• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

Pushing Through Contractions/Longer Bottom Time

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

FreeDivingJake

Active Member
Mar 13, 2012
157
12
33
Hi all,
I have a void I need to push past... contractions. Can anyone give some tips on how to push past contractions? Other than "just relax"? Or is that really the only method? My bottom time's are consistent at 1:30 (I get contractions around 1 minute or so). I would really like to be diving around 2 minutes. The urge to breathe is something I really need to push past (but obviously not ignore). Any tips?

Jake
 
I think contractions are a matter of your body trying to warn you that you are close to death. I've never had one, but if I did it would scare the hell out of me. Why the hell would you want to ignore the urge to breath? The urge to breath is natural.

Of course I'm just a spear fisherman, not a pure free diver, so take that for what its worth.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lewis Matthews
I think contractions are a matter of your body trying to warn you that you are close to death. I've never had one, but if I did it would scare the hell out of me. Why the hell would you want to ignore the urge to breath? The urge to breath is natural.

Of course I'm just a spear fisherman, not a pure free diver, so take that for what its worth.
Bill,
As a freediver, and spoke to many freedivers, and lots of research since my beginning of the sport 2 and a half years ago, contractions are a reaction your body has to the increase in C02. It doesn't mean you're even remotely close to death. I dive with gentleman that have bottom times well over 2 minutes at depths up to 25 meters. Sometimes 3 and a half minute long dives. Anything beyond 25 meters their bottom times tend to be a bit shorter. Why would I want to push past contractions? Well, this increases your bottom time. I look at my watch every 30 seconds or so, I have a very competent dive body who can dive well beyond my abilities. Any other divers, please correct me if I'm wrong, but pushing past contractions is not dangerous as long as you are careful and diving with a competent buddy. Also Bill, wouldn't you have long bottom times looking for fish? I'm not a spearfishermen, just a freediver.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lawstraljan16
Hi Jake,
If your dives are 1:30 with 1 min comfort and 30 seconds "gotta breathe" harsh contractions, try changing the way you're breathing to change the time contractions start to be closer to halfway through the dive or sooner. Contractions should start earlier and easier and give you a greater margin. Your max times will probably decrease at first but then improve and the contractions will become a cool part of the dive and a marker to start making your way back rather than a rush for air later than halfway through the dive.

Everyone is different but this is what works, and didn't work, for me.
The first thing I did when I started freediving last summer was overbreathe, big inhales and long forced exhales or just one purge which was wrong wrong wrong, my contractions started really late and like a bomb, making holding my breath through them almost impossible. It was like I was fighting the contractions, and couldn't win.
I realized that for me this was a way I didn't want to go so started trying different ways of breathing to have contractions no later than halfway through each hold/dive.
I try different things dry static before trying them in the water, always checking the times contractions start, for example, 1:30 comfort, another 2 mins + contractions. The first say 15-25 seconds are a little uncomfortable, followed by a long comfort zone with contractions, then the squeeze. Lately I've been trying to feel the contractions as more of a smooth wave flowing through my body and less of a hiccup in my guts. In the water the contractions are even cooler than dry.
First thing I concentrated on training was the right way to breathe for my body to have contractions half way through the hold. This meant just breathing normally, no purging/forced exhale, just one deep inhale before hold and pretty soon my contractions were kicking in soft and halfway through the hold. Encourage your contractions to start early. Sometimes swallowing or hiccuping with your diaphragm can start them off. Much later when your contractions are a normal part of the hold you can start resisting them. Don't get into the habit of swallowing.
Second thing I concentrated on was getting comfy with contractions in the water. I did this with my buddy watching from above, neutral at 10m, dive to 5-6m so positively buoyant, hold a rock to stay on bottom and chill, and again pretty soon contractions became a normal part of every dive.
All through this I was not interested in max times, the goal is to find a breathing style that works for you so contractions start at the latest halfway through the hold and to get comfy with them. The earlier they start, the better.
Then I started changing things in my breathing to get longer times, always making sure my contractions started at the latest halfway through the hold.

3/4 heartbeats in 6/8 heartbeats out for recovery time is to relax relax relax, check all your muscles especially up top, neck-shoulders, no tension anywhere. Just breathe with the diaphragm (bottom front back and side of stomach/ribs) and not the upper part of your chest. The upper body produces lots more tension.
Dry static tables a few times a week are a great way to train contractions and check what is happening with your body with different (even minor) changes to your breathing.
Apena stretching is a great way to train relaxation while breath holding, you can do this every day.

Read this back to yourself
how to push past contractions?
something I really need to push past

You're thinking of contractions as something negative, something you HAVE to PUSH PAST, or fight against.

Reset that thinking, forget about max times or depths, forget about fancy breathing techniques, breath normal, relax, train and enjoy your contractions, it's your body using it's air more efficiently.
Remember, contractions are your friend.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
VERY good post!

Contractions are your friends; you just need to figure out how to make them a bit less loud-mouthed. Starting the dive with a little extra c02(no extensive deep breathing before hand) sounds backwards, but is what you want to do, because it results in your dive reflex beginning early, contactions start early but are soft. Longer, more comfortable dives. Diving FRC with a minimal breathup does the same thing, only more so.

Mrjomac has given you the gist of what you need to do. Everybody is different and you will have to find what exactly works for you. Finding the correct balance of surface interval, relaxation, lung size, c02 level, and exertion is tricky, but very rewarding.

Hate to tell you, but a teenagers metabolism isn't very conducive to long dives. They should be doable, but will take practice and lots of experimentation.

Connor
 
Hi Jake,
If your dives are 1:30 with 1 min comfort and 30 seconds "gotta breathe" harsh contractions, try changing the way you're breathing to change the time contractions start to be closer to halfway through the dive or sooner. Contractions should start earlier and easier and give you a greater margin. Your max times will probably decrease at first but then improve and the contractions will become a cool part of the dive and a marker to start making your way back rather than a rush for air later than halfway through the dive.

Everyone is different but this is what works, and didn't work, for me.
The first thing I did when I started freediving last summer was overbreathe, big inhales and long forced exhales or just one purge which was wrong wrong wrong, my contractions started really late and like a bomb, making holding my breath through them almost impossible. It was like I was fighting the contractions, and couldn't win.
I realized that for me this was a way I didn't want to go so started trying different ways of breathing to have contractions no later than halfway through each hold/dive.
I try different things dry static before trying them in the water, always checking the times contractions start, for example, 1:30 comfort, another 2 mins + contractions. The first say 15-25 seconds are a little uncomfortable, followed by a long comfort zone with contractions, then the squeeze. Lately I've been trying to feel the contractions as more of a smooth wave flowing through my body and less of a hiccup in my guts. In the water the contractions are even cooler than dry.
First thing I concentrated on training was the right way to breathe for my body to have contractions half way through the hold. This meant just breathing normally, no purging/forced exhale, just one deep inhale before hold and pretty soon my contractions were kicking in soft and halfway through the hold. Encourage your contractions to start early. Sometimes swallowing or hiccuping with your diaphragm can start them off. Much later when your contractions are a normal part of the hold you can start resisting them. Don't get into the habit of swallowing.
Second thing I concentrated on was getting comfy with contractions in the water. I did this with my buddy watching from above, neutral at 10m, dive to 5-6m so positively buoyant, hold a rock to stay on bottom and chill, and again pretty soon contractions became a normal part of every dive.
All through this I was not interested in max times, the goal is to find a breathing style that works for you so contractions start at the latest halfway through the hold and to get comfy with them. The earlier they start, the better.
Then I started changing things in my breathing to get longer times, always making sure my contractions started at the latest halfway through the hold.

3/4 heartbeats in 6/8 heartbeats out for recovery time is to relax relax relax, check all your muscles especially up top, neck-shoulders, no tension anywhere. Just breathe with the diaphragm (bottom front back and side of stomach/ribs) and not the upper part of your chest. The upper body produces lots more tension.
Dry static tables a few times a week are a great way to train contractions and check what is happening with your body with different (even minor) changes to your breathing.
Apena stretching is a great way to train relaxation while breath holding, you can do this every day.

Read this back to yourself


You're thinking of contractions as something negative, something you HAVE to PUSH PAST, or fight against.

Reset that thinking, forget about max times or depths, forget about fancy breathing techniques, breath normal, relax, train and enjoy your contractions, it's your body using it's air more efficiently.
Remember, contractions are your friend.
Hi mrjomac!,
Thanks so much! I don't do any fancy breathing. As I've heard a long time ago that the best way to do it is just to fill your stomach (That's probably not the right area but you know what I mean, the belly area) and then fill your chest, and dive.
 
Bill,
As a freediver, and spoke to many freedivers, and lots of research since my beginning of the sport 2 and a half years ago, contractions are a reaction your body has to the increase in C02. It doesn't mean you're even remotely close to death. I dive with gentleman that have bottom times well over 2 minutes at depths up to 25 meters. Sometimes 3 and a half minute long dives. Anything beyond 25 meters their bottom times tend to be a bit shorter. Why would I want to push past contractions? Well, this increases your bottom time. I look at my watch every 30 seconds or so, I have a very competent dive body who can dive well beyond my abilities. Any other divers, please correct me if I'm wrong, but pushing past contractions is not dangerous as long as you are careful and diving with a competent buddy. Also Bill, wouldn't you have long bottom times looking for fish? I'm not a spearfishermen, just a freediver.

Its obvious I'm in the wrong forum and should have kept my mouth shut, but now that I've committed:

Yes, long bottom times are good for spearfishing. But if you aren't spearfishing, why is it you are trying to push your limits. You didn't mention competition, so what it you are accomplishing by staying down there longer? Sightseeing? Is it just to test your limits? Trying to push your limits in running or olympic lifting isn't life-threatening. If you can't lift the weight, you drop it. One time in a marathon I tried to get fancy and sprint from too far out and a hamstring cramped, causing me to hop the last 200 meters to the finish on one leg, but it didn't kill me.

Just recently one of the best divers in the world died at Dean's Blue Hole, and he had the best backup available, with trained safety divcrs, medical help available at the surface, etc. Maybe he was pushing his limits more than you will. How will you know how much is too much? The only way you know when you've exceeded your limits is when you die. Or maybe you won't die if your buddy saves you, but is it fair to put that responsibility on a buddy?

But now back to spearfishing. Longer bottom times are definitely an advantage, but no fish is worth pushing my limits. If one of my young dive buddies has twice my bottom time, I'll envy him but I won't try to duplicate his performance.

I know that you youngsters must think I'm an old wet blanket, but I have lost two friends and it isn't pleasant. I'm aware of the statistics that say most blackouts are near the surface or after surfacing, but one of my best friends managed to black out at 90 feet trying to deal with a fish in a hole. The hardest thing I've ever done was get up the guts to call his wife from Mexico and tell her she was the single mother of 5 kids.

Just this past summer I attended the memorial service of another friend. Apparently he had previously reached 160 feet on a line and had a great breath hold, but he died in 20 feet of water trying to get a lobster out of a cave.

And these were just the guys who were friends. I frequently read about the deaths of others who I don't know, and I'm thankful that I don't know them.

I know that young people feel immortal, but I'll be 75 in a couple of weeks, and I've become acutely aware that I'm not going to live forever. But I've been diving for well over 60 years, and I didn't get to be this age by taking unnecessary risks.

As I said above, I'm in the wrong forum. I can't tell you how to extend your bottom time. But if you want to push your limits, consider buying a Freedive Recovery Vest. I won't go in the water without wearing mine.
 
VERY good post!

Contractions are your friends; you just need to figure out how to make them a bit less loud-mouthed. Starting the dive with a little extra c02(no extensive deep breathing before hand) sounds backwards, but is what you want to do, because it results in your dive reflex beginning early, contactions start early but are soft. Longer, more comfortable dives. Diving FRC with a minimal breathup does the same thing, only more so.

Mrjomac has given you the gist of what you need to do. Everybody is different and you will have to find what exactly works for you. Finding the correct balance of surface interval, relaxation, lung size, c02 level, and exertion is tricky, but very rewarding.

Hate to tell you, but a teenagers metabolism isn't very conducive to long dives. They should be doable, but will take practice and lots of experimentation.

