Do you have a fitness regimen?

Do you regularly engage in a fitness program?

  • Yes

    Votes: 95 81.9%
  • No

    Votes: 21 18.1%

  • Total voters
    116

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kensuf

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Scuba Instructor
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Location
Gainesville, FL
There was a recent discussion on FB regarding fitness and diving that I found interesting. The thread focused on the overall fitness of instructors, but I think it it's an important part of diving for the general population as well.

I think an important discussion to be had is the simple fact that when everything is going right, aerobic and strength fitness are not super critical. However, just like carrying bailout bottles on a rebreather, or redundant first stages, as technical divers we need to plan for a "worst case" scenario and that includes being physically able to perform a rescue. The fitness demands required for performing an in-water rescue can be quite shocking. In the heat of the moment, between the adrenaline and workload demand, your heart rate can jump through the roof. Unfortunately, I've had to do both rescues and recoveries too many times, I assure you I'm speaking about the demands from personal experience.

Instructor trainers with IANTD and TDI UK conducted a simulated rescue / evacuation of an unconscious diver. The video is a bit long, but I think it is incredibly powerful and important to watch.


In addition to the demands placed on your body in an emergency, there's some very strong scientific evidence that aerobic fitness can aid with decompression. Here's one paper on the subject, https://barefootbentley.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/WisloffandBrubakk_2001.pdf. Here's another, https://barefootbentley.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Wisloffetal_2004.pdf.

Personally, for years I've focused primarily on cardiovascular fitness. Cycling is my jam, I love it, and try to log between 5-7 hours a week (~100-150 miles), but lately it's been raining cats and dogs when I get off work and getting hit by a car or losing a wheel in a corner sucks, so I've shifted to the elliptical machine at the gym (blah, boring, but hey it's important). Also, after a diving related injury last summer (slipping on a boat transom and destroying a shoulder), I've been doing a lot of strength training - 2-3x a week, mixing up heavy/low reps with light/high reps. Crazily enough, even though I'm 52, I've added a bit of upper body muscle mass over the past five months and carrying a set of 104s on my back feels easier today than it was a year ago (heck, it feels as easy today as it was when I was 40).

I think it's really really important for (as my friend John calls them, "technically divers") consider their physical fitness as part of their diving preparation - your body and mind really are the most important pieces of gear you take when you go diving.

So do you engage in a routine, and if so, what is it?
 
Other than fitness ( pizza, steak, chocolate, fried chicken, ice cream, cookie, dim sum, sushi ) in my mouth?
Pre Covid -
When not commercial spearfishing I ran 3 to 5 times a week 3 to 5 miles of mixed distance and sprints and worked as a wallpaper hanger 8 hour day climbing ladders, carrying tools and hanging paper which is pretty upper body intensive.

When commercially spearfishing I had one day of driving to the boat, loading a ton or two of ice and gear. 4-7 days of swimming in dive gear about two miles a day 12 to 16 hour days. Wrestling fish, icing and packing fish. And having your core worked 24/7 from boat motion. Then a day of unloading, washing the boat and either repeating or driving home.

Post Covid
Happy to work a 5 hour day hanging paper so far. Hopeful for a full recovery at some point.
 
I took a serious look at it last year when I turned 60 and had a stress related issue at work. It caused me to get an eval by my doctor who sent me for a treadmill stress test, bloodwork, and an EKG.
Everything was ok physically. It was a$$hole at work induced stress.
But while everything was "ok" there were still a few suggestions.
So I went and changed my diet, reduced the mental stress, and bought a bicycle.
That was in June of 2020. The first ride I thought I was crazy after 6 miles for doing this.
3 months later my average ride was 14 miles with 20s and 30s thrown in regularly.
Dropped 15 lbs, cut cholesterol in half, and lowered BP 10 points on the top and bottom numbers.
This season the 20 mile rides are more common and I've done a 41 and 49 mile ride. Planning a 34 tomorrow if the weather holds.
My fitness level is better than it has been in many years at age 61 now.
 
A good place to start is the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans from The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Adults should do at least 150 minutes to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes to 150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. They should also do muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week.

I generally lift 90-120 minutes three times a week and shoot for 90 minutes of cardio per week. I think for cave divers who workout, lifting is really underdosed. Especially as we get older. The injuries you see are torn ACLs etc
 
I have a general fitness regimen that I follow but since I generally dive in vacation, take a break from during vacation. Running/biking/elliptical three times a week, resistance training once or twice a week. I used to be much more regimented but life gets busy and something is better than nothing. I listen to audiobooks on a wide variety of subjects to pass the time. My most noteworthy accomplishment bookwise is that I am completely caught up with Jack Reacher.
 
I have a general fitness regimen that I follow but since I generally dive in vacation, take a break from during vacation. Running/biking/elliptical three times a week, resistance training once or twice a week. I used to be much more regimented but life gets busy and something is better than nothing. I listen to audiobooks on a wide variety of subjects to pass the time. My most noteworthy accomplishment bookwise is that I am completely caught up with Jack Reacher.
Something is definitely better than nothing. In the literature you see a dose-response relationship with exercise. The more the better, but something is definitely better than nothing
 
I took a serious look at it last year when I turned 60 and had a stress related issue at work. It caused me to get an eval by my doctor who sent me for a treadmill stress test, bloodwork, and an EKG.
Everything was ok physically. It was a$$hole at work induced stress.
But while everything was "ok" there were still a few suggestions.
So I went and changed my diet, reduced the mental stress, and bought a bicycle.
That was in June of 2020. The first ride I thought I was crazy after 6 miles for doing this.
3 months later my average ride was 14 miles with 20s and 30s thrown in regularly.
Dropped 15 lbs, cut cholesterol in half, and lowered BP 10 points on the top and bottom numbers.
This season the 20 mile rides are more common and I've done a 41 and 49 mile ride. Planning a 34 tomorrow if the weather holds.
My fitness level is better than it has been in many years at age 61 now.

Hey Jim,

I know you recently stepped down from teaching AN/DP because you felt that you didn't have the fitness necessary to properly care for your students in case something went pear shaped. I commend you for this and highly respect your level of self-awareness and your decision. I enjoy teaching cave and tech divers but I also know that there's only so many years left that I'll be able to do this - I need to be able to push my students physically and mentally, and if I were on the ragged edge myself, I would be useless if a problem were to arise.
 
When I was 56 I gave up tec diving and cut back on fitness, which was a big mistake.At 64 , I started with brisk walking around six hours per week. Now jogging with strength training again. I feel so much better and it shows when diving.
 
There were the two Jeffs in my area, both in their 60s, (until one Jeff moved to Idaho) who did in my opinion extreme CC dives weekly (4 to 5 hours down tp 500 feet often - Leon told them "you are using those machines for what they were designed).

They were incredibly disciplined om fitness. Never had any DCS issues.

My training consists of weightlifting, boxing, and jogging.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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