Good conditioning exercise for diving???

DiveMom1 · Oct 30, 2009

Ok.. being land locked for nearly 8 yrs I've grown flabby, weak and totally out of shape. My pack weighs about 100# and kills me!

Any suggestions on conditioning and training that will help with carrying my pack AND building my endurance for diving?

I live an hour-hour half from town so to drive a couple hours up and down my mountain to a gym is not realistic. Any program or equipment that would let me train at home? What types of exercise would be the most benifit?

TSandM · Oct 30, 2009

You might enjoy reading Fitness for Divers by Cameron Martz.. I'm sure some of what he recommends requires gym equipment, but you may be able to adapt it to your particular possibilities.

And kudos to you for being motivated!

Garrobo · Oct 30, 2009

Run up and down your mountain.

TMHeimer · Oct 30, 2009

Garrobo, You're joking, but you hit the nail on the head. I live also 1.5 hours from the city pool and need to train for the DM swim tests. We have 6 acres and one HUGE hill. I run up and down it!

Kingpatzer · Oct 30, 2009

Get the book Pilates for Men and go through the workouts daily and religiously.

Grab a set of dumbbells and an exercise ball. You can do every exercise you need to build upper body strength with that equipment alone. Don't get a barbell, barbells allow one side of your body to not work as hard as the other. Dumb bells avoid that.

Get yourself a good pair of running shoes. If you live in snow country, get some cross-country skis. Start with walking daily, at as fast a pace as you can maintain, for as long as you can. Build up to an hour of solid, fast walking. You should end breathing heavily, but not winded, and lightly sweaty. You're looking to burn fat and build aerobic endurance, but not necessarily aerobic capacity.

Once you are no longer totally out of shape, start upping the aerobic work and inserting interval training - running or skiing at your peak capacity for a minute or so at a time then backing back down for 2 minutes and continue that for an hour.

scubadobadoo · Oct 30, 2009

I just bought an elliptical machine for a very reasonable price from Amazon. I got sick of driving to the gym in the winter. Now I just get on the elliptical and go to town for 40 minutes while I watch an episode of True Blood on dvd. Next I use cheap hand held weights (you could even use water jugs or scuba weights as well) and do light lifting for the last 15 minutes of the program along with sit ups and push ups. That's my new routing. I do suggest light weight lifting as recent studies have shown that strength training is much more important as we get older. Plus, scuba gear weighs a lot!

Have fun and start slow and easy so your not sick of it by the end of the month. I suggest start by doing some moderate walking and stretching for a few weeks every day. You can build from there. Mostly it's just the starting it!

Of course there is a section on SB dedicated to this discussion and you can even give yourself a SB challenge!!

Guba · Oct 30, 2009

My regimen seems to work for me, but I can't guarantee a thing...

I run/jog three 5K's a week, bike 10-15 miles two or three times, and hit the "Chuck Norris machine" a couple of times per week. I use hand weights (light barbells) for stretches, do several sets of knee thrusts and kicks as well as some arm work, tie in some crunches, and do lifts from a standing position...in short, I vary my workouts to keep from getting bored. I'd LOVE to swim, but there isn't any place convenient. That's a shame, because swimming does a great job of forcing a person to maximize their breathing, and the leg workout seems to prevent cramps while diving (for me, anyways). I've also found that a little weight loss helped my sac rate remarkably and I just generally enjoy diving more since I've ramped up my exercise regimen.
Stay with it, and let us know what you find that's effective for you.

Doc Harry · Oct 30, 2009

Talk with your physician to make sure you're healthy enough to exercise.

Start with basic conditioning: WALKING. Walk a lot, walk every day, walk up and down hills. You need a foundation from which to build.

LOTS OF WALKING. You'll be surprised how much weight you lose and how quickly you get into shape.

You don't need any gym memberships or facy gear. Just start WALKING.

fireflock · Oct 30, 2009

I'd focus on just finding something you like to do that gets you moving. It might be walking, it might be jogging, it might be biking....whatever.

Once you find something you like and stick with it for a while, your cardiovascular fitness will improve (which pays the biggest dividend for divers). Then it's time to expand into strength, flexibility, and all that other stuff.

It's no good to get started with something that you won't continue. Keep trying new things until you find one that you really like.

95% of diving isn't really strenuous for people who exercise regularly. Aside from cardiovascular fitness (SAC rate), strength for lifting tanks and yourself (with full gear) can really help.

soamelt · Oct 30, 2009

DAN's Alert Diver magazine usually has a diving fitness section. The current issue has core strengthening exercises.

Good conditioning exercise for diving???

Please register or login

DiveMom1

Guest

TSandM

Missed and loved by many.

Garrobo

Contributor

TMHeimer

Contributor

Kingpatzer

Contributor

scubadobadoo

Contributor

Guba

Contributor

Doc Harry

Contributor

fireflock

Contributor

soamelt

Contributor

Similar threads