PFI Intermediate in 1 month...

[wallybanger]

Hey Guys,
So I'm doing the PFI intermediate course in Vancouver in 1 months. I'm pretty out of shape and I'm somewhat concerned. I'm going to be hitting the pool and the gym every day for the next month but I'm wondering if not being is great shape is going to be a problem and if there are some things I should be focusing on to get ready....?

Cheers,

 

[monkeyhatfork]

I would say for most people in these courses if there is a limiting factor its typically in equalizing, it doesnt matter how good of shape you are in if you cant equalize. Its a great course, you should get allot out of it, Kirk and Mandy are very cool and everyone usually gets some new big PB's , Also dont freak out and way overtrain for the course I worked myself to the point of illness right before my course

 

[wallybanger]

I would say for most people in these courses if there is a limiting factor its typically in equalizing, it doesnt matter how good of shape you are in if you cant equalize. Its a great course, you should get allot out of it, Kirk and Mandy are very cool and everyone usually gets some new big PB's , Also dont freak out and way overtrain for the course I worked myself to the point of illness right before my course

sounds good, thanks. And I know what you mean. My buddy just keeps drilling me with 'early and often'. Hopefully I can make that work

PB's?

 

[nyspear]

PB = personal best

For the intermediate course, I agree with monkeyhatfork. Be sure that you're using Frenzel and not Valsava. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Lepus-Aquaticus]

Hello Wallybanger;

Been a lurker, on D.B. forums, since 2004 & never disposed to "chime-in" on any thread, never mind "Beach-Bar". Always thought: between what I don't know (which I'll learn from professionals, like P.F.I.) & what I already know, but which may not work for others--I'd nothing to contribute. That said, your situation, question(s) & plans triggered something for me & felt compelled to jump in.

MonkeyHatFork is quite right: Mandy once told me equalization (e.q.) is a huge hurdle for many of P.F.I.'s (& others') students. This, around time I gave myself mild middle-ear barotrauma, stupidly looking "up" (i.e. down, near bottom-plate) on a drop, thereby stalling my e.q. & stopping me from hitting target depth, that day or for duration of whole clinic. :head

Go here:
Liquivision : Freediving : equalizing [usual blab: if this link doesn't work (if it's "dead" text) then cut-&-paste into your browser...]

then download & save copy of proffered "Frenzel-Fattah" document & work through it, concurrent with your fitness-"cramming".

Give special attention to mastering "tongue-block"! It's easy for some people to slide into a Frenzel-Valsalva hybrid e.q. style, "blowing" from diaphragm--rather than "squishing" air up & back with tongue. Trouble is: on Breath-Hold & upside-down, "Valsalva-like" e.q. stops working, for many folks, somewhere between -5 & -10 m.

There's a solid reason tongue-block step comes before "Mouth-fill"--a.k.a. "negative packing", or "grouper-call"--in Mr. Fattah's ".Doc". Latter skill is later a big deal, facilitating truly deep dives.

Once found my way to: Apnea mania

You could navigate to: "Training Tips"->"Static on Land"-> "Static in Bed". That one exercise is a mild, entry-level Hypoxic* breath-hold training "table". * i.e. it will help your body get used to low O2 levels.

N.B.: Don't go beyond that exercise, without buddy/supervisor around. People HAVE blacked-out & fallen down, sustaining injuries during "Apnea-training-walks", etc.

Good luck! Not everybody "nails" Intermediate P.F.I. certification right away....

-Lepus-Aquaticus

 

[nostres]

I'm pretty out of shape and I'm somewhat concerned. I'm going to be hitting the pool and the gym every day for the next month but I'm wondering if not being is great shape is going to be a problem and if there are some things I should be focusing on to get ready....?

Cheers,

hi, I don't know how old You are but I am assuming You are a grown man. If You became "out of shape" during all those years I wouldn't expect a miracle in a month. Actually, doing lots of cardio workouts NOW may be counter productive.
Please research here cardio vs apnea before You hit it hard, tons of info on this subject.
And don't get me wrong, cardio is good for Your heart and general shape, it burns fat, gives You six pack etc. I love cardio and I do it a lot now in winter when I don't dive. My apnea performance goes down during intense cardio but when it's time to dive I switch to different exercises, quit cardio and I am back to my PB levels in no time.

If You only have one month left I would rather focus on relaxation, breathing, again - research those here in forum. You can also start doing tables O2 & CO2, they're fun and can be challenging and will bring better results than cardio.
If You mean pool- underwater laps, then that's great but buddy (safety) is a MUST. You will find tables online or in the booklet You should receive from PFI soon.

Another thing You can do is improve Your diet, again lots to research here with mixed opinions but for sure: junk food out the window, refined sugars, margarine, aspartame, other sweeteners and other hydrogenated oils. Get rid of this few items (if You consume them) and combined with all above advices from others You should be ready to fully enjoy Your coming course. Not a biggie, take it easy because remember this, You are going there to learn and improve, not to impress with Your great shape

 

[wallybanger]

Hello Wallybanger;

Been a lurker, on D.B. forums, since 2004 & never disposed to "chime-in" on any thread, never mind "Beach-Bar". Always thought: between what I don't know (which I'll learn from professionals, like P.F.I.) & what I already know, but which may not work for others--I'd nothing to contribute. That said, your situation, question(s) & plans triggered something for me & felt compelled to jump in.

