New FreeDiver In Training

[sheepeck]

Hi there.


Well, I'm not living so close to Hawaii as you are, but since I plan to visit Maui for few months and then move there if find it possible, I just want to check when you are planning to go there. My flight is planned for late August. BTW - I'm from Czechia.

I have started with freediving training few months ago - in September or so. I already checked Forums dedicated to finding buddy, but no post from Hawaii there.

I do my static trainings mostly on dry, and once a week I train dynamics at pool. With fins I can do only 50m or three times the widht of that 8 tracks pool. But after making those three widhts I feel really dizzy and probably not far from well danced samba. :-D
Dry statics record is 5 minutes, but it was made just after waking up in the morning - still in the bed, so I can't get close when doing it in daytime. But no problem - I have the road to follow.


So please, if you don't mind - in case you will be in Hawaii in the same time as I plan to be, drop me a line. Would be nice to have waterman friend there.

Have good times out and in the water.

Petr

 

[lungfish]

Hi Petr,

I am certain that I will have this resolved by August. I will probably make a formal anouncement on the Forum and I will also start a list of people who have told me that they are interested - like you.

It really is a nice place to practice. I have some favorite locations where dolphins, turtles, etc. are often seen. I have a lot of pics and will send you some if you PM me with your email address. My main motivation for freediving skills is to simply explore and experience sea life so Hawaii has a lot of that.

I have also dove on the Great Barrier Reef, and truly no place can be any more beautiful and filled with life. I have great pics of encounters with barracuda and all kinds of fish, turtles, etc..

With respect to your training, sometimes simply going out to sea after a good warmup and diving down a rope while relaxing can give you some excellent "breakthroughs".

Also, if you try some interval training either on dry land (running, punching bag, biking, etc) and do static tables you can see some amazing changes. Last summer I trained daily on cardio/interval, did 1static table per week, cut my %body fat by 70%, lifted some weights three days a week - and my swims doubled in duration and became much more relaxed and my statics improved considerably.

Anyway, I will let you know when I get this going. I probably won't rent a house right on the water but I will get a place that will be comfortable and, hopefully, close to great swimming areas. Of course, its an island so you aren't far from anywhere really.

Lungfish

 

[lungfish]

Hi Akoni,
Not sure why I thought you had HI experience. Well, time to get some! Stay in touch, pal. There are some great swims in your future!
Yagottawanna,
Lungfish

 

[Akoni]

Will do, really really wanna go there in the near future!

 

[another world]

Need Help with static table layouts

Hey I am just getting in to freediving and does andybody have any advice for al layout static table, for example how long i should be resting after each hold, which holds should be my longest, and which should just be easy ones. If anyone can help it would be great

thanx,

Another World

 

[lungfish]

Hi AW,

Just to be certain, do you know how to ventilate/breath-up? No offense intended, it just part of the exercise.

Ventilate for recommended cycle then static. When you have completed the static immediately begin ventilation for next cycle. When you can complete the full Phase w/o interuption (Day 1 and Day 3), move to the next level.

One Phase per week, 2 sessions per week 02 Day 1 C02 Day 3

Phase one O2 Table (day 1)
1.vent 2:00 static 1:00
2.vent 2:00 static 1:15
3.vent 2:00 static 1:30
4.vent 2:00 static 1:45
5.vent 2:00 static 2:00
6.vent 2:00 static 2:15
7.vent 2:00 static 2:30
8.vent 2:00 static 2:30

duration 30:45


Phase one CO2 Table (day 3)
1. vent 2:30 static 1:30
2. vent 2:15 static 1:30
3. vent 2:00 static 1:30
4. vent 1:45 static 1:30
5. vent 1:30 static 1:30
6. vent 1:15 static 1:30
7. vent 1:00 static 1:30
8. vent 1:00 static 1:30
duration 25:15

Phase 2 02 Table begins at 1:15
duration 32:45
Phase 2 C02 Table begins at 2:15
duration 23:15
Phase 3 02 Table begins at 1:30
duration 34:45
Phase 3 C02 Table begins at 2:00
duration 21:15

and so on through Phase 4

Check in after that and I can give you more.....

Lungfish

 

[another world]

thanx that helps alot but a few more questions one is what are 02 and C02 tables. and i know what a static table is, but what does it mean to ventilate and then static. i know what ventilate means but what does it mean to static.

