Is it unhealthy not do recover between breath-holds?

[mrjomac]

Hi Stefan,
I've been freediving for a few months now and thought I'd studied quite a bit, but couldn't find all the answers I wanted so took a course.

One of the last things we did were 25m apnea laps in the pool to a Co2 table starting with a recovery time of 1:30 between each 25 metres and knocking about 15 seconds off that recovery time every cycle. The recovery time before the last 25m was about 15 seconds. I can dive dynamic for over a minute and be on the surface again without feeling stretched, but that last 25m-20 second lap in the pool with such a short recovery really felt like I was nearing my limit, time was flying and I wasn't really enjoying it, just fining along fast to get to the end. I never felt anywhere near a BO but I did feel very out of breath like I'd been freestroking or running. I was doing the 25m lengths in about 20 seconds, which is a pretty good speed but that's not the way I'm want to go freediving.

You need to get your breath back after a dive and relax relax relax. I asked if double dive time was OK for surface time and was told, "better 3 times your dive time." Even 2 times is sort of a minimum because after you surface your buddy will be checking you for a while to make sure you don't keel over after surfacing and then they will want to dive so you're watching them as they prepare for the dive and go under, you're breathing easy relaxing for your next dive, buddy comes up, you watch them for a while and if they're OK start preparing for your dive. Add that all up and if you're diving for about 1:00 your surface time will be at least 2:00. At this rythmn you can have fun, get good dive times and feel like you've been doing some serious activity after a few hours.

Try a Co2 table dry on your couch that drops to a seriously short recovery time and you'll realize you don't want to feel that out of breath before you dive, it is really hard to go anywhere near a decent time with reduced recovery time. After 7 cycles it's even hard to start the last breath hold. Last night doing dry static I just stopped after 7 because I was pooped.

Everyone is different but for me the most important things recently have been:
stopping competing with myself and worrying about numbers so much = more fun and progression just happens
learning to be aware of my breathing without controlling it while relaxing, and how to breathe deep before hold while maintaining a healthy Co2 level, to find what is most efficient and reliably safe for me, and hook breathe after surfacing to recover
finding out what brings me closer to black out, warnings, overbreathing and hyperventilation so I can avoid them, just a little forced exhale for example can really make a big (negative) difference to me
diving, diving, diving and diving to well within my limits so I feel like I'm at home underwater before going further, with my buddy watching, training rescue together, chilling with the fish, giving each other tips like "you're head's way back", or "you didn't equalize soon enough" and having fun
being happy with contractions first on the couch and then underwater (this was a big hurdle for me)
and last but certainly not least getting to know my body now I'm using it this new way

Decompression sickness is not on my list because as far as I know it's not something I need to be worried about as a recreational freediver, if I was breathing compressed air out of a bottle on my back it would be.

 

[Vaclav Havlik]

I think you misunderstand me. If someone dives for 2 minutes, then stays on the surface for 4 minutes, then they are only under water (where the fun is) for 1/3 of the time. So just 40 minutes out of 2 hours. That seems like a "waste of fun time". Then 1 minute diving followed by 1 minute on the surface would be better, as 60 minutes would be under water. My aim is to be able to be under water for as many minutes as possible within a 2 hour period (down to 10 meters) - in a relaxed and non-competitive manner. For this I don't see why it would be necessary to stay above water for 2/3 of the time. I could be wrong, but as I understand it the experts advice about recovery time being twice the dive time seems to be in relation to max dives (competition), and not necessarily relavant for "fun diving".

Plain and simple: Each breath hold you do will increase CO2 levels in your blood. With out proper surface intervals it will keep building up and then you will suffer black out.
So your "fun diving" will turn in to fun funeral party for your friends and family.
So would you rather waste little of the "fun time" or waste your "life"?
Also if you train in the pool , you should have a trained buddy with you in the water to provide immediate assistance in case you need help. And by trained I mean "trained in freediving safety". There are certain things you want them to be able to look for to safety you properly.
Freediving can be very safe sport or fun time if you follow safety rules. But if you don't and think you can bend them, then you end up injured or dead. There is no other way around it.
So, dive safe and I would strongly recomend freediving class.
Vaclav

 

[Vaclav Havlik]

Hi Stefan,
I've been freediving for a few months now and thought I'd studied quite a bit, but couldn't find all the answers I wanted so took a course.

One of the last things we did were 25m apnea laps in the pool to a Co2 table starting with a recovery time of 1:30 between each 25 metres and knocking about 15 seconds off that recovery time every cycle. The recovery time before the last 25m was about 15 seconds. I can dive dynamic for over a minute and be on the surface again without feeling stretched, but that last 25m-20 second lap in the pool with such a short recovery really felt like I was nearing my limit, time was flying and I wasn't really enjoying it, just fining along fast to get to the end. I never felt anywhere near a BO but I did feel very out of breath like I'd been freestroking or running. I was doing the 25m lengths in about 20 seconds, which is a pretty good speed but that's not the way I'm want to go freediving.

You need to get your breath back after a dive and relax relax relax. I asked if double dive time was OK for surface time and was told, "better 3 times your dive time." Even 2 times is sort of a minimum because after you surface your buddy will be checking you for a while to make sure you don't keel over after surfacing and then they will want to dive so you're watching them as they prepare for the dive and go under, you're breathing easy relaxing for your next dive, buddy comes up, you watch them for a while and if they're OK start preparing for your dive. Add that all up and if you're diving for about 1:00 your surface time will be at least 2:00. At this rythmn you can have fun, get good dive times and feel like you've been doing some serious activity after a few hours.

Try a Co2 table dry on your couch that drops to a seriously short recovery time and you'll realize you don't want to feel that out of breath before you dive, it is really hard to go anywhere near a decent time with reduced recovery time. After 7 cycles it's even hard to start the last breath hold. Last night doing dry static I just stopped after 7 because I was pooped.

Everyone is different but for me the most important things recently have been:
stopping competing with myself and worrying about numbers so much = more fun and progression just happens
learning to be aware of my breathing without controlling it while relaxing, and how to breathe deep before hold while maintaining a healthy Co2 level, to find what is most efficient and reliably safe for me, and hook breathe after surfacing to recover
finding out what brings me closer to black out, warnings, overbreathing and hyperventilation so I can avoid them, just a little forced exhale for example can really make a big (negative) difference to me
diving, diving, diving and diving to well within my limits so I feel like I'm at home underwater before going further, with my buddy watching, training rescue together, chilling with the fish, giving each other tips like "you're head's way back", or "you didn't equalize soon enough" and having fun
being happy with contractions first on the couch and then underwater (this was a big hurdle for me)
and last but certainly not least getting to know my body now I'm using it this new way

Decompression sickness is not on my list because as far as I know it's not something I need to be worried about as a recreational freediver, if I was breathing compressed air out of a bottle on my back it would be.

Actually even as recreational freediver you can get bends. More unlikely , but still possible. There are new studies done, which shows it is possible. It depends on few factors. How deep are your dives, how many dives...,etc.
So to do proper surface intervals is very important.
Vaclav

 

[Jeroen Elout]

Free radicals get released when you dive deep depths, like when your lungs become smaller then they have ever been before.

I have been wondering the exact same thing as you and actually I have experimented with dives where I just recover for a couple of seconds to allow my heart rate to turn back to normal and then I dive again. The body seems to adapt and get used to it.

For deco sickness you won't absorb enough Nitrogen during those shallow dives for it to become a problem.

Turtles get away with just taking 2 breathes between dives every 11 minutes.

 

[SubSub]

Exept for the increased risk for SWB!