Workout for rescue diver?

[pipedope]

Spend lots of time in the water.
Swim
Play
Dive
Practice with and without gear.

You want all your swimming and moving in the water skills to be solid, clean, efficient and automatic so that you can focus on the tasks of the class.

The more comfortable you are in the water the easier it is and the more fun.

 

[116fire]

Play underwater hockey...Swim alot.

 

[scarefaceDM]

Those that said it was not tough. Did not have an instructor that demanded perfection. My Rescue course was tough. We had to lift dead weight out of the water, drag the dead weight to a designated safe zone. You should be able to drag a victime atleast 25 yards. Lift someone into a boat by yourself. and drop them gently onto the floor/ground. If we did not do it right...redo until it was right. We had acces to back boards, floats, life jackets...etc.

Swimming is key. Get into a pool with a wetsuit, mask and fins...swim laps. Add some drag and do the breast stroke and crawl. Keeping your eyes on a target. Do that a few times a week. Lift weights. Deadlift is very good. Cardio. Run - ride - climb stairs.

Do some free diving.

Practice removing your gear in water, in shallow water, and in waves. Also look at all the different gear configurations of various BC's see where clips, straps etc are.

In my Rescue course. Our Instructor pulled a fastone. He got all set up in Tech gear with multiple stages. If your not familiar with this set up..Get busy reading and asking questions from some one whom dives Tech.

Also look at various O2 kits. Some vary and set ups are different. Unless you use a standard DAN kit. Some instructors - in my case - we had different O2 kits for that reason.

I went though many various stages of rescue senarios - from basic REC gear to tech gear.

This was extreme in my case...a PADI course but the envelop was pushed to the max. i am glad our instructor made us do it till we dropped.

Keep in mind. There is no text book rescue - use what works.

Have fun by the way.

 

[muddiver]

I read Twinkles post and

I stopped at the second level of water safety instructor in Marine Corps boot camp because they do the "panicked" swimmer routine with a 300' Drill Instructor. Not my cup of tea, but the Marine Corps is way more intense than Army Ranger school if that guy said a SCUBA Rescue class was tough.

Swim a lot with your fins on. There is a swim test requirement for Divemaster of swiming 400 yards in 2 minutes, or some thing like that. I am sure someone will chime in and quote the PADI manual for me. Anyway you can use that as a goal to obtain before you take the class.

scarefaceDM was in a class that was way over the top. I have never seen a rescue class outside of the industrial or professional rescue industries that use a backboard and life jackets. They are not even mentioned in the PADI instructor manual.

 

[fishoutawater]

These folks can help: Welcome to CrossFit: Forging Elite Fitness

 

[Debbie O]

You might consider the area that you do your open water course in. My course necessitated that I carry my buddy to a safe spot out of the water. I carried my son about 20ft uphill to accomplish that.

 

[Scuba Laura]

ScarefaceDM - thank you!

Your instructor should put you through a workout and throw every worse case scernio at you and you better be ready for it.

I weigh less than 100 lbs, and my instructor did just that. I was very frustrated at first and knew my limits. BUT, he demanded that I passed each one. I had to figure out ways that worked for me, and I did just that. What may work for one person, may not for another. Remember why you are taking this course!

We did my course in different areas - shore diving and boat diving, in different conditions - calm waters, high surf, murkey water, clear water.

The key to remember is always keep a clear head and stay in control.

Breath in.... Breath out

Good luck!

 

[khblair]

Swim, dive, cardio

this should be more than adequate. good luck with Rescue - it was my favorite!

 

[kwesler]

First question I would ask myself is whether you are pursuing fitness just to pass the course, or to become a better diver...

I had a special forces instructor and REALLY rough seas...I was in excellent shape (ran 5 miles a day, lifted weights, flexibility drills etc...but that was 3 back surgeries ago!) and it taxed me to the max. However, my confidence level soared!

With respect to different philosophies...I figure why do anything if you don't want to do it well, and that means NEVER pursuing the minimum...

Just my type A $.02

 

[DiverBizz]

In my rescue class the class was easy, the pool was not bad at all, but remember that you have to do a rescue in OW. During our class we entered the beach with 2-4ft swells and as the rescues continued the swells doubled in size. Just be aware that you need to be in good enough shape to complete a class OW rescue you cant choose your perfect flat rescue in true life. I got slammed with an 6-8ft wave during the rescue but what a great experience.