OP
looped
Guest
shakeybrainsurgeon:
Kinda like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane for skydivers?? lol
Hit the pool today
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Kinda like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane for skydivers?? lol
shakeybrainsurgeon
Contributor
Nothing wrong with going to the pool with fins... all the places I've asked to use them have said yes, in lap lanes during lap swims. A tip --- use a 3 mil shorty wet suit when you snorkel in the pool. It will keep you buoyant and allow you to concentrate more on fin technique, particularly if you are like me (not an Olympic swimmer). Of course, when I show up with wet suit, fins and mask, I feel like Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, but who cares?
SuSexFulDiver
Contributor
One thing I learned real fast regarding wearing a Mask and leakage problems is to NEVER Smile. I have learned to keep a poker face no matter how funny something is under water. I learned the hard way that the lines in your face around your mouth you get from smiling or laughing are instant entry points for water to enter your mask.
Im learning to store all that laughter or smiles for when I get out of the water so I dont have to keep clearing my mask everytime I do smile.
Also most mask manufacturers do not design Scuba mask for people who have a wide nose, or should I say a broader nose. As soon as I put on a mask the first thing that touch the mask is the sides of my nostrils. Hell my nose do can not squeeze into the sport for the nose on the mask. LOL.
So equalizing my nose while decending by pinching the sides is almost impossible, since my nose do not fit into the nose piece of the mask. I have learned to just put my finger sidways under my nostrils like when you try not to sneeze, and press it as hard as possible against the rubber of the mask so to block my nostrils so I can equalize my ears.
Why dont most Mask manufactures take into account that black guys with wide noses want to scuba also? LOL
Im learning to store all that laughter or smiles for when I get out of the water so I dont have to keep clearing my mask everytime I do smile.
Also most mask manufacturers do not design Scuba mask for people who have a wide nose, or should I say a broader nose. As soon as I put on a mask the first thing that touch the mask is the sides of my nostrils. Hell my nose do can not squeeze into the sport for the nose on the mask. LOL.
So equalizing my nose while decending by pinching the sides is almost impossible, since my nose do not fit into the nose piece of the mask. I have learned to just put my finger sidways under my nostrils like when you try not to sneeze, and press it as hard as possible against the rubber of the mask so to block my nostrils so I can equalize my ears.
Why dont most Mask manufactures take into account that black guys with wide noses want to scuba also? LOL
We were taught to swim lengths without the mask only snorkel.
This is not to difficult once you have overcome that initial breath when your eyes and nose are in the water.
To start with it may be easier to pinch your nose to keep the water out.
Once you can swim without the mask then try swimming along with the mask and pulling it off while still swimming, and breathing of course.
Once you have mastered this then the most traumatic part of the OW is cracked. Everything else is a doddle.
This is not to difficult once you have overcome that initial breath when your eyes and nose are in the water.
To start with it may be easier to pinch your nose to keep the water out.
Once you can swim without the mask then try swimming along with the mask and pulling it off while still swimming, and breathing of course.
Once you have mastered this then the most traumatic part of the OW is cracked. Everything else is a doddle.
UnderSeaBumbleBee
Contributor
Looped,
Hitting the pool is a great idea. I have 2 masks and 2 sets of fins that I use in the pool and work out a couple of days a week. One mask is just a regular mask, the other has a cracked frame and leaks like you wouldn't believe. I use both. The old cracked on I use to work on mask clearing while swimming laps and the good one while I just want to work on kick technique or endurance.
I also have 2 sets of fins. One cheap very flexible pair that I like to think of as my baby step fins. When I started working out in the pool my hip was debilitated so much from an old injury that I was walking with a cane. Swimming a lap or two and I was done at first. Just couldn't do anymore. Have been able to drop the cane and my constant pain that I endured for years is gone. I am spending a lot money on scuba gear, but much less on doctor bills and scuba is more fun.
I have recently started using Scuba Pro jet fins as part of my pool workout. Here is a link to the fins I am talking about:
http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/Cate...DescSort_0/Filter_2=83:1=310/SCPFJ.html?Hit=1
They definitely work out my legs much more than my cheap fins that I have been using in the pool or my Scuba Pro Twin Jet Split fins that I use in open water diving. I can only swim at this point about 1/3 as far with the jets in the pool. I am pretty happy with the result. These new jets are really working my legs and I hope one day to be able to run again. I also use Speedo fitness gloves in the pool.
http://www.sportsauthority.com/prod...TSA/2057738&fbc=1&kw=speedo&parentPage=search
You don't use your arms to swim in scuba much if at all. But while you are in the pool these provide a great workout for your arms. I dislocated a shoulder a while back and these have been great for my rehap on the shoulder.
To keep track of time and laps in the pool, I bought a Timex Iron Man watch from Walmart for about $30. It has a lap button that lets me keep track of how far I swim without me having to think or try to remember what lap I am on. I hut hit the button at the end of the lap and keep on going. Makes the pool workout more enjoyable for me.
