Getting too old for this...

[icarus pacific]

...is often my refrain when I explore the process of going from horizontal to vertical, especially when it's from the mattress. But diving-wise, they'll bury me in my Yamamoto. And so as to prolong that eventuality, seeing as it's time to hit up the tool truck for another calendar, here's a question for you to ponder and reply to:

For those of you over 30, 40, and the fewer pushing 50-99 years of age, what are you doing to make your stay here and under, better. Or even possible? What is your mindset, your physical regimen, your diet and mantra? And for those in this for the long haul, what and how is it different from waaay back in the day? Simply put, what are you doing to maintain and improve your diving. And as we all know, what we do in the process here helps everywhere...

I look forward to hearing your mullings and musings, especially from you Bill, being the no holds barred ass kicker and Erik as you approach, well, 30. And if you're only a twenty-something and do the sports med thing, hey, feel free to wax medically. And you types out there with names like, Krack, Streeter, Verbeck and Nitzche, please do likewise.

See you in the coming year.

PS... it's not like I'm asking this from a personal need you understand.

[Erik]

[quote=icarus pacific Erik as you approach, well, 30. [/QUOTE]

Thanks for reminding me that my next '0' has a '5' in front of it

I still train: lift 3 days, bike 3 days commute to work 3 days- wind/snow/rain/shine, starting to run again after a year of back rehab. Try to eat smaller portions, lots of fish/whole grains/vegetables/oatmeal and of course chili/garlic since I am fed Indonesian cooking daily
It's winter here: the lakes are capped and I'm in withdrawal from not chasing fish, so I'm going to be X-country skiing this winter... I remember an old (60+)Swede up North when I was a kid in the 70's who was in ridiculously good shape and I'm going to become him this winter.
As for my diving, it's morphed in the last 2 years after I decided to get a speargun and try it out in the lakes here. The gun had been waiting for ocean trips in my basement and I got fed up waiting, as the ocean is a 12 hour drive from my house in Edmonton.
Now, when I do get in the water, I don't really enjoy it unless there's a hunt. Diving up and down a line doesn't attract me as it once did. As a matter of fact my Suunto Mosquito died this summer and I just stopped using it, and probably wont replace it.
In reference to your question Sven, I think that the answer is that I am more of a Zen diver than ever: I could care less how deep I am or how long I'm down. I'm just diving and hunting, enjoying and living the state of grace that I seek at all times, above or below. Moments of tears in my mask at depth are more frequent as I am more astounded by the experience of living, the older I get. And more thankful.
It's not the technical answer you maybe were seeking, but I guess I'm saying: who cares?...just get in and be happy, whatever happens. Can't equalise?- no problem, just snorkel. Bad day for bottom time?- it's ok, time is relative; adjust your time sense. Tired?- relax and be thankful you can feel tired. No dinner showing up?- it's all good, maybe next time.
Warmly,
Erik Y.

[jpelorat]

Hi,

I´m 34 and i don´t really feel i´m getting older. Of course somethings had changed with time, mentally (maturity) and physically (maturity..... :-) ).

I´ve been a SCUBA diver for about 6 years and Freediver for just 11 months, so, i can´t feel any lost in my skills, i´m just getting better. Perhaps i´m lucky, but deep inside i think i should started younger.

When i saw this year Niza females results. I got very motivated, was then when i realized that the Freediving barriers are more mental than physical, so, i´m pushing my self a little bit harder.

What i´m doing to improve my skills is just keeping fit, practising some yoga, swimming some times, taking care of my feeding (not too much sugar and carbs) and getting the more information i can from the sources i have (books, deeperblue.net, instructor,....).

I´m sure every one has their own opinion on getting old, but i´m convinced that aging is a mental thing with physical consequences. It is a beautiful part of our journey through this planet.

Sigi...

[cdavis]

Hi Sven

The ANSWER: pool work out twice a week, breathing through your farallon at all times while in the water. This perpetuates the lung power necessary to use that gargantuan snorkel. Do that and nothing can touch you, ever. Of course when your last spare dies and you can't have mine, thats it, game over, next stop the nursing home.

Actually, at 55 going on 56, I've had the same thoughts, so I'll be real interested in what comes out of this thread.

For me, my work is active, good for flexibility and some strength, if not aerobics. I work out 2, sometimes 3 times a week in the pool. Distance is usually about a mile, mostly aerobic, with a few negatives and dynamics thrown in to keep up free diving skills. One set I like is swim 25, hold x (working up to 45 sec), and swim another x (going from 25 to 50 yrds), good practice for real diving. In the winter and spring, I do some apnea walking and diaphram stretching getting ready for summer diving.

