Apnea in Baghdad!

[mathew_hinton@h]

hello to all, a quick introduction. myself and a mate are working in Baghdad and living in the 'Red Zone', not too much out here in the way of socialble activities. however, we are lucky enough to be living in a villa with a pool!!

my name is Mathew and i have a passion for the water, i have a free diving course booked (just a matter of finding the time with this job) in portsmouth with Emma Farrell, so hello to you. also have a commecial diving course waiting to be completed in Durban SA, same story applies for timmings. also, i am spending my month off in dubai and intend to progress through my padi dive masters at the pavillion dive center, and i am studying a degree in oceanography.

anyway, myself and my mate, phil, are doing a spot of apnea static training in our pool. first day yesturday and i started at 45 sec and finished on 1'26'' (woo woo!), phil started on 55 sec and finished on 1'50'' (brilliant!).

we are taking the advise from the pros here and not doing any training without each other there. will keep you posted...

by the way its 43 degrees here, pheeeewww.....

 

[island_sands]

hello to all, a quick introduction. myself and a mate are working in Baghdad and living in the 'Red Zone', not too much out here in the way of socialble activities. however, we are lucky enough to be living in a villa with a pool!!

my name is Mathew and i have a passion for the water, i have a free diving course booked (just a matter of finding the time with this job) in portsmouth with Emma Farrell, so hello to you. also have a commecial diving course waiting to be completed in Durban SA, same story applies for timmings. also, i am spending my month off in dubai and intend to progress through my padi dive masters at the pavillion dive center, and i am studying a degree in oceanography.

anyway, myself and my mate, phil, are doing a spot of apnea static training in our pool. first day yesturday and i started at 45 sec and finished on 1'26'' (woo woo!), phil started on 55 sec and finished on 1'50'' (brilliant!).

we are taking the advise from the pros here and not doing any training without each other there. will keep you posted...

by the way its 43 degrees here, pheeeewww.....

hi Matthew!! glad you found your way here!

see you in Dubai...

 

[Adrian]

Hi Matthew,
I'm sure you'll find DeeperBlue more entertaining than the local TV! Here's a link to a great post that Don sent yesterday and it's about general safety when training statics and dynamics with a buddy/spotter. You'll find it very useful. Cuidado en Baghdad!

[ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showpost.php?p=551448&postcount=7"]DeeperBlue Forums - View Single Post - Train alone or take a course?[/ame]

Adrian

 

[island_sands]

Hi Matthew,
I'm sure you'll find DeeperBlue more entertaining than the local TV! Here's a link to a great post that Don sent yesterday and it's about general safety when training statics and dynamics with a buddy/spotter. You'll find it very useful. Cuidado en Baghdad!

http://forums.deeperblue.net/showpost.php?p=551448&postcount=7

Adrian

yeah Matty.... thinking of you out there.. its getting tougher...

 

[mathew_hinton@h]

cheers Adrian, appriciate all the help people offer. we have been in the pool again today and both of us have increased our static time, not by much but still an increase. and everytime i put my head in the water i gain more respect for those of you managing 3, 4, 5 + minutes.

and your right, this is deffinatly better than the local television.

island_sands, its not too bad out here at the mo but i would still not recomend this as a holiday destination, besides, i'll be living it up in dubai soon! but thanx for the concern

 

[Adrian]

There's a simple way of improving your static times at the beginning. Do a series of breathe ups prior to a breath hold. Using, say a 75% inhalation, (so you can keep relaxed) start filling your lower lungs at first, (makes you look pregnant) then fill the chest and finally the top area. (Hold for a sec) This is done in a second or two, then slowly exhale pursing your lips or closing them pretty much so the air takes between 10 and 15 seconds to go out.

So inhale one or two secs and exhale 10-15 secs. Do this comfortably for 2 minutes and then take 2 or 3 purge breaths ( strong and quick exhalations to blow off more C02) and on the third, inhale with the belly-chest-top sequence as much as you can and hold your breath for one minute. (Timed)

Rest and when you recover do another 2 minute breath up and hold for 2 minutes, recover again and then do a 3 min breath up and go for three minutes. Rest and recover and then a 4 min breath up and go for 4 minutes. If you feel comfortable do another 4 min breath-up after recovery and go for your max.

The breath ups are better done lying face down on the surface of the pool with a mask and snorkel, hands on the edge of the pool stabilizing you. Try to get as relaxed as possible, so you enter a meditative state that reduces your metabolism. So much of static is mental, especially when it comes to riding out the contractions. They say that one can hold one's breath double your confort zone. That is the period of time without contractions. Once contractions start, they generally come on softly and end up as an express train - at least that's my experience. The body is really trying to let you know that you need to breath. Not everybody has contractions though, some people just feel a burning in the lungs.

This is where the spotter and signalling comes in, at the first sign of doubt stop the static, if there's any shaking (any shaking not due to contractions that is) or bubbles or any suspicios sign just bring the person up! Try to avoid blacking out or sambas, if that happens no more statics or diving for the day as it creates a propensity for more blackouts.

 

[mathew_hinton@h]

Adrian,

what i have been trawling the internet for, for the past 4 days without success, you have just answered in a few paragraphs. a thousand thanks.

ok, armed with this new knowlage, we will attemp to increase our static time 2 or 3 fold tomorrow. will let you know when we crack it.

 

[ultra]

Hey Mathew! What branch are you in? How is it going over there? Thanks for serving our country.

 

[mathew_hinton@h]

Cheers John, i was over here with the British Royal Marines for the war, after leaving the marines i now work for a private security company. good luck with your training if your going to Ft Brag, just dont stop.