Advice needed from pros

[Thorrian]

Hi everyone.
I need an advice from pros and advanced free divers. answers will be appreciated very much.


when i do static dry apnea, sometimes its short and sometimes its long. i assume it depends on predive breath. when i breath normally before final inhale, my performance gets poor. but when i do 10-15 deep breath (before final inhale), i can do 1:15 min more than usual, but sometimes i lose consciousness and find myself with empty lungs in few seconds. it will be not good if it happens to me in the water . so can u tell me what is the optimal predive breath?
thx 4 help

 

[growingupninja]

You are hyperventilating so the hold feels more comfortable but your body ends up with less useable O2 and so your breakpoint puts you closer to blackout. Work on your CO2 tolerance and accept that apnea is not easy. If you are doing interval work, especially on an aggressive interval then naturally you may need to breathe heavy between holds to reach stasis before starting the next dive/hold, but if you are at rest you are already saturated with O2, or maybe one deep breath away from saturation.

 

[Thorrian]

thanks for respond.

can you make this clear: "Work on your CO2 tolerance and accept that apnea is not easy". Is that mean everybody can hold breath lets say for 7 min, but they begin to suffer at 2:30-3:00 min? i have to push this point? if its so,how can i know my limit?

thanks again.

 

[growingupninja]

:crutch

thanks for respond.

can you make this clear: "Work on your CO2 tolerance and accept that apnea is not easy". Is that mean everybody can hold breath lets say for 7 min, but they begin to suffer at 2:30-3:00 min? i have to push this point? if its so,how can i know my limit?

thanks again.

There are lots of threads for increasing CO2 tolerance--you can do tables or (more effectively) dynamic sets on an interval. Usually CO2 sets will be lots of reps at a shorter distance/time with a short recovery period. A tough set will probably give you lots of contractions and a headache; as your tolerance improves the high CO2 level and the associated discomfort will lessen. It can take months of regular training to improve your CO2 tolerance.

And yes most people can hold their breath probably 3 times longer than they think they can but it takes serious training to get to the point where you can consciously hold to samba or blackout (without hyperventilating). You don't need to try and push to your limit everytime; if you train regularly at less than your max you will see results and it will get easier to reach your max, and your max will increase as well.

Find a training partner. Don't worry so much about where your limit is or trying to reach it; it's not productive or healthy to continuously train to samba or blackout.

 

[Kars]

Indeed Ninja.

In order to learn fast you need to shift your focus on learning.
So stop reaching or thinking about results or limits.

Now, nearly all beginners are not used to higher amounts of CO2 in their bodies. To learn it you need to have a gentle way to get familiar with this and other bodily and mental processes.

Hyperventilation (more breathing then natural), is nearly always inefficient. You'll have the initial feeling things are great and it's easy, until you pass out or the fast increasing CO2 hits you like a brick wall. Now with a CO2 schedule you'll make short holds (0.5x max) with decreasing interval times. This helps you to learn to relax, and get you mind and body into it, without expectations of a pb. The decreasing amount of pause increases the CO2 gradually, so you'll learn to deal with it and it's effects more easily.

I think if you do 6 days a week 1 CO2 table a day, that by the 1week is over you'll notice some profound improvements in performance, understanding and enjoyment.

I think it's wise of you to do this 'dry' and you recognised it would be a short life if you had it done alone in a pool, nice job. While you're training, take notes in your journal, find a buddy, explore equipment, chat on DB, search and read on DB.


Love, Courage and Water,

Kars

 

[Thorrian]

thanks for responding.

i'm a beginner diver, but i'm not bad swimmer. i swim from 4 years. and i do pranayama different periods of my life. so now i'm interested in freediving and want to now theoretical part as well as practical.

one more question: what exactly i must do with my eardrums to Equalize pressure in descent?

thx

 

[growingupninja]

thanks for responding.

i'm a beginner diver, but i'm not bad swimmer. i swim from 4 years. and i do pranayama different periods of my life. so now i'm interested in freediving and want to now theoretical part as well as practical.

one more question: what exactly i must do with my eardrums to Equalize pressure in descent?

thx

If you can't find a diver to teach you I guess google it... Pinch and blow works for everyone unless their sinuses are clogged or their anatomy is atypical. There are other methods that are more advanced and probably more efficient. You may also be able to do hands free eq (it is sort of like a yawn, hard to explain). Impossible for some, very easy for others; mostly genetic as it depends on the size of your eutruscian tubes. I have eq'd hands free at all depths since I was a small child but taught myself some other techniques for the one of these days when I am diving deep enough to need them.

 

[Kars]

Search the forum, there is plenty of information there.

check out the equalization video on this website.
Doc's Diving Medicine Home Page