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Fasting for Static

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fishon

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Aug 2, 2004
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I have heard the success stories of great statics done after fasting. I wanted to ask, has fasting resulted in poorer than normal statics for anyone?
 
i dont do statics or freedive training that often, but when i do it on an empty stomach i find a better performance, probably becasue oxygen is used in digestion, so when there is no digestion (empty stomach) then there is more for freediving..or so i understand, im sure some of the more experienced guys here will pop in with a more detailed explanation
 
I was thinking more along the lines of 4+ days of fasting.
But that brings up another question. I always do statics in the morning before I've eaten anything. What is generally judged as an acceptable period of time of "fasting" in order to do a static on an "empty stomach?" I realize there are a lot of variables, such as how much and what you ate, but does anyone have guidelines that work for them?
 
Usually, if you're doing your static in the morning, just skipping breakfast is enough...at least, it's enough for me! That's when I've managed my best statics; in the morning, with no breakfast. Your body has had all night to digest the food from the day before, yet you're not SO hungry that you feel like you're going to be sick! I'll even try to avoid eating for a few hours before doing tolerance tables, just for the sake of comfort as well as oxygen conservation. :D

Todd
 
Do a search on 'fasting'. Just over two years ago there was a thread with some info.
 
I've never tried "serious" fasting, meaning a fast of several or more days.

But conserning the "empty stomach" - for me personally it is important to have the stomach empty BUT not depleated of energy. Meaning - I don't consume solid food before static, but I do make sure I have enough energy (gatorade etc).

I think the biggest benefit from morning statics without breakfast is that you respiratory quotient is lower. Basically before breakfast you are in pure fat metabolism, but once you eat, carbohydrates will be used which increases your RQ (more co2 produced per oxygen used). Meaning, the breathing reflex will activate later/weaker. I don't think it has much to do with oxygen - ie absolute limit, simply it is more comfortable. This is usually beneficial for static, but I must stress that I don't consider it at all beneficial for DYN/CW disciplines, where you really need the energy.

There might be a marginal effect from "empty stomach" in the fact that the less space your intestines take, the more air you can (comfortably) fit in your chest cavity :) Having contractions on full stomach is just unbearable - and has...uh, side effects in the very end of the digestive system.

I guess it's generally accepted that before static a good general rule is 3-4 hours between last meal and the static, and the last meal is not very heavy. For competitions I stop solid food the previous night.

The idea behind a longer fast is that you would slow down you whole metabolism and thus increase also the total time (lower oxygen consumption). But like I said I haven't tried it and to my knowledge not many have with success. The most famous exception would be Sam Still who's said to have reached around 10 minutes with fasting, but details of his fast are a mystery to me.
 
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very unscientific opinion from a newbie to the sport, but I do dive better with an empty stomach verging on being very hungry. The big disadvantage I find is that the post dive exhaustion is often such that my appetite is not to good on leaving the water, to the point that it can take 3 or 4 days to have a really good feed again.

Another issue, probably with me alone, is that I am never thirsty on leaving the water, I dive in the ocean, I find it hard to want to take liquids afterwards.. am I alone in this? Often half a glass of beer will do for several hours after a dive. I know it's not good.
 
Eric Fattah did tons of personal tests with this. I believe what he came up with was that: 24 hours of fasting gave peak performances in static, but longer periods were detrimental.
 
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I believe Sam Stiil did a ten day fast. The first five days was also without water. This was linked with a meditative period, rather than just going hungry for a long time. It was also under the direction of some sort of yoga master in an Indian retreat.
 
10 days? I'd be a withered, shriveled up husk on the floor after just two.... heh heh...

Todd
 
I have enough bioprene to get me through that but why the hell would you want to??

Normally I give myself minimum 4 hours fast before a serious static, usually about 6 hours but keep myself hydrated.

In Hurghada in 2006 I was doing around 5min in static training, one day I wasn't diving but was in the pool testing some fins, as such I had eaten a bit more for breakfast knowing I wasn't doing any breath holds that day. After a bit I thought i'd better do some static as it had been 4 or 5 days since my last static, grabbed a buddy, had no wetsuit on and did 2 warmups and a then a 6min static, 40 seconds higher than my previous PB, all done about 2 hours after breakfast. Strange.

Cheers,
Ben
 
Going hungry for a day or so has great physical benefits, but thats about all. Its not simply a matter of wanting to fast, like Benny says, why would anyone want to do that for so long. However, in the case of prolonged fasting....the point is that these are usually part of a spritual practice. Fasting with a purpose has nothing at all to do with going hungry. The reason you fast is all about the purpose. You might want to do it to assist a meditation or worship practice. One thing I know, is that during a purposeful fast, your mind is continually reminded why you are fasting (you feel hungry, you remember why you are hungry). For instance, you fast for one day in order to save the cost of the food you would otherwise have eaten, you then donate the money to someone who is hungry (famine relief or other cause). If fasting is linked with worship you would be separating yourself from the usual things of life with a prayerful, thoughtful or meditative mood throughout the day. Fasting without a purpose is just going hungry, your body gets a rest and maybe your statics improve a bit.....but you may be missing the point.
 
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As I mentioned in an old thread, I did a 6-day fast in 2005 while training for Monaco. My statics got severely worse during the fast, until I took citric acid to counter the uric-acid level, in which case my statics rose a bit, but still less than before the fast.

However, when I came OFF the fast, I set my all time personal best in static which I still have never broken.

Fasting slows your metabolic rate dramatically, if done for long enough. But it creates tons of acid and waste products from catabolism. Right when you come off the fast, you may be able to clear the waste products but still benefit from the slow metabolism.

As a sidenote, I was working 13 hours a day during my fast, and it was one of the hardest things I ever did. I started to get extremely depressed near the end. Once I started eating again, I became profoundly joyful and remained so for 2 weeks. Those 2 weeks after the fast were so wonderful that it almost made the pain worthwhile.
 
The brain relies on glucose (you must break down muscle protein for this when fasting, which is inefficient and creates waste products that are difficult on the organism) daily; by the hour; by the minute; by the second...

Indeed your metabolism slows, but you do pay for it in mood.

A steady supply of glucose for the brain is far easier met with sugars consumed as such. Even without this extreme fasting state, you must supply it regularly with cholesterol and ample blood glucose to stay in a good mood; cholesterol too is a 'happy' substance.

You can benefit in freediving by fasting, but it is a terrible cost to the body in many ways to lower the metabolism this way. Indeed, you are starving, and 'eating' yourself to avoid the inevitable loss of glucose to the brain, which puts your system in a panic, and also activates cortisol and other 'emergency hormone' secretions.

It does feel amazing when you start eating again, for all the above reasons....
 
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Fasting for 24 hour periods do not involve any of these detriments. We are talking about prolonged fasting here. Prolonged fasting may have low physical value to an athlete when balanced against any supposed detriments. However, fasting can be of great value spiritually when combined with purpose, especially if used in conjuction with careful selection of fluid intake which can resolve the detrimental challenges and enable the fast to continue sufficiently long. And remember, dont spoil the purity of the fast by swallowing the toothpaste. Fasting is a time to put away certain appetites and passions, it is a time of cleansing and renewal. It is a time for you to be in control of your body.
 
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The brain continues to draw glucose no matter what, but of course there are states one may enter and exit where one may feel eating or drinking is not important... and these are often very beautiful.
 
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