Tips for the 10 minute treading portion of OW certification?

[purbeast]

I'm (hopefully) going to be taking my OW certification in the near future. I am just trying to have my medical waiver cleared before I sign up for it and am hoping that tomorrow I get that taken care of.

A quick background for myself though...

I am an active guy who exercises regularly and have an athletic build similar to like a line backer on a football team. I'm 5'11 and fluctuate between 200 and 210 lbs depending on if I'm bulking or not. I don't do much cardio but my lifting sessions are pretty intense.

I am an avid snorkeler and would say I'm fairly experienced, although I wish I could hold my breath longer. I swim down all the time, hate using life jackets, and feel super comfortable in the water. I've done SCUBA 2 times, once was a one tank dive, the other one was a DSD program which included a pool session and then two one tank dives.

And now I want to get SCUBA certified.

I have to say that the part I'm most concerned about is actually the 10 minute treading part of the test. The swimming I am going to opt to do with a snorkel and fins because that will be super easy, however staying afloat for 10 straight minutes is what I am wondering about. I have never been able to float on my back and I attribute it to muscle being more dense than fat, and I just have more muscle than fat on my body and as mentioned am a pretty big dude. I just know when I've tried to read water before for a while I feel like I get tired fairly quickly. I will say though, it's been a very long time since I've actually ever had to tread water before.

While this may be common sense to some, I never knew until I started researching that holding air in your lungs while you try to float helps as well, so maybe if I tried to do short breaths while keeping more air in my lungs that will help.

However, for those who have struggled to float, I'm wondering if people have any tips on how to pass this part of the test. I don't want to be psyched out before I even perform the test so that is for sure. It would be great if you were allowed to tread with fins on too since that's the condition you will be in while doing SCUBA, but it doesn't sound like that is the case.

 

[tbone1004]

some key points.
Use your arms as much as possible vs. your legs. They're more effective at creating lift and use less energy.
Big, slow, wide arc's of your arms and using your hands as surfaces for creating lift like you do out the car window.
Keep your legs somewhat tucked like your sitting on a bar stool vs. straight down. No idea why this is better, but it works.
Lean slightly backwards, it's more of an arch your back all the way vs. actually lean. Just make sure you aren't swimming around.

Alternatively you can go to youtube and check some pictures of drown proofing. It's basically doing a dead man float with your face in the water and then using your arms just enough to turn your head to the side to breathe. I can't float on my back for similar reasons to you, but I can drown proof for hours *my instructor was a bit intense and one of the students ticked him off one day and he made us drown proof for 2 hours....

 

[Marie13]

Do you have to tread water or can you just float? My OW class was given the option. The gals floated and the guys did the tread water.

Why work when you don’t have to?

 

[tbone1004]

Do you have to tread water or can you just float? My OW class was given the option. The gals floated and the guys did the tread water.

Why work when you don’t have to?

many guys have a lot of trouble floating... normally have a triple threat of less body fat, higher muscle mass, and higher bone density which makes floating rather difficult

 

[Dogbowl]

This is cheating but...if you wear a 7mm wetsuit, you’ll float. Your instructor might make you take it off though LOL!

 

[BalekFekete]

The swimming I am going to opt to do with a snorkel and fins because that will be super easy,

If you haven't, check with your instructor. Ours didn't give us that option (trust me...I was going in with the same mindset you had and was in for a shock when we hit the pool that last time).

Do you have to tread water or can you just float? My OW class was given the option. The gals floated and the guys did the tread water. Why work when you don’t have to?

Was the same in our class. I found floating far easier, with the double bonus of getting more experience with the boyancy effect you get from breathing. I'm far from lean, but will imagine just the air you hold in your lungs will be enough to keep your head and upper torso above water at all times.

This is cheating but...if you wear a 7mm wetsuit, you’ll float. Your instructor might make you take it off though LOL!

I'd wager most instructors would follow ours and make you wear a weight belt to compensate. I opt'd to go without the wetsuit (3mm shorty) myself.

 

[Marie13]

I float without even trying.

 

[Rooster59]

If you're a big guy, you also have big hands/arms and legs/feet, that's an advantage. If you want to tread for a long time, it helps to learn an eggbeater kick. Try YouTube. However you kick, try and go as slow as possible and stay as low in the water as you can and still get a breath. The farther you try to stay out of the water the more effort it takes. Relax as much as you can.

 

[purbeast]

Thanks for the replies so far. @tbone1004 that is a lot of good points.

As for the actual class I went to the orientation for it to get more information about it. I believe that he said you have 2 options for swimming, and I also remember him saying that the treading part is basically more of a "don't drown for 10 minutes and don't touch the side of the pool" kind of test and I'm pretty sure I remember him saying you can just float if you can do it, but as mentioned, I unfortunately have never been able to really do it.

@Rooster59 I will also look into the eggbeater kick thanks.

 

[saxman242]

@Rooster59 I will also look into the eggbeater kick thanks.

Treading water using an eggbeater kick is SIGNIFICANTLY easier than trying to do so with a flutter kick or otherwise, even more so when you add in sculling with your hands.