Connor
Connor,
Helpful reply as always! Do you think I should learn to dive FRC? Is there a certain training regimen to learn to dive FRC? I'm sure I might be able to learn it if you have a way of explaining it. I know you dive FRC, pretty neat. Now, about contractions being your friend. Is everyone trying to say that when you get contractions it's time to head up? I thought it was something you just needed to learn to cope with, and they eventually past after 30 seconds or so. It's not that I'm screaming for air or anything, it's just uncomfortable. Sometimes concerning at 20 meters or more. What is "halfway through the dive" mean? I feel like people throw the term around a lot and it's becoming confusing. Does it mean literally half way through your dive? Connor, how do I get my contractions to start early? I know mrjomac mentioned hiccuping with your diaphram.... But I mean with the breathe up. Do I cut the breathe up short? Hyperventilate? (no one scold me for saying hyperventilate, please). Like I said, I usually just breathe pretty normally on the surface, they tend to be bigger, more relaxed, concentrated breaths than when I'm not diving. What I'm trying to say is I don't do any special breathe up, I just fill my belly area and then my chest.

Jake
 
Its obvious I'm in the wrong forum and should have kept my mouth shut, but now that I've committed:

Yes, long bottom times are good for spearfishing. But if you aren't spearfishing, why is it you are trying to push your limits. You didn't mention competition, so what it you are accomplishing by staying down there longer? Sightseeing? Is it just to test your limits? Trying to push your limits in running or olympic lifting isn't life-threatening. If you can't lift the weight, you drop it. One time in a marathon I tried to get fancy and sprint from too far out and a hamstring cramped, causing me to hop the last 200 meters to the finish on one leg, but it didn't kill me.

Just recently one of the best divers in the world died at Dean's Blue Hole, and he had the best backup available, with trained safety divcrs, medical help available at the surface, etc. Maybe he was pushing his limits more than you will. How will you know how much is too much? The only way you know when you've exceeded your limits is when you die. Or maybe you won't die if your buddy saves you, but is it fair to put that responsibility on a buddy?

But now back to spearfishing. Longer bottom times are definitely an advantage, but no fish is worth pushing my limits. If one of my young dive buddies has twice my bottom time, I'll envy him but I won't try to duplicate his performance.

I know that you youngsters must think I'm an old wet blanket, but I have lost two friends and it isn't pleasant. I'm aware of the statistics that say most blackouts are near the surface or after surfacing, but one of my best friends managed to black out at 90 feet trying to deal with a fish in a hole. The hardest thing I've ever done was get up the guts to call his wife from Mexico and tell her she was the single mother of 5 kids.

Just this past summer I attended the memorial service of another friend. Apparently he had previously reached 160 feet on a line and had a great breath hold, but he died in 20 feet of water trying to get a lobster out of a cave.

And these were just the guys who were friends. I frequently read about the deaths of others who I don't know, and I'm thankful that I don't know them.

I know that young people feel immortal, but I'll be 75 in a couple of weeks, and I've become acutely aware that I'm not going to live forever. But I've been diving for well over 60 years, and I didn't get to be this age by taking unnecessary risks.

As I said above, I'm in the wrong forum. I can't tell you how to extend your bottom time. But if you want to push your limits, consider buying a Freedive Recovery Vest. I won't go in the water without wearing mine.
Bill,
By no means do I think you're just an old dud who doesn't know anything! Why do I want to push myself? Why do I want to test my limits? It's to see what I'm made of, what I can do. I don't know why I like it. I'm just searching for the next milestone to reach. It's an adventure, and I'm aware of the dangers. I don't put myself in ANY dangerous situations, it's just for adventure, for fun. I like to explore caverns, they're intriguing and spooky. I was under the impressions that a 2 minute dive wasn't anything that was dangerous, as my dive buddy goes well over 2 minutes. Connor has dove with me on 1 occasion, nothing I do is dangerous. Granted, when we dove it wasn't really a cavern dive. Freedivers Recovery Vests aren't very effective when diving in overhead environments, pushing you to the roof of a cavern won't help you much, probably just give you a good ole' head ache, haha.
 
