M
mrjomac
Guest
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.
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.