Requesting expert/shop owner input re: obese diver

[DiverGirl1972]

Congrats on taking a step forward and setting your sights on being a diver. So much great advice has already been given.

When I suddenly had the epiphany that I wanted to learn to dive (before I really knew anything about the sport), I was a smoker. A smoker for a while.
When I went through the pre-course medical paperwork, I did a serious self-evaluation and all of the sudden, my will to be a diver was greater than my will to be a smoker.

After nearly 20 years, I quit smoking. If it weren’t for the sudden realization that my unhealthy lifestyle choice might interfere with my ability to chase this goal, I might not have gotten on a program that worked for me and quit once and for all. It’s been 38 months since my last smoke and 37 months since I became open water certified. I feel better than I ever have and as mentioned, diving is great exercise.

If you get into diving and discover it’s the most awesome thing to do (which many of us did), it may just be the catalyst for you to aggressively improve your overall health so that you can enjoy it more safely for many years to come. Good luck!

 

[Steve_C]

I am going to suggest that if you go forward with this that you do your dives in warm water.

If you dive in colder water, the gear is heavier, the wetsuits are heavier, you have more weight, it takes more to move the neoprene, and the exertion factor increases greatly. You are best to be some place warm with nice calm seas. I would suggest someplace like the Florida Keys. Maybe start out in some place like Jules in Key Largo where you can do your checkout dives with a nice easy entry. Literally stairs going down. Totally protected from warm water. If you did nothing else besides Jules you would see some tropical fish, an underwater habitat, and have a safe controlled experience. It is not a coral reef but it beats any quarry or swimming pool I have seen.

If you move onto trying a few boat dives look carefully at the boat. Some boats the rear platform is almost at water level if not at water level with a nice heavy duty ladder going up on them. If you can do a couple of stairs you can do them. Other boats can be more effort to get back on. Something like Christ of the Deep out of Key Largo is a very easy dive (20-25 ft) and stuff to see.

Another factor is that fat is lighter than water while bone is heavier and muscle I think is close to neutral. I did a very rough calculation a while back and I think it came out to around 10 pounds of lead for each 100 pounds of additional fat. So you may be carrying 10-20 pounds more weight then some divers. You will not notice this in the water. Water is great that way. However, you will notice it walking around and going up and down ladders.

 

[DevonDiver]

Do you have any more information on this??

It's commonly listed as a pre-disposing DCI factor by most, if not all, agencies. As with many scuba-related physiological issues, it isn't 'proven', just hypothesized. Such hypothesis are certainly worth respecting, until/unless categorically disproved.

 

[spectrum]

Lori,

Pending doctors approval and a willing instructor you should be able to adapt. Getting cleared by a dive savvy physician has been suggested. DAN can help you locate one that is nearby.

I'll also second the skin-diving (snorkeling) suggestion. It's a low impact do-it yourself way to get a jump on sustained oral breathing with a wet face, basic kicking/propulsion/guidance and simple stuff like getting your fins on and off. More on this here.

You don't say where you are so it may mean taking a referral for the checkout dives if it's too cold where you are, you will be into November. That of course means lining up 2 willing instructors. The referral should grease the proverbial skids for the second.

For your first outing a wetsuit may be optional for a dive a day of limited duration. Plenty dive in swimsuits or dive skins (lycra etc.).

It will be worth the effort,
Pete

 

[Stoo]

As others have said, there probably isn't any reason you can't dive, but there are many reasons why you probably shouldn't. Your weight and history of smoking would suggest that your cardiovascular health leaves a lot to be desired. It certainly would suggest that a full-blown assessment including a stress test and so on is warranted. Many of the so called "diving accidents" in older divers are cardiac events (and I'm not suggesting that 43 is old, but if you intend to dive for a while, you'll catch up to me!). Currents, even at the surface... hell, especially at the surface.. have brought an early end to more than one unfit diver.

Having said all of this, I have certified two "obese" students in the past, one of whom was probably about your proportions... He was also very tall... He managed to get through the course, but it was a struggle. He hasn't kept up the sport simply because he found it too physically demanding.

The second guy was about 5'9" and about 300#. He progressed on to some serious diving, but I think he has always found it to be callenging physically.

My suggestion is to use your desire to dive as an "excuse" to lose that weight you have probably wanted to anyway. Get yourself into reasonable shape, convince your doctor that you are fit to dive, then get at it.

There are many over-weight divers out there. There are some that smoke. I think that if you want to, nobody will stop you, but until you "shape up" you are likely at increased risk of injury or dieing... But probably no more so than if you walked around a hilly golf-course.

Good luck!

 

[meagicano]

I'm an overweight female (not in the obese range of BMI) - had some health problems that took me from super active (running, biking, swimming) to a more or less sedentary lifestyle for a while. I spent this summer back in the water after doctors approval and noticed a huge difference. I was more tired after dives, I was a bit more nervous because it was harder to fight the surface currents, etc. My gear felt heavier and things just didn't feel right.

I need to get the weight off (gained 50-60 lbs) and get back in shape. Maybe you won't notice the difference since you're planning to only start diving, but I can't imagine doing the shore and boat dives my dive club does and being obese - and a smoker. Definitely do the discover scuba and swim around a bit with the gear on, wear it in and out of the pool and see how it all feels before diving into a full course. See if your LDS will apply the discover course fees onto a full course if you decide to proceed.

