Getting to decent fitness

[Wijbrandus]

I'm a new diver. Dove two tanks on Aruba last week. My first dive to 70' on the Debbie II my tank ran out at 20 minutes. This included my hang time for mandatory safety stop.

I know diving requires a certain degree of fitness, and I know I don't have it. Does anyone know of some guidelines for getting fit for scuba? A website that talks about specific exercises, or some specific areas to target?

I have to lose a lot of weight (not lead) to get a better SAC and to lose the lead I'm taking now (24 lbs no wetsuit, gah!). Having been in the Army, my feet and knees aren't what they were once, and running is flat out. I've lost a bit already, and I'm trying to swim laps every day, but the holidays are playing havoc with that schedule. My wife and I are going to start the 'Body for Life' thing in January.

Thanks for your opinions. Please don't flame the fat boy.

 

[vlada]

check this site out

Dive Fitness

I believe that Cameron (site owner) might even be a member in this board.

He has the daily workout schedule that you can pick depending on your fitness level.

May be a good starting place

Vlada

 

[HammerNoMore]

I have to lose a lot of weight (not lead) to get a better SAC and to lose the lead I'm taking now (24 lbs no wetsuit, gah!). Having been in the Army, my feet and knees aren't what they were once, and running is flat out. I've lost a bit already, and I'm trying to swim laps every day, but the holidays are playing havoc with that schedule.

Too bad about running...it burns a ton of calories . Biking is a great option that keeps you outdoors. Many areas have groups that meet for rides, which can make it a lot of fun. Spin classes are also great. You can really get a good workout from an hour of spinning with someone guiding you.

You should also throw in some weights. Many people don't look at weight lifting or circuit training as a weight loss method, but it is. Muscle mass burns a lot of calories. Beef up your muscles and it's like you are exercising 24/7.

I would also recomend staying away from fad diets. I don't know anything about 'Body for Life' but things like Atkins, South Beach, etc. are not good for you as is any diet that excludes a food group. If you want to diet safely and effectively you should take a look at the AHA's website for guidance.

Weight loss boils down to a simple formula...if you burn more calories than you eat, you will loose weight.

James

 

[pipedope]

Dive and swim often.

SAC is actually more a function of comfort and skill in the water than fitness. Fitness is very important to diving in it makes it far easier to deal with problems but it is not primary to better SAC.

Airforce pilots say there is nothing to replace air under your butt. For divers it is water over your head.

Learn bouyancy control to perfection. Practice doing everything in the water with the minimum of movement of body parts.

If you have your gear you might want to do a few 'couch dives'. That is, put on a mask (or just nose clip) and breath on the regulator while watching a nice diving show on TV. Track the pressure drop and time so you can calculate your resting SAC. This will help you get used to breathing on a reg and will help you adapt to diving faster. It will also give you a baseline 'resting SAC' that you can use for compareson later.

Make sure your gear fits. Especially mask and exposure suit. You can blow a fair amount of air continuously clearing a leaky mask. A wet suit too tight makes it hard to move and breath, one too loose makes you cold.

Rome wasn't built in a night and neither is a good diver. Take your time, learn the skills, practice, ....
HAVE FUN!!!

BTW I can name at least one fantastic diver who is quite large, so size (yes even fat) is not the biggest problem. Some people will jump on this because fat absorbe N2 more but unless you are doing major deco diving it is not all that important.

Comfort in the water is key.

 

[NJDiveGirl]

You should also throw in some weights. Many people don't look at weight lifting or circuit training as a weight loss method, but it is. Muscle mass burns a lot of calories. Beef up your muscles and it's like you are exercising 24/7.

Weight training is definitely a good way to go! Sure you think about cardio and air consumption but also think about getting back on a boat in rough seas and carrying all this stuff!!! Bad knees? My buddy has them too. The eliptical machine at the gym gives him a great cardio workout without the impact on his knees from running! I personally like to walk on the treadmill - we have the ones that go up to a 50% incline! Try and walk as long as you can at a 15% incline without holding on - talk about getting the heart rate up!!!

Definitely watch your caloric intake - make sure you eat fat though - it does help your metabolism - but make sure fat is only 30% of your total intake per day.

 

[pasley]

As has already been recommend do bike rides, and swimming. If bike riding is out, do the supline bicycle (lay on back and bicycle with legs in air).

I recommend a perscription of diving at a minimum of once a week. This will develope more confidence and better skills as well as a comfortable workout for the heart.

Ride your bike at a brisk pace, of say 15 mph minimum for 60 minutes. This will give your lungs a good workout, particullarly there in Colorado Springs with the hills and altitude. Do your daily sit-ups and push-ups (80 per day at age 50, more if your younger). As with all exercise, work up to it. Work one muscle and then give it a rest for 3 days. On the rest days, work a different muscle group.

Now about the weight. The truth - no diet on earth works long term. Only changing your life style works long term. Eat sensibly, balanced diet, fruit, vegitables etc. Eat small quanities (we Americans tend to eat 8-16 oz steaks when 3 oz is all we need). Eat three meals a day and a snack (fruit). Eat home cooked meals made from scratch. When eating out, eat only half of the resturant portion. Eat as many meals at home as you can made from scratch. Prepared food, and resturant food tends to be loaded with fat and salt. Put all food that goes into your mouth on a plate or bowl first. Put the silverware down between each bite.This will slow your eating down and allow time for your body to signal it is full. Write down all that you eat. This act alone will lose some weight as you will become more concious of what you are eating. Tyr to eat your larger meals at breakfast and lunch. Avoid eating after 7:00 p.m. The evening meal is a killer as we usally make it our large meal, and then go park on the couch. Since the energy is not used, it is stored as in fat. Try a brisk walk after dinner.

