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Should you suppress contractions as long as possible?

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hansa123

Member
Feb 26, 2021
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Hi there. Most of us get contractions from a certain point on in a dive. When I do a static dive, after some time I feel how the muscles in my belly tense up (I guess the diaphragm?) and then I feel micro contractions for some time before I hit the first real one. This phase from the first feeling of unease to the first contraction, I can influence by will and prolong it a bit. I wonder if this is a good idea or not. I assume that contractions are muscle movement, which costs oxygen, so delaying them is worth it?
 
Hey Hansa,

Long story short, I think contractions are irrelevant: what you really need to do is judge your overall level of discomfort.

If manually delaying them = less discomfort overall, delaying is beneficial.

If manually delaying them = no difference in overall discomfort (same urge to breath) then it's useless to do so..

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With all of that being said, I do think that delaying the urge to breathe is an extremely important part of training and should be part of everyone program.

This shouldn't be a manual delay though. It should be a product of training and dive strategy (breathe up, technique, positioning etc, which all all different for each discipline).

To comment on your "pre contractions" (like abdominal flutters you get before a real contraction).. this is actually a concept that I use very regularly in my coaching..

The best way to delay the urge to breathe is to typical, for most people, hold your breath until these "pre contractions" start, and stop there.. different exercises will help make this more efficient.. but as a start, you will never significantly delay your urge to breathe by having lots of urge to breathe / "real" contractions..

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In my case, to give an overall view.

With correct training & strategy, I can do 4:00 with either (no contractions) manually delaying them, or with 8-10 small contractions without delaying.. the overall feeling is the same & I personally prefer to manually delay.

In depth, I will manually delay until I see my safety diver: so on my deepest dive (with proper training and strategy (90m) I allowed my first contraction at 35m on the way up, then re-delayed until the surface (with 2x contractions out of my control)

In Dyn, I don't manually delay: as I do not gain many meters so it's not worth it in this case. Again with proper training & Strat... Small contractions start at about 75 (bi fins) or 95-100 (mono)

So again, it depends on the discipline and your personal preference..

But.. the MOST IMPORTANT is delaying the urge to breathe outright as a foundation to do these other things.
 
Hi Nathan, thanks a lot for the detail explanation. I have rewatched some of your videos and some more by other freedivers who suggest similar approaches. I think I will try to go in my training for the region with some CO2 but stop when I get contractions or even micro contractions, depending on the feeling. Curious to see where this high volume - low intensity training takes me. Basically, I haven't done anything this year so far.
 
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