Self assessment of diving fitness and fitness tips

[sourcearun]

Don't believe I've every been 'tired' after a 45' dive--am 56 y.o. and carry more fat than I should, lol....Of course, there are many factors ie what conditions you were diving in that could change that 'feeling' ie current, wave conditions etc.....

YOu might have a point there...the earlier dives were in calm waters, in fact the first two were in an atoll, almost lake-like. The last one where I felt tired, the swells were quite a bit.

 

[sourcearun]

It's hard to discuss fitness in the abstract, but good general fitness is important. Feeling tired after diving isn't necessarily an issue, especially if it involved steady finning as opposed to drift diving.

In my opinion you need two kinds of fitness. I suggest a mix or typical aerobic excersizes, such as cycling, stair climbing, or fast walking, and mix in a bit of sprint and recovery drills, such as running (not jogging) as if to catch a bus for about a block and timing your recovery. As your condition improves increase the speed and distance of the sprint drills. The object is to get winded and recover.

Good luck, and remember you don't reverse years of inactivity in 30 days.

Thank you Don! "you don't reverse years of inactivity in 30 days" and "the object is to get winded and recover." - Truer words were never spoken

 

[sourcearun]

Standards are a hard thing to define but you might enjoy this paper:

NW Pollock and JM Godfrey (Eds.) The Diving for Science. 2007, Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS), Twenty-sixth annual Scientific Diving Symposium, University of Miami, Miami, FL. RRR ID: 6991

You might also enjoy this site:
DiveFitness.com

Both archive site and the pdf download were invaluable sources of scientific information on the subject. divefitness too has several useful books. Thank you for all your guidance.

 

[String]

Eat less rubbish. Walk places instead of driving. Try to do 1hr or so of walking (or jogging) per day. Anything less than 30 minutes is pointless and all exercise is worthless if diet is bad to start with.
Doesn't have to be difficult to get fitter.

 

[seaducer]

Eat less rubbish. Walk places instead of driving. Try to do 1hr or so of walking (or jogging) per day. Anything less than 30 minutes is pointless and all exercise is worthless if diet is bad to start with.
Doesn't have to be difficult to get fitter.

If you are trying to lose weight, i.s. burn fat, keep in mind that the first 30 minutes in your cardio "weight loss zone" is just burning off what you ate today. After 30 minutes is when all the benefits kick in, burning fat, increasing aerobic capacity, etc.

 

[Anti-Hero]

Eat less rubbish. Walk places instead of driving. Try to do 1hr or so of walking (or jogging) per day. Anything less than 30 minutes is pointless and all exercise is worthless if diet is bad to start with.
Doesn't have to be difficult to get fitter.

A proper diet is key, yes. But no exercise is wasted exercise. Saying less than 30 min. is pointless is "rubbish" - Energy expenditure and caloric burn is always beneficial. However, the gain is proportional to the time / work put in.

If you are trying to lose weight, i.s. burn fat, keep in mind that the first 30 minutes in your cardio "weight loss zone" is just burning off what you ate today. After 30 minutes is when all the benefits kick in, burning fat, increasing aerobic capacity, etc.

It's a bit more complex than that. The "fat burn" zone is approx. 65% of of cardiac output, Cardio training is over 75%. As far as weight loss goes, to do it right you need to understand a few basic variables like Basal Metabolic Rate, caloric input needs based on goals (weight loss, weight gain), and nutritional fractions based on goals.

Then the generally excepted rule is to either burn or add 500 calories per day beyond the sum of the BMR and CI. It takes a 3500 calorie deficit to burn 1 lb. of fat. 500x7 = 3500

 

[String]

Although fat burn zone stops in theory at a certain pulse rate its been found that although a lower % of fat is burnt at higher output the fact that more energy is being used per given time neutralises this. In short, any cardiac output from the fat burning threshold right up to the max output is beneficial.

I still say less than 30 minutes is effectively worthless. In that you'll have 5 MAYBE 10 minutes of proper fat burning as the body wont move to that stage until at least 20 mins is up in an average person.

You're far better off going for a walk for an hour than you are going for a 10 minute run.

 

[hudson]

I'd like to echo seaducer's statements: strong legs are nice. About the only fitness issue I've faced, besides hauling gear around, is fighting currents, especially on the surface.

 

[seaducer]

It's a bit more complex than that. The "fat burn" zone is approx. 65% of of cardiac output, Cardio training is over 75%. As far as weight loss goes, to do it right you need to understand a few basic variables like Basal Metabolic Rate, caloric input needs based on goals (weight loss, weight gain), and nutritional fractions based on goals.

Agreed, but unless you are getting serious about training, say for an upcoming triathlon or marathon or something, it comes back to basics, you don't need to be all that technical or precise to improve your overall fitness.

I on the other hand need to get back to being technical about it. Or at least doing something about it. Getting lazy again...

 

[Doc Intrepid]

+1 to Gene's and Lynne's comments regarding Cameron Martz's DiveFitness website.

Very specifically aimed at fitness for all divers.

Best of all, Cameron is a member on SB.

If you have specific issues, I suspect you could PM him and he may get back to you.

Best,

Doc