Adding a purge and pack

[mrjomac]

Hi folks,
I’ve been freediving a couple of months now, I’m comfy with contractions and tonight I started adding a purge and pack to my breathing to see what would happen dry static. I thought I’d post this on here to see if you folks think I’m doing something stupid, before trying it in the water.

For the last few months I’ve been breathing like this before hold.
Relax for a couple of minutes breathing out double the time I breathe in.
3 big stomach-chest breaths, slow whistle exhale - no forced exhale
Dry static my PB is about 2:30 like this, contractions start after about 1:10
My dives are about 0:50-1:15.

With a 5mm wettie face down in the water breathing though a snorkel I really don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere near my full lung volume before the dive and I reckon my Co2 is higher than dry static too, maybe because of the snorkel.

I feel like I’m starting to run a bit low on air to frenzel at around 20m so wanted to try adding one gulp mouthful pack before hold to have a little more volume. Also, now I’m comfy with contractions I wanted to see what a purge before the last big breath would change and if there were any obvious negative side effects like dizziness etc. The purge is not as total as it could be, but definitely a forced exhale before the last big breath.

With a purge and pack my dry static tonight was 3:30, contractions started after about 2:00 with a slower rhythm and lower intensity than without the purge and pack. Contractions felt fine, actually less harsh than usual, not at all explosive, which is what I was expecting. The other two breaths and slow whistle exhale I’m doing with normal volume, no purge or pack.

I felt fine, relaxed, no dizziness both during the hold and afterwards. My buddy said I had red eyes after the max hold. I noticed that with the purge and pack I got hot during the hold, whereas before I didn’t.

So is adding this purge and pack a bad idea or does it sound OK?

Thanks

 

[ShallowGuy]

Hi MrJomac,

I'm interested in topic as well.

Personally I'm waiting to introduce packing but my recent results let me thinking about prolonging it even more.

I've experimented with relaxation and training tables and reached not so bad static result without anything else.

I'm confident you will be able to improve significantly without packing.

 

[mrjomac]

Hi Shallowguy,
Yeah I read up quite a bit on packing and I definitely don't want to go anywhere near multiple comp-style packing.

It's been maybe 3 weeks since I tried a timed dry static max so some of the difference may just be natural progression as we're diving quite regularly at the mo.

The thing is, when in the water in a wet suit and breathing through a snorkel I really don't feel like I'm getting a good lungfull and my contractions feel like they kick in pretty early = higher co2, so I thought try just one mouthful/gulp before hold to add a little pressure and see what a purge does dry static to compensate for the lower lung volume when being squeezed by the wettie and the higher co2 when breathing through a snorkel. Methinks that if I feel OK and contractions kick in around halfway through the dry hold then I should be OK in the water as I'll be on a lower air volume and higher co2 due to the wettie and snorkel, but maybe not, which is why I'm asking.

I'll try this today doing apnea stretching as there's one exercise that really spins my head if I'm overdoing the breathing

 

[MarcinB]

One or two packs wouldn't make much difference. Try to lay on the surface on your back and take the snorkel out. This way water will not induce pressure on your chest and you should be able to inhale more air. Do a maximal inhale, relax for a second and then try to inhale some more air (without releasing the air). Then do it again. It works well for me. Of course you'll never be able to inhale as much air as in dry conditions because wetsuit restricts chest expansion a bit, especially if it's thick.

It's normal that contractions kick in earlier when you dive (even if the dive is very slow), because you perform some work and it's much harder to relax completely (as compared to static).

 

[mrjomac]

Thanks for the tips Marcin.
I have done face up a few times and quite liked it.
Will definitely try waiting a second before taking last gulp of air.

Tried the apnea stretches with the purge and pack, no strange side effects.

 

[mrjomac]

Tried this in the water last night and didn't like it.
It was much harder to purge and pack face down in the water in a 5mm wettie breathing through a snorkel. I can gulp a last bit of air after inhaling through a snorkel on land and it's much easier.

What did change considerably was that it was a lot harder to dive taking that relaxed feeling down with me, making the dive less enjoyable, and with shorter dive times.

On the way back up it felt less like that dreamlike-contractions "OK we're going back to the surface, but no rush" state, and was more like an "I've gotta breath soon" struggle, so it's not where I want to go to progress with my diving.
Tried lying on my back a few times and it was easier to purge and take last gulp but still went down with a slightly higher stress level than usual, and it just wasn't an enjoyable way to dive.

I was also trying 1kg less on the belt (neutral at 12-13m) so had to kick harder on the way down which may have had something to do with times and O2 consumption, but I don't think it would affect relaxation/stress much.

 

[MarcinB]

If your lungs are 100% full, and especially if you pack, the dive is less relaxed. That is normal for an average freediver. If your goal is to dive in a relaxed way fill your lungs with air to ~90%. You need these last gulps of air (and packing as well) only if you want do dive close to your depth limit or break your PB.

 

[mrjomac]

Thanks Marcin

 

[rddk]

Guys there's no need to pack at all for fo few meters. I undestand if you're stacking in a dept that is near 80 mt and you dun have enough air to equalize but packing air when your problem is improuving your equalization skill seems me nonsense.
Same thing for static or dynamic in those disciplines packing is usless when you already have to work on basic stuff like relaxation or tecquniche. I advice you to do first a freediving course and than when you're a lot more experienced to start trying new stuff. Now is like a newrby that has just taken the driving licence and wanna drive a F1 car.

 

[mrjomac]

Thanks Rddk,
Done a course, learnt to Frenzel, experimented with purging and packing and didn't like it.
Agree that for me at the mo it's best to concentrate on relaxation and technique.