MonkeyHatFork is quite right: Mandy once told me equalization (e.q.) is a huge hurdle for many of P.F.I.'s (& others') students. This, around time I gave myself mild middle-ear barotrauma, stupidly looking "up" (i.e. down, near bottom-plate) on a drop, thereby stalling my e.q. & stopping me from hitting target depth, that day or for duration of whole clinic. :head

Go here:
Liquivision : Freediving : equalizing [usual blab: if this link doesn't work (if it's "dead" text) then cut-&-paste into your browser...]

then download & save copy of proffered "Frenzel-Fattah" document & work through it, concurrent with your fitness-"cramming".

Give special attention to mastering "tongue-block"! It's easy for some people to slide into a Frenzel-Valsalva hybrid e.q. style, "blowing" from diaphragm--rather than "squishing" air up & back with tongue. Trouble is: on Breath-Hold & upside-down, "Valsalva-like" e.q. stops working, for many folks, somewhere between -5 & -10 m.

There's a solid reason tongue-block step comes before "Mouth-fill"--a.k.a. "negative packing", or "grouper-call"--in Mr. Fattah's ".Doc". Latter skill is later a big deal, facilitating truly deep dives.

Once found my way to: Apnea mania

You could navigate to: "Training Tips"->"Static on Land"-> "Static in Bed". That one exercise is a mild, entry-level Hypoxic* breath-hold training "table". * i.e. it will help your body get used to low O2 levels.

N.B.: Don't go beyond that exercise, without buddy/supervisor around. People HAVE blacked-out & fallen down, sustaining injuries during "Apnea-training-walks", etc.

Good luck! Not everybody "nails" Intermediate P.F.I. certification right away....

-Lepus-Aquaticus

Well that is a better first post than I have ever thrown down, anywhere. I just opened the Fattah-Frenzel document and scanned down to the descriptions. To my surprise, I have been doing Frenzel all this time. No idea how I figured it out, but I guess it just came naturally. that's a reliefe as I didn't want to learn a whole new system. I'm going to read the document anyway and hopefully I will learn some new tricks. thanks for posting!

Thanks for the great advice!

hi, I don't know how old You are but I am assuming You are a grown man. If You became "out of shape" during all those years I wouldn't expect a miracle in a month. Actually, doing lots of cardio workouts NOW may be counter productive.
Please research here cardio vs apnea before You hit it hard, tons of info on this subject.
And don't get me wrong, cardio is good for Your heart and general shape, it burns fat, gives You six pack etc. I love cardio and I do it a lot now in winter when I don't dive. My apnea performance goes down during intense cardio but when it's time to dive I switch to different exercises, quit cardio and I am back to my PB levels in no time.

If You only have one month left I would rather focus on relaxation, breathing, again - research those here in forum. You can also start doing tables O2 & CO2, they're fun and can be challenging and will bring better results than cardio.
If You mean pool- underwater laps, then that's great but buddy (safety) is a MUST. You will find tables online or in the booklet You should receive from PFI soon.

Another thing You can do is improve Your diet, again lots to research here with mixed opinions but for sure: junk food out the window, refined sugars, margarine, aspartame, other sweeteners and other hydrogenated oils. Get rid of this few items (if You consume them) and combined with all above advices from others You should be ready to fully enjoy Your coming course. Not a biggie, take it easy because remember this, You are going there to learn and improve, not to impress with Your great shape

OK, thanks for the reply. I'll look into cardio vs apnea. I am a full grown 'adult' and I'm not in excellent shape by any stretch of the imagination but I'm also not a complete couch potato. I was just thinking that any cardio improvement would help my PB's while doing the course. Just want to get the most of it. I can guarantee I'm not going to impress anyone with the spare tire around my waist.

 

[ImmersionFD]

Wally,

What did you think of the course?

 

[wallybanger]

I went into the course a fat, out of shape turd with a dry static of 2min and a max depth of 30' and in 4 days I was doing 4m15s static apneas and hit a PB depth of 85'. On top of that I learned a whole tonne about physiology and, most importantly, SAFETY!!

It was well worth it.

Only thing that pissed me off is that I paid $800 for the course and they never sent me out my F'n PFI T-shirt

 

[ImmersionFD]

I went into the course a fat, out of shape turd with a dry static of 2min and a max depth of 30' and in 4 days I was doing 4m15s static apneas and hit a PB depth of 85'. On top of that I learned a whole tonne about physiology and, most importantly, SAFETY!!

It was well worth it.

Only thing that pissed me off is that I paid $800 for the course and they never sent me out my F'n PFI T-shirt

I'm glad you enjoyed the course. I'm just glad I wasn't teaching it up there. They made me teach an Intermediate in Vancouver once and for a Florida boy that was some cold 52F water.
Call their office I'm sure Mandy or Erin will take care of it. They can be reached at USA Office: 954-302-2791 CND Office: 604-628-7416.

