How strong should you be?

[ACR]

Ok scuba gurus, here's one for you. I know that fitness is important to diving and to life and generally a mix of cardio and weight bearing exercise tends to be most effective.

If one were to plan to be a doubles diver, they're committing to hauling a lot of weight around. So how strong should they be? What goals should they set at the gym for things like squats bench-press, dead-lifts, etc....

Of course, I'm not asking for my as I'm already built like a mini Arnold Schwarzenegger* :sprite10:



*not built like Arnold Schwarzenegger

 

[fisherdvm]

I see petite 90 lb girls diving with doubles. I guess it depends on how big you mean the doubles are.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I do shoulder pull ups with 90, 100, and 110 lbs just to keep inshape for lifting my doubles. Everything else I don't go real heavy as at my age I'm nore interested in tone and stamina. Lighter weights more reps. example bench 110-135 min 10 reps each set. 4 sets. 1st 110, 2nd 125, 3rd 135. then drop to 90 til failure

 

[TSandM]

I know you want a quantitative answer, and I don't have one. But the things you need to be able to do with doubles are: pick them up and put them in the car (I think that's called something like clean and jerk, and you'd need to be able to do it with 80 to 100 pounds). Stand up from a deep sitting position while wearing them (deep knee bends with 100 pounds). Stand up from a kneeling position (single deep knee bend with 100 lbs). Climb a boat ladder while wearing them (again, single knee bends). Set them up on end when they are lying down (biceps curl, and the weird one of reaching over the tanks from the bottom, grabbing the manifold and lifting -- I don't know what gym exercise would correspond to that).

If you want to be completely independent and comfortable, you have to be pretty strong.

 

[Teamcasa]

Do you struggle with singles? Doubles can add 35+ pounds to your kit on land.

 

[Lock Down]

Strong enough...

 

[OceanObsessed]

... then drop to 90 til failure

Failure should not be an option

 

[do it easy]

Managing doubles on land (and boats) is mostly technique. I think it takes more leg strength than anything else.

Take it slow and be careful the first few times to make sure you don't strain anything. I find that the first few dives are the hardest, until, for lack of a worse term, the "muscle memory" kicks in. (apologies all around!) The same goes for dives early in the season. In short, if you're careful and dive often, you'll develop exactly the muscles that you need.

 

[whoji]

Strength.....

As I was once taught by a wise man

' If you can't carry it,
You shouldn't dive it! '

 

[MBH]

What TSandM said. My doubles weight in at around 110lbs. You'll need to be able to move that weight around while being gentle, not banging them into anything. Replacing valve stems and manifolds can get expensive. A set of hand trucks works great for schlepping them around for fills.