alastair
I totally agree that relaxation has been the key to my improvement and I understand that once this has been acheived there are a new set of mechanisms that must be faced.
i agree basically to this statement, but what i don't really believe is that relaxation is a part of training that ever will be finished.
of course i'm not freediving long enough to speak with authority, but it always is a main concern for me to make the best affort in relaxing as much as possible.
it often happens, that on a good day i sit there holding my breath, being very relaxed and at ease, and then after 2 min maybe my right shoulder drops down, and i realise that i wasn't aware of any tension in my shoulder at all.
what i like about doing statics, even though i cannot convert my static times to underwater times, is the fact that in my 1 hour of breathing and breathholding i practise and focus mainly on relaxation. and that helps me
to relax quicker in water.
guss
when you say empty lung statics train your low-o2 tolerance, are you doing them after hyperventilation? cause that is what i understood so far.
ivan
it seems you like to hyperventilate.
i personally prefer to rather train my ability to hold my contractions for longer. when diving this is a better indication of how i am. getting contractions at the turnaround point and knowing that i can easily hold lots of them, keeps me in a relaxed state of mind and it helps on a nice focused return to the surface. i agree with alun here that the urge to breathe shouldn't be removed.
p.s. hyperventilation to me means rapid full in and exhales until (almost) beginning of tingling arms etc.
i do breath deeply, though, as part of my breathup, but personally i don't call that hyperventilation.
cheerio
roland