Static Saturday

[Erik]

Well, I've been in fairly heavy training for the Western Regionals for a few weeks, and I thought someone might like to see what's happening.
It's -25C, and I live in the prairies, so no constant training for me this time. I'm going to Vancouver a week early to train in the sea, but until then I've got a pool for dynamic and my floor for static training.
I've been working with a bad monofin, but doing better than with bi-fins in the pool, so I've been doing 85 metres in a 25 metre pool with it. Not pushing really hard, as I've got no partner, and this is not my strongest event .
I've been doing 2 static holds to 20 contractions every second day, plus a PB attempt every weekend.
I've been hitting over 6 minutes on the floor fairly regularly; here's how it went today:
Half hour hatha yoga, half hour meditation in corpse pose(hurt my back last month, lotus is uncomfortable right now).
No breathe up- hold to 20 contractions, first contraction @ 2:35, final=3:38.
Breathe up 4 minutes, hold to 30 contractions, first contraction @ 3:05, final =4:51
Breathe up for 6 minutes, hold to 32 contractions, first contraction @ 3:19, final=5:05
Breathe up for 10 minutes, hold to 35 contractions, first at 3:48, final =6:05.
Happy Saturday to all,
Erik Y.

 

[kbakery]

Eric,

Interesting to read your posts. Alot of your questions and answers cross me right, yogic and all. I'm going to try a monofin since reading the chat. Dolphin kick just feels right.

Got an answer for this? We push through a water column. The longer and thinner we are the narrower the water column and more reduced the resistance. Doing a mono/dolphin kick uses the entire body so that the body is mimicing a wavy line through the water. I wonder if the people who measure such things would consider the water column for this technique to be a thin wavy shaped column through the water or a wide straight column. In other words are you slipping through the water like a snake or are you just causing yourself to push more water by doing the dolphin kick?

I've just logged on to DeepBlue so I've saved up a couple thoughts. Have you ever heard of a book called the Frog Sutras? It has a Sanskrit name for Frog but I forget it. Apparently it is a text on the art opening up the upper body and Diaphram, like the way a frog can puff himself up. My Yoga (Ashtanga) teacher told me about it but I couldn't find a reference to it anywhere, still looking.

Yoga and diving have converged wonderfully as activities for me in the past year. My favorite example is a dive in which I became so relaxed that on a decent, falling like a leaf just drifting down horizonatally "I" disappeared. The sensation was that I no longer physically existed, no arms, no legs just total experience from the eye. Like Sutra 19 from the Samadhi Pada. It was only about 15 seconds, it was shallow and not induced by narcosis or anything like that. But at once gave me proof that following either pursuit was right for me.
As opposed to Paintball (lots of fun but where can you go with it?)

Aloha,

tp

 

[Erik]

Hi tp, nice to meet you, thanks for the kind words.
I am in agreement about the convergence of freediving and yoga of course. Yoga is actually converging more and more with everything I do as I get older.
I've never heard of the Frog Sutras...I'm actually not a big expert on lots of types of yogic practice, just the stuff I've practiced for the last 10 years or so.
As for the monofin, I have to stress that I'm a beginner, and will let Peter's article (coming on DB soon apparently) speak to that. However, I do feel that you are right about the hydrodynamics. Watching Peter and Eric F last year, I saw that they were using their bodies from the shoulders back, with not so much bending at the knees, during dynamic diving. I think that during very bouyant constant diving, there is more knee-bending to get below the top 5 metres or so, then into a more "laminar" flow (stolen from Peter ), with more of an undulation. I am really excited about the monofin; it feels right- more like an Orca instead of a bi-pedal human.
I do know that bi-fins cause a lot of turbulence where they cross, and this is detrimental. All that said, I think I would still use the bi-fins for spearfishing...more maneuverability.
Your story about transcendence is beautiful, and familiar. I was trying to explain why I do this stuff to some co-workers at my college practicum yesterday. I told them that whatever they do that makes them feel connected to God, Creator, Vishnu, Allah, Bodhisattva, Mother Earth, Father Sun, Sister Moon, Christ, Babaji, or Mohammed, is what I feel when I dive. Usually people are astounded to hear times and depths, but I tell them that that is a small part of it. It's beyond verbal communication, like love.
Unlike paintball!
:blackeye
Cheers,
Erik Y.

 

[freediver48]

frog postures

Hi,

My yoga book does not show a frog posture, however the fish posture is in the book and does show strong opening of the chest and hips and inner body. My wife and I took a fish course last year, it was great. Good luck in your pursuits.

Erik, how far can you swim in 3:00?

Fd 48

 

[wigma]

Impressive Saturday

Eric,

That was an impressive Saturday. It's always interesting to hear how others training is going, both from a results as well as methodology standpoint.

I had posted awhile back that I had managed a 4:35 PB in my first 2 weeks of training. I was then diagnosed with a sinus infection that required a full month of antibiotics. It has been a month hence and I still haven't managed to break 4 minutes.

