One year off

[Veronika]

Hi there,

due to pretty complicated reasons I will probably be forced to quit any training "officially" declared as apnea training for about 10 to 12 months (please, don't ask). The only water-related activity will be a very restricted number of pool sessions, mostly just swimming laps since I haven't anyone watching.

If you had one year to spend without being able to do apnea-sessions in the water, what would you do to get the most out of it (apnea-wise ) ?

What came into my mind was
- tables
- apnea walking
- improve breathing techniques, take a yoga course :hmm
- learn even more relaxation techniques (?) zzz
- work on monofin technique as far as possible (I just got a mono two month ago, so plenty to improve )
- doing workouts in the gym / muscle strength
- go and get some fitness :hmm

I'd be greatful for any and all further hints and ideas...

Thanks and best regards,

Veronika

 

[Ben Gowland]

Dry statics and mon-technique sessions would probably be your best bet.

Depending on what is considered 'apnea':

I'd do loads (and loads) of pool lengths underwater (but only 1 or 2 lengths per apnea) practicing technique, changing technique, changing speed etc. I used to happily do 50m apneas for an hour, twice a week for a year or so.

Dry statics are highly mind-numbing, but keep your mental and physical tolerance to breatholding up.

This way you keep your technique and your 'apnea' ability, so when you can get back to training properly, you should be at your best. It is tempting to do apnea walks etc. but they won't do you any better than the above. Aside from these two apnea facets, I'd just do normal cardiovascular exercise.

Ben

 

[cdavis]

Hi Veronika,


I take about 9 months off from diving every year and discovered that lack of diving realy cuts performance, worse, it takes a while to get it back. Four or 5 years ago, I started working out in the pool, a mile, 2-3 times a week. Just staying in reasonable cardio condition helped tremendously. Last year, in January, I added empty lung dry statics (no time for full lung) apnea walking and stretch packing (very limited). This also helped, but not as much as just working out. Still, the drop in ability was pretty minimal. This year I am working more on dynamics and stretch packing to get my lung capacity up..

Best of luck

Connor

 

[Veronika]

Thanks a lot for your hints guys ! Looks as if I'd focus on cardiovascular exercise and add a little bit of spice by doing dry statics...

Regards, Veronika

 

[OceanSwimmer]

Cardio....

Hello Veronika and welcome to Deeper Blue!
If I had to prioritize how I would spend 50 minutes 3-4 times a week on ONE discipline to maintain conditioning, it would be lap swimming. I find 'em boring, but very effective when it comes to cardio and muscle strengthening....perhaps what I mean is endurance and flexibility. Hard to beat that.
Best of luck to you.
OceanSwimmer