out-of-shape divers doing things like diving the doria

[Dave1981]

To me excess body fat is just somewhere else to load up with nitrogen that needs offgassing later. I'd say that's quite important for dives like the Doria.

The op's question was out of shape, not overweight. Those sorts of dives can quickly go from gentle finning around to quite taxing on the body. Being in decent shape is as important and the correct mindset. That includes skinny guys.

The worst I've seen an was obese guy come out of a cave in mexico and have to take 2 breaks to get up a standard flight of steps in doubles while panting like a wounded buffalo. I was honestly worried for him. It never seems to be the in shape looking guys having these troubles. Maybe they all died of heart attacks and only the obese ones are left?

 

[vladimir]

There's no doubt that scuba divers would be better off fit. So would everybody else. If scuba diving gets a fat guy off of the couch and into an activity, chances are he's much better off. It might even inspire him to exercise regularly.

I agree that the "fat but fit" crowd is kidding themselves to some extent. But they are better off than the fat guys who are not working on their fitness.

Threads like this seem to be motivated by an unseemly desire by some fit people to gloat about it. It is remarkable, though, that divers can dwell on tiny risk factors like Fastex buckles (failure point!) while apparently remaining oblivious to the risk of poor fitness.

 

[Erku]

There's no doubt that scuba divers would be better off fit. So would everybody else. If scuba diving gets a fat guy off of the couch and into an activity, chances are he's much better off. It might even inspire him to exercise regularly.

An excellent point yet. Scuba was certainly one of the things that got me motivated to get back into the pool and start swimming laps again after a period of remission.

 

[halocline]

True. So, that said, concerning those people who remain 'out of shape' (by whatever standard) despite all this, how are they supposed to live their lives? With the 'kid's gloves' approach? Where is the line drawn as to acceptable risk?

I think we all live our lives more or less the way we want. "Acceptable risk" regarding health choices is more or less determined by each of us as we live our lives. I see really out-of-shape divers all the time and I honestly don't think diving increases their risk factor; if you're in bad enough shape so that the mild exertion of diving could cause a life-threatening problem, you probably are at risk regardless.

It is true that occasionally diving can get strenuous, and any water activity carries a drowning risk with it. I have no idea how physically demanding extreme dives like the Doria are, but I suspect not very, considering...the demands would primarily be in skill level, concentration, judgment, etc.

 

[Avonthediver]

We see your avatar--I guess you meant "better." Are you still working the internet dating scene desperately trying to find a woman willing to put up with, or unable to recognize, your narcissism? Appearance and money will only go so far, and if that is actually you in your avatar, you'd better work on addressing your personality defects--or accumulating a lot more money.

 

[captain]

DAN recommends a cardiovascular fitness level of 13 METS exercise tolerance, as evidenced by a normal stress EKG test (13 mets or stage 4 of the Bruce protocol ce stress test.

 

[GrandpaScuba]

Every time I see pictures of "hardcore" North Atlantic deep wreck divers, I notice that many of them are waaaaaaaaaay out of shape.

HOW DOES THIS WORK??

ARE YOU PEOPLE CRAZY??

Please, if you are a person who fits the above description, give me some insight.

So, let me get this straight. You're looking at a photograph of divers decked out in massive quantities of equipment and you can just tell by looking that they are "waaaaaaaaaay out of shape"?

I presume you equate a stocky build with being "waaaaaaaaaay out of shape."

Do me a favor. Go down to your local construction sight and look around. I think you'll see that half the men (and women too) that are doing a lot of heavy, hard work, all day long, day after day, have stocky builds. Most of these guys are six times stronger than I am.

Oh, and quit worrying so much about what other people are doing.

 

[GrandpaScuba]

Gotta love it when the fat guys post that their skills and endurance and the parts that you "cant see" make up for the fact that they're overweight, probably obese, and that they could have one or two arteries ready to close up at any minute and they could drop dead of a heart attack as soon as they're faced with an extreme situation while diving.

There's no excuse for being fat and overweight no matter how you slice it.

I don't care if you're skilled or if you write books on diving or if you can swim circles around your buddies. If you can't see your toes or your genitalia and you know you're a few belt sizes larger than what you're supposed to be, then freaking do something about it.

It's called "mental discipline".

Either do it right or admit you can't.

But don't defend it. That's just lame.

I'm down to 213 lbs at 6 foot 1", I feel good and I look good and yeah I can preach from my soap box because I'm doing what I need to do.

Ah... Another fat hater comes out of the closet.

 

[mbram]

Fat and stocky are entirely different. While a fat person may be able to handle some exercise (I trained for and ran a half marathon with a BMI of 29.4), it doesn't change the fact that each pound of excess fat you pack on increases your risk for heart problems and makes your cardiovascular system work harder. This isn't anecdotal observation on my part, there are any number of scientific studies that prove this out.

Sure everybody knows the triathlete who dropped dead from a massive heart attack at age 32, but statistically speaking he is much more the exception than the rule.

If you get in a pickle underwater, you are going to be under stress. Honing your skills will definitely decrease your likelihood of winding up in a pickle to begin with and will raise your panic threshold so you don't freak out as quickly. In the off chance you do wind up in a stressful situation, the weaker your cardiovascular system is the more chance you run of having an issue with it.

Can a fat person improve their cardiovascular fitness? Sure they can, but someone at a healthy weight who does the same amount of cardiovascular exercising will on average have a more fit cardiovascular system due to decreased baseline effort. Your heart has to pump blood through all the fat, so each lb raises it's workload.

Hypothetically speaking, if DAN came out and said a BMI in the 19-25 range would double your NDL time, how many people would be working to drop the weight? Since the current benefits for losing the weight aren't as evident and dramatic, it's easy to rationalize that it's not worth it or that your current fitness level is good enough when it's really not.

 

[wrecker007]

Seems like a little pot calling the kettle black..... according to your BMI calculation, you're still overweight. You can run the numbers yourself at Calculate Your BMI - Standard BMI Calculator. So as far as I can see you need to go on a stricter diet.