Does diving count as a workout day or a couch day?

[Six Feet Under]

Considering at my most frequent dive sites, I have to load about 80-100 pounds of crap in a cart to carry it a mile round-trip or onto a boat, put it all on, climb up and down ladders while wearing it, and swim for 1-2 hours per dive... I count it as a workout, no doubt about it.

It's usually a good primer when I don't feel like eating much for a few days; by the time I'm done with a day of diving I'm DEFINITELY ready to hit a restaurant or get home and eat something.

 

[dmaziuk]

If you're not tired after a dive, it's not a workout. If you are tired after a dive: switch to Nitrox.

 

[<*)))><]

No

 

[34109411]

As you get older, your body will definitely let you know it is a work/activity day. When I was younger, 3-4 dives/day was doable. Not so much anymore.

oh i am glad to see we are the same.

 

[BabyLitigator]

Small update. Wore a Fitbit putzing around in a buddy’s pool and practicing DSMB deployment. Didn’t get any ‘zone minutes’ and couldn’t find a heart rate increase squinting at the Fitbit graph.

 

[Germie]

Last week we went diving in an old mine. It was a 250m way down to the water. And we dove with rebreathers and trimix, so it was a 4 times walk to get everything at the water. I was a little bit unlucky with a leaking neckseal, so my drysuit flooded suddenly at 65m depth. Because I could not swim horizontal easy anymore, it was a struggle to don't stir everything up. It was also a quite long swim out and the water was 8 degrees. At 45m on a longer horizontal swim I got a bad headache, shortly followed by an sort of out of breath, directly followed by a feeling of getting too less air. And I had 1 hour to the surface left. But had my first CO2 hit on a rebreather. So bailed out, all went fine soon again. Only not my flooded drysuit and the cold water of course. After the dive it was a 4 times walk again to bring everything out of the mine. But this time with a very bad headache which lasted almost 8 hours.
So was this a workout or not? I think if you are not fit, you can't do this dive.
And the next day we did the same dive again.

I don't think you get a good cardiofascular condition by just diving. It is probably the way to the water that makes you doing some 'sport'. But you must be fit to do dives like the ones I sometimes do. For an easy warm water dive there is less condition or fitness asked.

I do also 2 times a week running (want to go to 3 times, but have to be carefull as I got a very bad tendenitis in my achillestendons due to side effects of antibiotics), do walking (2 times a week), horseriding (2-3 times a week) and sometimes swimming.
On some sundays I go diving in the morning (at my home only shallow diving possible), then go horseriding right after the dive. And then in the evening I do a run. So then I do a triatlon on 1 day, haha. Today it was till now just a biatlon with diving and horseriding.

 

[Pearlman]

So my DAN renewal has a big disclaimer that Scuba Diving in strenuous, but not sufficient activity to prepare you for diving (e.g., you gotta exercise too - totally understand).

With my admittedly limited reading on medical science and Scuba, I worry about micro-tears in muscles, ligaments and tissues arising out of a workout, and bubble formation ( even a casual pull-up routine or attempt to get fit with a set of push-ups ) some 48 hrs before a diving day. How right or wrong am I about this??

 

[scubafit]

So my DAN renewal has a big disclaimer that Scuba Diving in strenuous, but not sufficient activity to prepare you for diving (e.g., you gotta exercise too - totally understand).

Here's my question. On days I dive, I don't otherwise workout (though I try to most other days). For counting rest days, does a dive day (figure a standard 2-3 tank dive in 60 F water) count as a couch day, or is it an activity day so I can do a couch day later in the week?

Hi Divers,

Diving is physical activity and yes it utilizes calories. IT IS NOT A WORKOUT. I have been defining fitness for divers since 2000. A Workout requires a certain intensity and physiological environment for the purpose of achieving an adaptive response from the body. This intensity is not appropriate while diving. Diving physiology, individual health profiles, and our equipment also make it important not to exert unnecessarily or adopt a "workout mindset" when diving. If the type of diving or the conditions of diving feel strenuous, the best recommendation is to perform actual fitness workouts on dry land to prepare for diving activities. If you would like to learn more visit www.scubafit.com. It is a multi-agency and PADI Distinctive Specialty and approved by International Sports Sciences Association. Unfortunately, the concept is sometimes used by folks online and in blogs as a marketing tease.

Hope this helps.
Gretchen

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Couch.

600 calories is one burrito.

600?
I go to place where there super burritos are at least a grand.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Hi Divers,

Diving is physical activity and yes it utilizes calories. IT IS NOT A WORKOUT. I have been defining fitness for divers since 2000. A Workout requires a certain intensity and physiological environment for the purpose of achieving an adaptive response from the body. This intensity is not appropriate while diving. Diving physiology, individual health profiles, and our equipment also make it important not to exert unnecessarily or adopt a "workout mindset" when diving. If the type of diving or the conditions of diving feel strenuous, the best recommendation is to perform actual fitness workouts on dry land to prepare for diving activities. If you would like to learn more visit www.scubafit.com. It is a multi-agency and PADI Distinctive Specialty and approved by International Sports Sciences Association. Unfortunately, the concept is sometimes used by folks online and in blogs as a marketing tease.

Hope this helps.
Gretchen

I beg to differ.
Come up here from Carlsbad one weekend and help us to collect purple urchins.
Those are work dives and a workout if there ever was one!