Welcome to the One Ocean International Deep Dive on CO2 Tolerance, with Joe Knight. This event was held at 1900 AWST on 15/12/2020.
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Guest Speaker for this session was One Ocean International Founder and Head Trainer, Joe Knight.
Discussion Points
- 00:00: Introduction and Welcome from Joe
- 05:00: CO2 Tolerance
- What is it?
- Why is it fundamental to Watermanship?
- How does it fit into the 6 Pillars of Watermanship?
- What role does the Dive Reflex play?
- 15:00: The Urge to Breathe
- The role of Oxygen
- The role of CO2
- The point of Intersection
- 25:00: The Role of the CNS in CO2 Tolerance
- Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic Systems
- Innervating the Parasympathetic System
- Primal Instincts
- 35:00: Innoculation Training and Passive Apnea
- Positive Stimulus Exposure
- The Edge of Discomfort
- Positive Review and Mental Anchors
- 45:00: Q&A
About the Guest Speaker

Joe founded One Ocean International in 2012.
He is a currently registered Apnea Academy Freediving Instructor, professional waterman as well as a medic, nutrition and lifestyle consultant and a renowned trainer and coach specialising in personal development.
Joe found his passion for helping others very early in life through joining the Royal Australian Navy, were he served as a Medic and was discharged honourably with a Maritime Commander Australia Commendation whilst serving in South East Asia.
Joe’s legacy is, “Your success is my success”, which he applies to his various roles as a trainer and coach.
He has trained with some of the best athletes and teams in the world including surfers, cross-fitters, humanitarian disaster teams, windsurfers, swimmers, boxers, ultra marathon runners, freedivers, watermen and waterwoman.
Resources and Links
Carbon dioxide poisoning: A literature review of an often forgotten cause of intoxication in the emergency department. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC5380556/
Heart rate changes (HR) and oxygen saturation in blood (SAO2) dependency in relation to the static apnea duration (STA). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.eqoljournal.com/wp-content/ uploads/2017/06/EQOL_4_1_f.pdf
Hook breathing facilitates SaO2 recovery after deep dives in Freedivers with slow recovery. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6729099/
Severe hypoxemia during apnea in humans: influence of cardiovascular responses. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://openarchive.ki.se/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10616/37980/thesis.pdf? sequence=1
Shallow water blackout – StatPearls – NCBI bookshelf. (2020, April 24). Retrieved from https:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554620/
The ins and outs of breath holding: simple demonstrations of complex respiratory physiology. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://journals.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/advan.00030.2015
Love the stories, easy to relate too.