Are you too old to dive?

[ChimarraoMate]

I found this DAN video interesting and thought I would share:


[video=youtube;fW0p7RsgoNc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLhr_YHqKReC-CMNm4ULIrblOlBjehz4jg&v=fW0p7RsgoNc[/video]

---------- Post added June 24th, 2014 at 01:04 PM ----------

My favorite quote in the video is, "Is scuba diving good for fitness? ... Not really if you're doing it right!"

He goes on to explain that for Joint health you really need to do something that loads the joints, such as bicycling or swiming. Diving is not good for joint health, good joint health is important for diving.

 

[TSandM]

Long hikes to the water in doubles are good weight bearing exercise. So is climbing three flights of ladder in the same doubles. (Caracol Cenote, anyone?)

 

[stevensamler]

Long hikes to the water in doubles are good weight bearing exercise. So is climbing three flights of ladder in the same doubles. (Caracol Cenote, anyone?)

I don't know about everyone but after a day of three to four tank dive day I'm so hungry I could eat the south bound end of a north bound mule.

 

[TryOutDive_com]

The mother of my Boss on Tenerife was 80+ and she dived almost daily.

 

[miketsp]

Well I remember when I was running a shore end survey in Venezuela in 1975 to select a landing point for a transatlantic cable and I'd contracted this local diving company. Well the guy driving the boat was about 84 and wizened and there was a young, well-built diver doing the initial more shallow dives. I was somewhat surprised when we were getting ready for the deeper dives and they traded places. Anyway after some initial concern about what would be the consequences of him dropping dead while working for me the dive supervisor assured me that he was actually still diving on doctor's orders. In the opinion of his doctor the daily deep dives were keeping him from locking up from arthritis and other age related problems[sic]. So he intended to keep working as a professional diver right up to the end.

 

[AfterDark]

Diving has always been what has kept me going back to the gym. I can't run anymore but I do bicycling and elliptical trainer for low impact cardio.

There are sites I don't dive anymore because I don't think my knees will take the punishment. Once in the water I'll keep up anyone I've dived with so far.

I think there is a big difference between a 60 year that has been diving since age 16 and a 60 year that started at age 55. Doing any activity for 40+ years makes it a very normal and natural thing to do without much stress. Diving to >100 FSW doesn't "feel" any different to me than it did years ago. Anybody that doesn't think diving isn't good exercise never dove in the currents here in NE, you will kick hard and often for long periods. Diving isn't always what the ads show!

 

[Kharon]

When I can't dive anymore I will snorkle. WHen I can't snorkle anymore I will dive one last time.

 

[rx7diver]

I found this DAN video interesting and thought I would share: ...
---------- Post added June 24th, 2014 at 01:04 PM ----------

My favorite quote in the video is, "Is scuba diving good for fitness? ... Not really if you're doing it right!"

He goes on to explain that for Joint health you really need to do something that loads the joints, such as bicycling or swiming. Diving is not good for joint health, good joint health is important for diving.

ChimarraoMate,

Thank you for posting this. My own "challenge" is mobility. I have been incredibly "stiff" all my life. Pre-school pictures of me attempting to sit "crisscross applesauce" just look ... awkward. Couldn't easily do the "duck walk" in elementary school PE. (Remember the "President's Fitness Challenge," or whatever it was called?) Never could quite do all the stretches in high school track or high school basketball. Could touch my toes and place my knuckles on the ground in front of my toes only after my second year of college karate, but that was only for a brief period many decades ago. Have *never* been able to sit comfortably with my legs crossed--either "boy-style" or "girl-style."

With age, this stiffness has increased incredibly. It is something I monitor. (I'm nearly a sexagenarian.) I suspect this will be the reason I cease diving when I eventually do.

My orthopaedist has more good news: "There's nothing wrong with you. You're as healthy as a horse. Except you're wearing out. See? [Showing me my x-rays.] You simply have no cartilage in your hips. Hip replacement is definitely in your future!"

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

 

[divin'dog]

I watched the whole video... It seems that most of what this person said was common sense/obvious, at least to most people with enough intelligence to become divers. I don't think most recreational diving situations will get you fit, but I do think you need to be fit to dive.

One thing, that I've noticed over the yrs, is that there is a certain stress/fatigue on the body that comes with even the easiest dives not related to how physical the dive was. I think there is a stress on the body being down a few atmospheres which could actually be like exercise even if you weren't doing anything at all, that the compression of your body, in water, is an exercise in itself... So, is scuba diving good for fitness even if you're doing it right? I certainly think so...

 

[oldschoolto]

When I can't dive anymore I will snorkle. WHen I can't snorkle anymore I will dive one last time.

Andrea Dorea...... Triples on air.....

jim...