Considering a Dive - Physical Condition

[Patrick R. Held]

Wow!!!! Thank you all for the wonderful responses. They were all very helpful.

Knowing about the BCD is very helpful. I had seen videos of scubadiving and it looked almost effortless, but I was thinking of the equipment, mainly the air tank, being a huge weight that pulled you to the bottom and you have to overcome that to swim back up, fighting gravity. That pretty much overcomes my biggest concern.

Many of you recommended that I get into a pool and try and get more comfortable back in the water. One of you recommended being able to swim 200 yards without and devices, as well as a 10 minute swim / float. I can use that as a good measure.

Thank you all so much. You have been very helpful.

 

[TMHeimer]

Agree about learning to swim with a proper stroke, despite my belief that swimming and diving are but distant cousins. I wouldn't be too concerned about not being able to surface since you said you have strong legs. Kicking is where you get all your power on scuba, as opposed to swimming, where 75% comes from the arms. Only in odd situations would you use your arms on scuba.

 

[Patrick R. Held]

Just to comment on a few things that were mentioned:

In my younger years, I could tread water quite well. I could also breast stroke quite well. I could not forward stroke without a snorkel and mask because I never mastered how to breath without getting water in my mouth. IIRC, I could back stroke quite well as well.

I used to spend a lot of time in pools at summer camp and the community pools. I just haven't had access to a pool that is more than 5 feet deep in over 20 years. The last time I was in a pool was almost three years ago. While in the deep end, I remember having to really struggle to make it to the sidewall. however climbing out of the pool on the ladder was no more challenging that it was when I was a kid.

Knowing about the BCD is what I needed to hear. Like I said earlier, I envisioned a 300 point man carrying an additional 80-100 pounds of gear being pulled down by gravity and having to swim against gravity to get back to the surface. That said, I think I can tackle this with ease.

Thank you all and please keep the comments open.

 

[MichaelMc]

Knowing about the BCD is what I needed to hear. Like I said earlier, I envisioned a 300 point man carrying an additional 80-100 pounds of gear being pulled down by gravity and having to swim against gravity to get back to the surface. That said, I think I can tackle this with ease.

Those were the old days when men were men, and women were even tougher. Now we have buoyancy tools. Two examples of the control you can have these days.
Three clarifications on her cool talk:
1) When she says use your lungs: you always want to keep an open airway while diving, to not hold your breath, this is because air expands as you bring it from depth to the surface, if you close off your lungs you can do serious damage. What she means is that your breathing cycle makes you more or less buoyant, so if you spend a bit more of the cycle with fuller lungs you will be more buoyant, if you spend a bit more of your time with more empty lungs, you will be less buoyant. This will change whether you rise or sink in the water, assuming you would be neutral with a more evenly balanced breath cycle.
2) When she says control your breathing, she means be aware of its effect on buoyancy. Your BC is for big changes to buoyancy, your lungs are great for little ones to stay stable at one depth. You have to breath anyway, so you might as well be aware of its effect on your buoyancy. But you want to still exhale as fully as you normally do, otherwise you will not flush your lungs of CO2, and will wind up with a headache, and it will make you stressed.
3) When she says get big, she means present a less streamlined profile in the vertical direction. That will create more drag moving up and down and make it easier for you to maintain a desired depth. Rarely do you want to move up fast in diving, due to the air expanding in your lungs and also the release of pressure on your body.

A kick demo of the control you can have horizontally. For most diving, in kelp forest, I use frog kick. It is relaxed, does not rock the body from side to side like a slow flutter does, and I rarely need to speed past all the cool stuff I came underwater to see. If I need to go fast, I use a full leg flutter kick, not the bent up leg one here, the ones here are for not kicking up silt in a cave. But frog and helicopter are very useful in the ocean. As is reverse kick, which is shown briefly in the buoyancy video, when they kick a bit funny and go backwards. Very handy for backing away from cool sea life you have been checking out. Just stuff and options to look forward to.
Welcome to diving, , or at least a taste of it.
(I have nothing to do with either of these groups, they are just helpful videos)

 

[Patoux01]

If OP can gauge that he is not up to exertion levels to accommodate at least the benign ideal conditions in the video, and that he has time to improve on water fitness and blood pressure control or obtain a personal Physician's Waiver, then where's the stupidity in referencing the media in question in order to make a better informed decision?

Verstehen?

Didn't know molesting an octopus and walking on coral were part of what was expected of divers.

Comprende?

 

[Kevrumbo]

If OP can gauge that he is not up to exertion levels to accommodate at least the benign ideal conditions in the video, and that he has time to improve on water fitness and blood pressure control or obtain a personal Physician's Waiver, then where's the stupidity in referencing the media in question in order to make a better informed decision?

