Surf training

[Breathebetter]

Hello. I was wondering if you guys had any thoughts on breath holding training for surfing. I would like to become more comfortable in any situation and not feel like my breath holding will limit me. I've looked into a couple local free diving courses, the gear and everything is something I can't afford at the moment.
Until then should I start training the same way I would if my focus was freediving? Or is there anything you would do differently ? Thanks.

 

[HydroApprentice]

I think the main difference is that there has to be more focus on relaxation in a chaotic setting. Wipeouts and hold-downs won't give you much of preparation time, which usually comes after the exertion of paddling out and into a wave. You start with higher O2 deficits and higher CO2 levels. The trick is to learn to be cool with the fact that you're being held down, to not panic and to conserve oxygen. A twenty second hold down could seem like a f*cking eternity when you're tumbling in that mess. But after all, a controlled 20 s breath hold is pretty easy. I think that sums up the difference pretty well. Any training should account for this aspect, and prepare you mentality for the situation of unprepared, chaotic holds.

 

[Breathebetter]

Okay thanks that makes sense. What different exercises would be the best to simulate this? Doing an exercise like swimming or something to get my heart rate up and then start a timed static breath hold? And doing this multiple times with a couple seconds of air in between because usually right when you come up from one wave there is one right behind it?

With everything you've said do you think it would still be beneficial to do a freediving course? I've seen some videos on surf specific courses but I don't think there are any available remotely close to me.

 

[HydroApprentice]

Swimming some laps, then a sequence of breath holds seems to be a good idea as you suggested. As with all diving activities, it's advisable to have a buddy to ensure safety. I saw something cool in one of the videos about surf-safety training. Rolling up in a ball, holding you breath and then be spun around underwater by a mate. Would be pretty cool to combine this with minimal recovery times to prepare you for hold downs in big sets.

In general, freediving courses are fun but they have a different objective. Still worthwhile to do in my opinion if you want to learn how to get the most out of your diving experience.

 

[Breathebetter]

Yea safety is the most important thing. Luckily it seems to be mentioned a lot here. I've been looking into tables lately. One thing I see is to not do more than one a day and a constant caution from the writers saying you can damage your respiratory system if your not careful. How exactly does this happen?

 

[J Campbell]

To simulate the exercise expended while surfing, swim a lap of the pool, about 50 meters, but when you finish the lap immediately put your face underwater and hold on to the side of the pool - NO resting at all. Stay under as long as you can and focus on relaxation and keeping calm. DO THIS WITH A SPOTTER.

 

[go-hard]

We did a few exercises at training last night that would be semi-relevant to your needs. The session started with a relaxed breath up of 2 minutes (so not like surfing) and then into a series of 10 one minute holds with one breath in between (this is a good test of CO2 tolerance). Next was trying to get to a total of 10 minutes breathhold in as short a time as possible. (the winning time was 10:20 - effectively the winner breathed out under water then rolled over to take a breath and then back into a breath hold - keeping a fairly high turn over going with about 1 minute holds each time - pretty hard to do for most people).

Then we went into "distraction" mode. Buddy pairs had one doing a breathhold while the other tried to distract them e.g. tumbling them round, talking, splashing etc. This would be slightly more relevant to a surfing scenario but we still allowed a breath up beforehand.

The night then finished with splitting into two teams. Each team had to have one person holding their breath at a time while the others were over trying to distract the opposition person holding their breath - splashing, talking etc. but not touching (in this case). The winning team was the one that held their breath the longest.

It was interesting and quite different to other Static training nights we have had.

 

[HydroApprentice]

The night then finished with splitting into two teams. Each team had to have one person holding their breath at a time while the others were over trying to distract the opposition person holding their breath - splashing, talking etc. but not touching (in this case). The winning team was the one that held their breath the longest.

Sounds pretty cool [emoji4] Is it just me, or does this sound like there's a new team sport in the making? [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]

 

[Pinniped72]

I would say that THE most important factor is psychological, to accept that it will happen, when it does be calm and the rest should come by itself, most of the time you don't expect it to happen when it does, so planning what to do is a bit pointless, a calm mind and acceptance of the situation will be your friend. Also keep physically fit and if you think you shouldn't be out in the sea conditions in front of you................... don't be Good luck and keep safe.

 

[cdavis]

Hydoapprentice had some good suggestions. Basicaly, you want to train in a way that matches what you are training for. Get your co2 level up, hold and relax. Count the time. A little practice and you should be able to go longer than a hold down.

One thing to make sure of. Don't hold your breath during a ride. I discovered I was doing that. Stopping eliminated much discomfort during hold downs.

Disclaimer: I body surf Florida hurricane surf. A very big wave is 12 ft face. These are beach breaks where the water depth where the wave breaks can be over 20 ft, so there is a lot of power in a relatively small face and the bottom is a considerable distance from the surface. Still, its nothing like Hawaii.

 

[Stephan Whelan]

So my suggestion is to go on a waterman or surf survival course run by either Performance Freediving or Freediving Instructors International.

Links:

• http://www.freedivinginstructors.com
• http://www.performancefreediving.com
• http://www.freedivingcourses.com/course-category/surfingwaterman/

 

[SurferJessie]

I did the Waterman Survival course and it was a great experience. I'm a long time surfer and relatively new Freediver, but I found the course helped a lot when I was in Indonesia as well as the last solid hurricane swell. What I've found to work in my particular case has been using the CO2 tables twice a week to train as well as at the end of workouts getting on the treadmill, elevating my heart rate and then on the minute going for 20 second breath holds. I hit the pool as often as possible when there is no surf and work on swim workouts and then into different breath hold work: UnderOvers, kettle bell runs, all out swim into a breath hold, the list goes on. I get with buddies when possible and we get creative.
Again NEVER train in the water without a safety, i seldom even trust the lifeguards and if they're my only option i make them aware of when Im working on my breath holds ("hey keep an eye on me just incase")
-------anyone interested in getting together to freedive or do surf style training feel free to reach out. CHEERS!