My training at this time consists mostly of breathing exercise; i.e. Pranayama breathing and relaxation with some stretching. I usually lift two to three times per week and have started the aerobic work, albeit slowly given the mercurial weather patterns in N.C.

I am somewhat surprised that it has taken this long to recover from the antibiotics. It is only been in the last week or so that the breathholds have once again seemed more relaxed, with time seeming to somewhat disappear much as it did in my earlier 4 min. plus efforts. It has been discouraging to go from feeling like a 5 min. PB was around the corner to experiencing such a back slide.

Any thoughts, input or suggestions for changes in my training efforts? I have adjusted my diet to exclude dairy products due to sinus problems and excess mucous I have experienced in the past.

You mentioned that for you final 6 min. plus attempt you had a 10 min. breath up. Can you describe what you do for a breath up?

Thanks for any input ahead of time. I am getting prepared for my Performance Freediving clinic in July and have set a goal to be hitting 4 min plus breathe holds as an average by that clinic.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Erik]

Hey Mark, no wories about your clinic, you'll do great. Saturday was an experiment to see if a longer breathe up before the final attempt would help, but I think it was detrimental actually. It was quite violent at the end, not pleasant.
Antibiotics are a serious pain in the butt, but necessary sometimes.
Take a good multi-vitamin, eat lots of good vegetables with tons of anti-oxidants, and lots of vitamin C for recovery. Take L-Glutamine for recovery as well. This stuff is doing wonders for my recovery times from lifting.
The only way to get good at statics is to do more of them, and keep track of your times, contractions, etc.
Good luck, and by the way, you will have a great time at the Performance Clinic, Kirk is "The Man", and a good man at that. You will do better than you ever have, because he will be there to make it safe, you will feel safe, and then you will Go For It!
Be sure and tell us how your experience is at the clinic Mark.
Cheers,
Erik Y.

 

[Erik]

Doug, I've not timed my dynamic training, but am going to start this week, since I learned how to make my timer work underwater without going into dive mode at the deeper end of the pool.
I did an easy 75 metres in dynamic yesterday, with a 10 lb belt and 25 packs. Too many people in the pool, and the lanes were full, so didn't try for more. Plus the strap broke on my crappy monofin, which I fixed today.
Also did an easy 6 minute static today, and am hunting for the elusive 7 minute mark before the competition.
And am praying to the mighty Courier Gods that my new monofin arrives before I go to Vancouver.
Erik Y.

 

[freediver48]

hot stuff!

Hey Erik,

Good going! I'm with you on the courier gods, they can be hard to please. Let me know how the times look for dynamic. I'm betting that the pbs in dynamic and cb will be around 3 minutes given your stats. Go get that seven, my buddy Rod is hunting the 6 right now.

Best wishes,

Doug

 

[wigma]

Hi Erik,

Thanks for the input. I can use all the wisdom I can get.

Strangely enough, I was doing shorter breathe ups today after some pranayama exercises and my first static was a relatively easy 2:45, followed by 3:05, 3:30, 3:45 and then 4:00 and 4:05. I did not feel particularly smooth; the last minute was too forced due to "performance anxiety". Nonetheless, I feel like I am back on track and working toward 5:00.

I will go a little easier on my PB days as I think that I have pushed too hard for too many attempts and I am not recovering well. Add to this anitibiotics and a sinsus infection and as some English chaps I know are fond of saying, I "lost the plot for a bit".

Mentally, I know that if I push too hard, I develop a certain fear/aversion to the impending discomfort/pain that is a mental challenge to overcome. Oh well, onward ever.

Again, thanks for the input and good luck getting to 7:00.

Regards and safe diving,

Mark

 

[Erik]

Mark, try keeping it to 4 attempts, with the 4th one being the all out one. Also, blow off the CO2 before your final breath with about 10 quick open mouth purge breaths. It's sort of like hyperventilating, but you only do 5 or 10, not any more. Very quick breaths. This will really clear you out for the the big attempt.
Good luck,
Erik Y.

 

[amr]

Strangely enough, I was doing shorter breathe ups today after some pranayama exercises and my first static was a relatively easy 2:45, followed by 3:05, 3:30, 3:45 and then 4:00 and 4:05. I did not feel particularly smooth; the last minute was too forced due to "performance anxiety". Nonetheless, I feel like I am back on track and working toward 5:00.

Perhaps you should consider never specifically trying for a "personal best" -- just regard everything as practice.

On each practice day, just plan 'n' progressive attempts with pre-planned breathup and rest intervals between attempts. During the practice attempts, just relax, doze off, etc. and don't look at the watch at all. Just keep your eyes closed and stop after a certain pre-planned number of contractions (10, 12, 15, etc. -- BTW, I could never imagine going to 30 , regardless of the elapsed time (remember -- it is just a practice session). When time is up, stop the watch and find out how you did. This way, you can be completely relaxed about the whole thing, since you are never going for a PB. Of course, you may end up with some times like 4:59, 5:58, etc., if you don't peek.

(Just a suggestion -- YMMV)