Verstehen?

Didn't know molesting an octopus and walking on coral were part of what was expected of divers.

Comprende?

Ja verstaden/Sí lo entiendo. . .

 

[Efka76]

I am 185 cm and my weight is 112 kg. I am doing really well underwater. If you are feeling ok and do not have any diseases (especially related to heart, lungs) your should be ok. Of course, your weight is a bit bigger than mine and the problem that your upper body is not strong. For you might be problematic exit points after the dive if you have to go to boat with all your equipment.

My wreck diving instructor weighted maybe 130 kg and he was doing in water really well. Underwater your weight does not matter. Maybe you will drain air from tanks faster than others. Also, maybe I am wrong bit fatty people aare more buoyant. for example in salt water when I wear 3 mm shorty I need to put 8 kg (18 lbs) weights in order to properly descent. I guess you will need even more weights.

Regarding swimming skills - it is good to have them, however, if you are not a very good swimmer it is still ok as well. when you at the surface then your BCD keeps you afloat. With inflated BCD you can easily swim even without swimming skills. Problems might arise if you need to take of your equipment in water and pass to boat personnel and swim few meters to exit point. However, you will be in wetsuit which provides some flotation as well (when you pass your equipmen you pass your weight belt as well).

Regarding blood pressure - if you have high blood pressure and take medication nobody except for medical doctor can give you permission to dive. If you tell to your instructor that you take medicine for blood pressure reduction then 100% answer will be "get MD written permission to dive". Or you can cheat and fill in medical statement that you ok, however, in this case you ARE RISKING YOUR OWN LIFE. In your case I would see doctor and get written statement on that matter.

 

[Uno1]

As you are on medication for high blood pressure you will need a dive medical to do a introductory dive in Australia. Get your doctor to fill out the PADI form and state that you are OK to dive and you should have no problems with the operator. If you fill out the form on the boat honestly and state that you are on any form of medication there is a strong chance you will not be allowed to dive on the day if yoy do not have the medical backup.

 

[TMHeimer]

Efka76, Disagree about swimming. As I suggested, proper swimming is not used in diving. Well, unless your boat sinks and you have to swim a mile to land without flotation and maybe more importantly without fins. Nevertheless, I feel swimming is a "life skill" that anyone should have if doing anything in water too deep to stand in--or fishing from an area where you could fall into deep water, etc. I've seen many OW students who have gotten certified who didn't have a proper swim stroke but passed the "swim" test. Makes me wonder a bit. But I've rambled on enough about that in the past.

 

[Boiler_81]

If I were you I would visit a local dive shop and inquire about taking a discover SCUBA class. Discover SCUBA will not get you a certification but you will be familiar with the equipment and how it works. This way you can get your concerns addressed prior to being half way around the world. You will also know what you can accomplish physically prior to going on the trip and you will have a lot more confidence when you do arrive at the GBR. You will still have to take the resort course before diving the GBR.

Here is a course in Delaware: Discover Scuba and Refreshers | Salty Dog Dive Center I have no idea about the quality of the shop or if it is convenient to you. The cost is $60 for the two hour course. It seems like it would be a bargain for you and your wife to get comfortable prior to your trip. You will have to have the same medical form signed off by your doctor to do the Discover SCUBA as you will for the resort course.

While we won't be regular divers, my wife and I are planning a trip to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and we would like to take an introductory dive. I concerned about the physical condition you need to be in to take a dive.

While I understand you wear fins that help you move better in the water, you also have a lot of heavy equipment on you.

About my health:

No Heart Issues
No Breathing Problems (other than when I run, but I do run out of breath sooner than others would)
No Asthma
No Heart Disease
No Lung Issues
No Diabetes
No Epilepsy
No Ear Problems
No Chest of Sinus Issues

I do have slightly high blood pressure but it is under control with medication

The Diving Agency said there is no way they can tell me if I will be OK to dive until I get on the boat and talk to the trainer, but I would like to improve my chances of being able to dive.

My main concern is my strength. I am about 290 pounds/135 KG and 6'2"/185cm tall. I lack upper body strength, but do have strength in the legs. The last time I was in a pool, I was unable to tread water for more than a minute and a half. I really don't want to get into the water and sink to the bottom and realize that I can't get back up to the boat.

I am willing to exercise and get into better shape for this, but would like to know if I am working towards an unrealistic goal.

That said, can someone please give me some comparable tasks that I should be able to complete as a measurement to know if I am ready to go. For example, tread water for 10 minutes, run a certain distance in a certain time, etc.