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Should I see a masseuse or physical therapist?

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datbear

Member
Nov 6, 2014
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Reading many breath hold increase guides, they all say to relax your muscles. "make sure no muscles are tense, tense muscles use up oxygen"

I'm a high strung person that does a lot of physical work and exercise daily. For my entire life, I have never had a massage or physical therapy worked on me.

Last time i went to get a work physical examination, the person just looked at me and said "man your shoulders look tight"

I can definitely feel my muscles tighten up when I dive, no matter how relaxed I am, i feel like I am flexing everything

Thoughts on going to a masseuse or physical therapist? Has anyone here done it before? did it increase your dive time?
 
Maybe statics would be the perfect exercise to focus on relaxation of specific muscle groups. Start at the head, feel your muscles in the neck, and try to relax them. Then move on to the next muscle, relax it and continue step by step and with a calm mind. It is important to feel the before-and-after difference, and with practice it will get easier to relax your muscles. Good luck!
 
Neuro muscular massage (a specific discipline) is targeted largely on getting your muscles to relax. You will feel better and it will probably get rid of some things you had no idea were tight muscle related (my experience). However, it probably won't do much for your breath hold time. Yoga, exhale diving, working on finning and surface dive technique, all can noticeably help your dive time, likely much more than fixing your tight muscles.

If you can feel your muscles tightening when you dive, almost certainly you are tense about diving. The opposite should be the case. I'd work on getting more comfortable in the water, then technique, then yoga, then exhale diving. The last will have a very large impact on dive time and relaxation if you have done the other stuff first.
 
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