Is fatigue a possible effect after my first 4 dives?

[carrielsal]

Not everyone feels fatigued. On weekends that I go out with OW classes, I may dive 2-3 times with students in the morning, then another couple of dives in the afternoon. On liveaboards we to 5 dives a day. I will be tired in the evening, but it's the same type of being tired that I would get after a day of swimming. When I dive I drink massive quantities of water and eat several small meals throughout the day. The last 20' of my dive I come up a lot slower than 30' a minute. It may take me 2-3 minutes to come up from 15'. On recreational dives I also do deep stops.

Carrie

[Codyjp]

I've found a few things that have helped my a lot with fatigue.

Proper hydration and nutrition. Feed the oven and it will keep you warm too!

Slow ascents and plenty of time in water to off gas. I stick with Ratio Deco which is really pretty simple.

Nitrox. It is just better in every way. I feel good, and stay a bit sharper under water.

My PADI class also did '4' dives in one day, it is against the rules but I didn't know any better at the time. Oh well!

[M2]

First, if you did 4 dives in one day for your SCUBA certification, it was a violation of your agency's standards and it's no surprise that you're tired. That's a lot of diving, especially when you're new. If you only did two dives and are tired, there are things you can look into.

I highly doubt all 4 dives were in one day, and even doing 2 dives a day when you are new is going to make you tired.

[lmorin]

There are two different issues at play. One is being fatigued because of diving and the other is being fatigued because of being a beginner. Of course, the latter interacts with the former. All diving results in some level of fatigue, depending on circumstances and the diver involved. Those that are highly experienced will be more efficient in their energy use and, all other things being equal, less fatigues. Beginners tend to be inefficient, if for no other reason than anxiety and related issues. The normal fatigue from diving gets multiplied in most beginners. I can attest to needing a two hour nap after a couple of morning dives, when I first started, and wondering if I'd ever have the stamina to dive afternoons and evenings, too. Well, as with most physical exercise, I've become more efficient with experience and now can get in those afternoon and evening dives. Although sometimes the nap just calls me louder.

[dmoore19]

I don't know about anybody else but, Travel wears me down. Going to the airport, getting thru security,Flying 2-3 hours(or more), finding my bags etc etc. That wears me down by itself, let alone diving 3-5 dives in one day. As far as my return home, it takes a day or three to get things "back in order" after a trip. I am always tired (in a good way) after vacation.

[bane51031]

When I first started diving, I was fatigued as were the other 3 guys in the group. As I dove more I made sure I was well hydrated and ate snacks between dives, also I do longer safety stops and my buddy and I noticed a decrease in fatigue.

Since becoming an instructor, I worked at a busy shop over the summer, was nothing to do some discover scubas in the morning,then to the pool for C/W class then open water for check out dives after lunch and then maybe a couple dives after "Work" for some fun diving and fatigue was almost non existent, like was mentioned above, like exercise your stamina does increase.....

[RJP]

Hell - if you're NOT tired after a day of diving...you're not diving enough!