periods. David broke the world record at 17 minutes ad that was performed in front of an audience on Oprah in 2008The current breath hold as of 2017 was set by Stig Severinsen at 22 minutes.

How did David hold his breath this long?

The highlights are:

• don’t move – wastes energy
• close your eyes
• slow your heart rate
• purge – hyperventilating – ridding your body of CO2
• practice a huge breath and hold, repeat purge
• lose weight (50 lbs)
• rest heart rate 38 beats per minute
• practiced slowing heart rate while swimming with sharks!

His TED talk explains it all.