Fitness and diving

[Efka76]

Other people routines will not help you as people are different and they need specific exercises. E.g. I am 189 cm and weight 115 kg - for me gear weight is not a big deal, I am doing cardio exercises in order to reduce weight and to have more stamina.

In your case your body mass is really very low and accordingly 20-30 kg equipment is really heavy. You can solve this issue by increasing your muscle mass, however, usually to increase body mass is much harder than to reduce weight. Many things depend on your body type. I would suggest to talk to professional trainer, explain him/her what you want to achieve and ask to develop a specific workout routine for your including eating recommendations (i.e. what kind of food to eat, quantity of food, eating frequency, supplements to use, etc.).

Actually there are really good divemasters who are low weight girls, even they get involved in technical diving, however, they do things really smart, i.e. develop their specific routine how to don tanks, use sidemount configuration. You could also think about smart ways how to don and dof your diving equipment.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

A couple of points.

—Swimming in current can be helped by streamlining as much as possible. Check your gear and configuration, and try to get as streamlined as possible. Also, check your swimming attitude in the water. Swim as horizontally as possible to present as little surface area as possible to the current.

—Check different types of fins. The type of fins used do matter. Those that fold over easily may be easy to use, but don’t give much propulsion in the water current.

—If possible, get closer to the bottom/reef to use it to help in a current. There is a “bottom effect” which will lessen any current. But this is not possible in some blue water swims.

SeaRat

 

[TMHeimer]

I can't give specific exercise advice as my own routine has really been minimal (20 minutes on stationary bike, some arm stretches, etc.). I will say that you have to pass the stamina tests. One thing is the 400 meter/yard swim, which, like 3 2 others of the 5 tests, is timed. Though I was on the HS swim team, it was at the time 40 years ago. My swim technique was off somewhat and I definitely not in "swimming" shape. Once weekly pool laps for an hour for several months cured that.
I also got a lot of advice on the Going Pro sub forum about the DM course in general.

 

[Scuba Client]

Hi there,

For now I am certified as an advanced diver. But I would like to improve my skills and become a divemaster.

The only problem is that I am not that strong and not that big.I always struggle to put on all my gear and walk with it for 40 meters to the dive spot. It really hurt and cost me a lot of energy. I am around 1.58m and weight around 49. So it always feels like the gear is taking control of me. When there is a strong current I have troubles or when I have to get out of the water and there arent any stairs. I think this is a problem if I want to become a divemaster.

I can not go to the gym so during the week I try to walk 10k four times a week. However I rekon this wont be enough. So I was wondering if you had some ideas or advice how to handle this?
What kind of exercise do you do to stay in shape? And witch one you benefits the most from while diving?

I would work out in a swimming pool using different strokes if you cannot freestyle. Cardiovascular work out as opposed to pumping weights. Also work on stretching those limbs before diving. Perhaps switch to side mount and carry your tanks to the site.

 

[Scuba Client]

This advice is controversial at best, and it is possible that more people disagree with it than agree with it.

Stretching before or after a workout: Only one of them is right

The problem with scientific journals is they change their mind years later. I do my stretches cold but my flexibility is still OK. Either way I've done them after a workout and didn't notice a difference. If you want to see real results after a workout, take a cold shower at the end of your hot shower.

 

[dmaziuk]

If you want to see real results after a workout, take a cold shower at the end of your hot shower.

AFAIK they're changing their minds about this one all the time too. I take contrast showers a couple of times a week at least and all I can tell you is: my skin's cold/heat sensitivity is messed up. Whether it does anything to my workouts -- I can't tell: I have no basis for comparison.

 

[Scuba Client]

AFAIK they're changing their minds about this one all the time too. I take contrast showers a couple of times a week at least and all I can tell you my skin's cold/heat sensitivity is messed up. Whether it does anything to my workouts -- I can't tell: I have no basis for comparison.

I showered for 12 years on cold water, and I felt good. In the end it became a psychological barrier and I went back to warm water. It did help when I was diving, everybody was using drysuits and I was using a 3mm wet suit.

 

[ginti]

GUE's Fitness for Divers is a great book to help you along your journey. I'm in the first few weeks of the intermediate program, and I am enjoying it so far; it seems to target the muscle groups needed in diving. With that said, my normal fitness routine was training for triathlon events, so this program is a welcomed change of pace and an added weight training introduction. 10/10 recommend.

Hello Chris, are these ones the workout in the book?
Workouts for SCUBA Diving

 

[Wathdoc]

Hello Chris, are these ones the workout in the book?
Workouts for SCUBA Diving

They are a short adaption of some of the programs of the book. The book itself is well worth obtaining.

 

[happy-diver]

Preventing Foot and Calf Cramps

Foot and calf cramps happen in even the fittest of divers after finning around for a dive. Most commonly a painful nuisance, these cramps can become a serious problem if currents change and you are working to get back to a mooring line or surface swimming to the boat.

Foot Anatomy

You can think of the foot as a “bag of bones.” It is designed to flex throughout and must be allowed to do so for optimal strength and blood flow. The three-dimensional model to the right (courtesy William Ledoux, Ph.D., Dept. of Veterans Affairs) shows how the 28 bones of the foot form an arch supported by muscle and connective tissue underneath. Between every bone are flexible joints, giving the foot its many ranges of motion.

Calf Anatomy And the manufacturers shall continue to pump out footwear and fins for people with sausage feet

The lower leg is devoted to flexing and extending the ankle via the most efficient skeletal muscles in your body. Typically, the muscles doing the most work while finning are the gastrocnemius (upper calf) and the soleus (lower calf), which runs behind and below it. They are responsible for pointing your toes, or the power stroke in most finning techniques, and are thus most likely to experience cramping during a dive.

Equipment

Before you blame your body for causing you pain, you need to eliminate your equipment as a trigger of cramps. 1. The foot pockets of your fins must be wide enough for the bones of your feet to be able to “splay,” or spread apart, as you fin. Squish them together and the muscles in your feet can neither work nor circulate blood efficiently. 2. Your booties must be snug without restricting the bones of the foot for the same reason as above. 3. Your fin straps must not pull too deeply into your Achilles tendons, or this will cause extra tension on the muscles of the calves. 4. The legs of your wetsuit or drysuit should not be restrictive. As with your feet, if you can’t move your legs through their natural ranges of motion, then they can’t produce the power you need or get the blood supply they need.


And the manufacturers shall continue to pump out footwear and fins for people with sausage feet

Except Force fins!

http://www.divefitness.com/html/articles/article_pdfs/foot_calf.pdf

Fourth Element has a broad boot

Mares has a great pocket

Deep six has big foot pockets

There are more


you see for a smaller foot bigger sizes will accommodate however for a bigger foot there is no accommodation

but still in the shape of a sausage, and not a human foot