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Pre spearing prep

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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Pointandhope

Well-Known Member
Apr 28, 2014
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Just started this wonderful sport this year and am keen to learn what preparations you guys might make on the day or the day before,regarding hydration, eating and what i should avoid.
My first proper trip I spent maybe 3 hrs in gently creeping around and diving shallow, nothing greatly strenuous. I swam maybe a round kilometre to check out another headland, them headed for home. My head was thumping and legs were jelly and the 400ft climb with 12kg of lead didn't ease things! Anyway I can say I was s*****d for a couple of days later and am certain dehydration was the cause.
Another trip to the same venue all things relatively equal went fine, the only major difference being project hydrate before hand and took 2 litres of squash on my float,and a very small meal 3 hrs before entering the water. I would say I'm modestly fit and run 2-3 times a week around 3km a time. Does this sound familiar to anyone or am I just less fit than I thought!
 
I am very interested in this topic - I have had M.E. / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome most of my adult life and whilst I have made amazing progress over recent years, it is still there a bit. When I do activity and am fatigued afterwards I often try to figure out if it was the illness or being unfit which brings on post exercise malaise.


From what you have described it does sound familiar however I feel these effects can be mitigated. If you require litres of water to keep your energy levels up you may be overheating, it may be because you are doing extended sessions or a combination of both. A thumping head and being very thirsty sounds like you were overheating… were you walking in your wetsuit?


When I started I used a 7mm suit during some of the warmer months. It took a few trips to realise that I was overheating - I thought it was normal to be very thirsty when diving. I now wear a 5mm suit when it’s warmer and rarely take more than a sip from my water bottle for a two hour session where there is not much of a walk to and from the venue. I should probably be drinking more even if I don’t feel like it as regular hydration can keep energy levels up.


From the trips you have been undertaking they seem more like an endurance test… there is an extended or very strenuous walk to the get in point, you spend hours in the water then you head back. We are talking about those more remote Purbeck marks right?!


Last week I took my dog for a walk down to one…. I consider him fit, he gets walked 3 times a day and there’s usually some ball throwing involved. When I took him down to Lulworth and Mupe area area he was fatigued for two days afterwards. I figure the swimming, cliff climbing and uneven terrain which he is not used to hit his body in places which don’t normally get hit.


For a fit person, if you are not doing this type of exercise on a regular basis you will still feel it and it will take time to recover. Even for runners, more than 30 minutes of intense exercise can bring on fatigue and recovery time of a few days.


If you are running 3km at a time I would try and increase one of those runs to at least twice that. That will help with the endurance side of things. For recovery, just recognise that after an extended session you may be fatigued a while, go with it and rest up.


Glutamine is a popular supplement which helps with muscle pain after exercise. I also take a supplement called d-ribose which helps restore energy levels. Long country walks, hill climbs and hours in the water will mean many free radicals are released in your body hampering recovery…. foods high in antioxidants will help neutralise them - most fruit and vegetables are good sources, particularly many types of berries. I have a juicer here and usually juice beetroot, carrot and apple when I am fighting fatigue.


My trolley should be here next week which will hopefully lessen the energy exerted during those long Purbeck sessions.
 
i like to keep things as natural as possible as sugars e numbers and supplements have unknown effects at depth plus not good for the body long term. the night before i have a large meal of fish veg and spuds or something then i'll i start the day with something small breakfast, either 1 egg on toast or rolled oats with honey a few hours before i dive (good slow release energy). as for a drink i take a 2lt of water and fruit tea in a flask (heavy on honey) and if i know im out for a long time a small lunch something like a pasta salad, half a sandwich or just fruit (30mins wait after to let it settle). i stay way from meat cheese and fats as they are hard to digest. with this i have stayed out for 7 hours at a time with no problem and burning calories at 1500 an hour im happy with the routine.
 
Simon, yes remote purbecks for sure, as I like to keep away from busy areas! Walking in my suit and strenuous trips probably add up to fatigue. Couple of things to work on. Thanks for the tips, off for a run!
 
I would have trouble running 100m in less than 20 seconds these days yet I can still swim 100 m in a breath. I would have trouble running a klm now, yet I can walk or swim all day. I have never found running or aerobic exercise to improve my diving. I actually started to improve my breath/diving when I gave up martial arts & aerobic exercise in my early 30's. I have found that as I have aged I have become heavier ( 182cm & 100kg now) & stronger & my diving has improved accordingly. In my late teens I was about 62 kgs, late 20s 80 kgs & late 30's 100 kgs & was diving the best I ever have. I don't sit behind a desk & usually work till dark every day. I still work at my trade now, but I also farm & breed wildlife as well as doing some wildlife capture & assisting in a little research. I guess I have a pretty active lifestyle (except when sitting on my bum from so much travel these days) & IMO diving fitness is more about stamina & strength, not about aerobics.

