Back to it, current practices?

[zarb]

Hey all,

I've taken a very extended break from freediving, and would like to know current best practices for training? I was a 35m CW, 5 min static diver, no idea where I'll be at now. I was just planning on doing some tables a couple of nights a week, some pool dynamics, and one or two dives a week (nothing too deep, mainly snorkelling) until I get comfortable again. Once that happens and I start to get a little more serious about training, if I reread Manual of Freediving, would the advice given there still be the most relevant? Are there any more recent books people can recommend? I'm just curious about current thoughts about things like training full-exhale breathholds, when to start learning more advanced equalisation techniques, etc etc.

Thanks!

 

[Manny_OCF]

Hey all,

I've taken a very extended break from freediving, and would like to know current best practices for training? I was a 35m CW, 5 min static diver, no idea where I'll be at now. I was just planning on doing some tables a couple of nights a week, some pool dynamics, and one or two dives a week (nothing too deep, mainly snorkelling) until I get comfortable again. Once that happens and I start to get a little more serious about training, if I reread Manual of Freediving, would the advice given there still be the most relevant? Are there any more recent books people can recommend? I'm just curious about current thoughts about things like training full-exhale breathholds, when to start learning more advanced equalisation techniques, etc etc.

Thanks!

That's great you are getting back into it. I'd say start real slow. How long were you out of it?
Let go of any stats from the past and slowly build your way up. regain the ability to do 1 min static, 50m pool dynamics, dive 5m, then 10 m etc.

I don't think much has changed in recent years. Maybe hyperventilation was a bad trend a few years back?

if you were at a high experience level before stopping, I think you know about what to do to get back into it.

I always wondered what would happen to my skills once I stopped.

I see a lot of similarities of freedive training and weightlifting. If you stop lifting, you may have once been able to bench 100kg, but after 6 months out of it, its unrealistic to jump back into the same weight level. Off topic, I also like the analogy of a good dive buddy being like a good bench press spotter. They are watching and anticipating your moves 100% of the time, they should let you start doing sets then turning around to talk to the girl that just walked into the gym

 

[cdavis]

Manual of Freediving is fine. Get comfortable and a better feel for where you are at(7 years off when you are in your 40s will take a huge bite out of your ability, but it comes back.). Once you are comfortable, are you really serious or just having a good time? If you are serious, Eric Fattah has a great (but pricy) book out that will be very helpful. You can ask a lot of questions here and get good answers once we know what stage you're at.