I stay away from stress. Family life is good. The business is mine, no employees and I don't allow anybody to give me crap except me.

My lovely wife feeds me a healthy diet. Lots of brown rice (she can actually make it taste great, incredible!), fresh vegies and fruit, not much meat. After a while a big Tbone doesn't even look good. But a big grouper filet never loses its alure.

I spend a good bit of time studying the techniques and ideas that come up on DB and trying some of them out in the pool. A few make it to the ocean. It all helps.

How is it different from back in the day? I'm a much better diver than 5 or 10 or 40 years ago, diving deeper, for longer and safer than ever before. Admittedly that is because of better technique thanks to DB, PF, etc. It would be fun to know what I could have done at 25 with today's knowledge. Maybe I'm fooling myself, but I don't think it would have been much different, except for better stamina. Stamina is definately less. Working out helps a lot, and the older I get, the more I have to work out. Reducing the level of agressiveness in my diving helps make stamina loss less of a problem.

What I notice most is a mellowing of attitude. Shooting at least several coolers of fish is no longer even attractive. Agressiveness and competitiveness aren't gone, but they sure are less noticeable. I spend a small part of the day shooting dinner and the rest of the day sight seeing. Again, maybe I'm fooling myself, but the new attitude seems like a better idea.

A wise man once told me, " If you want to get rich, think about it all the time" I wasn't too good at focusing on that, but I think about diving just about all the time. (OK Sven, there's an opening too big to ignore. )

Connor

[crusty]

I turned 40 this year and its not getting any easyier.

When i was 20-30 i could eat as much crap as i wanted and never put on a gram, but now i only have to look at a piece of cake and i put on a kilo.
Mind you i was diving, swimming, surfing, playing waterpolo every day , still do all but not as often.
I have also found my recovery time from injury has greatly increased and
Have lost a small amount of flexability

To keep fit i play waterpolo twice a week, do two pool sesions a week i just did Sebastiens Murats exhale free dive course ( and loved it) so im training useing his technique, do one swimming session walk the dogs for 20min 4 times a week and get one days spearing in on most weekends and spend the rest of my free time playing with the kids

The only draw back is that im up at 5.00 am 6 days a week and asleep by 9.30 pm so my wife dosent see me in bed that much ( the love life has suffered a little).

I found my body slowed down at 35 ( a little) 38 and 40 and I have had to work quite hard to get back into shape after a 10 week layoff after a shoulder opp


Im eating heaps of Fruit, Veg, Fish + Meat and stay faaar away from crap food.

At 40 im feeling really good im only a couple of kilos above my fighting weight
and can still keep up with the young bucks

If i have found one thing its DONT STOP if you stop its take along time to get started agian, and keep a possitive attude keeping fit is 90% the mind pushing the body.

Live long and Prosper

Crusty

[Jon]

Cool thread.

I find myself quickly closing in on 40- less than 6 months away . This is a huge number for me since my own father died at 39. I know it's just a number, but still a freaky number for me. I know don't feel old, but I want to make sure I'm around for a long time to enjoy my kids.

As far as diving goes, my diving used to revolve around the deep-air/ mixed gas/wreck diving ventures. I now have very little interest in that since it's all about money and a strong back to carry all that crap around- plus, all the wrecks are now cover in mussles and you can't even see the details anymore. I've seen all the stuff I care to and will occasionaly dive deep if there's a job to do- like the plane we raised this past summer from 150'.

I would much rather be free to "play" in the water these days. That means 10 minutes to suit up and jump in to get 8 hours of water time vs. 4 hours of planning/mixing/gearing-up for 20-30 minutes of bottom time- I also have a whole lot more money in my pocket at the end of the day.

My big thrill right now is getting my daughter going on snorkeling. She's 2 1/2 and loves the water- you should see the 'happy dance' she does after swim lessons. She has the mask thing almost down and I have it on good advice that Santa is bringing her a pair of fins that actually fit, as well as a super small snorkel- in pink. I hope to have her up and running by time the lakes warm up next summer. Having to rely on dive buddies and been a pretty fruitless endvoure so I've decided to train my own- "You want your allowence, then get that suit on and grab my speargun!" That means more to me than any competition.

For personal training I switch around all the time depending upon when I get bored with something. Last year I was into long distance running. I was training for the local marathon, and raced a couple of half's in the process, when my son was born and wrecked my training a couple of weeks before the big race. Running 18 miles in a day really screwed up my underwater hockey game so I haven't gone back to that. I did switch to 4 mile runs and weight lifiting the end fo the summer and then switched that over running and swimming. Add in kayaking with my kids one night a week which then turns into underwater hockey one night a week when the weather turns and you have a base of what I do.