 

[flots am]

I have a holiday booked for December of this year, during which I hope to try it. But then there's the subject of my thread. It's a bit of a lie; I'm not obese, I'm morbidly obese.

I'm 43, female, 5'7", and 385 lbs, and not to brag, but I'm a 20 year smoker as well.


I have ZERO knowledge of diving, and I already know I won't be going down deep or into caves or wrecks or anything. And I know I can take the classes, but would anyone actually let me out on a boat? Is there anything 'safe' for me, for example, can I just restrict myself to nothing deeper than like 10 feet? Would that be safer, or is there nothing that would make me + tank + ocean = a good idea.

There are plenty of fat people diving, and quite a few that are obese, however with a BMI of 60+, you're right off the end of the obesity chart at the National Institutes of Health, and into "How are you still alive?" land. I don't mean this as an insult, I've been very fat a number of times and understand completely what it takes to maintain a reasonable weight.

Whether you can take a SCUBA class is between you and your doctor, since he'll have to sign off on a medical form that says you're fit to dive. If he actually follows the instructions on the form, it's unlikely he'll say "yes", since it requires (at least the forms I've seen) that you be able to produce a sustained exercise level that's probably far beyond your capabilities.

That said, if you live near calm, warm water, you might be able to find someone would would be willing to teach you and take you on some very easy, shallow dives. SCUBA diving is an amazingly fun activity and might give you an incentive to quit smoking and get a handle on your weight.

flots

 

[diving4ever]

Hi Lori,

Welcome to ScubaBoard and the awesome underwater world! First, your weight alone WILL NOT preclude you from diving and diving well. I'm 42 and have been diving a 4 years. I don't know (or track) my exact weight but it’s definitely in the 350 ballpark (give or take 25). Some things to consider and tips for moving forward are below. Please respond or PM me if you have questions.

1. Most Dr's will look at your overall health and certify you unless you have a compelling issue (like asthma or a history of stroke). Occasionally, a Dr who isn't familiar with diving will hesitate to sign the paperwork because they read that excess weight is counter-indicated for diving. IMO that isn't relevant when you consider that being overweight is now counter-indicated for just about everything. If your Dr. can't make an informed appraisal; see a dive Doc. Your local dive shop should be able to make a recommendation.
2. It will be easier for you (by an order of magnitude) to dive tropical warm water. You will have to carry less weight on your person and; in the event you can't rent a decent wetsuit will be able to dive in your swimsuit or leggings and a rash guard. I dive in my suit most of the time if the water is over 78 degrees. But check out Junonia (and online retailer) for quick wick leggings and rash guards that will provide coverage and protection.
3. Selecting a shop: You will want a dive shop and instructor that treat you with respect. My advice (if you're going to dive on vacation), is to get recommendations from SB and email the shops directly. Let them know your situation, and ask if they are comfortable and equipped to train a diver of your size. Then see how they respond. Also, if you let me/us know where you are going; we might be able to recommend a shop. Here are some things you will likely want:

• 
  [*=2]Availability of Weight Integrated XL and 2XL BCDs. If they don't have a 2xl they should have (or should recommend you bring) a cummerbund (is that the correct spelling?) extender.
  [*=2]A large boat with a stable swim platform and sturdy easy exit ladder
  [*=2]Staff willing to help you gear up and the ability to hand-up your weights (or even all your gear) to the instructor
  [*=2]private or semi-private instruction (unfortunately and rarely some people really suck. You don't want to have to deal with the BS on vacation).
  [*=2]A bonus (if they have it) would be steal tanks (they will decrease the amount of lead you need.

​

And just for some inspiration: one of my dive buddies is a divemaster and an instructor. She did both of those things and over 1000 dives at a size comparable to you and I (give or take). She's on SB so maybe she'll post and give the benefits of her much greater experience.

Melissa

 

[mtngoat2674]

I remember doing some reading a while back, and while the end result varied, science proved that fatty tissue absorbs nitrogen at a much faster rate than other body tissues. Do a couple internet searches and you should find some articles. Sorry I can't recall exact references.

 

[mac.calder]

I used to weigh 170kg (I think that's around 375lbs) and I stand at 181cm (5'11" approx). I learnt to scuba whilst about 155-165kg. I am a non smoker and in my 20's and I was the sort who did not let my size stop me from doing much.

The first piece of gear I bought myself was a weight belt - because it was embarasing having to join two belts together.

I found most of the course relatively fine - in the water I had no issue - however our checkout dives were performed from a long tail in Thailand. I performed one of my surface intervals between checkout dives hanging off of the side of the longtail - whilst my instructor swapped my tank over.

Still, my love for scuba motivated me enough to move to a location with decent diving, get my weight down to 220lbs and I am now looking at dropping a wad of hard earned $$$ on cavern training or a rebreather. Scuba completely changed my life. Whilst I enjoyed scuba, would dive 10-20 times a year at my heavier weight, now I LOVE scuba and dive 3-4 times a week.

I cannot say whether it will be the same for you or not, but I would certainly encourage you to give it a try.