Running and diving

[matdiver]

Not sure if this is the right part of the forum, but here goes. I'm a keen runner (about 40km/25 miles a week), and I'm in shape for a half marathon at the beginning of October. The problem is that I'm about to spend just over 2 weeks in a resort in the Maldives (yeah, OK not much of a "problem" ), and I'm anxious not to lose my current form in view of the October race. I'm planning to do 1-2 dives a day on nitrox in the 20-30m range. The resort has a gym and is big enough for reasonable training runs. I'm aware of the advice from PADI about vigorous exercise after diving, which seems to make sense in terms of the likelihood of microbubbles still in the bloodstream. Obviously, I don't want to do anything that would increase the risk of DCS.
However, my question is: would it be OK if I ran early in the morning and then dived in the afternoon (rested and rehydrated of course)? My rest heart rate is usually back to normal (about 47 bpm) within an hour of a serious run. Is vigorous exercise a few hours before a dive OK?

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Imla]

Yes. Research has shown that exercise about 3-4hrs in advance of diving is beneficial and will reduce bubble formation after dive.

This article is from 2005. Although there is a rather small subjectpool, results are quite suggestive.
Aerobic exercise 2 hours before a di... [Aviat Space Environ Med. 2005] - PubMed - NCBI

 

[tomfcrist]

Before diving=OK

After diving= no good

 

[dreamdive]

Here is a link to the AddHelium resource library. In it you will find a bunch of articles on exercising and diving.

Add Helium Resource Library | Add Helium

The overall consensus is that exercising before is beneficial. Even exercising during deco is beneficial. There is only one article that had positive outcomes with exercising after diving, but overall that appears not to be recommended.

Hope this helps.

Claudia

 

[matdiver]

Thanks very much for the replies! Really helpful.

Cheers,
Matt