Newbie's advise to new divers

[vladodessit]

Let's start saying that I am as far from being an expert as humanly possible. I have no more then some 20 dives under my belt.

These two advises came to me on my day trip on Sunday (3-tank to Catalina Island). It wasn't my first trip of this type or with this particular operation or on this boat. I found it to be very friendly to new divers (if anyone interested, Sundiver out of Long Beach) but it's besides the point.So, here is my advise to new divers to improve their diving experience:

1. DIVE.

Dive a lot. I doubt many things will improve your diving as much as going diving. My first unsupervised dives in fairly cold California were horrible. My buoyancy seemed to be in one of two stages:
*Like a stone. And I mean heavy stone trying to move away from the bottom
*Like a balloon, chaotically trying to drain the BCD.
I am sure my attempts at maintaining safety stop were quite comical and reminded human yo-yo.
By going diving I suddenly realized that buoyancy is slowly getting under control. I don't need to chaotically move all of the extremities to stay in one place. I usually could stay within 2-3 feet of 15 feet on my safety stop for entire 3 minutes. I've dropped couple of pounds of weights and finally got very close to neutral at 15 feet with ~700PSI in my tank (I haven't surfaced with less then 700 PSI so far). It all came not through extra training but from experience, as little as I got. I am nowhere close to being comfortable but diving gets better with every dive.

2. GET IN SHAPE

I never realized how much better being in shape feels while on the boat. Once again, I am no bodybuilder. But SCUBA pushed me to change my lifestyle. I was almost 40, smoking like a chimney for 25 years, watching TV, some 6-7 pound heavier then I'd liked. I stopped smoking on Jan. 5 of this year after picking up SCUBA last year and realizing I was loosing my breath when bunch of other people on the boat seemed fine. I started by walking ~30 min on lunch. After stopping smoking I started gaining weight. I added pair of 10Lb ankle weights for my walks and started jogging a little (very little). When I added 10 Lb, mostly on my belly, I stopped, thought about it and changed completely. I started exercising every day. First with Power Half Hour from Beachbody. 5 weeks of upper body. Now I am more then half way through Power 90 from the same company and in week 6 of 9 week program "Couch to 5k" (or C25K), designed to make you able to run 5km (3mile). I have run continuously for 20 minutes last week (about 2.5 mile) . I officially can say that 6 month ago it would cause me to have a massive coronary right on the spot. I am 195Lb today (6'2" large frame guy), about 15% body fat. The heaviest I was after quitting was 212Lb. And on Sunday I felt results. Tanks got LIGHT. That steel LP95 now is so easy to move around. I put on wetsuit, BCD with 16Lb of weights and LP95 and move around like it's nothing, helping my son to get ready, putting on fins, etc. All while breathing normal. Just 6 month ago I would have to catch my breath from just moving the tank 5 feet. Surface swim is just so much fun now. We had some current and I was helping my 11 year old son get to the boat faster while just few month ago I would be barely able to move myself. I'm telling you, fitness for diving is extremely underrated. Do both aerobic and core strengthening, some defined program is the best. If I can do it at 40, bad back (post surgery), knees, shoulders, etc.-anybody can do it. Yeah, I wasn't heavily out of shape, I wasn't obese or anything. But being in good shape makes diving so much more fun.

Sorry if it came out very long.

 

[LiveBait]

I think if every newb followed that advice they would be doing pretty good!

 

[JamesK]

agreed on both points. nothing makes you better then practice, and being in shape makes everything in your life better. I was a 235 wide load when I started diving. I decided it was time for a change. I got down to 175 and then joined the army. they got me down to 148 but I looked like a crackhead. after rehab I got back to 175 and looked much better. surgery came and back to 210. now I am back at 180 and feel great. everything is better, not just diving.

 

[Doomnova]

For me it was the move to live on the West coast and to a bike friendly city (Victoria) from where i grew up in Alberta. That started the plans but diving and the want to get into shape has shaved about 30lbs from about 195 to about 165(which puts my BMI for a 5 10 person right where it should be) in about 8 months. I bike about 4 times a day 9to school for uni classes and back home for lunch +study then back to uni for afternoon classes and then home) which works out to about 40-60min of biking. I can max my heart rate and have it back to resting inside of 45sec. Now once i get a car I'll dive a lot more as hauling ones gear on public transit sucks...well the weights at least that is the killer part of the whole thing, but even then I'll still be biking most of the time.

Anywho for those who bike i suggest doing 2 types. High gear muscle building. The idea is to go as long as you can in the highest gear possible at a slow and steady pace. This really works your legs. Do it for that whole day. As your legs tire drop down to the next gear so on a so forth. Then the next day is low gear fast peddling. this one works your cardio system. Together they will really build both muscle endurance along with cardio system and giving breaks to each system on alternating days. I'm to the point I almost need a bigger gear on my bike (or let some air out of my tires) to get a good work out for my legs anymore.

 

[ski2moro]

But on the other side, don't wait to start scuba just because you are a short, fat, out-of-shape, middle-aged couch potato. You will have fun no matter what. Don't let these guys steer you away from the sport if you want to try.

I congratulate you on your fitness success and wish I were more inclined to do the same. Every time I get the urge to run, I lie down until it goes away.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

exactly.
DivemasterDennis

 

[JamesK]

Anywho for those who bike i suggest doing 2 types. High gear muscle building. The idea is to go as long as you can in the highest gear possible at a slow and steady pace. This really works your legs. Do it for that whole day. As your legs tire drop down to the next gear so on a so forth. Then the next day is low gear fast peddling. this one works your cardio system. Together they will really build both muscle endurance along with cardio system and giving breaks to each system on alternating days. I'm to the point I almost need a bigger gear on my bike (or let some air out of my tires) to get a good work out for my legs anymore.

That sounds like a nice routine. When I bike it's mainly to get a break from running and just enjoy the scenery. I may have to give this a try though. Sounds like it could really whoop your tail. That's always fun.

 

[TMHeimer]

Stationary bike and TV is what's for me. Scenery there changes.

 

[mmcdanie]

Great points!
I have a two day trip to Catalina coming up, this Friday and Saturday, on my boat. We are going to try to get 4 dives in. I'm drinking lots of water and no coffee, and starting the leg exerises, 60 deep knee bends and swims in the pool.

 

[Tim R Alcoser JR]

Being a new diver with new diver experience, I'd add that your never done with training (I know, it sounds good, and everyone says that over and over again).

But it's true. I always seem to learn something new every time I get out there and dive, especially with people who are far more experienced than me.