Its obvious I'm in the wrong forum and should have kept my mouth shut, but now that I've committed:

Yes, long bottom times are good for spearfishing. But if you aren't spearfishing, why is it you are trying to push your limits. You didn't mention competition, so what it you are accomplishing by staying down there longer? Sightseeing? Is it just to test your limits? Trying to push your limits in running or olympic lifting isn't life-threatening. If you can't lift the weight, you drop it. One time in a marathon I tried to get fancy and sprint from too far out and a hamstring cramped, causing me to hop the last 200 meters to the finish on one leg, but it didn't kill me.

Just recently one of the best divers in the world died at Dean's Blue Hole, and he had the best backup available, with trained safety divcrs, medical help available at the surface, etc. Maybe he was pushing his limits more than you will. How will you know how much is too much? The only way you know when you've exceeded your limits is when you die. Or maybe you won't die if your buddy saves you, but is it fair to put that responsibility on a buddy?

But now back to spearfishing. Longer bottom times are definitely an advantage, but no fish is worth pushing my limits. If one of my young dive buddies has twice my bottom time, I'll envy him but I won't try to duplicate his performance.

I know that you youngsters must think I'm an old wet blanket, but I have lost two friends and it isn't pleasant. I'm aware of the statistics that say most blackouts are near the surface or after surfacing, but one of my best friends managed to black out at 90 feet trying to deal with a fish in a hole. The hardest thing I've ever done was get up the guts to call his wife from Mexico and tell her she was the single mother of 5 kids.

Just this past summer I attended the memorial service of another friend. Apparently he had previously reached 160 feet on a line and had a great breath hold, but he died in 20 feet of water trying to get a lobster out of a cave.

And these were just the guys who were friends. I frequently read about the deaths of others who I don't know, and I'm thankful that I don't know them.

I know that young people feel immortal, but I'll be 75 in a couple of weeks, and I've become acutely aware that I'm not going to live forever. But I've been diving for well over 60 years, and I didn't get to be this age by taking unnecessary risks.

As I said above, I'm in the wrong forum. I can't tell you how to extend your bottom time. But if you want to push your limits, consider buying a Freedive Recovery Vest. I won't go in the water without wearing mine.
Bill,
In addition to my previous reply, I can't stress this enough. NOTHING I do is dangerous. Overhead environments can be extremely dangerous, but I don't do anything that's absolutely nuts. I dive for recreation, although I guess one could say I'm very serious about it. I'm not one of those idiot 20 year olds you hear about swimming real fast back into a cavern drunk and not coming back up. I have the necessary equipment and dive buddy to make sure nothing will happen. But you never know, I could die just as easily as any other diver. But I do NOT do anything dangerous. Connor has probably dove lots of places I have. He can tell you that nothing there is dangerous if you're with a competent buddy.

Jake
 
Bill is one of the better spearos on the planet, a good man to listen too.

Jake, don't take this wrong, for I felt just like you for a lot of years. The same period I did some incredibly stupid stuff and am lucky to be here.

What we do is dangerous, period. You dive with good divers and are absorbing how do to it carefully, with a minimum of danger, but don't ever feel like its not dangerous. It doesn't feel dangerous and sometimes its hard to see, but after you have acted as rescuer for a totally unexpected BO that came with no obvious reason, or had Bill's experience, it looks different. That will eventually happen to you, may you be the rescue-er not rescue-e.

Give me a while on your specific questions.

Connor
 
Connor,

Sorry for the digression from the subject of the thread, but I'm been meaning to tell you how much I appreciate your sig line. I think I first read that poem in junior high English class, and it really tugged at me.

 
  • Like
Reactions: Lewis Matthews
Bill is one of the better spearos on the planet, a good man to listen too.

Jake, don't take this wrong, for I felt just like you for a lot of years. The same period I did some incredibly stupid stuff and am lucky to be here.

What we do is dangerous, period. You dive with good divers and are absorbing how do to it carefully, with a minimum of danger, but don't ever feel like its not dangerous. It doesn't feel dangerous and sometimes its hard to see, but after you have acted as rescuer for a totally unexpected BO that came with no obvious reason, or had Bill's experience, it looks different. That will eventually happen to you, may you be the rescue-er not rescue-e.