A couple of months ago I decided to really put an effort in with this monofin stuff. I started out doing a mile, and worked up to 2 miles, at a time in the monofin with a front-mounted snorkel. I don't know that I can dive any deeper, or further, than before but my feet can handle the abuse a lot better right now.

I like the idea of having a goal to try and perfect something and then keep hacking away at it- and in my case "hacking" is probably the best word to use. I never have to have the perfect kick, but having something to work on keeps me interested.

Recently, I have added in some under water stuff, just 25's and 50's, to warm up with before I do my longer swims in my hockey fins or monofin. I can't seem to get in the habit of running or lifting at all right now. I have no trouble jumping int the pool and going for a swim since it 'almost' feels like diving. Like Eric, we have just gotten dumped on with snow I and started XC-skiing at night with the dog in the woods by my house. It gets me outside doing something until the lakes thaw.

One thing that intersted me in freedivng was that you could actually get better at it as you aged- maybe because of a slowing metabolism? I know that it may not help for constant ballast, but it should help for static and aspetto. At least that's what I'm planning on.

Sorry for the long post.

Jon

[jimdoe2you]

Jon,

Our birthday is more than 6 months away. Don't age us faster than we really are!



Some other similatities to. I have all but given up gear intensive cave diving and retreiving things sitting on the bottom for people (boats, fishing tackle, other divers). My daughter is almost 21 months and loves the water. I will surely foster her aquatic growth very carefully since she will someday be setting records .

[land shark]

When I was young I lived in and on the water. One day we were at my grandparents and my brother took me to the forbbin gravel pit. With my snorkeling gear in hand his last words to me were "When you drop into the water and kick off close your eyes for a moment. When you open them pretend you are an eagle soaring" To my amazement I was flying!! The water was so clear it was almost non exisistant like air! below was my shadow following me along as I looked for prey. Cousteu was right! Fish scattered below like rabbits at the sight of my shadow. All fear of drowning vanished
I felt as though i was in my element. From that day my swims became day long and my dives deeper.

This is what I think of when I swim now. To be balanced and relaxed. I try to swim at least 1 mile 3 to 4 times a week. Some days very very slowly so as to not even produce a bubble in my wake. What keeps me going is my mind
working to fly in the water free as a Eagle. With this mind set I have found the heart will follow the mind. I can't await the morning for tommorow I shall fly again.


jim

[island_sands]

sorry for the old thread revamp... but instead of starting a new one, thought i'd add to this subject being that it's the same.

I have a problem - I just love FOOD, love eating, cooking, different tastes etc and when i am training keeping up with a proper diet is the most difficult part for me. One of the instructors gave me a six meals balanced diet sheet today, thought i might share it with you. I started it straight away, and i must admit that i dont have the hunger pangs or sugar cravings like i normally do.

So here goes:

BREAKFAST
08H00
OPTION 1
CEREAL + LOW FAT OR SOYA MILK
2 BOILED EGGS – I WITH YOLK, 1 W/OUT
1-2 GLASSES OF WATER
COFFEE IF NEEDED/WANTED

OPTION 2
3 FRIED EGGS (ONLY 1 WITH YOLK)
(FOR FRYING USE SAFFLOWER OR ANY LOWFAT OIL)
1 TYPE OF FRUIT OR 2 SLICES OF BROWN BREAD
1-2 GLASSES OF WATER

OPTION 3
2 BOILED EGGS (I WITH YOLK)
2 SLICES OF BROWN BREAD W/ ¼ SLICE OF 1 WHOLE CUCUMBER
¼ SLICE OF 1 WHOLE TOMATO AND 2 LEAVES OF LETTUCE
1-2 GLASSES OF WATER

OPTION 4
3 BOILED EGGS (1 W/ YOLK)
1 TYPE OF FRUIT OR SLICES OF BROWN BREAD
1-2 GLASSES OF WATER

OPTION 5
COOKED OR RAW OATMEAL WITH 2 EGGS 91 W/OUT YOLK)
1-2 GLASSES OF WATER

IN BETWEEN
10H00
1 MYOPLEX LITE BAR
COFFEE IF NEEDED
1-2 GLASSES OF WATER
OR
1 FRUIT WITH YOGHURT

LUNCH
12H00
COOKED ANY STYLE, FRIED, GRILLED, STEAMED MEAT – BEEF, CHICKEN,
FISH – 1 SLICES OF BROWN BREAD, OR 1 TYPE OF FRUIT OR BROWN
RICE SMALL BOWL OF RAW VEGETABLE SALAD
1-2 GLASSES OF WATER

