[laminar]

Hi Everyone,

Well, day 4 and Kars' post has good timing. I think that this kind of training necessitates excellent recovery, otherwise overtraining effects result. I think that this can be felt even from one day to another.

Today, I felt actually pretty good going to the pool. But in reality, I have not been getting enough sleep recently. About 5-6 hours per night. I felt sleepy and low energy. Yesterday I was able to get over 6 minutes on the 3rd static, but today no dice:

1st static: 4'30" This static was insanely difficult. First contraction was a 3'10" or so (but I was tense starting at 2'00") and then at about 4'20" I felt such an intense feeling of suffocation that I had to come up. My ears rang slightly after surfacing, which has never happened after only 4 minutes!

2nd static: 4'15"-ish....same feeling. Contractions delayed a bit longer but same horrible feeling. I didn't feel like blacking out, just that each contraction was taking a huge chunk out of me.

3rd static: 5'01"...slightly easier, contractions at 3'30" but quickly became unbearable and I just felt exhausted.

This would appear to be overtraining or fatigue or both since I can usually make 5 minutes on a first breath hold with ease.

I don't think that in this state I am making any progress. I am taking tomorrow night off and I will nourish my body. That may not be enough....

Another thing that I find is very relevant to this discussion is how static training intersects with real life:

-the reason that I do only 3 attempts is that since Eric and I train together, 3 attempts each takes about 2 hours in the pool + travel time to and from the pool. More than that and I feel like I'm wasting time. If I didn't work and could schedule statics I would do them at 4-6 pm, fitting it in with eating schedules and proper sleep patterns. Unfortunately, that's not an option right now.

-Because of the pool hours and work we generally can only go to the pool at 7:00-7:30 pm. This means we don't leave until 9:00-9:30 pm.

-When to eat? I find eating late at night throws off my whole feeling of well-being. So I don't eat that much at night during static training. But no doubt the body needs nourishment to make adaptations and anti-oxidants to clear away the waste products. Today I felt as though I was laced with acid.

In the past I've noticed that it is rare that I have two consecutive days of progress, more often the second day is an "off day," where my times drop to 4'00-5'00. Not enough recovery time sounds like a reasonable explanation when you are making attempts close to my pb.

I have to remind myself that I haven't adapted to this kind of training like Tom Sietas has. Just like an Olympic swimmer who trains at an intensity that would probably kill me, I imagine static apnea is no different. Getting even close to that level takes months or years, not days.


Eric went after me:

1st static: 4'30" and it looked difficult. I was starting to wonder if he was also burnt out.

2nd: 7'08" Very strong. A new pb in training (but not in competition).

Eric is getting 8-10 hours of sleep as well but also noted that he felt acidic in general.

Jason: I never do any purging before a static. Even breathing through my mouth is sometimes enough to give me symptoms of over-ventilation (buzzing in fingers, lips, delayed contractions, mental fuzziness late in a breath hold), so I've done away with it. I know that Tom seems to do one or two small purges before going, but maybe his body can handle that. I'd like to ask him about that.

I find that quite interesting seeing as the Dr.s who spoke at the Worlds were saying that Co2 levels were the main limiting factor to static times. They also noted that their studies showed experienced freedivers were doing longer breath holds primarily due to better purging technique, lowering their Co2 levels before a static and therefore allowing more of it to accumulate before getting close to maximum levels during the hold.

I think that this idea is too simplistic (it is one that I used to believe in, as evidenced by my experience with different methods of hyperventilation ) because of the importance of the Bohr effect (acidity) and the perils of the Haldane effect (alkalinity). If getting rid of CO2 is the limiting factor in static apnea, then why doesn't Tom Sietas HYPERVENTILATE for 10 minutes? The problem with hyperventilating for 10 minutes is that your blood becomes so alkaline that hemoglobin affinty for oxygen skyrockets and no longer releases sufficient oxygen to brain and tissues--> black out. Remember le Japonais in the Big Blue?

The other problem with this point of view is the "evidence" it is based on. I assume that the studies cited showed trained freedivers in contrast to untrained people. Anyone with even a bit of training can hold their breath past that psychological break point, which is a significant difference. Even if the studies compared freedivers doing statics with and without purging, the results are meaningless because (I assume) the majority have been training to use purges and have not adapted to statics without any breathe up. So if in 2001 you asked me to be a part of this study (when I was using multiple warm ups and different forms of hyperventilation) and try statics with and without a warm-up, no doubt I would have said that hyperventilation was the better way.

I think purging and a "breathe-up" confuse us by making the static appear "easier." But "easier" does not always mean "better."

Okay, I need to sleep now. Thanks for sharing everybody.

Pete Scott
Vancouver, BC