DIR- Generic Fitness and DIR diving

[Ryan Mcshane]

So this question comes from reading an article in quest magazine called “Am I really DIR” by David Rhea. In the article he mentions being fit and living a healthy lifestyle as one of the tennants of DIR.

We know the system is designed to be wholistic but fitness seems to be the thing a lot of “DIR” divers seem to neglect, myself included at times.

What are people’s thoughts on this?

What are you guys and gals doing to keep yourself fit for diving?


Quest 4.2 | Global Underwater Explorers, Am I Really DIR, David Rhea

 

[ericfine50]

I think fitness is important, no matter what type of diving you do. As someone that stopped diving for a few years and is working my way back. I realized I don't bounce like I used to . I am in my early 40s, and am working on losing weight , improving my cardio, and increasing my strength training (tanks don't lift themselves). I think personal fitness is a topic that is not discussed enough across the entire dive community.

-Eric

 

[AJ]

To be honest, I have never so much smoking, drinking and overweight people together as in the diving community. I think every diver should be healthy and fit to a certain level. But when you're doing demanding dives, you should be really fit.

I swim, run and eat as healthy as I can. Next year I will also start strength training at the gym. All to be fit and ready for my Tech 1 next year.

 

[helodriver87]

Lots of running. Helps that I enjoy it though. I've found that baseline gas consumption doesn't improve much with fitness. Maybe a bit here and there, but it's mostly comfort in the water.

Where aerobic fitness really shines is with elevated effort. My consumption rate is largely the same whether I'm swimming around in peacock or putting in the reel at the ear with a stage and O2 bottle. It takes a lot more to get my respiration rate up than most of the people I dive with.

Also, common restrictions (half hitch, lips bypass, double lines to sherwood's split) are a bit less intimidating when you aren't...larger.

 

[wKkaY]

I do strength training 3x a week and cardio 1x a week. My program includes a lot of back work, which have greatly helped me handle gear out of the water.

I'm looking at adding yoga or something similar, as I'm sorely lacking flexibility!

 

[kensuf]

Fitness is incredibly important for diving, here's the DAN article explaining some risks Cardiac Health & Your Risk of Death While Diving | The Heart & Diving - DAN Health & Diving. If nothing else being fit gives you that extra ability if the fit hits the shan.

My routine involves a fair bit of cardio. I enjoy cycling and try to get out ~4x a week for 60-120 minutes at a stretch; this past summer I was riding ~150-180 miles each week. When I'm pressed for time I'll run, but I have a recurring plantar fasciitis issue that makes me view running as a necessary evil.

Even if you're really time pressed, most of us can find 30 minutes each day to do something that could save your life and you'll probably find the endorphins are enjoyable.

 

[EireDiver606]

I don’t like running a whole lot but swimming (snorkeling as well) and cycling are good, especially cycling as it is a means of transport which means it’s much more functional and practical. I do a little bit of strength training and some calisthenics but am lacking when it comes to cardiovascular fitness imo. I’m young and healthy but full time education can be hard to spend hours per week cycling or whatever. I do walk at least 20 mins straight or cycle 10 mins a day as fast as I can for transportation but of course this is nowhere near enough. To be fair though, I think that maintaining a healthy balanced diet is more of a priority than exercise. Of course, the maximum result you can get is when exercising regularly and keeping to a healthy diet. After this school year, I will make it a priority to cycle and swim more to get cardiovascularly fit.

I also read that article in Quest. The biggest concern for GUE is the instructors themselves, many travelling globally on hectic schedules with travel food and hotel dinner, with not much time or energy for fitness in their daily lives. The number 1 thing you need for fitness and health is consistency and regularity. Traveling instructors don’t have that unfortunately.

Great thread topic @Ryan Mcshane

 

[PfcAJ]

Moving the gear around, climbing in and out of sinkholes, wranglin' tanks and scooters, its all a great way to get hurt. Without some functional strength its real easy to injure yourself.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I took GUE's fitness tenet fairly seriously when I first started reading about GUE. I didn't read the D. Rhea Quest article, but in the beginning of JJ's "DIR" book he goes on for several pages about fitness levels. I thought that kind of detail was a little over the top, but the broader point appealed to me very much: My personal fitness and that of my teammates is just as important a piece of the safety puzzle as any equipment or skill. With that in mind, I lost 20 lbs. in preparation for Fundies class (as did my wife). I felt great. Since then, I have tried to maintain a reasonable level of fitness. I like to believe fitness has made a bigger impact on my diving than anything else. A little running and swimming, a little resistance training, minding my diet but nothing so extreme as to feel deprived--it's not that hard to maintain decent fitness for diving.

 

[jadairiii]

Fitness should be a way of life regardless of what "sport" you enjoy. One component of fitness that is oft overlooked (especially for diving) is how quickly you can recover from a peak activity. Something happens during a dive that jacks your heart rate, a fit person, it should take a minute or less to come back down to normal. Go read the threads on this site were divers have a problem getting their heart rates back down after a hard swim down the line (for example) or some other taxing issue. That is all lack of fitness.

Me, I swim (on the average) 3x a week (1 hour, 3200 meters/workout) and I am in the gym once or twice a week. Weekends, if not diving I'll free dive off the beach for an hour weather permitting.

Want to test your fitness? Swim off the beach to about 30' or 40' of water than just start free diving for an hour.