Contractions start time

I have done two blackouts, one of them including a great samba, while doing statics. Fortunately/unfortunately my CO2 tolerance is very high, so I sometimes hit the O2 limit!

I am doing tables and have made some interesting discoveries, which I will soon let you know about.

naiad

Originally posted by couta
Naiad have you ever managed to black out or samba while doing a static? I have yet to discover my 02 limit in both statics and walk apnea, as the CO2 monster gets the beter of me each time.

Its possible that the trade off between moving and fighting not to move is such that we might be better off moving, assuming that we are both well within our current 02/blackout limits.

For example, I suspect that had I got up after reaching 6.10 on my max static attempt and starting walking around the room, I would have got close 6.30. It just felt like the right thing to do.

I'm going to experiment with such an approach, will let you know if it works. Maybe we can start a new technique of using our wrists to fin around the pool near the end of a long wet static? Sounds illogical, but worth a try.

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This may sound illogical, but after a long static I feel like walking to hold my breath longer too. I dont know why but I often do a longer static in the end when moving else than just laying there

Couta
When I saw other divers doing it, I tried bringing my feet under me for the last part of a static. No question that it feels better and helps you relax the rest of your body. For dry statics, you might want to try sitting up for the last minute. That works too.
Aloha
Bill

Thanks Bill. I am off to Johannesburg to compete in the South African Nationals this weekend, so will put this advice to use then.

Naiad, would be very interested to hear your thinking.

Chat later

I have also tried sitting up for the last minute of a dry static, and it really helps. In the pool I always hold onto something, usually the side of the pool, so I can't move around.

I have discovered, mostly by doing tables, that my CO2 tolerance is very high, so it is almost impossible for me to hit the CO2 limit during normal static/dynamic training. This probably explains why I don't get contractions. The time or distance I can do is determined by low O2. When I am in good physical condition, I know exactly when to stop, so I always finish in a reasonable state. However, when I am cold, tired or ill, or I have not had enough time to recover from the last static/dynamic, there is no way for me to know the limit. I would easily be able to push myself to blackout/samba on almost every static and dynamic, but I don't do this for obvious reasons!

It would probably not be a good idea for me to increase my CO2 tolerance! I am now going to work on low O2 tolerance and see what happens and also attempt some long statics in the pool. At least I'll entertain the other freedivers, if nothing else!

naiad

I have noticed that toward the end of a static or a dynamic the contractions stop. They get progressively worse and worse, and then something snaps and they just subside. Anyone else notice this? Is this an indication of rapidly falling O2?

Hi Michael,
This is interesting, I was hoping this would happen to me sometime.

Some questions:

How long do you ride them for before that happens?

How long were the statics, i.e, where they longer than usual for you?

How did you feel during the "quiet" period?

And last but not least, what was your stimulus to start breathing again?

Adrian

Adrian,

The static was 5 minutes, which was close to my PB. I have noticed it before, but on that 100meter dynamic in Miami, it occurred to me that there might by a zone I reach when pushing it, where I get beyond the contractions. So the static was just to test that theory, and in terms of impetus to breath again, 5 minutes was my target so there was no question. The quiet period feels great, like I could hold my breath forever. I really feel like it was a breakthrough for me, because I had always terminated my statics when the contractions get too painful. Now, I know that if the contractions are painful, I have not gone far enough. It helps the pyschological aspects enormously.

By the way, Don was saying he learned some helpful yoga relaxation techniques to do during the static. Would you mind sharing those?

Michael.

Michael,
About the relaxation, I didn't give him any really specific instructions, but just described what I feel and do during a static. You sort of have to go for it on a "feeling level".

When I close my eyes I settle down inside, finding a quiet calmness, enjoyable, sometimes blissful. But the essence of it is that it's quiet and one has a feeling of sinking inside, of peace.

Try to locate that "zone" or place or feeling inside and just let it lead you deeper into more quietness. Don't try to push away thoughts that come as that will raise your level of mental activity and consequently your metabolism will also rise, burning more O2. So if thoughts, distractions or contractions (that ugly word ) come up and have a tendency to take you away from that state, don't fight them but just gently get back to that feeling. Softly drift back. Don't worry about how many times you have to get back, contractions may throw you way off. Just always gently drift back. In time the quietness will predominate and the contractions will be somewhere in the distance.

At first contractions will probably overshadow the quietness but with practice one should be able to experience the contractions while not losing that quietness, as if the two states could coexist simultaneously.

The point is that the quietness or peace or being in the "zone" is a more direct experience of our own inner awareness, and that is not limited by anything, being unbounded in nature. In theory contractions should not eclipse this experience but in actuality being a subtle and delicate perception it gets knocked around a bit because the nervous system has to be trained to experience it more directly and permanently - at least for the majority of us.

And this is one more interesting benefit of freediving: By diving into the depths, whether static or dynamics or constant, we also end up diving into our inner nature as the result of a search for more quietness and therefore less consumption of O2. If focused in this way, freediving is a very powerful spiritual technology, where "spirituality" is defined as the experience of our deeper levels of awareness or perception.

regards,
Adrian

If focused in this way, freediving is a very powerful spiritual technology, where "spirituality" is defined as the experience of our deeper levels of awareness or perception.

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Spoken by the first PFD Advance Class-Miami static and dynamic competition winner! Kirk treated everyone to an informal competition using AIDA rules on the last day since the weather keep us from doing the ocean part of class. Adrian won the contest out of 14 participants with a 5:30 static and a 75 meter dynamic! Could not have happened to a nicer guy!
:friday :friday
don

Also at the competition, Michael did the fasted 100-meter dynamic I have ever seen! He was finishing when the other 3 people in his heat were rounded the 50m corner!
:wave :wave
don