Static Challenge

[Erik]

Okay breath-hold freaks, here's what's up!
The PB Static Poll reminded me of an idea I had last year, which is this:

Many of us do not have training buddies and some are away from water, but we can still train for static. I suggest that those of us that are partially or wholly driven by competition can benefit from some friendly posting of PB's, techniques used, mistakes made and updates as we see fit to communicate.
I throw down the glove and challenge my online amigos to a never-ending static duel!
I'll start.
I have not done a max attempt since the Canadian Nationals in May 2002, so the other day (Nov 20/02) I hit the pool and pulled off a 6:00 wet static, my best ever wet static! Take that....and that!
Let's dance......
Erik Y.

 

[efattah]

Pool Workout

Just got back from the pool trainin' wid laminarman!

My sequence was:
3 breaths breathe-up
5'00 static (for CO2 tolerance)
2'19 exhale static /w a samba planned in advance (I need to have that samba to do well on the big statics which follow)
6'15 inhale static
(3'30 rest)
6'37 inhale static
(3'30 rest)
6'15 inhale static
done for the day!

I was too hot during the statics, despite flushing my suit. I need to get colder next time.

Last Sunday's sequence was:
4'00 static
2'02 exhale static w/samba
6'00 inhale static
6'30 inhale static
6'33 inhale static

I have yet to break 7'00 in the water (despite having done 30+ 7 min dry statics). My problem is always one of temperature. I can only hit 7'00+ if my temperature is PRECISELY correct, namely, not shivering or even tremoring, but close. Being even slightly too warm cuts of 30 seconds at least.

Eric Fattah
BC, Canada

 

[loopy]

Getting there

Erm, well this is nowhere near as good as Eric and Erik, but I've done 3:30 dry, and 3:30 wet, with a samba, for my first ever and only wet static Waaay over hyper-v'd on that one Routine was (this might help some of the weaker guys like me):

Dry: Kept doing a 1:30 warm up, followed by max, then max plus 0:10 for as far as I could go. Did this a few weeks, until I could get 2:30. Waited a couple of days, then did a 2:00 warm up, 2:30, then just did one without looking and tried to fall asleep at the same time. Looked at my watch some stage after contractions in this one and found it was 3:15, so I pushed it out to 3:30 and that was my PB. Only done dry once since, and have been working on delaying contractions without hyper-v (now up to 2:45 after 1 warm up)

Wet: Hit the pool with Wal (Walrus) and saw him do a 3:00 warm up, then a 5:00. Hmmm, this looks easy I thought, so did a 3:00 warm up dry, then jumped in the pool, and samba'd at 3:30. I hyper-v'd pretty hard for that one, and was getting fast contractions at the end - from what I've learnt now, I prolly still had a fair bit of O2 in my blood, but because of the alkalinity of my body, it didn't want to release the oxygen. I only had a short rest (I think about 3-4 mins) between them too. A case of too eager too soon, but I learnt a lot from it


Loopy

 

[Erik]

The fight's on!

:ko

:blackeye

I'm lucky here...I can see the pool from my window, and it's an outdoor pool with a temp of 31C....just a litle cool, but not bad! I did a 4:00, 5:00, then 6:00 all with just a pair of shorts on. Didn't get cold. Prepare for ass kicking soon.


Erik Y.

 

[Erik]

Loopy, you know that we're talking about self-competition here, so don't worry about others' performances, just be inspired! We all have Karl Pernett to look up to now, and even Karl's gotta get to a point where he can do his 8+'s consistently, and in front of judges.
If you're improving and/or learning, then that's what it's about, yes?
Cheers,
Erik Y.

 

[loopy]

Totally, it can actually be kinda fun, and it's my sort of sport - you've actually gotta try to do nothing! Hope everyone can learn from the hyper-v thing though... I know I'm gunna get paid out for having an early samba for a while, all in good fun

 

[Abriapnea]

Guess I'll have to get off my butt and actually read some of the info here in T&T ...
Till now I have had no real training on how to prepare correctly .
I usually wait for double my static time between attempts ; so if I did a 5 min. I would wait 10 before the next . Looking at Eric F. 's post that would seem unnecessarily long ?
I build up in 30 sec. increments and find that my 4th or 5th is the big one , then drop by 30 sec. again for two more .
Any opinions on the validity of this technique

 

[marshallh7]

Competing with yourself.

