Techniques and training advice

[Silver_25]

greetings all
there are some questions i'd like to ask to all you guys

1. I've been training in a pool and do DNF, when our lungs are starting to feels like contract or something and we have the urge to breath, is it because our CO2 tolerance? can we still hold it for a little longer even if its painful?
2. i've been reading in the training section and it says that we should avoid from getting a LMC or Samba. in order to train ourselves and reach our new height, we must push ourselves to the limit. my question is even when we starting to get contractions, they say we can still hold a little longer, just how much longer we should hold it? I'm kinda confuse if its okay to breath now or im just not pushing myself to the limit (in other word: "Wuss")

all of the training advices are from Akonis' "How to start freediving" thread

thank you:thankyou

 

[Kars]

Hi Silver!

Since you're a beginner, I recommend you to find a freediving buddy first; preferable a capable one that knows freediving and the rescue techniques. When you did not do a freediving course, please try to get one. It will learn you so much about safety and will save you a few years of trial and many (dangerous) errors.

The CO2 indeed gives you the urge to breathe.
At the same time the CO2 tolerance for people is different. Also some people with strong minds are able to ignore and ' push through' swimming into a blackout. Without a capable buddy it would mean not only the end of the lovely hobby

Indeed if you're alone I agree with your 'wuss' or rather be on the safe side approach. Understand that by simply doing many dives you'll get used to higher levels of CO2, nibbling - decreasing - on the safety margin you now have.
What you can do besides finding a buddy, is learning swim technique, relaxation, concentration, strength, stamina and condition.
Building your own neck weight, reducing the number of strokes per 25m and simply enjoying the underwater world completely relaxed is already a great way to start.

To summarise,

- have the 'wuss' approach until you have a good safety diver and the right environment.
- until you have, you can train lot's of other aspects. Also much dry!

Take care!

Kars

 

[Silver_25]

Kars, I would really like getting a freediving coursebut the nearest place to get one is in thailand

Its hard to find someone who is into the hobby here, but i will keep looking.
the more we train, the more tolerance we can endure, okay then i can measure my improvement by distance right?

what do you mean by "building your own neck weight"?

 

[Kars]

You can 'measure' your improvement in many ways:

Distance
Time
Speed
Number of strokes,

But also you can go by feelings of:

Comfort level for a set distance (like 25m).
Glide, water feeling and relaxation.

In my view freediving is much more than the competition part, where we reach for high numbers.
For me it's key to first learn how to relax, move and enjoy the underwater world, improve on these points and then proceed with improving swimming technique.

A neck weight is a home-made neckless made of the inner tire of a bike and lead to help the diver to balance and swim horizontal. That's the dark ring divers have around their necks diving these great distances. Watch some online video's!

 

[Silver_25]

will do. Thank you for the great advices, much appreciated!

cheers mate!
:friday:friday

 

[haughki]

Hi Silver,

Kars gives great advice. I would listen to what he says.

I would also emphasize: if you are alone and holding your breath in water, you are doing something very dangerous. When I say "alone", I mean without direct, dedicated supervision by someone who is paying close attention to you at all times, someone within arm's reach at the end of your dive.

If you don't have direct supervision and you balckout in the water, it's quite likely that you will die. You just can't survive for very long without air, and you can't breathe water.

I don't want to scare you away from the sport. I _love_ freediving. But, it's different than other sports: you really need a partner.

If you can't find a partner, you can train dry (search for "breath hold tables"), or dive very, very conservatively. If you start pushing your limits alone in the water (pool, lake, ocean), you are taking a big risk. We are seeing more and more people die in this sport every year because of this. Even very experienced divers are vulnerable to this problem. Pool life guards are not paying close attention to you.

So, please have fun diving: it's wonderful! And, take a minute to think seriously about what you are doing. Take care so that we can all have fun diving with you some day

Hawkeye Parker
San Francisco, CA

 

[Silver_25]

ur comment give me goosebumps haughki, but yeah u right. i've been watching some online vids and blackout are no jokes. notes taken haughki, thx for the advice too

 

[JennyWren]

Here's my article on making a neckweight

Making a freediving neck weight