[cdavis]

Jome, as well as everybody else, gives great advice. I can attest to the benefit of simulated dives increasing your comfort level for depth. Two points:
1. If your target is 40 m, make the simulated dives a little tougher because real depth feels more difficult than the pool.
2. Be careful with Edives. Some people call them negatives. Whatever, it is quite easy to create squeeze type injuries (personal experience) and they heal very very slowly. They are great for learning equalization deep, but go slowly. Especially, don't spend more time on the bottom than it takes to equalize. If you feel tight in the chest and/or it is very hard to equalize, time to stop. The combination of Edives and diaphragm stretches is a good one.

Connor