Balancing O2 and CO2 training?

[Stonefish]

Hello all,

As a newbie to freediving I've read about training with the O2 and CO2 tables, and wonder how to balance the training between the two. Maybe there already was a discussion on this, but I haven't found any thread on it yet, and hope to hear some of your ideas about it.

My concern is basically the following: As I see it, it seems logical to train tolerance to low O2 "ahead" of tolerance to high CO2. If I get more tolerant to high CO2 than to low O2, I would have a higher risk of getting blackouts during training and dives. Am I making the right assumptions so far?

So, following the thought, it would be wise to make sure one is more tolerant to low O2 than to high CO2, so that you would more eagerly stop the dive before you risk a blackout. The follow-up question would then be how to balance the table training and how to know that your low O2 tolerance "lies ahead"?

I hope I was able to explain my thinking and would be grateful for any ideas on it.

 

[DiverTodd]

Actually, I do it in reverse; I do a CO2 table on Mon. and Weds, and do the dreaded O2 table on Fri. The more you build up your tolerance to increasing CO2, the longer you can go before the contractions start hitting. Being that the O2 tables are harder for me (and more taxing), it's also nice to only have to do ONE a week.

Todd

 

[naiad]

I do more CO2 than O2 training. I find O2 training easier, but more taxing, and I don't think it would be good for me to do too much of it.

Lucia

 

[Stonefish]

Thanks for the replies. Now I have a good idea how often to train the tables too. I understand the importance of doing CO2, but still wonder if you can "overdo it" if you neglect doing O2, so that you'll be so tolerant to high CO2 that you blackout before the warning signals get obvious?

 

[DiverTodd]

I don't think you really CAN over-train yourself on CO2 tolerance, or right out of having contractions altogether...you're going to have them regardless. The CO2 training just helps your body to hold them off longer, and to cope better with the increasing CO2.

Todd