 

[wallybanger]

I'm glad you enjoyed the course. I'm just glad I wasn't teaching it up there. They made me teach an Intermediate in Vancouver once and for a Florida boy that was some cold 52F water.
Call their office I'm sure Mandy or Erin will take care of it. They can be reached at USA Office: 954-302-2791 CND Office: 604-628-7416.

Ha, yeah, the water was COLD. I sent them an email but I guess I'll have to call. Thanks

 

[glubglub]

I'm on deck for Aug intermediate training in San Diego. Just got the manual. I'm excited but also a little concerned as well.

@Wally, did anyone in your class use a monofin?

@Ted, do you suggest people to use bi-fin because they're easier to maneuver for safety diver role in the class? I swim almost past 2 years primarily with a mono, and yes it's pretty hard to tread water with it, but then if I use bi-fin I won't learn how to do safety with mono (catch-22?)

 

[ImmersionFD]

If you dive primarily in a monofin I would suggest using a monofin in the course. If you dive primarily in a bi-fins use a bi-fin.

At the intermediate level almost all students wear bi-fins. In the advanced class we start to see more and more mono-fins!

Safety is harder to learn in a monofin but if thats what you dive in, then that's what you'd be doing safety in.

If you live in the area, just bring you bi-fins as well in case you want to play with them.

Hope that helps.

 

[monkeyhatfork]

I did the intermidiat course with a mono, only hard part was the safety in the pool there was a very shallow stretch I had to cross carrying someone was hard with the mono, in deep water it was just as easy as bi fins

 

[hank49]

I start the course here in Belize on Thursday this coming week. Just getting over a 10 day cough cold and am on antibiotics.
But to show that I'm totally committed, I'm passing on going out tomorrow in the middle of cubera and dog snapper festival here. So many fish....

 

[glubglub]

@hank49: Awesome! Please let us know your experience. Do you take the refresher course or is it your first time with the course?

@Ted: Thanks. I will probably buy a new set of fins. Still, I'll go to class with mono then; if it turns out to be too troublesome, I'll switch to bi-fin in class. Wearing a monofin is fun but it's also very hard to maneuver to get that perfect underwater picture.

I was just having "second thought" about the course after reading the manual because I was afraid I'll be a burden to whoever my dive partner would be. My PB now is DYN 50m, STA 3:00, CW 45', seems like a bare minimum to take the intermediate course.

Anyway, I'm much calmer now What I'm hoping from the course is to stay underwater safer and longer; how much deeper I dive is nice but not my primary goal. Would be nice if I can make 75', since I already do 2x75' dynamics regularly in the pool. I would trade that 25' depth with extra 10 secs in the 50'. OK now I'm getting too excited again...

 

[haughki]

I was just having "second thought" about the course after reading the manual because I was afraid I'll be a burden to whoever my dive partner would be. My PB now is DYN 50m, STA 3:00, CW 45', seems like a bare minimum to take the intermediate course.

No need to worry at all. Many people take the intermediate course starting with _much_ lower numbers. A fair number of people don't even know what their pb's are (or even what a pb is . You'll do great!

Best,
Hawkeye Parker
PFI Instructor
Kailua Kona, HI

 

[hank49]

No need to worry at all. Many people take the intermediate course starting with _much_ lower numbers. A fair number of people don't even know what their pb's are (or even what a pb is . You'll do great!

Best,
Hawkeye Parker
PFI Instructor
Kailua Kona, HI

I've been planning this course since about March. We got it all together with a few friends and my son here. Kirk is arriving on Wednesday.
But...as usual....the weather is going to be rough, I got a cough and sore throat last week as did my son and another guy taking the course, work has thrown a few curve balls at me.....grrrrr. And I was hoping for a fun and relaxing four days.....it's always something....

 

[wallybanger]

@hank49: Awesome! Please let us know your experience. Do you take the refresher course or is it your first time with the course?

@Ted: Thanks. I will probably buy a new set of fins. Still, I'll go to class with mono then; if it turns out to be too troublesome, I'll switch to bi-fin in class. Wearing a monofin is fun but it's also very hard to maneuver to get that perfect underwater picture.

I was just having "second thought" about the course after reading the manual because I was afraid I'll be a burden to whoever my dive partner would be. My PB now is DYN 50m, STA 3:00, CW 45', seems like a bare minimum to take the intermediate course.

Anyway, I'm much calmer now What I'm hoping from the course is to stay underwater safer and longer; how much deeper I dive is nice but not my primary goal. Would be nice if I can make 75', since I already do 2x75' dynamics regularly in the pool. I would trade that 25' depth with extra 10 secs in the 50'. OK now I'm getting too excited again...

My PB was like 30' and 2:00min static and I more than doubled those numbers in the course. You have nothing to worry about, go do the course!

 

[Bill]

I know that you didn't ask for my advice but....
Don't worry about numbers, weather or your performance, just try to remember as much as you can of what is taught.
It sounds like you'll be in a small group with my favorite instructor for four days. I'm jealous.