Breathe Hold Exercises

[spectrum]

I plan on buying a dive watch for the spring / summer. That way I can log how my progress is going.

Thanks again,

Morg

Logging progress is good but make sure you follow your body and don't chase your watch. If you begin to push this to any significant depth/time make sure you have a rescue capable buddy in the water.

On that third deep breath I like to exhale deeeeeply then take that last deep breath and go. Give your body time to recover between dives.

Pete

 

[Chad Carney]

Morg,

Are you getting into freediving?

If so, a freedive computer like a Suunto D3 is the ticket, rather than a watch. It automatically times your dive, shows the depth, max depth, temperature, counts the dives, and most important to me, provides surface interval. It is very common for a freediver to feel ready again in less than a minute, but he has not sufficiently oxygenated his tissues. A common rule is to remain on the surface breathing up for at least twice the time of the dive, or three times the dive if going deep or staying long.

Freedive gear, (masks, snorkels, fins & weight belts), are also very different than the common gear used for scuba.

If you are practicing breath holding in the water you should have another diver watching you specifically, not a lifeguard or other person with other responsibilities.

Chad

 

[John C. Ratliff]

About watches--the Suunto D3 is a great watch for free diving. The Mosquito is great in that it can be used for either free diving or scuba diving. Both are pretty expensive.

For simply tracking time, a Timex with splits can be used, or any diving watch with a sweep second hand (as long as it's water-resistant). But the warnings are correct, simply use it to track times (afterwards, if possible--the Timex). Don't use it to try prolonging your submergence times (see above about shallow water blackout and contests).

SeaRat

 

[John C. Ratliff]

First, I have annotated my first post with the "rest of the story," so you may wish to go back to that.

I agree with the advise that Chad and spectrum have given you. It is always best if you have a buddy to do the breathhold training with. I have never found that really possible when I was in a swim pool, and so my advice about the lifeguard. But realize that my family were "water people." We were very comfortable in the water, and had literally grown up on swim teams. We did have a youth dive club, which was affiated with an adult dive club, and so buddy diving was not a problem, and buddy snorkeling was not a problem either.

But if you are serious, there are several avenues you can take. The training I discuss is fine, as long as you have someone actually watching you (lifeguards are supposed to be able to watch underwater swimmers too, but the advise Chad gave is also good). Take a Red Cross Lifesaving course, and you probably will find someone there who has a similar interest. Breathhold diving and lifeguarding go hand-in-hand.

There are many techniques for breathhold diving that I don't have time or space to discuss here, so it is a good idea to take a course such as the ones mentioned above in this skill. It is a separate skill, and breathhold diving is inherently more hazardous than scuba diving. This is because you do not have an air supply, and must rely only upon the breath in your lungs. I had one friend die of shallow water blackout in Hawaii, named Nat Holt (one of the original adopted Korean orphan children from Harry and Bertha Holt's family). The magazine, Hawaii Skin Diver is completely devoted to breathhold diving. See:

http://www.hawaiiskindiver.net/

Unfortunately, it has documented the deaths of over three skin divers last year alone. So the courses that were recommended above are very, very valuable.

Good luck,

SeaRat

 

[Chad Carney]

SeaRat,

You've provided a lot of valuable information. And you are not alone in lacking a buddy when wanting to freedive. Even when you have one they are often not keeping a close enough watch to be there if you needed them. At least this is the way it frequently goes with spearfishers.

The key for me when without a one on one spotter, is to never dive for extended times or depths. In fact I recommend not diving for half the time or depth that you know you can do on any given dive. (This is not your personal best.)

New divers are always trying to better their previous times and depths, so it's all the more important for them to have a close buddy.

In a good freediving class you get the chance to stretch with a pro watching every move. You'll also learn freediving safety and rescue techniques.

The Performance Freedive course www.performancefreediving.com is the best I have seen. Four days of intense breath hold and freedive training, in pools and open water, and taught by world record holders and trainers. Many divers double or triple their personal bests in time and depth. Commonly achieving a 4 minute static breath hold and hitting or breaking 100' in depth.

Chad

 

[SCUBA_Morg]

I am very interested in the breathe holding aspect of freediving but I am not all that crazy about the depth.

I would do the same training if I were to just stay around 20 - 30 feet for now right?

I would only stay around that depth because this would be somewhat new to me and I wouldn't want to go too deep right off the start.

I also have a little bit of a problem equilizing. I have to test some stuff out (Start Equilizing sooner (Hold Nose and try to breathe out of it), Hold my nose and place my tounge on the roof of my mouth and swallow)

I was looking around for masks and I noticed this neat looking one.... The nose part of the mask is gone. I would think this would make it easier to equilize correct? The mask is a scubapro solo
http://www.scubapro.com/products/fms/m_solo_goggles/m_solo_goggles.asp

 

[holdingmybreath]

...I was looking around for masks and I noticed this neat looking one.... The nose part of the mask is gone. I would think this would make it easier to equilize correct? The mask is a scubapro solo
http://www.scubapro.com/products/fms/m_solo_goggles/m_solo_goggles.asp

You can't use a mask that doesn't cover the nose unless it's what they call a pipe mask. You have to be able to add air to the mask as you are decending under the water or you will get "mask squeeze" (blood vessels in your eyes will break). It's like a mask giving you a big hickey. Pressure tries to equalize in the mask as you are going deeper and it does this by trying to suck your face into it. Not good.

 

[SCUBA_Morg]

You can't use a mask that doesn't cover the nose unless it's what they call a pipe mask. You have to be able to add air to the mask as you are decending under the water or you will get "mask squeeze" (blood vessels in your eyes will break). It's like a mask giving you a big hickey. Pressure tries to equalize in the mask as you are going deeper and it does this by trying to suck your face into it. Not good.

Ahh thats right, thanks for saying that. What do you think of the masks with the purge valves? Are they any good?

 

[John C. Ratliff]

For a mask, you want one that is "low volume." You don't have to waste as much air to equilize the mask as you descend when you dive deep. A couple of other points:

--I don't like a clear mask skirt. The clear silicone skirts let light in from the side to reflect off the inside of the glass. This can be brighter than the images you are trying to see in the depths. Get a black skirt that is completely opaque to light, and then the only light you see is what's coming from where you are scouting.

--I have started using nose clips under the mask, as I don't have to use my fingers to equilize my ears by pinching my nose. The nose clip does that for me. But it must be loose enought that you can still blow air into the mask too.

Goggles have been used at depth, but they are of three types:

1. Very close-fitting goggles with almost no air space. The South Sea Islanders used these before masks became available. They were hand-made by the diver to the exact shape of his/her eye, and are not available today, nor are they recommended for free diving.

2. Goggles with an air bladder attached, that complessed and provided air to the goggles (again, before masks became generally available).

3. Modern free diving goggles that are liquid-filled and therefore do not need equilization. Here's an article that mentions them:

http://www.deeperblue.net/article.php/299/18

You can see an ad for these at:

http://www.liquivision.ca/fluidgoggleshighlights.html

http://www.liquivision.ca/fluidgogglesfeatures.html

They are, however, a bit more expensive than most masks.

Good luck,

SeaRat

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Ahh thats right, thanks for saying that. What do you think of the masks with the purge valves? Are they any good?

Purge valves for free divers are not necessary, and provide a path for leaks (another failure point). They can also get very "dirty" (grow things in them). If you get water in the mask, let it out at the surface when you get there.

SeaRat