People look at me while I am gearing up with my fins, duck hands and mask and snorkel, but who cares! I am feeling great, getting in shape, and having a great time. If I provide others with a little amusement and make them chuckle at me, then I have brought a little happiness in the world too. For the ones that laugh so hard they fall in the pool, well, it keeps the skills of the life guards fresh! LOL!
Good luck to you. Keep us posted on how you are doing.
Leah
Hitting the pool is a great idea. I have 2 masks and 2 sets of fins that I use in the pool and work out a couple of days a week. One mask is just a regular mask, the other has a cracked frame and leaks like you wouldn't believe. I use both. The old cracked on I use to work on mask clearing while swimming laps and the good one while I just want to work on kick technique or endurance.
I also have 2 sets of fins. One cheap very flexible pair that I like to think of as my baby step fins. When I started working out in the pool my hip was debilitated so much from an old injury that I was walking with a cane. Swimming a lap or two and I was done at first. Just couldn't do anymore. Have been able to drop the cane and my constant pain that I endured for years is gone. I am spending a lot money on scuba gear, but much less on doctor bills and scuba is more fun.
I have recently started using Scuba Pro jet fins as part of my pool workout. Here is a link to the fins I am talking about:
http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/Cate...DescSort_0/Filter_2=83:1=310/SCPFJ.html?Hit=1
They definitely work out my legs much more than my cheap fins that I have been using in the pool or my Scuba Pro Twin Jet Split fins that I use in open water diving. I can only swim at this point about 1/3 as far with the jets in the pool. I am pretty happy with the result. These new jets are really working my legs and I hope one day to be able to run again. I also use Speedo fitness gloves in the pool.
http://www.sportsauthority.com/prod...TSA/2057738&fbc=1&kw=speedo&parentPage=search
You don't use your arms to swim in scuba much if at all. But while you are in the pool these provide a great workout for your arms. I dislocated a shoulder a while back and these have been great for my rehap on the shoulder.
To keep track of time and laps in the pool, I bought a Timex Iron Man watch from Walmart for about $30. It has a lap button that lets me keep track of how far I swim without me having to think or try to remember what lap I am on. I hut hit the button at the end of the lap and keep on going. Makes the pool workout more enjoyable for me.
People look at me while I am gearing up with my fins, duck hands and mask and snorkel, but who cares! I am feeling great, getting in shape, and having a great time. If I provide others with a little amusement and make them chuckle at me, then I have brought a little happiness in the world too. For the ones that laugh so hard they fall in the pool, well, it keeps the skills of the life guards fresh! LOL!
Good luck to you. Keep us posted on how you are doing.
Leah
OP
looped
Guest
Phew, I'm VERY glad I'm doing this plan, ie: working out / training and taking course in the spring. I would've been VERY VERY disappointed when I tried to do the 200 m swim, although I think I could have done it with the no time limit thing, just being in the water again, shows me how out of shapeI am!!!!
trigfunctions
Contributor
Regarding the leaking mask, sometimes the snorkel can tug on the mask and break the seal. You might try adjusting where the snorkel is on the mask.
(Once you're certified and more experienced, you might find that not wearing a snorkel at all makes your mask much more comfortable, but don't tell anyone who told you that).
(Once you're certified and more experienced, you might find that not wearing a snorkel at all makes your mask much more comfortable, but don't tell anyone who told you that).
Several of my regular dive buddies and I love to spend leftover gas at the safety stop just trying to get each other to laugh. I suppose it's the comedic version of mask-clearing drills.SuSexFulDiver:
That said, looped, if you have breathing through your mouth down (your personal "hard part") and if you can clear your mask with complete ease (most people's "hard part"), your instructor will *really* appreciate you, I'm sure. Well, that, and the fact that you're showing actual initiative and not just doing the minimum to squeak by.
(I wonder if you could mount a snorkel on a headband in order to keep it on while you doff and don your mask... If that'd work, it'd be a decent way of doing the mask removal, replacement, and clearing version of the mask drill while breathing on a snorkel. It's not really necessary, but as a scuba-simulator, it'd be one tiny step closer.)
leah: When you say that your Timex Iron Man watch has a lap button that keeps track for you so you don't need to keep count, does it actually count up once per press? I need a lap counter of some sort, myself. For example, today, I was supposed to swim 1250 yards quasi-freestyle, but I actually swam at least 100 or 150 yards too much due to losing count (and always rounding down). On the other hand, perhaps I should keep being forgetful, as it's good for the workout.
Midnight Star
Contributor
looped:
Anything new almost assuredly will make us feel self conscious for a time - but I doubt anyone though you looked weird .. cool maybe, but not weird. I'm certified, and I still take my mask, fins and snorkel to the pool quite often to practice finning and breath holds while in gear. The best part is when my son takes his and we just snorkel for hours in the lap lanes, seeing gesturing and giving hand signals underwater as we go
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Mike.
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