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Moving past 75 meters

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anthropisces

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2006
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I'm looking for freedivers experienced in pool training, who are themselves capable of routinely surpassing 100 meters in the pool to comment on this thread.

I'm pool training so that I can become a better freediver. Typically my freediving is accompanied by spearfishing. I'm not trying to go after any dynamic records.

Currently I'm in the pool doing 8 sets of 75 meters once or twice a week (depending on whether we freedive in the ocean on weekends). My eighth set is generally easier than my first. I start getting the urge to breathe at about 60 meters. At that point I say to myself "good, this is where I want to be; by training like this, until I feel this need to breathe, until my lungs start burning, I am installing a safety margin into my body for when I'm out spearfishing"

Telling myself that helps me push through. Just before I hit 75 meters I get my first real contraction.

Sometimes I'll turn at 75 meters and head toward 100. I never make it past 90 meters. The anxiety is too great. I have no understanding of how to push through the way I'm feeling and take it out to 100 meters. Perhaps I need some thought tool, such as the one I described above, to get me out to 100 meters.

I'd really like to be doing at least two sets of 100 in addition to my 8 sets of 75.

I have been reading Umberto Pellazari's book and it has made a huge difference in terms of the efficiency of my finstroke. I keep my head down and relax my arms and shoulders during the training. My speed and stroke amplitude do not change throughout the whole period. I keep my mind occupied with the feeling of the water rippling over my fingers or I think soothing thoughts.

My breathing is generally tidal or a series characterized by quick inhales followed by slow and smooth exhales (I'm starting to prefer the simple tidal breathing). I breathe through my snorkel the whole time because I want to imitate hunting conditions. Sometimes I will do a couple of shallow packs with snorkel in mouth (using tongue).



Can anyone offer any specific advice on how to move out to and beyond 100 meters?
 
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Reactions: vali
I cannot do more then 2 x 100m.

I hope you have a good able buddy, because doing repeats is very taxiing, and people are very likely to hyperventilate in before and between dives.

The profit is in learning to relax better, and like you said improve technique and steamline. Now design you preparation to relax and have a low bloodflow. A little pause before starting swimming often helps to allow the DR to manifest first. The slowly start swimming with aim of keeping the bloodflow low.

Also in general, be happy with any discovery and growth, but don't expect a linear progress. 100 is just a number, and doing a 100 dynamic is very different then spearfishing. However the relaxation and understanding from the dynamic can be used for any freediving.

I think it's unlikely even the best freedivers can do many 100m dives. With most people they'll form lactic acid, and with repeats that stacks. So after x number of dives the muscles are 'full'.
 
I have heard that after the contractions, that there is calm afterward and it gets easy for awhile again. I need something to look forward to.

I get out to almost 90 meters and phychologically, I have a difficult time.

During the first 75 meters I am looking forward to the burn and the contractions. They are my friends. They are painful, but I feel that meeting them often in the pool makes my dives safer in the ocean. Turning at 75, I am contracting and getting anxious out to 85 or so.

What is it that will happen after 85. What will change? Should my kick-stroke change at all at that point? I think that it is the unknown which is preventing me from progressing further. What is it that I can look forward to?
 
In much of freediving the anticipation is much worse than the actual experience. Contractions don't feel that bad by themselves; it's more the foreboding that any second things are going to feel much worse. But they never really do - things tend to happen more slowly than you expect. There's unlikely to be much of a change after 85m. However most divers do find that discomfort peaks somewhere around half to two-thirds of their max performance before abating.
 
it depends so much on your equipment. I bet Dave's top freedivers couldn't do repeat 100m swims with just speedos mask and bifins (or could they?)

A slick suit and the right amount of lead is almost cheating compared to plain speedos, its that much easier.

what gear are you wearing? slick suit, lead? What fins and what fining style?
 
I bet Dave's top freedivers couldn't do repeat 100m swims with just speedos mask and bifins

They'd still manage fine. The really buoyant ones might struggle a bit without any weight but could still crank out plenty of 100m swims on partial inhales. My training partner does repeat 100m swims in duck fins and she is a lazy little sod.... Not to belittle the distance, just sayin' how it is.
 
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Work on diaphragm flexibility and get used to relaxing while the diaphragm is contracting.
Do not focus on where you are during a dive, just focus on swimming and checking if you're mentally clear.

Thank you Dave for the correction.
 

The pool is only 4 feet deep so I wear a bit of weight. I wear surfing shorts and Cressi Gara 3000 bifins. I don't wear a wetsuit. I breathe from a snorkel and it does drag off to the side during my swim. My mask is an Omer Alien.

My finning style is unfortunately influenced by the pool depth. I have been trying to use what I've learned from the Manual of Freediving. My strokes are as broad as the pool depth allows, I'm swimming very close to the bottom. My toes are pointed on the return stroke. I swim not only from the hips but I'm also trying to incorporate muscles in my mid-section for drive. My stroke is strong but not overly fast. My stroke is the same throughout the swim (my first stroke is nearly identical to my last).

I don't want to make myself more slick in the pool. I want to do the 100 meters dressed just as I am. In the ocean I am usually carrying a gun and sometimes a floatline.

In the ocean I use Omer Stingray Carbon 30 fins, and either a 3.5, or 2mm polosub suit or a dive-skin. My ocean finning is much more efficient than in the restrictive 4 foot deep pool.