Interesting thread you've started Erik. You remember I've corresponded with you, on several occassions, searching for tips to make my statics more consistant -- my times seem to be all over the place from one week to the next.

By the end of summer this year, after a little more diving and an opportunity for some informal instruction diving one afternoon with David Lee, I moved from my long standing plateau of always hitting between 3:00 - 4:00 dry static, up into the 4:00 to 5:00 range. Then, about a month ago I broke 5:00 in a dry static. (3 or 4 warm-up statics to build up to that time, with about 3-5 min. rest in between.)

I was very excited to nail 5 min. static several mornings in a row. Really helped my confidence in the water and my comfort diving to depth. (Only about 30m, but a new depth range for me.) To me, that's what static times are all about, right? Not necessarily an end in themselves, but more like exercises and practice for real diving -- like a musician practicing scales to warm-up.

But it's frustrating, psychologically. On the one hand, now I know I'm capable of a 5 min static; on the other hand, it's hard to convince myself it wasn't just a fluke since I can't seem to reach it consistantly. Could be swings in diet, fitness, cardio level, because I'll do better with a health regime for a few weeks then fall off the wagon for a couple, but I really feel it's more of a psycological dilema. I got cockey about joining the 5 min. club, and then, suddenly, my statics go to crap and I have to work hard to get 3 min.

What gives? Anyone else experience similar problems? Any ideas?

 

[paha]

What the word 'samba' means ?

paha

 

[ApneaBlue]

Originally posted by Erik
Prepare for ass kicking soon...
Erik Y.

Originally posted by Erik
Loopy, you know that we're talking about self-competition here, so don't worry about others' performances....

Erik Y.

So Erik, does that mean you are kicking your own ass? I am just now getting back into the pool for the first time since July. My best is 6:28 wet. but I have always done 5 minute rest times between and incriment each static by 1:00...the last time I did static I think it was in March, I did

3:00 Static
rest for 5:00
4:00 Static
rest for 5:00
5:00 Static
rest for 5:00
6:00 Static

6:00 was with difficulty lever of about 7 out of 10...10 being blacking out....If I remember correctly I had about 3 or 4 contractions.

Time to hit it pool hard again after having my ass handed to me by Topi with a nice big round number of 60m

Take care all...

David

Paha: Samba = is the state you are in just before blackingout...some people call it LMC (Loss of Muscle Control)...basically you are doing what it says...a dance. You are awake and conscious of your surroundings but yet your body shakes uncontrolably...I think Erik F can give you a better description of this since he actually induces samba...personally I don't believe in inducing samba. I have only had 2 and not by choice

 

[efattah]

Inconsistency

>On the one hand, now I know I'm capable of a 5 min static; on the other hand, it's
>hard to convince myself it wasn't just a fluke since I can't seem to reach it consistantly.

You have just discovered the great mystery of statics. My experience shows that good statics are composed of 10% training, 10% intrinsic physiology (i.e. lung volume / body mass), and 80% JUGGLING OF VARIABLES. By modifying your warm up, your technique, your diet, the time of day, your body temperature, your activities in the days previous, your sleep, etc.., these will have dramatic effects on your times. But, the amazing thing is that these are instantaneous (i.e. short term) changes. I have seen people who could barely hit 4'30, and who were introduced to a new 'routine' by a more experienced diver, and suddenly the 4'30 turns into 6'15, into one or two days! Don't tell me that the person had a 'training' response in one or two days.

That is why recording everything in a journal is of extreme importance, especially for statics. Write down everything you do, eat, feel etc.. Then, if you have a huge static, examine what you did/ate/felt on the 7 previous days. Copy it exactly, and I guarantee you will reach a similar time as your 'big day', but consistently.


Eric Fattah
BC, Canada

 

[lionel]

contractions & buddy technique

I've been free-diving and spearfishing for many years, but I've never tried pushing the envelope. My PB in wet statics is about 4:15 which I can do consistently. I've never tried for more, but I would like to. I don't know what to expect. A couple of questions in this regard:

* What are contractions? What do they feel like? What do they mean, physiologically? Why do you get them?

* What techniques can the pro's recommend for working with a buddy to make sure I don't hold my breath into unconsciousness? What should my buddy be doing while I'm doing my static?

* I've never samba'd. Does the LMC affect the diaphragm? If I samba, does my buddy need to revive me? What does it feel like when you get close to a samba?

Thanks, everyone.

