Arduous
Contributor
For those who are interested. I recently wrote D.A.N. and questioned them on the effects of exercise and diving. Specifically how long I needed to wait before or after lifting, before I make a dive. I am involved in heavy training and it is interfering with my diving as I do not dive on training days and I train more days a week then not. The following is the response sent to me via e-mail from D.A.N.
Thanks for the inquiry. In THE PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY, THEORY, AND SAFETY OF DECOMPRESSION by Richard D. Vann, B.A., B.S., Ph.D., he addresses the issue of exercise and risks of DCS after diving. Below is an exerpt from the
book.
Exercise
Exercise influences both bubble nucleation and inert gas exchange. The effect of exercise also depends on the phase of the pressure exposure in which the exercise occurs.
Exercise before Pressure Exposure: Bubble Nucleation
Increased bubble formation due to exercise before decompression has been demonstrated in animal studies (Harvey et al., 1944; Whitaker et al., 1945; Evans and Walder, 1969; McDonough and Hemmingsen, 1984a, b; 1985a, b).
Anecdotal reports have linked weight lifting and long distance bicycle racing with increased DCI risk in humans (Vann, 1982b; Nishi et al., 1982). Other forms of pre-exposure exercise have been associated with unusual decompression illness after diving (Hughes and Eckenhoff, 1986) and during
altitude exposure (Piwinski et al., 1986).
Dervay et al. (2001) found that 150 deep knee bends increased the incidence of Doppler detected VGE at 22,000 feet of altitude but that this increase decayed with a halftime of about 60 min as the period between exercise and altitude exposure grew longer. Another study found that heavy weight lifting had no effect on DCS risk with a 24 hr delay between exercise and exposure at 30,000 feet of altitude (Vann et al., 199x).
These studies addressed the effects of anaerobic exercise prior to
animal and human altitude exposures and found evidence for increased DCS risk if the exercise was done immediately or within several hours of decompression but not after a one-day interval. Other studies have investigated the effects of endurance training in rats and pigs and found decreased bubble formation and DCS (Rattner et al., 1979; Broome et al., 1995; Wisløff and Brubakk, 2001). A beneficial effect of physical conditioning was also suggested by the finding that low VGE incidence was
associated with divers who had high maximal oxygen consumptions (Carturan et
al., 1999).
We typically suggest a 24 hour interval before and after diving and heavy
exercise. I hope this information is helpful.
Laurie Gowen, NREMT-B, DMT
DAN Medical Services
Department of Anesthesiology
Duke University Medical Center
Visit DAN's website at: http://www.DiversAlertNetwork.org
Thanks for the inquiry. In THE PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY, THEORY, AND SAFETY OF DECOMPRESSION by Richard D. Vann, B.A., B.S., Ph.D., he addresses the issue of exercise and risks of DCS after diving. Below is an exerpt from the
book.
Exercise
Exercise influences both bubble nucleation and inert gas exchange. The effect of exercise also depends on the phase of the pressure exposure in which the exercise occurs.
Exercise before Pressure Exposure: Bubble Nucleation
Increased bubble formation due to exercise before decompression has been demonstrated in animal studies (Harvey et al., 1944; Whitaker et al., 1945; Evans and Walder, 1969; McDonough and Hemmingsen, 1984a, b; 1985a, b).
Anecdotal reports have linked weight lifting and long distance bicycle racing with increased DCI risk in humans (Vann, 1982b; Nishi et al., 1982). Other forms of pre-exposure exercise have been associated with unusual decompression illness after diving (Hughes and Eckenhoff, 1986) and during
altitude exposure (Piwinski et al., 1986).
Dervay et al. (2001) found that 150 deep knee bends increased the incidence of Doppler detected VGE at 22,000 feet of altitude but that this increase decayed with a halftime of about 60 min as the period between exercise and altitude exposure grew longer. Another study found that heavy weight lifting had no effect on DCS risk with a 24 hr delay between exercise and exposure at 30,000 feet of altitude (Vann et al., 199x).
These studies addressed the effects of anaerobic exercise prior to
animal and human altitude exposures and found evidence for increased DCS risk if the exercise was done immediately or within several hours of decompression but not after a one-day interval. Other studies have investigated the effects of endurance training in rats and pigs and found decreased bubble formation and DCS (Rattner et al., 1979; Broome et al., 1995; Wisløff and Brubakk, 2001). A beneficial effect of physical conditioning was also suggested by the finding that low VGE incidence was
associated with divers who had high maximal oxygen consumptions (Carturan et
al., 1999).
We typically suggest a 24 hour interval before and after diving and heavy
exercise. I hope this information is helpful.
Laurie Gowen, NREMT-B, DMT
DAN Medical Services
Department of Anesthesiology
Duke University Medical Center
Visit DAN's website at: http://www.DiversAlertNetwork.org