Mainly, I need to get through the mental block since I don't think I'm ready to black out at 85 meters. What I mean is that more streamlining and such isn't my problem. My problem is the will to continue swimming. I do want to know more about other means of making myself efficient besides drag though. For instance; should I be varying my kick-stroke at any point over 100 meters? is there a good reference to turn to besides the manual of freediving to further refine my kicking?

One other thing...based on what I'm writing you have some idea of me as a diver. I've been diving for many years but only in the past 8 have I gone deeper than 30 feet (my current max is probably about 120). I weight 200lbs and am 6foot 4 inches tall. I have fairly strong thighs, I'll be 50 years old in July. Based on these considerations, can anyone give me a good recommendation for a monofin for the ocean and pool? While I would mostly be using it for bluewater exploration and frolicking, I might like to try hunting with it now and again as well.
 
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Board shorts and a snorkel flapping of the side of your mask are not the way to go if you want to do nice safe 100M dives.

you'll need:
1. a good buddy to watch you and train with. Like watch every dive, every second o every dive, and be close if anything happens.
2. slick suit. Or even speedos will help. Board shorts are the worst case scenario
3. Correct amount of lead
4. Leave the snorkel at home
5. Try a soft smooth dolphin kick with those Cressis, don't be bending those knees too much

You sound to be a great freediver if you can already repeat 75m's in your actual gear, i am sure the above steps will get you to 100 with little effort.
 
I find this topic quite interesting. Im a rubbish freediver in the pool however I can easily crank out 10x100m dynamics in the pool in a one hour session I could prolly do 20X100m in a 2 hour session If I wanted too.

HOWEVER my absolute max dynamic which I only ever did once is 125m, normally Iam very close to samba by 109-113m. I find this extremely frustrating as it seems I can do many reps at approx 80% of my max but I simply cannot do a decent max. After a few years and obeservation I have put it down to the fact that I must NOT have any dive reflex in a pool???? I get zero latic acumulation in my swims and the fact that I cannot go past around 113m yet other guys I know who are far less fit than me can crank out huge max swims yet I can prolly match them or beat them at doing 100m reps as I consider myself to be fairly fit.

This has led me to quit pool freediving as it seems that no matter what I have a samba limit less than 125m. In depth diving though this is differnet and I seem to have a dive reflex I get severe latic accumulation on max depth dives and often cannot kick the last 15m on way up. Yet still surface fine. Anyway I dont post on here often but this topic I found quite relevant to my own experince.

Cheers
 
Reactions: Kars
Hi mullins not sure if that question was directed for me or not? I have rarely done sprints as Iam not very good at it, when i did them a few times I was able to do 75m in 40secs which for me is going flat out. I would get some latic on these sprints but nothing compared to what i get on a dive past 60m.

I think the fastest i did 50m was 23sec but i would have to look up my log book to double check that.
 
How is your physique?

Do you do a lot of endurance? - including cycle commutes etc.

I have a similar 'problem'. - But I'm working on my understanding and 'solution'.
 
Im a rubbish freediver in thae pool however I can easily crank out 10x100m dynamics in the pool in a one hour session I could prolly do 20X100m in a 2 hour session If I wanted too.

I would have to say that if you can do 10 - 20 100m dynamics a night, you would be one of the more advanced pool freedivers in Australia. There are not many who could do that.

125 and beyond is often a barrier and different people handle it different ways depending on what they are running into. Most change to dolphin kick to handle the huge lactic build up and economise on O2. Some do lots of lactic tolerance exercises or O2 tables. Progress can often slow down at this point. When I hit that barrier I changed to a monofin, but that wasn't for spearing. ha ha.
 
Canetoad Films,

I hardly have any lactic acid build up. I need to come up because I'm on the verge of samba, but my body is almost lactic acid free.
 
Kars, lucky you. You don't have that barrier... I had it when I hit 100 but I changed to a mono and it is never a problem since. Most (not all) of the guys in Sydney Freedivers, and Curtis Coast freedivers who are using bi-fins run into lactic acid when they get up around 90 - 125.

Athletes with histories of cycling or other endurance sports don't seem to have so much trouble with this, I guess, their training gives them a higher lactic threshold
 
How is your physique?

Do you do a lot of endurance? - including cycle commutes etc.

I have a similar 'problem'. - But I'm working on my understanding and 'solution'.

Kars i think i defiently have the same issues as you, i dont get any/very little latic built up either in a dynamic i simply come up and can be very close to the edge. I do a lot of endurance, running, cycling, swimming, cross trainer and at the moment am fairly low body fat however with a bit more muscle than your average runner as I also do weight training. I find this very frustrating as I stated previously that others i know can go much further than me yet are not as fit which leads me to beilieve pool freediving is mostly about dive reflex and has bugger all to do with fitness.

Canetoad thanks for your kind words. However I would much rather be able to do one long swim instead of being able to do reps of 100m which is of little interest to me. I use a monofin already.

Funnily enough using small pool fins i can do 100m also using either the dolphin kick or bifin kick, so a monofin for me only yields a max of 25m further (more often only 13m) than a glidefin gets. I think my body is not designed for pool I will stick to the depths which this problem is not there.

Anyway sorry to the original poster for highjacking your thread mate
 
I do a lot of endurance, running, cycling, swimming, cross trainer and at the moment am fairly low body fat however with a bit more muscle than your average runner as I also do weight training.

It's likely that this isn't helping. Even weight training hurts my apnea pretty badly, presumably because of the increase in RMR. It'd be interesting to see how you went if you ditched all the other exercise and just did apnea for a month or two.
 
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