Muscle Aches from Diving

[CuriousMe]

wackodacko once bubbled...


Hello.. no i havent tried any aspirin, advil, etc.. maybe i should.. it doesnt really hurt if im sitting around or whatever, just when i start carrying heavy stuff like cleaning my equip, tanks, etc after a dive.. i was reading about that CO2 thing, but I breathe normally underwater, i dont do skipbreathing or anything like that.. hrmrmrm... how do you get C02? ive only done 4 days of diving (6 dives) so far including my OW (im a newbie!) but i did get a headache after the boat dive.. aaarghhh

The reason I asked about over the counter meds is that they generally aren't effective for a C02 headache.

I'm not a medical type person at all....I'm sure you can do some searches on C02 or Skip Breathing to find out more....I know that while I wasn't skip breathing ( I didn't pause) I was breathing verrrry slowly and really focusing on my exhale...which is generally good, but I think I had to much of a good thing. I would get constant, persistant headaches after I went diving and they lasted a day or so.

Now I foccus less intently on my breating pattern, don't get headaches, and find that I generally use even less air.

 

[strfsh]

wackodacko once bubbled...
do you lug around ?

Yes I had to lug on the shore dive and to and from the boat. My dive bag must be at least 60 pounds + and then the tank is another 40. It's all heavy to lug around....LOL

I actually had to lug it further on the boat dive. On the beach dive we were able to park right near the water. I think I had aches that day just from trying to get in the water while crawling over rocks with 65+ pounds of euipment on. So, now I'm working out and hopefully the next trip will have less aches after....

 

[animian2002]

wackodacko once bubbled...
do you lug around ? When doing shore dives, I hafta lug 35 lbs up and down the shore, sometimes up a hill like today, do long surface swims, etc and ugggh my body aches like a (*&# the next morning..
what i also noticed is that i get dull headache that lasts for a couple days too after diving and carrying all that weight.. (i did went diving in the tropics a couple months ago and i didnt get a headache after diving..must be carrying all that gear combined with pressure or whatever, who knows..)

I don lug around, cos in my region, we don do shore dives. thus it free us from having to carry the weights, tanks etc from shore to boat. All these are ready on the boat for use immediately.

The only time I actually carry them is when I'm gearing up and ready to make the giant strike

My muscle aches is usually on the leg and the arm, which I guess is due to the equipment I carry when gearing up & climbing up the boat.

does that mean I have to excerise those "diving muscles" of mine by going for more dives??? (which I don mind at all )

guess so ....

 

[art.chick]

Yes, animanian!
Diving more DOES exercise the diving muscles! But I also like both Ber's idea of kicking laps with your fins & Kelpmermaid's method of strength training. Diving is both a sport of strength & aerobic fitness. The climbing onto the boat will be helped by working out your arms obviously, but the lap kicking will help the leg muscles during the dive. Here's how I do it: put mask & fins on bike handlebars, boots in backpack with towell & swimsuit & ride to pool.

I get a sore spot where my thigh muscles connect to my lower back from walking up & down hills in full gear. I get Wackodacko's headaches from the added constriction of a wetsuit in the heat. Personally, I am more afraid of the consequences of the 2nd.

 

[chepar]

I hear you on the muscle aches - but I only get them when shore diving. For me, it's definitely due to the hauling of 50+ lbs from where we gear up, down the beach, across and over the rocky tidepool area, etc., etc.

Last set of shore dives I did were a few weeks ago during my AOW class - after the 3rd dive, trudging up the beach, I really thought for a moment that I was going to keel over, my legs were so tired. The next few days my muscles were in agony.


BTW, I swim almost every day, so I know that my aches were definitely due to the added workout of shore diving. I definitely prefer diving off of a boat - less exertion required - but sometimes there are some really cool sites that are accessed only from shore.

 

[animian2002]

Shore diving...mmm... can hardly image what's it like to carry all those gears... have yet to try it .

I guess the only solution is to work on those diving muscles of mine.. and that is dive more often and visit the gym too ... cos swimming with fins in public pool..err...don think it is possible.

 

[strfsh]

My muscle aches are getting less painful and lasting fewer days....Yeah!!

I just got back from a weekend of diving. the first day was 3 shore dives with significant surface swims. Not to mention stairs to go up and down and a pretty far walk to one of the beaches.

The next day I did 2 boat dives, but after both days of diving I only was sore for one day. Thats much better. the last time I did just 4 boat dives and I hurt for 3 days!!

All the working out must be helping.