IN BETWEEN
1430-1500
1 MYOPLEX LITE BAR
COFFEE IF NEEDED
1 GLASS OF WATER

DINNER
1630-1830

OPTION 1
COTTAGE CHEESE (WHOLE TUB UP TO 200G)
1 TYPE OF FRUIT OR 2 SLICES OF BROWN BREAD
1-2 GLASSES OF WATER
OPTION 2
TUNA IN WATER WITH ¼ SLICE OF 1 WHOLE CUCUMBER
¼ SLICE OF 1 WHOLE CARROT, ¼ SLICE OF 1 WHOLE TOMATO
2-3 LEAVES OF LETTUCE
1-2 GLASSES OF WATER

LIGHT MEAL
20H00-21H00

OPTION 1
1 GLASS SOYA OR LOWFAT MILK
1 TYPE OF FRUIT OR 2 SLICES OF BROWN BREAD ONLY

OPTION 2
2 SLICES OF BROWN BREAD WITH SMOOTH /PLAIN PEANUT BUTTER (NO
SUGAR AND NOT THE CRUNCHY ONE)
1-2 GLASSES OF WATER

NOTE: AVOID DATES, AVOCADO AND MANGO DURING WEEK DAYS. CHOOSE ONE DAY A WEEK AS A FREE DAY. ONLY ONE BANANA A DAY. PROTEIN PORTIONS AS BIG AS YOUR PALM. ALL OTHER PORTIONS MUST BE A FISTFUL (RICE, EACH CHOPPED VEG).

[Marwan]

i am turning 32 in less than a month, i can relate to crusty's story, i used to play waterpolo too and now i have to watch what i eat. I know i am not very qualified for this thread, but I started following something called the ABS Diet and shifted my training routine accordingly, its easy to follow at any age i think, so it might be worth checking it out. I thought i'd start taking care of things early, so i dont feel that i am obliged to change my lifestyle later on...
It was the same with my hair, i started cutting it really short (kind of army style), now that i lost a lot of it, i dont feel my looks have changed that much
anyways it could be worth checking out, ive been on it for like 2 months and i did feel a notable diference (although i havent been training at all the last 2 weeks)
cheers

[Paul Kotik]

I'll turn 56 in August. I'd say that aging provides some benefits to the freediver, but also some burdens. Roughly speaking, I think it all nets out to a reasonable expectation that one will not get worse at it too quickly. A lot depends on the individual's adaptability, adjusting to exploit those physical and mental assets which are not declining and to rely less on those that are.

[island_sands]

My instructor explained the triangle of mindset, nutrition and workout.
One can't do without the other.. or it doesnt work. And the main thing is to stay positive..

[cdavis]

I've been noticing something interesting in the freediving world. Fairly serious divers are showing up at older and older ages and more and more females are coming in. Part of that is guys like me, who got into freediving in the 60"s when it started getting popular and are now getting up around 60. Part is the spread of freediving generally and the realization that good diving doesn't seem much limited by age. Better technique helps.
A bunch of us are going on a freediving trip to Little Cayman in May, 5 or 6 PFI grads, plus wives,girlfriends, kids, etc. Some of the ladies are PFI grads. A substantial number of us are closer to 60 than 50. Most of the rest aren't exactly young divers. I expect we will be doing 30+ meter dives regularly. This doesn't sound like, "get old and go sit on a bench, because your athletic ability is going to go to zilch"
I think the day of large numbers of 70+ year old codgers doing serious depth and time is just around the corner (80+ anyone?). How about a masters program for older competitive freedivers? Looking forward to it.

Connor

[Paul Kotik]

Originally Posted by cdavis

I've been noticing something interesting in the freediving world. Fairly serious divers are showing up at older and older ages and more and more females are coming in. Part of that is guys like me, who got into freediving in the 60"s when it started getting popular and are now getting up around 60. Part is the spread of freediving generally and the realization that good diving doesn't seem much limited by age. Better technique helps.
A bunch of us are going on a freediving trip to Little Cayman in May, 5 or 6 PFI grads, plus wives,girlfriends, kids, etc. Some of the ladies are PFI grads. A substantial number of us are closer to 60 than 50. Most of the rest aren't exactly young divers. I expect we will be doing 30+ meter dives regularly. This doesn't sound like, "get old and go sit on a bench, because your athletic ability is going to go to zilch"
I think the day of large numbers of 70+ year old codgers doing serious depth and time is just around the corner (80+ anyone?). How about a masters program for older competitive freedivers? Looking forward to it.

Connor

Right on, Connor. Maybe you should all wear these.

Graphics by yours truly.

[cdavis]

Made in the USA, home of the baby boom, of course.

Connor