Intense exercise and diving.

[kr2y5]

I'm wondering what's the latest state of knowledge on combining intense exercise and diving, and maybe more importantly, the personal experiences of people who do a lot of both. A quick web search returns pretty wildly varying recommendations. I'm debating whether to consider combining intense cardio/strength workouts and diving on the same days and do it a couple of times/week, how much padding there should be, what time works best, etc. I'm curious to know what exercise/dive routine other people have adopted that works for them, and where the practical limits might be (yes, I realize it's a function of 50 variables including my own risk tolerance, and no universal one-size-fits-all answer exists, I'm simply curious what others think or do). Would you dive a few times/week and engage, e.g., in triathlon training? (Disclaimer: I promise to use this thread exclusively for entertainment purposes, and to seek medical advice from a professional.) Thanks!!!

 

[Neilwood]

For the best advice on a subject like this I would suggest contacting DAN. I suspect exercise pre dive would be less risky than post dive (while still off gassing)

 

[seeker242]

Conducting intense physical exercise too close to diving activity can be problematic for more fundamental reasons.


Bubble formation, while noted earlier as not equivalent to or a guarantee of DCS, can indicate an increased risk for it. Intense physical activity — generally with substantial muscular forces and joint loading, or the application of forces on joints — is believed to transiently increase micronuclei activity, the presumed agent of bubble formation. Intense physical activity too close to diving may therefore be problematic. Physical activity after diving may also stimulate additional bubble formation, possibly through a combination of increased microicronuclei activity and increased joint forces.



Interestingly, some preliminary work has shown that an intense bout of exercise conducted 24 hours prior to diving may reduce bubble presence in humans,³ possibly by inhibiting micronuclei activity. This potentially protective effect was not seen with exercise conducted closer to dive time. While this effect needs to be validated, the preliminary findings may support a simple rule of thumb for scheduling exercise. To reduce the risk, it is a good idea to avoid intense exercise 24 hours before and after diving.

Juggling Physical Exercise and Diving

 

[Storker]

Personally, I'd avoid strenuous exercise during my computer's "no-fly" interval. After that? Meh.

Juggling Physical Exercise and Diving

 

[bowlofpetunias]

There is and interesting link posted in the Dive Medicine Forum click HERE. Another thread HERE.

 

[dreamdive]

You can find a list of scientific articles that specifically deal with exercise pre, intra, and postdiving on our Science Section's Reference Library:

Add Helium - The Rebreather Epicenter

Predive: There are numerous studies that show a benefit to exercising (cardio/aerobic) before a dive. The time intervals, however, vary.
Intradive: There are compelling studies and arguments why mild exercising intra diving i.e. during deco is beneficial
Postdive: Currently the general consensus regarding immediately exercising post-diving is not recommended.

Regards,

Claudia Sotis MD

 

[tbone1004]

listen to Dr. C. If you have to exercise after diving for whatever reason, make sure you set the GF Hi value pretty low to minimize your tissue loading, but I'd still try to avoid doing it on the same day if possible. Too much risk of a bubble forming in the large joints and so few chambers ready to fix this type of issue.

 

[Diver0001]

I read an article some years ago that convinced me that strenuous exercise after a dive, especially dives near or over the deco limits, should be avoided for about 6 hours, which is the amount of time it takes to "clear" from a dive on the PADI RDP. IIRC it was quoted by Dr. Deco in the forums somewhere.

It short, the synopsis was = bad, avoid, wait. There were also several mitigating and risk factors mentioned if I'm not mistaken. A couple that I can remember had to do with conditions (cold, current, working hard on the bottom). If I'm not mistaken, weight lifting was cited at the most harmful post-dive excercise. I think you can see the recommendation as a sort of no-fly time. It's pretty much a one-size-fits-all rule of thumb.

R..

 

[SillyQuestions]

I dive GF 35/85 normally.

Sometimes I do deco dives in caves that then requires hauling lots and lots of heavy bottles out through difficult, strenuous cave passage.

I pad the stops.


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[dreamdive]

I dive GF 35/85 normally.

Sometimes I do deco dives in caves that then requires hauling lots and lots of heavy bottles out through difficult, strenuous cave passage.

I pad the stops.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you don't necessarily dive a 35/85. Instead, you set your computer to 35/85. If you dive Shearwater like most of us, Bruce still has not put in the feature that gives us the ACTUAL GF that was dived. To dive a 35/85, you have to ascend to your first and subsequent stops at 30 ft/min., hold your stops perfectly, leave your stop exactly when indicated on the computer, etc. .... Most of us don't actually dive what we set on the computer but stay below it because we don't ascend at that speed (probably a bit slower) and don't do the other things.

Just saying...

C