My routine for a good day of diving (working hard) would be to get 8 hours sleep, add one hour sleep for every beer that evening, & drink lots of water. At sunrise have a cup of coffee & 2 slices of toast with peanut butter. Go to the bathroom & then dive. I drink fresh water ad lib. At midday another coffee & a sandwich, & maybe a piece of fruit. I never take my wetsuit off at lunch, because if I or others do, you can bet that lunch will stretch out for another hour. In the afternoon I'll have sugar sweets or lollies on hand (if using a tender & always lots of fresh water) & will eat a couple of hundred grams of sugar in an afternoon if I'm feeling weak. Be back on land or the big boat a couple of hours before dark. Sort out any fish/ equipment, etc for the next day. Have a shower, a couple of drinks & as much to eat as I can, allow 8 hours sleep, plus one hour for each drink & get up & do it all again.

Cheers Sharkey
 
Well I try to eat a very light breakfast, one or two pieces of toast maximum and a cup of coffee. Then start moving to the fishing spot of the day, which takes a couple of hours at least. During those two hours I drink about a litre of water. Then I get in the water for two-three hours then come back on the boat to take a leak, drink some water, then get back in the sea again. I can keep doing this for most of the day, till it is dark. Sleeping early in the evening, really helps me. I never stay up late, if I am to fish the next day :)
 
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It looks like your fitness training is not the best.
Start with improving it.
Run. Minimum 5 km per session, in order that your body to recognize the need of a change. After a while, when 5 km is easy, run 5 km but faster. If bored of 5 km at speed, run uphill.
Eat 5 meals a day. Carbs in the morning, proteins in the evening. Not fats, not MacDonald.
Load with carbs in the day befor diving : potatoes, pasta, bread, etc. Whatever you like best.
In the morning of diving eat at least 2,5 - 3 hour before. Small meal, mainly carbs.
When into water I never drink water or liquids, even if spearfish for 5-7 hours . But it's best to drink small quantities at regular times.

Marius
 
Depends on how you like to dive and where you dive, but 3-4 hours in the water spearing (from shore) can be very taxing because you probably aren't able to take in any nutrients. Hydration is very important, but you also need electrolytes to keep going, and you also will burn through your body's amino acid stores in that time, and you may burn through stored glycogen as well (this is food energy stored by your muscles).

If you spear regularly, you will get conditioned to the exercise and it will be easier. There are obviously loads of training threads on here for freediving, but spearing tends to involve more stamina than 'pure' freediving or line diving. If you are going to jog for fitness it's not detrimental to spearing but if you mix some sprint work and hypoxic cardio into your jogging you'll probably see more benefit since a long spearing sesssion is usually some lower to moderate intensity cardio (surface swimming), interspersed by higher intensity hypoxic cardio (the dives) which may cross lactic threshholds and become truly anearobic (deep/long dives).

As someone mentioned, glutamine can be a good supplement to help with the extended cardio portion, creatine can help with the anearobic aspects, and general aminos are good to keep the muscles working. You can get your electrolytes from a sport multivitamin.

Typically if I am going to do a real day of spearing (8-14 hours in the water, dozens of dives between 10M to 30M, from a boat), I eat a pretty good sized breakfast--nothing too spicy but I'll do plenty of bacon and fatty foods which provide dense, long term energy, and a low glycemic carb source like oatmeal and fruit. I'll have plenty of fluids and a sport multivitamin. When I'm training I take 5-6 grams of creatine every day, so muscles will be pretty topped off from yesterday.

Throughout the day I will sip water and munch trail mix, fruit, and protein heavy sports drink like Muscle Milk (lots of amino acids + some electrolytes). After about every 4-6 hours I will take a multivitamin as well as some creatine. After about 6 hours I have a sandwhich or actual meal. When shorediving I supplemented with l-glutamine because it involved more surfacing swimming but with boat support I don't usually bother. I don't touch 'sport' drinks like Gatorade unless diluted about 4:1 with water.
 
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I take superfood/supergreen/hemp protein shakes for small liquid meals and coconut water for rehydrationon the go in my towable packhorse float.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have found;

Nano encapsulated GSH Glutathione from LivOnLabs is an excellent liver supplement and antioxidant that assists with additional energy production.

Their Vitamin C supplement range is the closest thing to intravenous Vitamin C ...and IMHO essential in alleviating the free radical damage associated with extended in water workouts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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