techniques and exercises
by Glenn Patton
I. Clearing my ears
A. I learned freediving while spearfishing in the 1970s.
B. It was important to keep my hands free while descending.
C. Now while descending, I dont have to hold my nose and pop my ears.
D. To accomplish this I pop my ears about 200+ times the week prior to any intense freediving.
II. Holding my breath
A. I practice sitting in a chair and get close to 3 minutes.
1. I notice the first big demand for my mind to breath goes between 20 and 30 seconds
2. the next demands to breath come a about every subsequent 20 to 30 seconds
3. I can get to a point were I am so relax in apnea that I will pass out, but I dont push it that far.
B. I take three deep breaths just before I descend.
C. I wear a watch while freediving and monitor the second hand.
1. I can easily do around trip to 50 feet in 60 second, but I know I can stay 90 seconds.
2. This practice is for safety reasons to avoid shallow water black out
3. This practice also reduces anxiety.
III. Getting down
A. I wear eight to ten pounds depending which light wetsuit I wear, so that I am about four pound negative
IV. Reducing anxiety
A. Reducing anxiety and keeping your heart rate down is a must
1. This is not easy.
2. Keeping your heart rate down is very hard when you are about to kill a fish while spearfishing when you know there are shark in the area.
B. Practice walking 75 foot round trip while holding while timing yourself. You will see that a very leisurely 75 foot walk will take about a minute. Now you just have to apply the time-distance to a straight down dive.
C. Monitor your watchs second hand (see II C above)
D.
V. Wear a low volume mask
A. Reduce air consumption into mask
B. Always keeping a positive pressure in the mask reduce mask leaks
VI. Safety
A. Always freedive with a component freediving buddy.
B. Shallow water blackout is a KILLER
1. do a internet search for Shallow water blackout you will get a lot of hits
2. Shallow-water blackout is a sudden unconsciousness from lack of oxygen during a breath-hold dive. On ascent your O2 partial goes too low.
3. you blackout suddenly, unless you have a buddy you die!
C. Always carry something to defend yourself with while spearfishing.
IMO, becoming proficient in freediving can only enhances your SCUBA diving experiences.
by Glenn Patton
I. Clearing my ears
A. I learned freediving while spearfishing in the 1970s.
B. It was important to keep my hands free while descending.
C. Now while descending, I dont have to hold my nose and pop my ears.
D. To accomplish this I pop my ears about 200+ times the week prior to any intense freediving.
II. Holding my breath
A. I practice sitting in a chair and get close to 3 minutes.
1. I notice the first big demand for my mind to breath goes between 20 and 30 seconds
2. the next demands to breath come a about every subsequent 20 to 30 seconds
3. I can get to a point were I am so relax in apnea that I will pass out, but I dont push it that far.
B. I take three deep breaths just before I descend.
C. I wear a watch while freediving and monitor the second hand.
1. I can easily do around trip to 50 feet in 60 second, but I know I can stay 90 seconds.
2. This practice is for safety reasons to avoid shallow water black out
3. This practice also reduces anxiety.
III. Getting down
A. I wear eight to ten pounds depending which light wetsuit I wear, so that I am about four pound negative
IV. Reducing anxiety
A. Reducing anxiety and keeping your heart rate down is a must
1. This is not easy.
2. Keeping your heart rate down is very hard when you are about to kill a fish while spearfishing when you know there are shark in the area.
B. Practice walking 75 foot round trip while holding while timing yourself. You will see that a very leisurely 75 foot walk will take about a minute. Now you just have to apply the time-distance to a straight down dive.
C. Monitor your watchs second hand (see II C above)
D.
V. Wear a low volume mask
A. Reduce air consumption into mask
B. Always keeping a positive pressure in the mask reduce mask leaks
VI. Safety
A. Always freedive with a component freediving buddy.
B. Shallow water blackout is a KILLER
1. do a internet search for Shallow water blackout you will get a lot of hits
2. Shallow-water blackout is a sudden unconsciousness from lack of oxygen during a breath-hold dive. On ascent your O2 partial goes too low.
3. you blackout suddenly, unless you have a buddy you die!
C. Always carry something to defend yourself with while spearfishing.
IMO, becoming proficient in freediving can only enhances your SCUBA diving experiences.