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Hello from Brussels (Belgium)!

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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SoJo

New Member
Dec 12, 2017
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Hi all, I'm a freediving newbie and excited to learn more and improve!

I mainly found this site because i'm looking for advice on how to stop, or delay, chest/diaphragm spasms during static apnea. I had a quick browse in the forum but didn't find anything specific that could help ..

Some background info: I've been to 5 training sessions with a local freediving club in the last 6 weeks. The first time I managed just over 1 minute static before the spasms became too intense, on the 4th session I managed 2m10s, but I haven't been able to last any longer because of these spasms... I managed to hold my breath through them but they become increasingly intense and uncomfortable to the point where my whole body spasms and I feel increased pressure in my chest and have to come up. I'm very sporty and have taken up yoga again (3 times a week), but neither of these things seems to help me. The length of the breathe-ups don't seem to make a difference either, so i'd really appreciate any advice you can give!

thanks!
 
Which club are you training with? Have you asked the same question to your instructor? What did he say?


Sent from the abyss
 
Since you have only started recently things can evolve fairly quickly at first. Keep up with your training and allow yourself some time to evolve.
Try to avoid sugar before training. It is easy and makes a huge difference for me to how I experience contractions and their intensity.


Sent from the abyss
 
@Kodama thanks for your reply, I've asked but no-one else in the club experiences contractions like mine, so they tell me just to relax. It's helped a little to 'relax' my muscles in static, and I try to relax my mind, but it's more frustrating than anything else as soon as I feel the contractions start, though I know i can be quite impatient which is something to work on ;)...

Thanks for the tip re sugar intake, also managed to find a previous post that suggested drinking lemon juice 1h before so will try that too.
 
Welcome to Deeperblue! You may find some helpful tips in the forums. Try browsing or use the keyword search. There is a lot of information here. A freediving class is good for learning proper technique, if/when that is practical.
 
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Get used to it. Just like co2. Maybe its the concentration of co2 get high u dont get used to it. And yes relax are the keys. Get an instructor maybe he/she can teaches you about warm-up table before the maximum attempt. Cheers from Malaysia :)
 
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Hi SoJo,
Welcome …

Reaction from the diaphragma are difficult to understand and to explain.
Last week during the AIDA training a guy said : « I don’t feel any spams ». I asked him « don’t you feel something in your throat that force you to swallow? He answered …YES.

Think at your preparation, relaxation
I do what I’ve learn from « Apnea Academy » during my last year at the Wolu club

1) exhale deeply
2) abdominal inspiration during 4 s
3) exhale in during 8 s
4) repeat 5 times in total, points 2 and 3,

5) abdominal inspiration during 4 s
6) apnea during 4 s
7) exhale in during 8 s
8) repeat 4 times points 5 to 7

9) abdominal inspiration during 4 s
10) apnea during 4 s
11) exhale in during 8 s
12) apnea during 4 s
13) repeat 3 times points 9 to 12,

Do 3 normal ventilation ...deep breath in ( abdominal, chest, shoulder) ...and you start your apnea
( I sing a song mentally very slowly to be relaxed without thinking to the spams)

Quel hasard ;-).
J’ai été durant 9 ans au Wolu. Lifras Bruxelles. Maintenant je suis chez AIDA Waterloo depuis 4 ans.
Bonne chance et tiens-nous au courant
 
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Thanks @dcvf for the detailed info, great to get some tips on the breathe-up :) Will definitely try it and let you know how it goes! I don't really have any feeling in my throat that forces me to swallow (but I do find that swallowing does help a little to soften the contractions a bit (but not for very long)), it's really a pressure and then massive contractions coming from my chest/diaphragm (which makes me think it may be more of a mental thing than a physiological thing).

Hi SoJo,
Quel hasard ;-).
J’ai été durant 9 ans au Wolu. Lifras Bruxelles. Maintenant je suis chez AIDA Waterloo depuis 4 ans.
Bonne chance et tiens-nous au courant

:) en effet Quel hassard! je m'entraine a Longchamps a Uccle mais j'habite du cote Waterloo!
merci encore pour les conseils
 
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