Thoughts on body adaptation for FRC-diving

[Waterenthusiast]

I was poundering on the question wether it is possible to increase overall body oxygen stores through training, and if it would have any effects on Freediving ( in comparison to other factors like dive-reflex and metabolic rate changing).

This question is specifically related to empty-Lung diving (FRC), as i recently decided to switch completly to this diving philosophy.
I followed the recent threads on empty-lung divings, and especially the posts of Sebastien Murat. I realize that a strong Diving reflex is a key-element, and according to a post from Sebastien Murat high hematocrit is not really having a positive impact on max-performances, so i wanted to know if there are other factors that could prolonge the divetime and are "trainable".

Hope my written thoughts are clear to everyone

Christophe

P.S: If there are any scientific publications on the subject, don't refrain from posting the links, as i'm quite curious about the subject and have access to many papers as a Biology student

[efattah]

I have measured my hematocrit levels before and after training, and exhale apnea walks had a large impact and created a significant increase in hematocrit, combined with iron supplementation.

I purchased my blood analyzer because I thought I was anemic and iron deficient (despite having set a WR!!) and I was -- Hb = 13.0 g/dl. After a couple of months of massive iron supplementation (iron protein succinylate), my hemoglobin stabilized around 15.0g/dl. It remains there if I don't do hypoxic training. With exhale apnea walks, it reached 16.6g/dl. All these values are averages over dozens of readings.

Most hypoxic training (with sufficient) iron, raises blood volume & hematocrit, with positive effect on diving performance. Seb Murat himself reached a 63% hematocrit (Hb= 21g/dl) during serial (repeated) FRC dynamics of 50m. However he commented that repeated dynamics didn't allow him to reach his ultimate max on a single max dive.

However, it also depends on what style of diving you do. Personally I do almost entirely repeated dives, so repeated diving with high hematocrit suits me fine.

[naiad]

Does hypoxic training with full lungs (O2 tables and max statics or dynamics) have the same effect?

I sometimes do exhale training (when I am feeling brave enough!) but I am not confident enough to do it often (don't want to get too hypoxic).

Lucia

[OceanMan]

Originally Posted by efattah

I purchased my blood analyzer because I thought I was anemic and iron deficient (despite having set a WR!!) and I was -- Hb = 13.0 g/dl.

Eric,
Being a healthy sportman, why were you anemic (if there is a reason)? How could you set a WR while being anemic, is there a connection?
Cheers,
M

[efattah]

I was anemic due to years of a vegetarian diet. I found out that most vegetarians have borderline iron stores, and when you add hypoxic training, the iron in your body disappears very fast as it is incorporated into hemoglobin or myoglobin.

Yasemin Dalkilic was also anemic when she set her records, and Pelizzari was anemic during his 80m/150m records due to overtraining (or some other factor).

In my case, I was able to set a WR while anemic because I was actually diving quite far from my hypothetical limit. I elicited extreme vasoconstriction which helped conserve O2 so much that my O2 stores weren't as important. Plus, my 82m record was the first men's CW record set with a monofin and extreme packing, both of which gave me a huge advantage, overwhelming any disadvantage from blood quality. I don't recommend extreme packing or any packing anymore, however.

[naiad]

Originally Posted by efattah

I was anemic due to years of a vegetarian diet. I found out that most vegetarians have borderline iron stores, and when you add hypoxic training, the iron in your body disappears very fast as it is incorporated into hemoglobin or myoglobin.

Same with me. I am not vegetarian any more, and not anemic. I stopped being vegetarian before I started freediving, so it is hard to know how it would have affected my diving performance.

[Waterenthusiast]

Thank you all for your inputs,
I would describe my diving style as repeated sub max diving, with ocasionally more pushed attempts. So my training plan is primary getting a psychological (this one i'm aware of) and physiological (hopefully) adaptation to FRC diving. But i also realized that i needed muscular training for my daily life, as my back needs some attention, and i enjoy having a moderate fitness level through aerobic sessions.
Now following this idea it seems to me that having a relatively high hematocrit would be beneficial for my diving style.
The question puzzling me, is what would be the most effective hematocrit in order to maximize oxygen binding, without having issues due to reduced exchanging surfaces ?

Christophe