So what is too overweight to dive?

[MXGratefulDiver]

It's OK to say "don't generalize" - that's rarely a good thing and there will always be exceptions. There are people who live till their late 80s who smoked since they were teenagers (my uncle was one of them), so maybe we shouldn't generalize and say smoking is bad for you either. We all know that's simply not true though - and I would hope that we also all know that 6ft people who weigh 300lbs are not usually going to be prime candidates for physical fitness!
Pushing an issue under the rug because of a few examples to the contrary doesn't seem very clever to me at all. Of course exercise and fitness are the key - but in my own experience it's pretty hard to exercise a lot without losing weight - unless you are really pushing weights or something and actually 'body building'.

Actually, it's easy ... my favorite piece of exercise equipment happens to be a fork ...

And in any case, I'm not saying "don't generalize" ... I'm saying "define your terms". I know people who think a size 2 is too fat.

Most studies show that age coupled with weight issues are a leading cause of cardiac disease - much the same way as they can say smoking is a leading cause of cancer. Doctors never seem to have much problem identifying whether someone is too fat or not (at least MINE doesn't! )

Would you consider the guy you're using for an avatar to be fit? If so, why? If not, why not?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[huskychemist]

I don't get it...

... "fit" and "overweight" just don't go together.

I completely disagree. I am large. 6'4", over 300 pounds. Yes, I'm fat/overweight/obese/heavy/insert word... I'm not in quite as good of shape as I used to be...but a few summers ago before I started diving, I was doing a lot of hiking/backpacking/climbing. I was by far the largest person (both in stature and on the BMI scale) of my group of friends. We went to Mt. Langley in California. It's a touch over 14,000 ft, but not very technical...basically just a long hike to the top from our camp. I was one of the folks that made it to the top. There were four others from our group that didn't make it. Each one of those four was thin and in shape. So why didn't they make it? I'm fat. So by your standard, I must not be fit. How could an unfit person make it on a 10+ mile hike with over 4,000 feet of elevation gain, while carrying a 40 pound pack? So unless your definition of "fit" is different than mine...

That said, I think what you're getting at is something different...maybe the idea that us fat people can't be "healthy." In many ways, you are right. Any extra pounds I carry are a detriment to my health. No argument here. If I lose those extra pounds, I'll be healthier. No argument here. Extra weight causes health issues that might not exist otherwise. No argument here. Are more fat people "unfit" than skinny people? Probably true. Does my extra weight present issues when diving? Yep. If I'm in trouble, my buddy will have a hard time getting me back onto a boat, for example. My dive buddy and I have had a number of conversations about this issue. He knows I only expect him to do the best he can. And if he gets in trouble, he expects me to do the best I can. We can do nothing more than our best.

When I go underwater, I do not assume people will be taking care of me if I get in trouble. I am not arrogant enough to think that it is the responsibility of others to take care of me. I am responsible for myself. (That said...rarely is there a rescue situation when would-be rescuers don't attempt to save folks...thus if/when I get in trouble, people will be put in danger. I don't know how to avoid that...and that would be true if I were short and skinny, rather than tall and fat. I do know that in my stress and rescue training, our first lesson was to take care of ourselves, and to only help if we could do so safely. Easier said than done.)

Happy Diving!

 

[almitywife]

...... This means exercising a little personal responsibility. ....

i took myself out of the water at my fattest

reasons were many, i didnt fit into my wetsuit, i didnt like the walk to and from the site, i was afraid of the effects of diving on my body, i knew that if i needed help i was too heavy to be helped and i no longer was having any fun

ive since turned this around (im down 113lbs and did 5 dives on the weekend) and loving the direction my health is heading in BUT i would never tap someone on the shoulder and say they were too fat to dive

if a overweight diver has buddies that are prepared to take on that responisiblity of care then its no-one elses business

on the way home yesterday we passed a situation that i thought was a road cyclist hit but a car but turns out the guy had a heart attack.... i dont see the cycling fraternity all up in arms about the tall skinny guy being too tall or skinny to ride a bike so why do divers do this all the time??

 

[Charlie99]

i dont see the cycling fraternity all up in arms about the tall skinny guy being too tall or skinny to ride a bike so why do divers do this all the time??

Unlike scuba, cycling isn't a death-defying extreme sport for the super macho.

Overweight, chain-smoking old geezer divers kind of hurt that image.

 

[Cacia]

i dont see the cycling fraternity all up in arms about the tall skinny guy being too tall or skinny to ride a bike so why do divers do this all the time??

I agree with everything you said.

except...there is no empirical relationship between tall, skinny, and his outcome.

And that's what confuses me. We hear this argument ALL the time, in some version. And it is not logical.

 

[almitywife]

Unlike scuba, cycling isn't a death-defying extreme sport for the super macho.

you obviously dont ride a bike in sydney... hitting bike riders is a national sport of ours

Catherine... empirical ... dont make my head hurt! i had to look that one up! and still thinking for a response

 

[Cacia]

oh...not you?

I dive with anybody that wont sue me...simple.

 

[dschulte]

You should consider loosing weight if you dive and a Greenpeace boat follows you.

Seriously, unless you are a power lifter, or 6'4", if you are in anything larger than a 2xl, you do need to look at your health. I speak from experience. I am 6' and at one point topped 260lbs; I dropped 65lbs and still consider myself out of shape. Your dive buddies depend on your ability to assist in the event of an emergency.
:monkeydan

 

[almitywife]

I dive with anybody that wont sue me...simple.

no witnesses & no body to find is usually the best thing

seriously... i got into a hissy fit with a buddy a few weeks ago as he made a comment about another diver and his size. unless you are being asked to carry their weights what business is it of anyones

i would much rather have a fat buddy than a chain smoking and hung over one and how many times do we see divers lighting up a ciggy the second the tank is off and no-one *****es and point fingers at that do they

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

i would much rather have a fat buddy than a chain smoking and hung over one and how many times do we see divers lighting up a ciggy the second the tank is off and no-one *****es and point fingers at that do they

Actually, they do.

People criticize divers who are fat ... divers who smoke ... divers who wear pink ... divers in split fins ... divers with consoles ... divers who got certified by (insert your least favorite four-letter acronym) ... warm water divers ... cold water divers ... divers in (insert your least favorite type of BCD) ... vacation divers ... technical divers ...

... did I leave anybody out?

Gets a little tiresome at times ... I thought we all just did this for fun ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)