Tired?

My dive buddy and I are very new to diving and we're very surprised at how tired we are after a day of diving (2-3 dives) It's not like we're out of shape; I run 4x per week and she swims 5x per week.

Granted, the days have been hot, we were quarry diving and each of us wore a 5mm wetsuit with lots of weight. But geez were we tired!

Is this usual for new divers or are the vets beat after a day of diving too?

rockrug:

My dive buddy and I are very new to diving and we're very surprised at how tired we are after a day of diving (2-3 dives) It's not like we're out of shape; I run 4x per week and she swims 5x per week.

Granted, the days have been hot, we were quarry diving and each of us wore a 5mm wetsuit with lots of weight. But geez were we tired!

Is this usual for new divers or are the vets beat after a day of diving too?

Click to expand...

Alot of people get tired after diving, it's a foreign environment breathing a gas under pressure which causes odd effects on our body. Take a Nitrox course, it's referred to as "Geezer Gas" by some because it eliminates that fatigue you normally get from diving air.

carrying all that weight around is tough, after a boat dive i'm usually fine, after a beach dive i'm heading for my couch for a snooze..nitrox helped, do did drysuit...if you get cold you burn through energy ..

do slower ascents and longer hangs between 30-10 fsw and/or take a nitrox course like some have suggested...

what kind of diving are you doing?
You always diving the depest first? Sometimes reverse profile dives really take it out of you.

Dave

It just takes practice. It would be like as if you took up swimming 5x a week, and she went running 4x a week. Regardless of your fitness level, you'd be tired the first couple of times, until your body got used to it.

The other factors you noted contribute as well.

rockrug:

My dive buddy and I are very new to diving and we're very surprised at how tired we are after a day of diving (2-3 dives) It's not like we're out of shape; I run 4x per week and she swims 5x per week.

Granted, the days have been hot, we were quarry diving and each of us wore a 5mm wetsuit with lots of weight. But geez were we tired!

Is this usual for new divers or are the vets beat after a day of diving too?

Click to expand...

It's very normal ... and the preceding replies all contain valid things you can do to minimize the effect. The fatigue you're feeling is a result of nitrogen buildup in your blood and body tissues. Breathing nitrox reduces the amount of nitrogen you are taking in. Slower ascents and longer safety stops helps you offgas the nitrogen in your body more efficiently.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

This is just something I heard somewhere, but when you are underwater your body has to fight much harder to maintain your body temprature. Therefore you use a lot of you energy there. The nitrogen build up is probably the main cause of the tiring though.

After two tanks I am ready to sleep. I did four tanks in one day a couple weeks ago in Cozumel and the whole next day I was worn out, spent most of it in bed. I don't see how people can dive three tanks a day and then go to the clubs, get wasted and then dive again the next day.

rockrug:

My dive buddy and I are very new to diving and we're very surprised at how tired we are after a day of diving (2-3 dives) It's not like we're out of shape; I run 4x per week and she swims 5x per week.

Granted, the days have been hot, we were quarry diving and each of us wore a 5mm wetsuit with lots of weight. But geez were we tired!

Is this usual for new divers or are the vets beat after a day of diving too?

Click to expand...

I know what you mean, my wife and I did our first solo dive this morning at a local pond and had grand visions of a PM ocean dive. After lunch we crashed, I can't remember being so bushed. We had lunch and stayed up a while to make sure we were OK then took a nap. No great loss thunderstorms kicked up and we would have ended up calling the PM dive anyhow. We went out in the rain and cleaned gear in our swimwear like a couple of kids.

It was our deepest dive to date at 37 feet and also our first dive that had a vertical asscent as opposed to a gradual swim back up to shore. We did cut the 15 foot stop short (euphoric brain fart) and as other have mentioned it was probably part of what clobbered us. The long surface swim, towing a float wearing 7mm with a surface water temp of 77, both ways sucked a lot out of us too. It was wonderful down below though.

We weren't this beat after any of our training dives. The good news is that all went well and we had fun even though we did catch some things to watch closer next time. We were both relaxed and comfortabe but we were certainly dealing with a host of adaptations new to our bodies.

Pete

rockrug,

Excellent advice and suggestions from all the previous posters. Remember also that since you are relative beginners that there is also a certain amount of anxiety that goes with diving. Those "nerves" can manifest in many ways. For me, when I was a raw newbie, it manifest itself as a queasy stomach, and utter exhaustion after a couple dives (especially cold water dives). As I have gotten more experienced, and therefore more comfortable in the water, I have gotten a lot more relaxed. My air consumption dropped and I am not nearly as tired after a couple dives.

However, in virtually all of my many sports, I am constantly reminded that I should strive for a better overall level of fitness, both for my health and for greater enjoyment of those sports.

Stick with it and your enjoyment and your energy level will probably improve over time.


Wristshot