 

[lungfish]

Hi AW,

Basically they are 02/C02 tolerance tables which train your body to deal with the various phases of apnea more comfortably, namely contractions.

Contractions are the respratory center's way of indicating to us that there is too much C02 within the system and too little 02. In the begining, these contractions can start quite early and become very uncomfortable but tolerance training, keeping these two gases in mind , can create remarkable differences. The O2 tables and the C02 table patterns either do not allow the sufficient 'flush' of C02 from the system prior to the next breath-hold or do not allow enough recovery time for 02 to be replenished.

Static is the breath-hold portion of the set.

So for a phase 1 02 table you ventilate for 2:00, hold for 1:15, ventilate for 2:00, hold for 1:30, in an ascending order to repetition 7 and 8 when you repeat. You begin your static(breath-hold) when the ventilation ends, you begin the ventilation (breath-up) when the static ends.

If you are working on a week where you are unable to complete each set, continue working on that week until you can finish it completely. Likewise, if you are workin on a static portion and are unable to complete the full time, the ventilation time starts when breathing starts.

By the time you get to phase 10 you are spending 32:45 of 48:45 in breath-hold (02 table). Set 1 begins at 3:15 and 7/8 are 4:45 statics (of course with 2:00 ventilation between each set, 1 through 8). Just to give you an idea where this goes if you start diligently at the bottom and take your time....

I edited the tables in the above email to show the entire set....

 

[another world]

Thanx that hepls he out alot, if i have any questions i will just private message you.

Thanx

 

[lungfish]

Sure AW,

Happy to help.

When I started out, I practiced up to Phase 5 over a couple months along with some solid cardio/interval training and more than doubled my "down" time and increased my comfort levels incredibly. My friend and my son, who don't do tolerance tables, literally did two dives in the time I spent on one. It really feels neat (relaxed, no pressure to breath for long enough to really look around) and is well worth the half hour or forty minutes of discomfort for twice a week that it takes to get you there.

Of course, you still have to learn how to ventilate, saturate, purge, peak inhale and pack. Doing that along with a diligent training program that includes a heavy cardio component and specific freediving ex.s like hypoxic training and form/technique will make you quite comfortable and competent. I offer the same recommendation that I gave Morg, take a course. It saves you so much "learning the hard way" and could keep you from injury or even save your life. Our hosts offer training here at deeperblue.net. so does www.performancefreediving.com I learned from PFi and really enjoyed the class.

Just be diligent and don't over-do it. One phase per week, if you can. If not, stick with that phase until you can because it won't take long. Your body will learn to tolerate contractions and you will move to the next phase. All it takes is doing it.

Lungfish

 

[Morg]

Well I just got back from the pool... Finally I had a chance to put my dry statics to the test.

This didn't make a hole lot of sense to me but I could only do roughly 1:40 after 25 contractions. I was counting the contractions because I noticed one person said after 30 you get samba so I figured 25 is a safe number.

After I did that I had my friend tap me on the shoulder when I was down there for 1 minute and then I would swim. In one dive I did 1 minute static then I swam roughly 80feet within 30 seconds.

I find doing the breath holds are a lot better in the water. I get this nice calm come over me when I am down there. I also noticed that when I did dry statics I would over heat pretty easily and that would annoy me. When I was in the water that never happened.

The pool that I went to was over priced and was shit so I don't think I will go back there again. At least I fed my hunger for testing out my breath holds. I look forward to doing about 1 more month of dry training and then hitting the icy waters to test it out.

I would like to thank all of you guys for helping me in training. I have noticed a BIG difference. I only have 1:30 really under my belt and I look forward to training that more until I can do a lot longer.

​

​

 

[Akoni]

I was counting the contractions because I noticed one person said after 30 you get samba so I figured 25 is a safe number.

That's different for each person, you shouldn't count contractions, you should focus on relaxation instead, counting contractions will only make it worse, for me anyways.

 

[DeepThought]

As Akoni said, the number of contractions is personal and varies from person to person, I doubt you were risking a samba if you had gone over 30 in that case. If counting helps or not is also personal, you can try either way.
Moving while doing "static" isn't the best way to conserve oxygen, you are probably aware of that. Just work on your tolerance and relaxation more.
I'm not sure what is your training routine, but as a beginner you can make a series of attempts with a few minutes rest in between, you might find you are doing longer times that way.

 

[Morg]

As Akoni said, the number of contractions is personal and varies from person to person, I doubt you were risking a samba if you had gone over 30 in that case. If counting helps or not is also personal, you can try either way.
Moving while doing "static" isn't the best way to conserve oxygen, you are probably aware of that. Just work on your tolerance and relaxation more.
I'm not sure what is your training routine, but as a beginner you can make a series of attempts with a few minutes rest in between, you might find you are doing longer times that way.

Thanks for pointing that out Akoni and DeepThought.. That's good news then because I was getting dry static times of 2:00+ easily and my PB is 3:45.

What I was trying to do when I waited a full minute before swimming was to get some Co2 into my system then do some exercise. Just to check out my tolerance towards that was.

I wasn't in the best situation to be really pushing myself so I had to watch myself very carefully. I was there with a friend but I would not trust him to do the correct thing if I were to black out. There was no lifeguard either... it was a shitty pool

I figure I am just going to work on some co2 tolerance a bit and try to increase my dry static times for now. I would like to take a course or learn from others before I start pushing myself to the max.

 

[Andrew_OZ]

Lungfish,
I too am really new to freediving and would love to know what you mean by ventilating and purging.
I can "pack" to a certain degree, but dont like the feeling of this most of the time.

And what is the best method to breathe up for a max breath hold. Should you saturate first for this? And does it take a few statics before-hand to get yourself prepared.

I actually live in Brisbane in Australia and make regular visits to the Barrier Reef!!! Mostly for scuba diving and yes I will agree that it is just the most awesome experience to see the life down there!

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[Akoni]

Ventilating is breathing, the best way to do this is bellybreathing, most people only do shallow breathe-ins, if you use your belly you will suck in more air.

Purging is getting rid of CO2 after a static by just starting to breath really

Packing, I wouldn't do this as a beginner, and in my opinion it isn't even needed, there are people who can do over 8 minutes without packing.

Getting prepared is different for every person, one person only has to relax without doing more than 1 static, while the other has to do multiple statics to get in the mood.

 

[DeepThought]

Purging is getting rid of CO2 after a static by just starting to breath really

The definition I encoutnered for purging is fast inhale/exhales inorder to get rid of CO2 before the dive - ie hyperventilation.

 

[lungfish]

Hi All,

Actually a purge is not a hyperventilation but it looks like one. It isn't one because it happens after you saturate. The reason I generally don't describe purging and packing because it is important to be correctly coached or you could end up simply hyperventilating........You have to be very careful with purging because C02 is what makes you aware that you need to breath. If you overdo it, you are risking a serious accident.

As for packing, increasing the amount of air you take with you will increase the duration of your dive. A good pack can add 1-2liters of air to your reserves.

As for 8minute breath-holds, Martin Stepanek is the only person I know that does 8minute breath-holds and I am fairly certain that he purges and packs before doing it.........

Regarding Andrew_OZ' question about saturation....

The whole point is to move oneself into the mammalian diving reflex through a series of actions that are designed to bring it on. This includes water on the face, some preliminary breath-holds, etc to "warm-up".

Ventilating is about moving gases, usually after a dive to return to a more-or-less normal state. Breathing-up begins at that point and involves 20-40 cycles of a deep, short (3sec)inhale, a brief pause (3secs) and a long, slow exhale of about 12-15secs. Heart rate rises on inhale, lowers on exhale so..... short inhale, long exhale slows heart rate and 02 consumption and tissues begin to saturate with 02.

Proper timing suggests that one should be on the surface twice as long as one is submerged (above 25meters) and longer for deeper swims..

Lungfish

 

[DeepThought]

Actually a purge is not a hyperventilation but it looks like one. It isn't one because it happens after you saturate.

I don't see how that supports your point.

 

[Akoni]

As for 8minute breath-holds, Martin Stepanek is the only person I know that does 8minute breath-holds and I am fairly certain that he purges and packs before doing it.........

There are more people that do more than 8 minutes, I heard Sam Still from the UK does almost 10 mins without packing!
Tom Sietas who did over 10 mins does pack.