I cant get past 4.15

[Bill]

That sounds like a good schedule to me Seymour. See where it takes you. Add stretches or meditation or anything that isn't hard work or time consuming, like one minute of easy situps when you get up or full lung stretches when the news comes on TV. The running may not do much for diving but it will be good in many other ways.

Negatives of doing repeated max attempts Azapa?? I just talked about this with the most experienced teacher that I know. I think he called it something like 'training for or until failure'. We see it here in constant weight dives with no depth restricion. Soon there is no enjoyment in training. Worst case, too much for too long leads to depression, IMHO.

[azapa]

A little follow up Bill, I managed a new PB of 4:50 last night, and it was not the best warm up of the set. Very light contractions from about 3:00 on despite a poor 2min breath up. Makes me feel I have plenty more left (good confidence boost) Thanks again.

[Bill]

Good news Azapa. It's funny how those PBs work. Last month my buddy was caught in traffic and I couldn't get into the pool until 8 minutes before the start of the hold. Out of the clear blue sky, my best static in 7-8 months, by far.

[hteas]

Seymour,
You don't mention wind sprints. I do them in the pool once a week. 25 yds or meters, full out, followed by 1 minute breatheup, the do another one. I try to get 10-12 in a session. They seem to help with lung conditioning for long spearfishing sessions, along with the statics.

Howard

[seymour]

Howard, can you please explain what wind sprints are, I have no idea. If it is good exercise I would like to know how to do them properly. Thanks.

[samdive]

Sorry if I'm a bit late responding - but I'd say the answer to this thread lies in its title

tell yourself, "I can't get past 4 15" and you never will. Tell yourself "I'm going to do 4 25" today and you might just do it....

try a bit of positive thinking and maybe that'll avoid having to do "wind sprints" (whatever they are)

PS this is second hand advice from Benny B that worked for me!

[hteas]

Wind sprints are short bursts of absolute maximum effort, followed by a short relaxation period. In the pool I do 25 yd/m (30 seconds) all out using a kickboard, followed by 1 minute relaxation, the do another 25 yd/m, again followed by a short break. I do 10 to 15 of these. If it's too easy, then drop down to 30 second rest breaks.
You can do it in the pool or running, running stairs or hills, or whatever. The idea is to get your heart rate to it's maximum and keep it there for a little while (around 30 seconds) several times in short succession, followed by brief rests stops to help your heartrate drop back down and clear out some of the lactic acid.
You get a real workout for your lungs along with training to get your legs used to the lactic acid burn, and you are cycling your body from normal to hypoxic/hypercapnic and back severa times, like your body's response to several dives in a row.

Works for me,
Howard