How to train frc static?

[cdavis]

Search "exhale" or "frc" and you will find more than you probably want to know.

If you dive a lot, or at least train a lot, it is a very advantageous way to do serial diving, safer, longer dive time, faster recovery. However, its tricky and takes practice to get the full advantage.

 

[mystiach]

Take it slow and gradual with any type of frc/exhale work. Beginners' diaphragms often aren't used to this type of movement and you can really hurt yourself (not to mention the possibility of giving yourself a dry squeeze). Don't push through physical discomfort that feels 'wrong' - the throat feeling is negative pressure. If you feel strain in your chest when you have a contraction you could squeeze or give yourself a nasty musculoskeletal injury. I believe someone posted about chest pain from exhales the other day. Take it slow! You won't get any miraculous leaps in your performance from training exhales at this stage of your diving and you might end up with a lot of time out if you injure your diaphragm - takes a long time to heal and can be horribly painful.

 

[sai]

So does that negative pressure feeling in the throat subside after some training, can you prevent it somehow or do you just need to get used to it?

 

[Felipe M]

But at the end is frc training used to improve/get better times on you completely full lungs apnea?...or is frc used as THE way of doing apnea?

 

[mystiach]

So does that negative pressure feeling in the throat subside after some training, can you prevent it somehow or do you just need to get used to it?

Maybe a bit of both. Part of it could be from urge to breathe. Just be aware you could have the same amount of strain at the base of your chest but you won't know it's there unless something goes wrong.

But at the end is frc training used to improve/get better times on you completely full lungs apnea?...or is frc used as THE way of doing apnea?

Maybe someone who has done a lot of coaching could chime in here, but I don't think it will really help new(ish) divers that much. Doing some gentle FRC/not-quite-full-lung training is one thing but serious FRC hypoxic and/or exhale work is another. The main point of that is to train DR and there are more effective and safer ways for beginners to improve their hypoxic limit.

If you train and dive entirely on FRC your full lung performance will decrease (search for posts from Eric and Connor about this). Also, what FRC means physically varies a lot between individuals.

 

[Andrew the fish]

I hope I can answer some qestions, though not very experienced freediver here. I do "FRC" dives for two different reasons and do them differently too. One is for depth training in a pool. Kind of tricky, but it works like this - exhale everything and then a little more by bringing knees right up to chest. And then some more with negative packs. Then I slowly submerge to some 6ft practicing equalization all along. Strange thing but blood shift works like a charm, at the bottom of a pool I usually am fully adjusted and have enough air for small bubble ring. Another reason I do those kinds of FRC dives is to warm up for diving session in open water, there was an explanation for it too. Something about this forced blood shift switching the gear into freediving mode, my bottom times improve for the rest of the day after one such "empty lungs" dive.

The second type of FRC that I do is just a relaxed exhale, pleasant dive which I can't explain but great feeling, something I don't get diving with full lungs. I usually have like 70% or more of full lungs, I never measured volumes and go by the feel. Neutral bouyancy on the surface, or even still positive if I am wearing a wetsuit.

At any rate, I stopped packing a long time ago, one may consider all my diving being a sort of FRC, which is not exactly FRC but not full lungs either.

 

[Antoine]

So does that negative pressure feeling in the throat subside after some training, can you prevent it somehow or do you just need to get used to it?

As mystiach said, that 'negative pressure' you are feeling is most probably due to the fact that you are not completely relaxed and have the urge to breath. It might be due to the fact that, obviously, when you want to breath in, you diaphram moves to stimulate the expansion of your lungs causing a momentary low pressure withing the lungs and making air rush in. However, when your airways are shut and you are feeling the urge to breath, your lungs 'want' to expand and try to suck the remaining air in your oesophagus giving you the feeling of a negative pressure in your throat.
This feeling can be easily avoided by relaxing and sometimes by conciously trying to gently 'push' air up from your lungs into your oesophagus to counteract the negative pressure.
Hope that helps

 

[mystiach]

This feeling can be easily avoided

... by exhaling less air?

In all seriousness, activating muscles around your chest/abdomen when doing exhale statics has the potential to go wrong in several equally unpleasant ways.

 

[Antoine]

Your right Mystiach,
I'm not sure about the "side-effects". However, this is what I do to counteract the negative pressure and I have not had any problems or discomfort....yet