[laminar]

A recommendation for those of you trying FRC as something new:

Pick an "easy" depth (say 8-14m) in which you don't strain to equalize and one that you know you can surface from fairly quickly if you misjudge your air.

Find a lung volume/ballast combination that allows you to sink after 1-2 gentle dolphin kicks or arm pulls. Try to do these as relaxed as possible.

The main thing to relearn is your energy expenditure on the way down. Spend weeks on this, at least. If you can dive down a slope and crawl along the bottom with your fingers, that's ideal.

Use frenzel (learn it if you can't). If you repeat the SAME depth over and over again on FRC you should find that your ability to equalize without tension or effort will improve. Ideally, you would avoid any packing for statics or any other discipline during this period (although that is entirely up to you - I would).

You may experience a variety of sensations at this shallow depth. In my opinion you should allow for enough time to:
-"teach" your body to blood shift earlier and earlier by diving FRC all the time
-allow for your RV to get smaller gradually over time (negatives not necessary for this purpose)
-practice energy conservationn with efficient technique (very important)
-learn new sensations in lungs and body on FRC (what does an urge to breathe feel like and mean when you've made no effort to descend?)
-avoid pushing the time to contractions in the beginning. Aim to prolong your time without contractions (use the same natural breathing pattern every time- that's vital) by using less energy during your dive.

It can take a long time to recalibrate your diving style to FRC. The first thing you may notice is that doing any work at depth burns your oxygen very fast. That defeats the benefits of FRC. Making the descent similar to static apnea is the secret that allows the body to blood shift to its fullest and make the ascent as anaerobic as possible. If you move around and waste energy, you won't feel like going deep is possible.

After a while, IMHO, the blood shift trumps everything else, but that takes time. In the Bahamas I was providing primary safety freedives on FRC to 20m. I would NOT have done that a year ago. The blood shift is strong enough that I could sprint down and then wait for a long time and still have air left to provide good safety. On Dave's super long dive (the 4 minute dive), I think my total dive time was 1'45-2'00". I had one or two contractions in the last five metres. Two or three years ago, when I was first trying FRC, I would have aborted at 50 seconds or so because it just hadn't become familiar to me and I hadn't optimized my technique. The comp safety dives were simply extended recreational dives. When I dive recreationally I rarely experience contractions (that's my safety margin). In a competition setting, with two secondary safety divers (like Simon!) to back me up, I can endure another 20-40 seconds of discomfort for the sake of the athlete coming up. Nice to know that recreational dive practices can prepare you for more demanding dives.

In fact, after two and a half (or three, I'm not sure) years of FRC recreational diving and no competitive dives or training, I was able to achieve some better than expected distances in the pool at the start of a training cycle. I've done no static breath holds or tables or specific training. What I think makes the difference is that my body has become used to being at pressures greater than atmospheric from the very beginning of the dive (even when you are breathing at the surface, for example). There's no time when my lung volume exerts a pressure on the heart/lungs/etc that is greater than the water (ie. packing). So the blood shift happens faster and faster.

Unless you're already in great shape, have a strong blood shift, and can adjust your technique quickly, you should allow for a year to work on FRC. It's totally worth it!

Pete