-- Lionel

 

[Erik]

Originally posted by ApneaBlue





So Erik, does that mean you are kicking your own ass? . My best is 6:28 wet.

OUCH!!:blackeye

I'm trying to kick my own ass, but these pesky WR holders keep doing it for me
Good luck handing Topi HIS ass back...I'm sure you're the man for the job.
Marshall, nice to hear from you again. I'm glad you're breaking some boundaries.
Abri, I like to do 1 for 1's, meaning a 4 minute breath up after a 4 minute hold, etc.
Chers,
Erik Y.

 

[ivan]

Comp against ourselves

hi

Lots of the guys here are pros at this so for poor people like me don't get worried cos thats what I always did. When Eric f would post his big static times I would run to the room and try and beat him but it never happened. As for statics I don't have a stop watch so haven't timed statics for a few months but my best was a sad 5:15 dry. Inconsistency was a problem for me as well but contractions are what stuff my breatholds up they seem to take away my air really quickly. Maybe it has something to do with my 3-5mins hyperventilation before hand. So until the stop watch comes no statics for me.

cheers

 

[ApneaBlue]

Re: Comp against ourselves

Originally posted by ivan
hi

........So until the stop watch comes no statics for me.

cheers

are stop watches that rare in Austrailia? Seems like there is alwasy one laying around the place...Who used to hold their breath in school and watch the clock behind the instructor...what really suked is when the instructor calls on you when you are up into the 3:+ minutes and you don't want to break your static...then you finally bust out a big exhale 4:+ minutes later and everyone turns around and looks at you strange because your face is red and your eyes look like they were ready to pop out from the gut wrenching contractions. :duh

 

[ApneaBlue]

Re: Re: Comp against ourselves

Originally posted by ApneaBlue


are stop watches that rare in Austrailia? Seems like there is alwasy one laying around the place...Who used to hold their breath in school and watch the clock behind the instructor...what really suked is when the instructor calls on you when you are up into the 3:+ minutes and you don't want to break your static...then you finally bust out a big exhale 4:+ minutes later and everyone turns around and looks at you strange because your face is red and your eyes look like they were ready to pop out from the gut wrenching contractions. :duh

[edit] Australia [/edit] not Austrailia ...yes, I is a collige student:hmm

 

[JMD]

Hey Eric,

This thread was a great idea. We're training here for a pool competition in Calgary in February, followed by regionals in March and Nationals in April. If you can make it back we'd love to have you.

Anyway on to the statics, during Kirks course here a couple weekends ago I did my first 3min wet static (meager but a full minute longer than my previous personal best). Yesterday I did 3min dry and am hoping to add 15sec a week for the next 10 weeks.

 

[thin_air]

Re: Re: Comp against ourselves

Originally posted by ApneaBlue


...Who used to hold their breath in school and watch the clock behind the instructor...what really suked is when the instructor calls on you when you are up into the 3:+ minutes and you don't want to break your static...then you finally bust out a big exhale 4:+ minutes later and everyone turns around and looks at you strange because your face is red and your eyes look like they were ready to pop out from the gut wrenching contractions. :duh

just got home from school, during last period, we were watching "hamlet" (why couldnt the king have beheaded shakespear...:head ) anyways, i sit the closest to the TV and i look at the timer, i did a series of 1min hold, 2 min breath, 2 min hold, 3 min breath, 3:30 hold...
the girl behind me tapped me on the shoulder at 3:25 to ask if i was alright, she told me i was turning blue (first contraction was at 2:30...)
so thats my latest dry static,


ps. its incredible how distracting shakespear can be, just trying to figure out what hamle was saying kept me from thinking that i was holding my breath

 

[loopy]

Hahahaha Shakespeare is the worst, I can still remmeber doing a sock puppet play of Othello for my final exam in English...

Hey Erik, can I add something? Can I ask everyone when they get contractions (cheers thin_air), but also how many they get so I can work out what a good average speed is? Obviously it depends on the person, but it would still be interesting...

Cheers all,

Loopy

 

[Erik]

Hey Loopy, no worries....we should all put in what we want, and ask what we need.
I usually get contractions at 4:00, then get about 1 every 3 seconds on average. That means 40 contractions at 6:00 for me, but I'm going to start trying to put them off, as Alun does (I think it was Alun?)
I watched a friend at Nationals last year (PeterPazdera)...He must had had 60 contractions in a 4+ breath-hold! They were small and fast, very strange to see.
Cheers,
Erik Y.