Exercise after diving

[hwahl]

I am currently working a coral restoration internship in which we often do 3-tank dives in a day, the deepest of which is 30ft. Surface intervals between dives range from 10 minutes to 90 minutes, and water temperatures during the summer range from 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit. With this information, I have 3 questions:

1.) If I dive conservatively (making safety stops before surfacing) and stay hydrated, is it safe for me to work out after dives? I go to a CrossFit gym at which workouts can be quite strenuous, but I can modify the exercises I’m feeling tired.

2.) If I CAN work out, should there be a certain time interval between my last dive and the start of the workout?

3.) Is it safe/more safe for me to work out in the morning before a 3-dive day instead?

My primary concern is increasing my risk of DCI. Looking forward to hearing some answers!

 

[tursiops]

Diving is not intended to be exercise, but it happens to be when you get gas in your tissues that can be forced out by exercise post dive.

Somehow I find statements that "gas in your tissues can be forced out by exercise post dive" questionable. Why would exercise force the gas out of tissues?

I don't know where I read that. I thought it was in https://dive.si.edu/sites/default/files/proceedings_haldane.pdf but I can't find it there. So ignore all after "tissues."

 

[tarponchik]

Thanks! On p 19 then on pp 41-3 there are discussions of exercise pre-dive and during the dive, but not post-dive.

 

[tursiops]

Thanks! On p 19 then on pp 41-3 there are discussions of exercise pre-dive and during the dive, but not post-dive.

post-dive is p 71

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Really.!!!!! .......... "Sorry honey...... no sex for the next 10 days because we are on a 10 day totally romantic tropical dive trip and DAN says no exercise before or after diving"!

Maybe very low energy, slow and very docile lethargic sex would be OK... but we should check with DAN to get the exact level of energy that is allowed!! Really!!

 

[SKS22]

Diving is not intended to be exercise, but it happens to be when you get gas in your tissues that can be forced out by exercise post dive. The thread is about strenuous exercise after diving. What is your point with the material quoted above?

The point of the material quoted above is in response to the people that say that skipping exercise is okay because diving is exercise. One person suggested exactly that in this very conversation.

 

[tursiops]

The point of the material quoted above is in response to the people that say that skipping exercise is okay because diving is exercise. One person suggested exactly that in this very conversation.

Not the topic of the thread.

 

[SKS22]

Not the topic of the thread.

And yet nevertheless a point made by someone else on the thread, so what's your point in repeating this line of inquiry? And also, it's a point that I made in parentheses. Surely you know what those mean?

 

[Adamastor]

A young couple did a double boat dive and then went home and did some "exercise" in the bedroom - which resulted in them each needing two chamber treatments. So exercise after diving is a no no - in the gym... or the bedroom...

Either they both had pre-existing conditions, or the dives had been very demanding, or their "exercise" was inhumanely intense.
I went on a liveaboard with my wife : 8 days / 4 dives per day on air up to 35m, and "exercising" at night hadn't landed either of us in a chamber.

 

[RedSeaDiver2]

Either they both had pre-existing conditions, or the dives had been very demanding, or their "exercise" was inhumanely intense.
I went on a liveaboard with my wife : 8 days / 4 dives per day on air up to 35m, and "exercising" at night hadn't landed either of us in a chamber.

I can rule out that the dives were very demanding, and I doubt that they had pre-existing conditions given the dives that they have done since.

 

[kissonerga.ccr]

The point of the material quoted above is in response to the people that say that skipping exercise is okay because diving is exercise. One person suggested exactly that in this very conversation.

Ah. This had to be me, in #9. But did you skip the part where I said that generalized recommendations make little sense because all divers / dives are different? For me, an average dive these days is a 75-120’ run time to 45-60m on trimix dil, with little support before / after the dive, hauling 50-60kg of gear down/up-slope. For someone else, it can be much easier, or much harder. Probabilistically, chances of a DCS hit are higher X hours post-dive, I choose not to establish with any precision what my X is. I know that the next day is good enough for me. You may feel otherwise, good luck with that.

I genuinely don’t understand the urge to engage in vigorous exercise on the same day. Why not postpone it? In one phase of my life having run several dozen marathons and ultras (and placed first in 5 of them), I believe it’s totally ok – unless you are a professional athlete training for a high stakes event, in which case you probably shouldn’t be diving at all