Saturday 11/2/2019
Hi everyone,
I spent 3 weeks spearfishing in Greece. Two out of the three weeks were spent spearfishing alone in shallow waters up to 4-5 meters but usually in <1 meter (sometimes in 50 cm of water or less!) for "white" fishes such as gray mullets, seabreams, and sea bass. One week was spent spearfishing in deeper waters usually around 7 - 10 meters with a maximum dive of 16 meters. This time I had a partner. The dives of 15 - 16 meters were very easy and were limited first by visibility and secondly by my injured ear which eventually restricted me to maximum depths of 6 meters. This happens every year where I injure one ear due to far too many equalizations every day nonstop for weeks. The injury happens over time (not sudden barotrauma) and I feel it deep in my jawline/throat area when I exceed 6 meters (this number changes depending on the level of injury). I am not sure what area this is, I know that it is not dependent on ear and it does not happen from depth, just from the stress of equalizing too much too often.
I caught a 3.5 kg dentex in 4 meters of water (my first ever dentex!). I caught a few gray mullets of around 750 - 800 grams, a few amberjacks of 750 - 800 grams, some gilthead seabreams and seabasses of 400 - 500 grams, and various other fishes around 250 - 400 grams. I saw other larger fishes (about 3 - 6 kg) such as lichia amia, dentex, and amberjacks, but I was unable to catch them.
For shallow water, I used 2 kg in my weight vest (new item for me this year), 4.5 kg on my belt, and 0.5 kg per ankle for a total of 7.5 kg. It was not enough weight for negative buoyancy in less than 1 meter of water, but was OK for 2 meters or more. I used a 5.5mm Mares Instinct jacket, 3.5mm Mares Instinct pants, 3mm Instinct socks, and Mares Razor Pro fins.
I mentioned last year I would purchase a freediving computer but I luckily did not spend the money as it would not be useful. I did the research however and I have decided upon a Seac Driver. When the time comes to buy, I will update my research and purchase next year.
Finally, I will need to adjust my training as the type of spearfishing I do relies much more on high CO2 tolerance and fast recovery than it does on low O2 tolerance (swimming many kilometers, doing many dives, doing many mobile aspettos, and then often taking 1 - 2 breaths only and continuing all day for 3 - 6 hours). I will revisit this next spring but I think I will increase my CO2 training in general and also add DYN-STA sets (doing 25m DYN, then STA, then recover, repeat). I will also add some long fin training back in, as I did none last season and my ankles became highly strained from not being used to long fins.
My approximate pool training program over the next year is as follows:
November, December, January, February, March, April, May (off season, focus on aerobic)
Running: 3x-4x per week, 3-6 miles on trail
Swimming: 3x-4x per week, 1600m – 2000m (2x focused on hypoxic intervals, and 1x-2x dedicated to sprint intervals)
Strength: 2x per week
Dry static apnea: none
Dynamic apnea: none
June, July, August, September (in season, focus on anaerobic)
Running: none
Swimming: 1x - 2x per week
Strength: 0-1x a week
Dry static apnea: 1x-2x per week
Dynamic apnea: 2x-3x per week
Also here are my performance and workout goals by next September:
6.0 mile trail run without stopping
4.0 mile trail run in 30:00
10*25uf DNF with 4 breaths at the wall
20*25uf DYN short rubber fins
10*50u/25/25u departing every 3:00 (long fins)
10*25uf with short rubber fins in 10:00
10*60u resting 2:00 (long fins)
O2 dry static tables up to 5:00 or better
Hi everyone,
I spent 3 weeks spearfishing in Greece. Two out of the three weeks were spent spearfishing alone in shallow waters up to 4-5 meters but usually in <1 meter (sometimes in 50 cm of water or less!) for "white" fishes such as gray mullets, seabreams, and sea bass. One week was spent spearfishing in deeper waters usually around 7 - 10 meters with a maximum dive of 16 meters. This time I had a partner. The dives of 15 - 16 meters were very easy and were limited first by visibility and secondly by my injured ear which eventually restricted me to maximum depths of 6 meters. This happens every year where I injure one ear due to far too many equalizations every day nonstop for weeks. The injury happens over time (not sudden barotrauma) and I feel it deep in my jawline/throat area when I exceed 6 meters (this number changes depending on the level of injury). I am not sure what area this is, I know that it is not dependent on ear and it does not happen from depth, just from the stress of equalizing too much too often.
I caught a 3.5 kg dentex in 4 meters of water (my first ever dentex!). I caught a few gray mullets of around 750 - 800 grams, a few amberjacks of 750 - 800 grams, some gilthead seabreams and seabasses of 400 - 500 grams, and various other fishes around 250 - 400 grams. I saw other larger fishes (about 3 - 6 kg) such as lichia amia, dentex, and amberjacks, but I was unable to catch them.
For shallow water, I used 2 kg in my weight vest (new item for me this year), 4.5 kg on my belt, and 0.5 kg per ankle for a total of 7.5 kg. It was not enough weight for negative buoyancy in less than 1 meter of water, but was OK for 2 meters or more. I used a 5.5mm Mares Instinct jacket, 3.5mm Mares Instinct pants, 3mm Instinct socks, and Mares Razor Pro fins.
I mentioned last year I would purchase a freediving computer but I luckily did not spend the money as it would not be useful. I did the research however and I have decided upon a Seac Driver. When the time comes to buy, I will update my research and purchase next year.
Finally, I will need to adjust my training as the type of spearfishing I do relies much more on high CO2 tolerance and fast recovery than it does on low O2 tolerance (swimming many kilometers, doing many dives, doing many mobile aspettos, and then often taking 1 - 2 breaths only and continuing all day for 3 - 6 hours). I will revisit this next spring but I think I will increase my CO2 training in general and also add DYN-STA sets (doing 25m DYN, then STA, then recover, repeat). I will also add some long fin training back in, as I did none last season and my ankles became highly strained from not being used to long fins.
My approximate pool training program over the next year is as follows:
November, December, January, February, March, April, May (off season, focus on aerobic)
Running: 3x-4x per week, 3-6 miles on trail
Swimming: 3x-4x per week, 1600m – 2000m (2x focused on hypoxic intervals, and 1x-2x dedicated to sprint intervals)
Strength: 2x per week
Dry static apnea: none
Dynamic apnea: none
June, July, August, September (in season, focus on anaerobic)
Running: none
Swimming: 1x - 2x per week
Strength: 0-1x a week
Dry static apnea: 1x-2x per week
Dynamic apnea: 2x-3x per week
Also here are my performance and workout goals by next September:
6.0 mile trail run without stopping
4.0 mile trail run in 30:00
10*25uf DNF with 4 breaths at the wall
20*25uf DYN short rubber fins
10*50u/25/25u departing every 3:00 (long fins)
10*25uf with short rubber fins in 10:00
10*60u resting 2:00 (long fins)
O2 dry static tables up to 5:00 or better