Please get in shape!

[Hank49]

I think that weight is no problem. Who is anyone to say an overweight person can't dive? BUT, I won't let my buddy free dive and spear with me because I swear, at close to 400 lbs, in his wetsuit he has the shape of a marine mammal and I think it scares the fish, because I can't get close to fish when he's with me. It's true.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I think that weight is no problem. Who is anyone to say an overweight person can't dive? BUT, I won't let my buddy free dive and spear with me because I swear, at close to 400 lbs, in his wetsuit he has the shape of a marine mammal and I think it scares the fish, because I can't get close to fish when he's with me. It's true.

LOL - I too am built like a harbor seal ... but the fish all seem to have by now figured out that I'm basically harmless ...

Then again, I don't carry a spear ... :11:

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[toodive4]

Today I was working on a boat and a White Perch head butted me. That's right - it swam right up to my mask stopped then swam face first into my mask. Then it took off like a bat out of hell. I guess it got a good look at my face and decided to run for the hills...

Ken

LOL - I too am built like a harbor seal ... but the fish all seem to have by now figured out that I'm basically harmless ...

Then again, I don't carry a spear ... :11:

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DiveMaven]

Gee, it's been interesting to sit back and watch the fall out to my original post. For clarification, notice I never referred to losing weight in my post, and instead encouraged people to improve their fitness and cardiovascular health. I know both heavy people who have good cardiovascular health, and thin people who can't walk up a flight of stairs without stopping. Thin doesn't always mean healthy and fat doesn't always mean unhealthy.

I just really believe that since diving is done in the water that having some basic ability to swim is important. Swimming 200 yards should not be a daunting task, particularly when it isn't timed and you can use any stroke, including on your back.

Okay, grab the popcorn again, my last paragraph might be a doozy!!

 

[Heffey]

I just really believe that since diving is done in the water that having some basic ability to swim is important. Swimming 200 yards should not be a daunting task, particularly when it isn't timed and you can use any stroke, including on your back.

I really don't believe that the swim is a daunting task for most people. I think that the thought of it is the part that freaks people out.

I would say that most people's swimming experience is limited to splashing around at the beach or pool. Not that they can't swim, they just don't.

Other than for exercise, I can't even imagine why a person would want to swim 200 yards. It is not that far from the boat to the ski rope and the boat comes right to you when you fall.

I think that most people find the swim quite easy or at least no where near as bad as they thought it would be.

Oh ya, and you people with the greasy popcorn crumb infested keyboards might want to swim a few laps when your finished. :11:

 

[carldarl]

If I was in lousy shape at 420 pounds does that mean I'm now in great shape at 260?

 

[DarkFrog]

Anyone who gauges whether people are obese or overweight or underweight based on some completely ludicrous made up chart is just not using their head. According to BMI charts virtually every professional athlete is obese. Wouldn't you all like to be professional athletes?

I'm 6' tall and 220 lbs. According to BMI I'm obese. I challenge all comers in any sporting event you choose and I'll beat you in any of them. Basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, soccer, cycling, swimming... you get the idea.

Want to know what kind of shape you're in... do the 200 yard swim test then tread water for 15 minutes immediately after... if you can do that, you're in good enough shape to dive.

Ken Barrick

Just as a matter of anecdotal information, I've never seen anyone refer to BMI as the end-all of ways for guaging one's health. Also, most of the information on BMI that I've seen note that the ranges for "underweight", "normal", "overweight" and "obese" don't really apply to very fit people or people with above average muscle mass.

 

[DocDAT]

Where did you get this information?

This is a snippet off of the DAN web site.

“There is no strong body of evidence to suggest that overweight individuals have a greater risk of DCI or that they suffer more dive-related injuries that divers who are within 10 percent of their ideal body weight. Obesity by itself does not restrict diving.”

“The best indicator of diving fitness is the individual's general health and level of physical fitness”

It would appear that poor fitness is the problem rather than too much fat.
Jeffrey

http://www.scuba-doc.com/obesity.html

Well DAN may say that, but ask most doctors specialized in diving medicine what they think about obese people diving and they'll tell you the same thing. The extra body fat increases the nitrogen load. It's not only a fitness issue, but also how much body fat there is. For this reason commercial divers regularly have to pass a test where their "love handles" are measured with an instrument. If they are too big -> no diving.

As for the swimming, yes you can be a good swimmer but have a great deal of body fat. It's two different issues.

EDIT: I better clarify that when I talk about obese, I don't mean strictly the BMI kind, but rather a rational combination of fold thickness / fat % and BMI.

 

[Sasquatch]

Buttered, I'm hoping???

Pass the salt over here, please...

 

[aquamarin]

Hmmm, just have to say something on this........BMI is old-fashioned - think about Arnold Schwarzenegger's BMI ) However, there is no doubt that fat is endagering health.....Which is why the BF% is so important. My weight has been stable for the past 1,5 years - but through sport, my body fat % has decreased considerably (6%)

More than half of the Western population has a too high bf%. That will have consequences. I attended the annual congress of the European Obesity Society last month and the figures are alarming.

We can make as many excuses as we want, but fact remains that obesity (= too much fat) is the major cause of death - and there is a connection between obesity and all lifestyle diseases (hypertension, cvd etc). It's a bit like smokers saying that smoking isn't dangerous, because they know someone who smoked a lot and lived to be 80

Hmmm, guess this won't make me popular

Oh btw: I'm fit and have healthy bmi and bf% - but I'm not a good swimmer, simply because my blood pressure is too low, making cardio sport difficult. Mof I have Dr's orders to eat more salt to increase my blood pressure values