How to kick my subconscious into aquatic contraction mode?

[mrjomac]

Hi Folks,

I’ve been recreational freediving for a month or two now and I’ve got a couple of questions I couldn’t find answers to, so here goes.

Dry static I’m doing 2:30 of which about 1:30 with contractions. I’m just starting to feel comfy with contractions, thinking of them as my friend and teaching myself not to swallow before they start.
I know I won’t be diving for 2:30 but I can’t help thinking I’m not getting the full potential out of my breath hold underwater.
My dives are about 30-45 seconds with the occasional 1:00 when I’m really relaxed and everything’s perfect. I’m pretty sure I’ve never stayed underwater until contractions start, but as soon as I feel the pressure start to build in my chest (before contractions start) I’ll head for the surface. I think I’m using this chest pressure thing as a sort of alarm bell and maybe I have had a few contractions on the way back up.
I know this is giving me a good safety margin, but I feel like I’ve got the potential to stay under longer with contractions and there’s some subconscious psychological factor telling me to “Get yo a** back to the surface”.

Any tips on kicking my subconscious into aquatic contraction mode?

Also, if this is a good idea and I do start staying under with contractions, what do I use as an alarm bell to know it’s time to head back to the surface?

For example on a vertical up/down dive:
What I’m doing now: dive - chest pressure starts – head back up. Dive time 0:30 – 0:45
What I’m thinking about: dive – chest pressure starts – contraction, contraction, contraction – what’s the alarm bell that tells me I should head back up? Aiming for dive time of 1:00 - 1:30

Is this alarm bell when the contractions start getting faster, say 1 every 1-3 seconds (repetitive) instead of 1 every 10 or so seconds? Or should I count contractions, say first 3 contractions = about 30 seconds = time to go? Or head for the surface as soon as I get my first real contraction?

So, can I stay down a little longer with contractions before heading back up, and what do you use as an alarm bell to tell you “Time’s up”?


I’m doing a light purge and just one deep belly-chest breath before breath hold/dive.
Weighted to be neutral at 10m
Always diving with a buddy

 

[Kars]

How deep are you diving?

I suspect you have not obtained enough upper body relaxation and flexibility yet.
Also you may be too tense going down, going down with too much force, and posture - looking down for instance.

Instead of full lungs, take an easy inhale (90%) or even less and go down feet first FIM, go to a comfortable depth slowly, an try to take that nice surface relaxation down. The object to learn to stay be more relaxed, and have a long slow dive.
When you feel tension building up, stop, hang and try to consciously relax the tensioning parts. (tense-release). If you do not have a line, go from the shore and do cwt to increasing depths. Many long slow static like dives.

When I get to Spain and start freediving there, it takes a long day to relocate and find that good apnea relaxation. The most effective way I know of yet is to dive FRC.

Also doing good surface stretching, being warm, wear a flexible suit, being hydrated, and rest well before and after the diving. A good night's sleep makes a big difference.

 

[mrjomac]

Thanks for the tips Kars.
I'm limiting depth to 10-11m at the mo until my times improve. I dive 10m in 15 s, about 30 s there and back.

Chin on chest to equalize, looking down once in a while to check the bottom so I don't crash into a rock or if I start to roll forwards on descent. I've found one arm in front helps with this too. Warm wettie and sleeping well.
Haven't done any rope work or exhale diving although I have found a very slight exhale helps me relax. Did a bigger exhale on the way up once and it felt awful. Won't do that again on a hurry
Bit wary of exhale freediving. I'll definately try less of a deep breath, stretching and trying to take that relaxed feeling with me. All our dives are cwt from the shore but we've got a great home spot with wrecks ands lotsa life at depths from 0 to 45m. I did start chilling holding a rock at about 5-8m and it felt great but l think I read on here this sort of wet static is a bad idea although I am positive at this depth, buddy's always watching and I'm not going to stay there for more than...... that's the thing, no idea how long I can stay under with contractions and what to use as a signal for time's up. Nearest aida course I could find is in the canaries so that's not gonna happen until the hols.

 

[Kars]

Thanks Jo,

Maybe explore your static ability with your buddy in a comfortable pool?

If you have your able buddy watching you, and you do some slow lazy 5m bottom crawling, jumping, flying, I see not much danger in that.

[ame=http://youtu.be/ZqZbF546JNo]Frog Flow - YouTube[/ame]

When I started diving, me and my brother in turns did breath-holds at 1,5m depth with a loose weight belt. Within a day we added 2-3 minutes to our pb's. We quickly learned how to 'sleep' under water.

Go to some local dive equipment stores and ask for some buddies, there may be an educated diver near by.
Raffaquatic (Raffa) lives in south-west Spain, maybe get in touch with him. He's a very good diver.

 

[mrjomac]

Great advice Kars and nice video, thanks.
I've dropped Rafa a line to see if he knows anyone in the area for an intermediate course. Think I might have found an Apnea Academy instructor in the area, we'll see.

 

[mrjomac]

Just like to say thanks for the tips Kars, really helped me progress and yesterday I started freefalling and reached a depth of 20m in total relax, felt great )

Actually, I stopped, looked at my watch "19.9", said (under my breath) "You gotta be kidding", let go of the line again "20"

 

[Kars]

Thank you Jo, I'm so pleased to hear you're having a blast, and discovering the feeling(flow) approach - after all these years!

You got the smell of it, and now it's key not to be lured into thinking about your next personal best when you dive. Try to maintain the NO EXPECTATIONS (no estimation and thinking) approach, just aim for good feelings and rhytm.

If a TV crew would film me trying to do a frog flow like dive, then it would be much more challenging not to think about the numbers. So when you get good at diving for feelings you can try the challenge of diving for a number but mentally keep diving for good feelings.

Thank you again for the feedback, I enjoy it very much!

Kars