Coffee and freediving?!

[Farmer Mat]

Hi,
I usually don`t drink coffee at all, but during these holidays i drunk for e few days quite a lot - maybe 3-5 cups a day - a friend of mine is a real abicious coffee drinker and i joined him...
Well i tried to do some max static with my pulsoximeter and i wasnt "able" to get my heartbeat slower than 65 - i was in my bed and breath slowly...
normally i have a pulse of 52 during my preparation and i did`nt feel unconfi at all... and during the hold my heartbeat went up to 100 and usually it is about 77 :duh
Is it possible that this is cause of the coffee?!
I read about something coffein and it makes your heartbeat faster and sometimes even longer than five hours...
did anyone else had an expierence like this one?

looking forward to your answers...
greets

 

[DeepThought]

Yes, Caffein seems like a really good explanation to what you have described and 3-5 cups a day is not a small amount.

 

[immerlustig]

"Is it possible that this is cause of the coffee?!"

absolutely! apart from increasing hr it's also dehydrating, which isn't too good either.

i'm somewhat of a coffee addict myself. i noticed a definite negative effect on statics if i had 1 (!) within 24 hours of statics.

one of the reasons i look forward to statics is that afterwards i can have one again

roland

 

[naiad]

Is it the coffee?

Yes, definitely!

I have noticed the same.

Lucia

 

[Farmer Mat]

Hi,
thanks for your answer - pretty interesting thing for my work, because i also have to look at bad influences for training!
I allready recognized that having a cold isn`t good aswell :duh

greets
Mat

 

[BennyB]

I'm a lost-cause coffee addict too. On training days I have one around 9:30am with the anticipation of training around 7:30-8pm. I read somewhere that caffeine takes about 12 hours to leave your system, but i've done all my pb's having had a cuppa that morning.

Hmm... 12 hours to leave your system, I have one 10 hours before training...maybe I shouldn't have one on training days...pffff hah! rofl

 

[Farmer Mat]

Hi Benny,
i think your body is used to coffein and thats why you may can drink a coffee in the morning - without your performance decreases...!
Im not coffee addict, maybe my body needs much more time than yours untill everthing left it!
hmmm... i should start drinking coffee regularly, that my body is used to it or i shouldnt start drinking coffee... :duh

greets
mat

 

[jome]

The problem with coffee is, that if you drink it regularily, you build tolerance to the refreshing effects. Pretty soon you need a cup just to get out of bed. After years of kick starting my self with coffee every morning, wondering what the hell is wrong with me that I need a kick start, imagine my surprise when I quit coffee, that within a few weeks I felt all fresh without it, every morning and consistently through the day.

In my opinnion coffee is useful only for short periods of refreshment when needed. I still have a cup if I have important study or work to do or have not slept well, and it gives a huge boost for a few hours.

But if you drink it regularily, you can have 2-3 cups and not feel a thing. In fact you'll need that much to just reach your normal mental capacity. It's ok to be tired one or two days and compensate with coffee. But more than that, you have something seriously wrong in your lifestyle and coffee is not the answer. Don't abuse your body, sleep when the need arises.

So my advice is to just quit it. You don't need it, it doesn't even taste good! Just kick the habit, cold turkey. You'll get a head ache for a couple of days, but that's it. If you have the will power to hold your breath over 4 minutes, surely you can withstand the absence of a useless substance.

If you don't have the habit, then for heaven's sake don't start it! (I know you were joking, but still).

 

[immerlustig]

Blasphemy!

"...it doesn't even taste good!....useless substance...." :rcard

jome, how dare you?

i am shocked, indeed.

where do you live? send me your adress and i will see that i can get a shipment of some fine powder and a handbook for self study your way.

i can agree with everything else you wrote there, but this.....no no no...is not true at all!!

i hope the censor goes over your post.

roland

 

[jome]

By useless I mean: "not beneficial for life support or freediving" . Ie. something I can certainly do without. If fact, by that logic, coffee is not only useless, it is bad for you (as it hurts diving ability).

Taste is, of course a completely subjective matter. I appreciate your offer, but I have no incentive to devote time and money to learn to like something that is by the above definition, useless (or bad) to me But by all means, keep enjoying your fine brew. I'll exchange that pleasure for a few seconds in static any day...

Besides, I'm already hooked on too many useless substances and habits...

 

[DeepThought]

I strongly support Jome's definitions and opinion (Can't give you karma at the moment though).

 

[Farmer Mat]

hi,
i allready said i once or twice - i am not a coffee drinker, but after these three days being one... i can hardly imagine standing up on a sunny sunday morning and not drinking a "latte macchiato" - hand mad with our "la pavoni" coffee machine! NO COMPUTER - but you need much karma for getting a good coffee...

For all those coffee drinkers in this forum:
-If you will ever visit switzerland someday - join me and you will have your best coffee ever...!! :king

Hope to see you once...
Greets
Mat

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I guess I'm out of line even commenting on this since I am coming from a freedive spearfishing POV rather than pure freediving for time or depth.

But here is another perspective- I don't hold my breath worth a damn if don't have room for air because I need to have a bowel movement. A cup of coffee helps with that problem, so much so that I even get up earlier to try to allow time.

Therefore, coffee helps my bottom time.

 

[BennyB]

This is an interesting thread, and to a certain extent I agree with everything i've read so far.

Mat - I agree that I probably have a bit of tolerance to caffeine, but I don't think going cold turkey for me would decrease my dive performance, my best performance would be with no caffeine in my system. If I have one in the morning, it's nearly gone by the time i'm at training in the evening. I'd never have one within, say 6 hours of diving. Spearing maybe, but not freediving.

I tell you what though, I will be certain to take up your offer and join you for a coffee one day!

Coffee is indeed a personal thing - some hate it, some tolerate it, some relish it and some are hopelessly addicted to it. Throughout my life i've been through every phase. At the moment i'm a 1 cup a day man, simply because I love the taste of a good coffee, but I also know that if I have more than that I will get the shakes and my heart will be racing. If i'm stressed at work I might have a second cup in the afternoon, but never on a training day, instead i'll have a green tea.

I gave up for a month when I was on a low-carb diet about a year ago. After my first coffee in a month, I did my day's work in 2 hours, went to the gym for 3 hours and my wife couldn't shut me up that night.

Nowdays, it's like anything else you put in your body, you just have to realise the impact of you having it. I've no doubt that too much of it it detrimental to your health, and especially your diving, but man it tastes good! To me, anyway.

Cheers,
Ben

Ps. Hey Bill - you keep that bottom time up mate!! rofl

 

[jome]

Heh, this is getting very off topic, but getting a bowl movement is no reason to drink coffee. Just go sit in the can and do an FRC static of 2+ minutes. Problem solved