Warm up before training?

[IanCaio]

Hello guys,

I wanted to ask you if you do any kind of warm up before doing a CO2 table or some CO2 tolerance building drill?
Until now, I've usually hoped into the drill without any warm up, maybe taking a few minutes to relax if I feel tense. But I was reading a blog from a freediver, and before a competition he would do a few warm ups. Like, if the final hold would be a 5 minutes hold, he would do first a 2 minutes one, then a 3 minutes one and finally take some time to breath and do his final hold.
I figured out that this seems like a good practice: doing warm ups would get you used to the feeling of having higher levels of CO2 on your system. I think jumping straight to a long breath-hold (or a CO2 tolerance drill, that is supposed to get you closer to your limits) without warming up, could result in you panicking during the holds on the first sight of a more challenging feeling. I saw it in practice while trying to do a 3 minute hold again. On the first try I did 2:10 and on the second I reached the 3:00 minutes. I believe I panicked on the first hold and could have gone further.

I'm starting to reach some more challenging table times (I raised my CO2 table hold to 2 minutes - Last cycle has only a 15s breath prep) and I'm considering doing small holds before trying it.
So what do you think about it? Do you always warm up before doing tables or longer holds?

Peace and happy easter holiday!

 

[J Campbell]

Yes, I warm up. I do relaxation followed by a couple of medium length statics. Then relax again and start the table.
It is well known that when you do a series of breath holds, the later ones are easier and longer.

 

[hteas]

There are some "rules" on what to do, but it is basically a do it yourself project. Try a couple of warm-ups and then start the table. Another time jump straight into the table.
Which works better for you?
Did you get enough workout to be tired at the end?
Are you pushing yourself or are you cruising through it?

 

[IanCaio]

Mark,
I kind of found this out by trial and error. I was wondering if there's a physiological reason for this or if it's more about getting yourself used to it before jumping to longer holds. Maybe doing those warm ups you are also triggering some body responses to apnea, like bradycardia and peripheral vases constriction, getting the later holds easier.

Hteas,
I'm pushing myself a little, not as much as professional and competitive freedivers I suppose, but I'm not sticking with tables when they seem too easy. Now I'm getting to a point where it's getting even more challenging (not those "do anytime" tables, but ones that requires some preparation, like relaxing and convincing myself I can do it).

But it's as you say, if warming up is working for me, maybe I should do it before the drills!

 

[growingupninja]

Personally, I do warm up before training and competition, although mine is largely for muscles and chest, not very heavily apnea based and then primarily aimed at raising CO2 levels. For divers whose limiting factor is hypoxic blackout, less/no warm-up seems to help them. If lactic failure or EQ is an issue then warm-up seems to help. For serial deep diving I like a long warm-up since it keeps lactic levels down. Big 'no warm-up' dives for me involve a long recovery period since they are very lactic.

No warm-up will lead to a stronger dive response, but warm-up can get the spleen contracting improve the blood's ability to buffer CO2. Whether starting out that way offsets the stronger dive response will vary among individuals and events.

 

[IanCaio]

I did a small warm up before last night CO2 table. The warm up was the following:
1:00 (Hold) - 2:00 (Prep) - 1:30 (Hold) - 2:00 (Prep) - 2:00 (Hold) - 3:00 (Prep) - 2:30 (Hold) - 7:00 (Prep) + 2:00 (Prep of the table, forgot that during the warm up)
The warm up was simple, just wanted a progressive difficulty building. My personal record is around 3:00, so I got up to 2:30 to get my body a little used to the CO2. Than a long rest, so the excess CO2 is breathed out and I started the table (CO2 with 8x2:00 holds, and 2:00 to 0:15 prep).
I felt it was easier than the last two times I did it (increased the time a few days ago), being the last 2 holds the most challenging (in the last seconds of the last one I had what I think was the first notable contraction). Not sure if it was the warm up that made it easier, but I believe so, because if I didn't do it I would feel a little intimidated by the first sign of CO2 build-up on the first cycles, but instead I felt quite confident I could make it to the end. Also, maybe there are some physiological responses to the warm up that makes the holds easier.

I was reading a nice scientific article about freediving, which talked about body responses to apnea. It's called "The Role of Training in the Development of Adaptive Mechanisms in Freedivers" by Ostrowski et al. I will make a post about this article talking about some stuff I learned from it and some stuff I still have some doubt about (since I can't do a freediving course, might as well study it).
But a few things indicated that warming up is good before a dive/training:

1. The Bohr Effect: Increases in CO2 conc. in blood would weaken the bind between hemoglobins and O2, making it easier for them to release the oxygen on cells that need it. Not sure though if after the warm up the concentration of CO2 is still high enough for this effect to be of significance.
2. The Spleen Effect (as mentioned by @growingupninja): Apparently one of the body reactions during apnea is the spleen effect, where the spleen contracts and releases some blood to the circulation system. This would make O2 transport more efficient and increase the O2 concentration on blood. Here's a quote from the article:

"Additional erythrocytes liberated into the blood stream by the spleen contractions have a supportive effect during multiple breath-hold dives and therefore ”warm-ups”, involving several dozen of apneas that are seconds long, are a vital part of freediving training and a routine pre-start procedure"
Another quote:
"Three minutes after the end of a dive, the hematological effect of spleen contractions decreases by half and returns to normal dimensions; the initial concentration of Hb and Hct is restored after 10 minutes"
This is why I choose 7 minutes as a time after the last warm up (which turned to 9 by accident..). After 7 minutes the concentration of Hemoglobins and Hematocrits would still be higher than usual, but I wouldn't have the discomfort of starting the table with a much higher CO2 build up (3 minutes seems like a short recovery time before beginning a table).

3. Besides that, maybe warm up plays a role at making the body Bradycardia and Peripheral blood vessels narrowing responses come earlier.​

Well, that's what I found out so far. From now on I'll keep on doing warm up's before a table or longer hold. It seems good in theory and worked good on practice for me!

 

[growingupninja]

You are exactly wrong on #3, it's why many competitors prefer no warm-up and perform better (albeit more painfully) without warm-up. Bradycardia and vasoconstriction are always strongest on the first holds, although the rate of fall-off during subsequent holds will vary among different divers and on different days/triggers. You can test this yourself by doing tables with a pulse oxy meter.

 

[IanCaio]

3 was just a guess, but it makes sense it's wrong. The shock of the first hold probably makes those body responses come quicker.

I was thinking about getting a finger oxymeter, but those are quite expensive in my country (around R$130). It would give me an idea on the O2 saturation during holds and my heart beats (I've been tracking them with my hands so far, keeping them on chest to have an idea of how fast or slow it is).