Flexing muscles during deco

[DrSteve]

So what are peoples' thoughts about flexing your muscles during deco/safety stop? I'm of two minds, first says any flexing will help purge muscles of anything nasty just like when you stretch after a work out. The other part says that nitrogen absorption is going to be much higher in the fatty areas and more of a problem there. No amount of flexing will help that fat (I've got very low body fat just for the record). I've also heard annecdotal evidence that flexing can cause problems as well!

Thanks!

 

[Kendall Raine]

I have read Dr. Powell cite light movement as highly efficacious on deco. NASA's pre-EVA protocol has astronauts pre-breathe 100% while riding a cycle.

I have noticed sporadic benefit, as measured by reduced Doppler scores, of light movement during deco from deep trimix dives. This includes light finning and arm movement. Nothing radical. The benefit seems sporadic, but so many factors go into deco it's hard to isolate factors in the chaotic environment of open ocean diving. Light movement doesn't seem to inspire higher bubble grades. I suspect the benefit comes from improved perfusion. I also know of a case where a friend took a pain hit after a deep trimix dive on a schedule which had otherwise produced low post dive bubble grades. The only thing he could think of as cause was that he held his left arm up against his inflator during deco because of an equipment problem. His hit was in the left arm. I suspect the lack of movement/restricted blood flow caused by pinning his arm against his chest was a factor.

 

[Saturation]

Per Dr. Deco's data, the light movement is roughly this level of activity.

The small movements one engages while maintaining buoyancy in the open ocean is roughly this level. You'll probably do it anway, its unlikely one will remain motionless for 30-60min on a line simply because your limbs may feel stiff and you'll want to move.

Tip, if your respiratory rate goes up for whatever reason, you're doing too much.