A series of questions

[northoceanbeach]

Ok, when I first moved to Hawaii I wanted to snorkel so I would from time to time and then I learned there is a thing called freediving. Well that is what I was doing, and I could get better? So here I am. And there are some problems I am having and just general questions.

1. How long does it usually take to improve your breath holding time. Say you practice every day. 5 seconds a week? 10?

2. Any links to how to train to hold breath longer? I suppose when you are actually diving, that's all the practice you need. But on days you don't go on land? I hav e started holding my brteath for a bout a minute sitting down and then getting up and walking until I can't hold it anymore. I do this maybe 5-10 times a day. Is that enough or should I do more or maybe do some other kind in addition?

3. Do you guys when in the ocean wear a snorkel or just the mask?

4. After I get to 20-25 feet my ears hurt so bad I can't go any further. I tried pinching my nose and blowing but it did nothing. I also took the snorkel out of my mouth and tried swallowing. ALso nothing. Am I doing something wrong or is there something wrong with my ears? AM I normal?

5. When you do something to help you earsx, do you do it whbile on the way down or do you stop and fix them and then continue?

6. Do you wear weights. I use no wetsuit, but with air in my lungs I tend to float. So once at the bottom it is a big struggle to stay down because I want to float back up. But if you wear weights do they get tiring when on the top?

Thankls alot I'm sure I'll have more questiopns in the future, but this would help me get started.

 

[apnearevOlution]

Heh, how old are you?



Anyways, to answer some of your questions..

1. How long does it usually take to improve your breath holding time. Say you practice every day. 5 seconds a week? 10?


you can increase your breathhold in a few days, as long as you practice the right way, i would reccomend starting off by doing some co2 tables to adapt your body to co2.

Tryout "Apnoe Trainer" And set it up this way:
You said you can hold your breath for 1 minute sitting down, so i would reccomend doing 1 minute breath holds, with 100 second rest periods, decreasing it by 10 seconds each time, for 8 loops.

After doing this for a week or so, go for a max hold, and i can gaurentee that it will be greater than 1 minute.

3. Do you guys when in the ocean wear a snorkel or just the mask?

i wear a snorkel, i have heard of people not using them to be safer, but I have not had any problems yet.

4. After I get to 20-25 feet my ears hurt so bad I can't go any further. I tried pinching my nose and blowing but it did nothing. I also took the snorkel out of my mouth and tried swallowing. ALso nothing. Am I doing something wrong or is there something wrong with my ears? AM I normal?

Okay, i had this problem once, you are just nervous about blowing to hard. When your out of the water, just try blowing harder until your ears pop. You are most likely nervous about damaging your ears. And you are very normal, everyone will eventually feel pain in there ears at 25 feet.

Another thing you can do, is pretend you are yawning, and don't open your mouth. This will do the same effect as blowing out of your pinched nose.


5. When you do something to help you earsx, do you do it whbile on the way down or do you stop and fix them and then continue?

After you learn to equalize, most people can equalize as faster as there speed swimming down. However if you are at a point where you just cant equalize, swim up a few feet, and try again. Some things that help me if i come to a spot where i just cant equalize, is i hold my nose and blow, while shaking my head from left to right. Ussually i have to equalize every 8 to 10 ft or so


6. Do you wear weights. I use no wetsuit, but with air in my lungs I tend to float. So once at the bottom it is a big struggle to stay down because I want to float back up. But if you wear weights do they get tiring when on the top?


until you are more comfortable in the water and can equalize, i would not trust wearing weights at this point, mostly because you'll become negatively boyant, and you will be sinking, and you may not be able to keep up with clearing your ears.if you are struggling to stay at the bottom, just swim horizontal some.

Weights do not get very tiring as long as you are good at treading water, however acending from a dive is much harder with extra weight on you, and you need to make sure you kno what you are doing. If worse comes to worse, drop that belt, its cheaper than over exerting yourself and drowning


Another tip, if you have a stuffy nose, you will notice it very difficult to equalize, this is because the sinuses are blocked, and you cant push air throu gh your nasal cavity.


Good luck!!


PS: heres a link to apnoe trainer, http://forums.deeperblue.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=4302

be carful and dont push yourself.

 

[northoceanbeach]

thanks for your reply. I wasn't trying to blow my nose too hard, yeah I thought that might be bad.

ALso I am 27, ands I can hold by breath just sitting there for 1.45 to 2.00, I was saying to get used to working with CO2 I would hold it for a minute sitting there and while still holding it get up and walk so that I would be more used to holding while doing light aerovbic exercise. I read this on a site about holding your breath longer for surfing, which is what made me interested in diving again after not having snorkelled in about a year.

 

[XyseR]

hey northoceanbeach. i read somewhere if you run for 50-100m pretty quickly while holding your breath will incrsee your c02 talarance. i did that yesterday and it helps a lot! another thing is to exhal all the air in your lungs so they like touch or whatever and then hold your breath. this is like crazy hard, but it is good i think? if this isn't safe tell me please . so far my max is 40seconds like this. hope you can incresse your holding time.



-XyseR