A george forman grill is a good investment. Skinless chicken is low fat and tasty. Meals ready in 15 minutes or less, with low soduim and fat content. Go easy on the bread. If you eat bread choose either butter or jelly but not both. By the way, look into how margine and butter are motabolised by the body. There are those that argue that butter is actually better for you than margine. I don't know who is right, but I tend to go with what is natual over chemically made.

Stay with the diving and the weight and air consumption will come down.

Sample recipe: Chicken brest, bonless, skinless. Cube chicken. Stir fry in teflon pan. Add virgin olive oil if you want, with a clove of garlic. Sprinkle with Mrs. Dash. This is your base recipe. Serve over rice if you like.
Serve base recipe for meal 1.
To the Base add the below for variations.
1. Add Parmasian Cheese just before meal is finished cooking for Chicken Paramasian.
2. Add Dried Apricots, sweet and tart, nice texture too for Chicken Apricot
3. Add Paparika for Chicken Paparika
4. Add Curry for Chicken Curry
5. Add cream of mushroom soup for Mushroom chicken
6. Add Lemon Herb for lemon chicken.

There you have 7 recipes ready in 15 minutes with one pan, two if you do the rice. Add a green vegitable and a salad. Romaine or other dark green lettuce is better for you than the iceberg.

Now about my qualifications to speak. I have none. This is just my $0.02.

 

[JRScuba]

Robert , All the above advise is good. Obviously the most important thing is to have a thorough check up. Most important is to make sure THE PUMP (Heart) is operating at an efficient level. Then you and your doctor should come up with an exceptable " Life Style " plan. Rather then tell you about how and why I had to change my life style, I'll tell you take it one day at a time and be consistent and focused. Change does not come over night and nothing in life is easy. On the other hand YOU and only you "HAVE TO DECIDE TO MAKE THE CHANGES". Only you are in control of your destiny, ONLY YOU. Sadly there is no magic cure or answer out there, it lies within yourself.

What ever you decide to do, I wish you lots of luck.
Dive healthy, happy and safely.

Joe

 

[bridgediver]

Hey Robert. Glad to see you made it back. How was the rest of the trip?

I think its great that you want to improve your fitness, the benefits will probably be far better in other things not just diving. Almost any excercise/diet regimine will work if you stick to it - just figure out which one you like the best.
As others have said, to improve your diving just go dive more. The fitness level will definately help but more dives is probably what will help you most. Remember, some people will have a naturally low SAC than others particularly small women. The lady on the boat was also a new diver and she always had the best air consumption out of everyone (except for Clive. hehe). You're going to be a big guy even with wash board abs and may always use more than most. No big deal

I think you've painted a bleaker picture of that dive than it actually was. I thought you did great! The best bottom time for the whole group was somewhere around 45min so you're not doing too bad at all. Bear in mind that we spent alot of our time at max depth and that there was a current. Add in that you felt your weighting was off and it'll make a big difference.

I'll dive with you anytime again!

mark

 

[Wijbrandus]

Hey Robert. Glad to see you made it back. How was the rest of the trip?
mark

Mark, I should have known you'd be on this board. Damn it's a small world on the web. The rest of the cruise went well enough, but Aruba was certainly the highlight. We were rained out in Costa Rica, Panama was more rain, but we did make a nice stop in Cayman. My wife and the in-laws on the cruise could not believe how energized I was for the few days after the dive. It certainly is an addicting sport.

You are right, there were other factors that probably didn't help my air consumption much. Current, the fact that I was rather uncomfortable going to 70' for my first dive since cert, and being unfamiliar with rental gear. These things didn't help much.

Fortunately, I felt very comfortable in the water. Esp on the second dive, where there was less depth, and I was over that first dive jitter. Having a good buddy certainly helped, because I felt like I could just look over and be reassured. Silly feeling that way, but it did make me relax.

I figure I'm going to reduce all the factors that I can on my own, and the rest will come with experience. I really enjoy the diving. Once I get my own weight down, I'm sure that will help. My wife is a fitness freak and has been on my case about it for years, but now I finally have a motivation that will get me going. She kept the pic of me underwater to show me whenever I get de-motivated. How many people have lost weight because they look horrible in a BC and shorts? Heh, more than I might think I bet.

By the way, I took a decent pic of your gear setup when we were on the Antilla. When I showed it to my wife, she was wondering why we ever looked at anything else. When I get a chance to scan it, I'll see about sending it over to you. Too bad the vis was what it was. That little disposable camera just couldn't handle most of the pics I wanted.

Great to hear from you again.

 

[CameronMartz]

Thanks, Vlada, for the mention- right now is my "busy season" for personal training, so I don't get to spend as much time crusing the boards these days.

I think all of the advice given so far is excellent, including getting your gear worked out. I wrote an article on reducing gas consumption that might have a few other things for you to try. You can find it at http://www.divefitness.com/html/articles.html .

I'll spare you the repeated preaching on why fitness is important for reasons other than diving, though I will agree that you should get a good wringing out by an MD before plunging into a new exercise and nutrition program.

Cameron