Contraction

[Halmyr]

ok, so this morning, I got a new PB of DYN of 240ft ( 6ft short of 75m)
And after completing so, something started bugging me. ( 4 laps of a 60ft pool, I was working and jump in with the master swimmers to practive, the cotche was guarding)

I'l try to explaine as best as I can.

So from reading other threads, I understand that contraction are very important, they tell you how much air you have left and they also tell you that your dive reflex is on, there simply a pain to work through :t

What I want to know is, how are the contraction suppose to feel. Before trying for my maximum, I did an activity sugested in the freediver manual: on one breath, of doing 500m, 1 lap of apnea, then 1 lap of swimming.

What I did was 1 apnea, 1 swimming, 3 breath, 1 apnea, 1 swimming, 1 minute of cool down, rinse and repeat. This was right after a 200m warn up, so my heart was still beating a bit hard. Because of this, by the end the second apnea, before the cooldown, I would feel contraction, basicly my thorax coming in and out. I could blow out some air under water and come up to take a breath.

During my max attempt, by the last 60ft, it felt more like when you do an exhale apnea, blow out all your air and hold. My chest and throat were tight, and I was very aware of my condition. At the end I simply came up and took a breath, no need to breath out underwater. Before my attemp, I was breathing 4 inhale 8 exhale ration for about 5 minute, to physicly relax, and then 3 I / 6 E for my mental preperation. Before my last breath, I took a 4 inhale, and 12 exhale to make sure I had all the air out and then took 3 breath to take in as much air as I could.

I'm asking this just to be on the safe side, and wondering which one of these I should be feeling on max attemps, or any attemps at all.

 

[naiad]

Contractions can vary a lot - some people get small ones, others big ones, and a few get none at all. Because of that, I don't know whether what you experienced is normal or not.

It does sound like you did a lot of hard training before the max attempt. I don't think it is a good idea to do a max attempt when you are tired from hard training, with increased heart rate and muscle fatigue. If I try to do that, it does produce early and hard contractions.

Hope that helps.
Lucia

 

[salibandy]

Why do some get and some don't? I don't think I get them. Here's what happens.

When doing dry statics, toward the end, I just feel like taking a breath real bad, then my head warms up and I can feel the blood going toward my head, up through my neck. Is that normal?

 

[azapa]

A contraction is a pretty obvious diaphragmatic spasm that you can see and feel. Think how your body convulses with a big hiccup, well, it's way different, but may give you the idea. In the water I still often confuse early contractions with the "urge to breathe" that is produced by several other factors.

PS: yes the warm feeling is normal