Give me a while on your specific questions.

Connor
Connor,
I completely understand what you're saying. My dad got a little spooked when one of his buddies BO'd 12 years ago after a 3 minute some odd second dive. But he was no where near death, but did a samba on the surface and started sinking right when they grabbed him. He woke up immediately. I guess one could say I have a false sense of security, I know it's relatively unsafe, but I'm not paranoid about it. I'm not careless by any means. I'm not going so far back into caverns that I can't see surface light and am always with a competent buddy. We know where each other is going on every dive, one up one down (most of the time, unless someone finds something we haven't seen, then one points it out to another and we both come up) I have never personally BO'd or even came close, neither has my buddy. I wouldn't consider myself a nut job for wanting to push myself farther. I would say that's normal, but I'm no pro. I understand where Bill is coming from, and I very much respect his experiences as well as everyone else's. I just don't see why not to push yourself? Why not go for better times? Better depths? Isn't that freediving? This is a great conversation guys, thanks for contributing. Bill, do you understand where I'm coming from? I'm not doing anything insane or out of the ordinary. I just want to stay down longer than 1:30. I just want consistent 2-2:30's. Connor, take your time on answering my questions. It's especially difficult answering questions for someone who's body is not fully developed yet. Instead of having the conversation be about safety, let's try to get back to bottom times :) haha.
 
Dive FRC? Probably not yet, although eventually you will like the technique.

Contractions: Funny things. Most divers get them, some don't, everything in between. If you get them, they don't usually pass, just get stronger and more obnoxious. There is a stage that some divers reach where contractions get less obnoxious. Very tricky place and hard to know when to come up. That is mostly for pool disciplines, beyond my experience, so I should not comment.

The 'half way through the dive" is very inexact. There isn't any generally applicable rule that works for all.

Getting your contractions to start early and very light is something that you will have to find for yourself. For most divers, taking a little bit extra c02 down on the dive is the base. Minimizing early exertion is another piece to the puzzle, so that contractions begin early and light, but with c02 building up slowly, they increase in intensity slowly, then the dive reflex kicks in and further extends the dive. For me, it feels like the extra c02, combined with minimal initial exertion(which is easy with FRC)begins to kick my dive reflex in early, isolating exercise produced c02 in the extremities and conserving 02 in the core. The result is longer, more comfortable, safer dives.

You don't cut the breathup short, very dangerous practice, just breath less during the breathup.

Unless you are very different from most divers, you are probably overbreathing during the breathup, the unmentionable H word. Doesn't sound like too terribly much, but less is better.

Finding the right balance of breathup duration and volume, weighting, final inhale volume, relaxation etc for your style takes practice and experimentation. Have patience.

Connor
 
Bill, thats outstanding!! I'd never heard it read before. Got to be my most favorite poem.
 
Dive FRC? Probably not yet, although eventually you will like the technique.

Contractions: Funny things. Most divers get them, some don't, everything in between. If you get them, they don't usually pass, just get stronger and more obnoxious. There is a stage that some divers reach where contractions get less obnoxious. Very tricky place and hard to know when to come up. That is mostly for pool disciplines, beyond my experience, so I should not comment.

The 'half way through the dive" is very inexact. There isn't any generally applicable rule that works for all.

Getting your contractions to start early and very light is something that you will have to find for yourself. For most divers, taking a little bit extra c02 down on the dive is the base. Minimizing early exertion is another piece to the puzzle, so that contractions begin early and light, but with c02 building up slowly, they increase in intensity slowly, then the dive reflex kicks in and further extends the dive. For me, it feels like the extra c02, combined with minimal initial exertion(which is easy with FRC)begins to kick my dive reflex in early, isolating exercise produced c02 in the extremities and conserving 02 in the core. The result is longer, more comfortable, safer dives.

You don't cut the breathup short, very dangerous practice, just breath less during the breathup.

Unless you are very different from most divers, you are probably overbreathing during the breathup, the unmentionable H word. Doesn't sound like too terribly much, but less is better.

Finding the right balance of breathup duration and volume, weighting, final inhale volume, relaxation etc for your style takes practice and experimentation. Have patience.

