heart rate

[welshmikey]

as experienced free divers what is your heart rate? i saw an american free dive site and they said they slow their heart rate from 100 to 55 before a free dive, i thought 100 was huge!! my heart rate is 48, tho for some reason i cant hold my breath any where near as long as you guys im thinkign it might be co2 intollerance, any other reason it might be? i dont know what my lung capacity is but i would imagine it to be fairly good due to the amout of physical training i do.

also how do you slow your heart rate down personally?

 

[jome]

Lowering your heart rate from 100 to 55 basically means:
-Settle down and relax before starting your breath hold

It's very hard (impossible?) to affect the heart rate directly or consiously, but it is possible through indirect mechanisms. The very basic thing is simply to settle down and relax for few minutes. Immersion in water etc may help (dive reflex)

Ie you'll want to be close to your resting heart rate rather than what it would be after swimming in to a dive spot, fighting currents, getting a wetsuit on etc. So you'll want to start your dive after being totally motionless for a couple of minutes and your heart rate has dropped to close to you resting hr.

Heart rate isn't in it self important, it is simply a good indicator that your body is properly rested and relaxed to conserve oxygen. Low resting heart rate does not automatically translate to incredible apnea abilities, it's much more complicated than that...

If your resting hr is 48, you're probably fairly fit? You have good potential to be a good apneist, but it takes specific training, just like anything. You know, a marathon runner is not automatically an ideal cyclist, even if he is in very good shape aerobically, the same goes for diving...But good fittness does help speed up the progress!

 

[welshmikey]

thanx for the great reply jome

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I've mentioned this a few other times, so apologies for the repetition.

In my early 20s, my heart rate was in the low 70s. In my 30s I started distance running and in my 40s I started cycling. My resting rate dropped to around 38/39 and remains there at age 67.

But my bottom time is very mediocre, probably because I don't do anything to push it. I'm a spearfisherman rather than a pure freediver. I only go as deep and stay as long as necessary to get a fish, and no fish is worth my life.