Some freediving questions...

[Eziukaz]

Hello!
Yesterday I opened my swimming season (woohoo!)... Of course, did some simple dives! And faced some problems. So asking for some help.

When I got into the water, first thing what I done was dive. I dived for a short period of time, making distance run at about 2 metres depth. And I got surprised! When I got back to the surface, I felt severe pain in the back of my head, near neck. It felt horrible. So I can't understand what happened. Anyway, the day and the water was a bit cold, I dived without any equipment... How to avoid this?

And another problem is that I didnt do any improvement during the winter. I mean, during it, I learnt to do dry statics for like 2:30-:3:00 mins, before I only did like 1. And yesterday, when dived, I thought I'd be able to swim for a long distance underwater, but again, urgent need of air comes quickly. Hmmm, maybe I need a mask? Cause it doesnt feel like I would be exhausted or something, it feels uncomfortable somehow... ...?

Any tips welcome.
Thanx in advance

 

[crusty]

Eziukaz
You didnt say if you warmed up first and did some stretching before you got in the water.
If you didnt try a light warm up first ie jogging on the spot and then do some light stretches on you legs, torso, arms, neck etc once you are warm do some heavier stretching , then get in the pool.
Before i even attempt breath hold i go for short swim say 400 meters to get the heart and body going.
I only spearfish and my advice could be wrong for apeana but I find I only start to get some good bottom times going on my 5th or 6th dive when i have got into a rythem.
The pain you felt in you neck etc could be from stretching cold mussels in cold water ( not Good )
But if you did warm up then just ignore what i have said.

Crusty

 

[Eziukaz]

Thanx crusty for an advice... I think I still look to all this freediving too airily... Anyway, here's my answer: didn't do any streches. Just ran for a short distance.
I think I'll do some next time I'll try to dive.
And the pain in the neck was heavy one... It didn't feel like muscle pain, I mean, it felt heavy, like it would have something to do with the pressure. It's strange, cause i never felt anything similar.
Any more tips welcome, glad you're helping me

 

[jome]

My guess for the sharp pain would be a blocked sinus in the forehead. It usually appears right behind the eyebrow, but the pain can radiate and some people feel it coming from the back of the head or the neck. Characteristic for this is that the pain is strong and sharp, like someone sticking a needle in you skull, and it appears immediately when you dive (very shallow, 1-2m is enough) and you are usually able to equalize your ears just fine.

Have you been suffering from a running nose in the past few days? Do you have allergies etc?

The best thing to do with a blocked forehead sinus is to stop diving for that day and try again another day. If it's a chronic problem, you might try to get some nasal spray or something to ease the blockade. Diving in cold water seems to make it worse and at least for me, getting pool water in my nose (chloride), irritates my sinuses and in a few minutes my nose will be running like a tap (causing a block latest in the next day). If you don't have a nose clip or mask, I suggest you try that.

The wrong thing to do is to force it and dive despite the pain. If you're able to equalize on the way down, you may get a "reverse block" on the way up, building up overpressure in your sinus. In addition to being painful, it will eventually tear some soft tissue open and you'll be bleeding from the nose (I have tried this, regret to say, a few times).

But this is just a guess. If the pain is not related to increasing pressure (diving down), then I suggest you check it out with a doctor. It might be a good idea to do that anyway...

 

[Eziukaz]

Yeah, I have running nose for few days (even now )... Anyway, the pain seemed different, but hey, who knows... I'll just stop my activities now until I'm tottaly healthy... Then will try again.

Anyway, thanx for wise answers. Any more are greatly welcome any time!

 

[efattah]

I would not do any type of running, jogging or cardio exercise to 'warm up' for apnea swims/dives. Just stretching or dry statics. Once you go into exercise mode your metabolism & oxygen consumption increase, which is not what you want.

If you get cold or cool, your urge to breathe will come sooner, because the CO2 storage of the body is decreased. You can compensate by breathing a bit more, but there is a fine line between balancing CO2 and overventilating.

 

[naiad]

If you get cold or cool, your urge to breathe will come sooner, because the CO2 storage of the body is decreased. You can compensate by breathing a bit more, but there is a fine line between balancing CO2 and overventilating.

That explains it! I have always noticed that the urge to breathe comes sooner and stronger when I am cold.

Lucia

 

[jome]

Slipping off topic, but:
For me it's the same. Breathing reflex comes early and strong. But for some reason, when cold, I'm also able to resist it much better. I don't know why, perhaps because the whole body is kind of numb. I've only done a "serious" no-suit static once. I got the urge really early and strong, but still I could push almost to my pb at the time and quit only because I was getting afraid of what's going on (have I hyperventilated or something). Contractions we're really strong, but I could just ignore them. But yeah, this has nothing to do with the original question.

 

[Eziukaz]

Nah, go ahead, discuss, gives me some knowlegde!

 

[DeepThought]

Eziukaz, maybe it was your neck position? were you looking too often towards the wall (horizontal) instead of the floor (down)?

 

[Eziukaz]

I'm allways looking forward... my head is at vertical position.
That's wrong?

 

[DeepThought]

Problem found!
Yes, it's not good for your back, you body can't perform the right swimming technique, it's not hydrodynamic, it uses more oxygen because you're using more muscles...

Watch some dynamic clips to get a better notion on how it is done.

 

[Eziukaz]

And how to see where are you going?

 

[DeepThought]

Look at the line beneath you. Learn your pace to not hit the wall. Taking a glimps every couple of seconds is still much better than killing your body and technique. Look for some dynamic videos on the net.
This is not a freak advise that I'm giving you, almost every expirienced diver dives with his/her head in close to natural position, also true for constant ballast.

 

[jome]

There's a sort of "T" marked in the line right before the wall in swimming pools (I persume this is for swimmers so they know when to turn), which may be useful to look for.

 

[Fred S.]

I would not do any type of running, jogging or cardio exercise to 'warm up' for apnea swims/dives. Just stretching or dry statics. Once you go into exercise mode your metabolism & oxygen consumption increase, which is not what you want.

After some experimenting, I found out that the above works best for me too if I was prepairing for dynamics. So I guessed that this must be the best way for everyone.....

Apparently not. Some freedivers seem to perform a lot better if they first swam some easy laps at the surface for about 5 minutes, then rest for another 5 minutes and then go for a max dynamic.

My guess / theory is that the answer lies in the dominant muscle fiber type. Type I (slow twitch / aerobic) fibers need to be warmed up to work properly, for at least 3 minutes. So if we have a freediver who for instance is a talent at long distance running and who doesn't need to train a lot to run a 10K within 45 minutes, this freediver probably is a type I and needs to warm up for a max performance in dynamic. If not, his energy comes merely from anaerobic pathways and is generated by the few type II fibers he has. These freedivers usually have to come up due to lactic acid burning instead of a strong urge to breathe.

Type II (fast twitch / anaerobic) freedivers wouldn't benefit at all from a warm up, for the reasons Eric gave (see quote).

I'm interested in your comments,
Fred

 

[naiad]

There is someone in my freediving club who does about 1 or 2 hours of swimming before freediving, sometimes more. This definitely wouldn't work for me! I do best with very little activity before the diving session.

It must be a case of finding what works best for you.

Fred, thanks for the idea of muscle fiber type. I think it is probably correct. I am Type II - I don't like a long warm up, and the limiting factor is always the urge to breathe (or the wish to avoid samba), not lactic acid burning.

Lucia