Connor
Connor,
Thanks a lot! FRC doesn't seem like something I really want to try yet anyways. I don't want to be that negative at depth, and I've heard that you kind of start from square 1, or learning to dive again, haha. Bill, if you have anything else you'd like to add please do! Don't take it as if I shut out your opinions.
 
Dynamic training which increases your CO2 tolerance would likely help you deal with contractions. I think it's absolutely true that relaxing helps but you've got to realize there's a couple different ways to get there. If you hammer you body in punishing training with high workloads and short recovery, at the mercy of a time clock, when you throw out the watch and just dive for fun or even compete with static holds you'll find relaxation comes much easier, even when contractions are very strong. The other end of the spectrum is a more meditative approach and not so much my thing although it works great for some people.

My contractions don't come much later than when I first started training but these days I barely notice them until they grow serious/deeper (for me this indicates approaching hypoxia) and are combined with real anearobic debt in my muscles. If you are training your CO2 tolerance though it is very important for you to also raise your awareness of your own signs of hypoxia since you'll be able to get closer to that line. Also, if you start monitoring heart rate and/or vasoconstriction during your training you may discover that contractions are very closely linked to your dive response. This was my case and I have grown to appreciate them when I'm in the water.
 
Dive FRC? Probably not yet, although eventually you will like the technique.



Getting your contractions to start early and very light is something that you will have to find for yourself. For most divers, taking a little bit extra c02 down on the dive is the base. Minimizing early exertion is another piece to the puzzle, so that contractions begin early and light, but with c02 building up slowly, they increase in intensity slowly, then the dive reflex kicks in and further extends the dive. For me, it feels like the extra c02, combined with minimal initial exertion(which is easy with FRC)begins to kick my dive reflex in early, isolating exercise produced c02 in the extremities and conserving 02 in the core. The result is longer, more comfortable, safer dives.


Connor

Contractions is one thing I take as a sure sign that I need to surface shortly, because I do not have anybody competent to dive with. So I cannot afford to pus any limits. I Know lone diving is a big no no, but I cannot stay out of the water for too long. As a result I am not in the water often for fear of what might happen if things go wrong.
In the meantime, I try to learn what I can and attempt to cultivate an acute awareness of my body in the water.
What I cannot seem to get a handle on is when the dive reflex do kick in. I cannot recall a moment where I felt it. Are you supposed to feel something change or happen?
Even when pushing hypoxic state on a dry static I don't think I have had any awareness of the so called dive reflex. My heart rate don't fall. I can calm myself a bit but not much lower than resting heart rate.

Can any of you explain a bit more about what the dive reflex is and how it feel, or how it manifest please? Or direct me to another thread that can help?

Oldfather
 
Diving reflex usually kicks in as soon as you start to feel the urge to breath, however, most of freedivers don't feel anything special when it's activated. Some people feel blood being squeezed out of arms and legs due to vasoconstriction but this is rather uncommon. The only hallmark of diving reflex that can be easily perceived is decreasing heart rate. During dynamic apnea muscle fatigue is another sign of diving reflex activation. Lack of decrease in HR during breath holding indicates weak diving reflex. There is a chance that wet static induces stronger effect.
 
Try this, dry static, full exhale, hold until you can't anymore. start breathing and be aware of what your arms and legs feel like. Usually, I don't feel much as the DR sets in, but can feel it release as blood flows back into my arms and legs.

A strong DR will drop your heart rate a bunch, but bloodshift and other parts of DR are starting before you see much drop.

During dry static, your heart rate may not fall below resting, but, wear a heart monitor, go out in 80 ft of water, take a less than full breath, do a longish dive and and you should see a substantial drop that will mostly persist until you start breathing again. My resting is about 50, doesn't drop much under that, if at all, in shallow water or dry, but will get down in the low 40s in an open water dive.
 
DeeperBlue.com - The Worlds Largest Community Dedicated To Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing

ABOUT US

ISSN 1469-865X | Copyright © 1996 - 2024 deeperblue.net limited.

DeeperBlue.com is the World's Largest Community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving, Ocean Advocacy and Diving Travel.

We've been dedicated to bringing you the freshest news, features and discussions from around the underwater world since 1996.

ADVERT