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A lot of things affect air consumption. The biggest factor is technique. A large person who has good technique and can dive relaxed will generally use less air than a small person who's constantly finning and sculling to maintain position ... even if the latter is in much better physical shape.H2Andy:
NWGratefulDiver:
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
That's always the problem with sensitive topics...people get defensive and immediately assume that they're being attacked. Again...that's NOT the point of this thread. Nobody has said that being overweight excludes a person from being fit.....in fact many have provided examples....rather too many if you ask me. We're starting to get to.."Me'thinks the Lady doth protest too much!"huskychemist:
Kim... wheres the wetsuit now? go try it on and then you will can stop wondering and will know. and if you pop over to the fitness thread you will see my latest before & during pics... they might spur you on to join us in the SB fitness challanges
I just saw Anabelle today, the female freediving extraordinaire out where I see her almost every time I dive there. (Pretty funny, someone asked if I was she.H2Andy:
) Every time I see her I marvel at what she can and has done, and looks like an ordinary somewhat overweight middle aged woman. :blinking:
Actually, someone did say just that ... http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=2600564&postcount=29Kim:
Perhaps it's because nobody likes to be stuffed into a stereotype box ...Kim:
More accurate to say, perhaps, that there are heavy people who are more fit than some of their less heavy counterparts ... and yet it's the former who are always being told that they're unfit ... in this case, the thread title suggesting "unfit to dive".Kim:
Something wrong ... compared to what?Kim:
Well now ... it would be interesting to see some data on the correlation between being fat and being involved in a diving accident. FWIW - the none of the folks who died on scuba around here last year were fat. The two I knew the most about were rather thin, actually. One ran out of air and the other ran out of common sense.Kim:
Well now ... we can agree on this much. Diving requires a modest amount of personal fitness. As an instructor, I can tell you that I regularly deal with people who have difficulties doing surface swims or carrying their gear ... I can also tell you it's not always the fat ones. In fact, I don't see the correlation in that respect that some of you apparently do.Kim:
Then don't worry ... do something about it. I've found the stationary bike to be pretty effective ...Kim:
Oh so trueNWGratefulDiver:
