What happens when you stop training?

[Simos]

In the last year because of some circumstances, I have gone from a moderate amount of regular freediving training (couple of times pool training a week) plus other exercise (yoga, climbing) to no exercise whatsoever and no freediving training at all in the last 9 months (no water time whatsoever, even for swimming). On top of this, unfortunately I don't sleep well, eat fairly unhealthy food, work lots and have a fair amount of stress.

Today I've tried a dry hold for the first time in ages out of curiosity. I was of course not expecting anything great but oddly I started having proper contractions after 40-45 seconds that I was not expecting. The hold was quite stressful afterwards and I gave it up as I wasn't relaxed at all. I tried a second hold and similar story, this time I decided to hold until around 2:30 at which point I got tired of taking strong, frequent contractions and I gave up as I was again anything but relaxed - I also had a weird 'burning' sensation in my chest for a while after ending the hold and I was noticing my heart beat a lot more than usual.

So my questions are the following:

1. Any reasons why I would now start to get contractions this early?

2. What happens physiologically after stopping to practice apnea for a while? What actually changes in the body?

3. Is there a valid physical reason (apart from relaxation) that I would now black out quicker if I was to hold until the end, as opposed to when I was actually training regularly? Or is it just a question of holds just feeling tougher because my CO2 tolerance is much lower than it used to be.

For reference, even when I first started freediving, I never used to get contractions and when I started doing a bit "better" I could get close to 4 mins without any significant contractions or particular discomfort. This was all in the water though, I was never particularly good at dry holds (and in fact I really don't like them).

 

[island_sands]

My experience is that you lose you gall. But its like riding a bike, get back on it. in the last year I have only done a few freediving trips and each time it was for teaching. There was always that element of doubt "can I still do this"?

I have not been in the water since October (except for one scuba trip) and in two weeks I will be freediving all weekend. I am thinking positively!

 

[ThomasB]

In the last year because of some circumstances, I have gone from a moderate amount of regular freediving training (couple of times pool training a week) plus other exercise (yoga, climbing) to no exercise whatsoever and no freediving training at all in the last 9 months

.

on the bright side you wasted plenty of time on this forum

 

[Simos]

on the bright side you wasted plenty of time on this forum

hahaha very true, it's my way out since I can't go diving - I love freediving, could talk about it all day! :inlove

This is also relating to the fact that I promised myself that I'd get a lot more disciplined about not freediving 'alone' (alone meaning if I don't have a proper buddy with me, even if there is a pool lifeguard around) so sadly I end up not freediving at all these days...

 

[ThomasB]

hahaha very true, it's my way out since I can't go diving - I love freediving, could talk about it all day! :inlove

This is also relating to the fact that I promised myself that I'd get a lot more disciplined about not freediving 'alone' (alone meaning if I don't have a proper buddy with me, even if there is a pool lifeguard around) so sadly I end up not freediving at all these days...

I dared joking because I'm in the same situation: two years ago I did 1 and 2 apnea accademy courses, then training twice a week plus the Saturday dive spearfishing. Then it all went down, no diving no nothing. Sometimes I try holding my breath and I feel like you, I think it's 30% body and 70% mind, simply thinking how 'good' I was when I trained put me in a state which is not good at all. Try do what you were trained to do: relax and enjoy the feeling, no need to worry about comparison with your trained self.

And get back in the water for god sake.

 

[Simos]

I dared joking because I'm in the same situation: two years ago I did 1 and 2 apnea accademy courses, then training twice a week plus the Saturday dive spearfishing. Then it all went down, no diving no nothing. Sometimes I try holding my breath and I feel like you, I think it's 30% body and 70% mind, simply thinking how 'good' I was when I trained put me in a state which is not good at all. Try do what you were trained to do: relax and enjoy the feeling, no need to worry about comparison with your trained self.

And get back in the water for god sake.

All very true - feels a bit better knowing there are others in the same boat. If you told me last year that I could possibly stay for so long out of the water, I would tell you that you are mad! Yet, it happened...

I am not that bothered about comparing with the 'old' or 'better' me - I always dived for enjoyment and didn't care about numbers, time, depths etc. I know the moment I get in the water I will enjoy it regardless.

I was just curious though, especially about contractions... I know that no one knows really so might have been a pointless thread...

 

[ThomasB]

All very true - feels a bit better knowing there are others in the same boat. If you told me last year that I could possibly stay for so long out of the water, I would tell you that you are mad! Yet, it happened...

I am not that bothered about comparing with the 'old' or 'better' me - I always dived for enjoyment and didn't care about numbers, time, depths etc. I know the moment I get in the water I will enjoy it regardless.

I was just curious though, especially about contractions... I know that no one knows really so might have been a pointless thread...

To me contraction are always the same. I get them very very early even when i used to "train", maybe just a bit later. The way i deal with them when i'm not trained tho is a complete different story. If i'm trained i'm simply more relaxed about them, i know i can hold them safely for a while, when i'm not trained i get a bit worried.

 

[Simos]

To me contraction are always the same. I get them very very early even when i used to "train", maybe just a bit later. The way i deal with them when i'm not trained tho is a complete different story. If i'm trained i'm simply more relaxed about them, i know i can hold them safely for a while, when i'm not trained i get a bit worried.

You should probably worry less when you don't train - I know I am less likely to be able to push through to BO if I am not training regularly.

It's a huge change for me in terms of contractions but I suspect it's also because during training, I used to build to longer holds and maybe even hyperventilated a bit (without wanting to) during the 'breath up' whereas now, I just sit on the couch in front of the TV and do a hold with no prep, no breath up etc.

Contractions aside, I should be fairly happy I guess - I could always add a couple of mins when holding in water compared to dry holds so in theory I should not be a million miles away from where I was before, albeit with a lot more struggle now.

 

[Ms Mer]

I imagine that it might be similar to training for any other physical discpline. If your fitness drops off after a period of inactivity it initially feels very hard when you start training again (or even just getting back into the sport on an unstructured fully recreational level). But after a short while you can build fitness back up pretty quickly. I know freediving is not road cycling but if I use that as an example, last year I went from having done pretty much no riding (or other speed or endurance training) for many months, weight had crept up, muscle strength has decreased etc. I started training for a 160km (100 mile) ride and was initially gutted that I struggled with riding more than 30km on the flat. After a month or so of riding regularly however, things did start to improve and my body seemed to remember my previous training. I was then able to increase the length of my rides much quicker than I had the previous year.

I guess my point is that it is gutting when you can't do something that you used to be able to do with ease when you were doing it regularly, however prior years of doing that activity does seem to be retained in the body/mind and can be reactivated again quicker than we might think. But of course it does take some effort, certainly particularly in the early stages when dealing with loss of strength, endurance, flexibility and weight gain etc. A lot of that part is the self discpline aspect, which can be the hardest part when lifestyle has changed, as it often does for many of us when "life" gets in the way!

My unqualified opinion for what it's worth