Blog Archives - Kaizen Freediving

ZERO TO HERO: FROM THE EYES OF A FORMER ZERO

17.12.202317.12.2023sergeyvladivostok

Not all heroes wear capes, some wear wetsuits

By Akshay Thatte

(These are my thoughts on having completed the Zero To Hero course two months ago. I feel it would be good to share my thoughts and experiences a few months after having finished it, just to ensure that there is no bias or hangover of the course persisting. A lot of things are said in jest and must not be taken seriously. Any hurt caused is deeply regretted. Do not come after me. Please 😊)

The Freediving Program From Zero to Hero is a long-term course that allows anyone with no prior freediving experience to progress and make it all the way to an Instructor. You can go from being the Jon Snow of freediving and transform into a Freediver; A rare breed of neoprene-wearing human, that’s found in mostly tropical waters. You can hear their distinctive calls of Frenzel and Mouthfill from conversations in bars that distinguish them from their bulkier cousins; the scuba divers. With the amount of sign language involved, add the right soundtrack and they could well be rappers in another dimension. But you are here to be a freediver, a Master Freediver who goes deeper than your imagination has fathomed so far. 32 meters is 104 feet or a ten-story building. That’s a lot of distance to cover in one breath.

Inhale. Let’s go.

Why/Who Should Do It

Who should do it? Pretty much anyone who likes the sea, and marine life and or is looking for a new extreme sport that isn’t life-threatening on a daily basis (like cliff jumping). If there’s a longing desire to spend more time in the sea watching all the fishes there are to see, but the inevitable time limit of scuba or just the distance to the fishies while snorkelling bothers you, then freediving is the way to go. No disrespect to scuba, but that 150 bar in the tank disappears faster than /savings in a casino/politicians after election results are announced. Take your pick.

The comfort with your body, the sea and the confidence to duck dive anywhere is a priceless skill. Yes, it’s a callback to that old Mastercard ad. Speaking of Mastercard, this is also the most financially viable course to learn in terms of training dives and time.

If you already have done some form of apnea, spearfishing or just dabbled around then this is the most organised, structured option there is. The Freediving program Zero To Hero is meant to progress beyond the advanced course systematically, learning new techniques that form the foundation of any freediver. Beyond 20 meters is when time, technique and guidance become crucial. Which brings us to the next point.

THE INSTRUCTOR

How do you choose where to do it? The answer is simple, find the best instructor. Your instructor is everything in the course. Fins, wetsuits, nose clips, and all the sufi gear you can get your hands on means nothing without the Guru. I have been blessed to have been taught by Sergei, who’s not just been teaching since PADI began its Freediver courses 10 years ago but has also trained more instructors than one can count.

But just these credentials are not what makes him stand apart, it’s this smiling Buddha- Zen-like energy that makes the difference. I have yet to see him even display mild annoyance. Considering there were 5 Masters students in varying stages of the course, I am sure it would have driven him up the wall at times. But hey, that’s why he is the boss. My first instructor, Shonali Ghoshal, herself an accomplished Scuba Master Instructor graduated from the same school of thought and institute- Kaizen Freediving in Koh Tao, Thailand. A testament to the quality of instructors produced.

Calm, professional and knowing how to hold the reins of the student. These are the best instructors to have, they have learnt how to manage a whole host of personalities and that is why surrendering to the knowledge of the Guru is so important. The Instructor is irreplaceable.

Every Equalisation problem that seems like a world-ending problem will be handled calmly because it is NOT their first time dealing with AND sorting out such issues. Trust your Instructor. You are not a unique snowflake, with unique EQ problems.

The right teacher understands that even if the body may be ready, it is as much a mental game. With Sergei, the PBs and the numbers were never the goals, it was always “What’s your comfortable depth? Let’s make that deeper.” It’s this slow and steady approach that pays off long term, not only is this safer and methodical but more importantly inspires confidence in the freedivers’ own abilities.

This approach is what made me fall in love with the sea, knowing that I could spend almost a minute hanging in zero gravity is something to be experienced, words do no justice.

TIPS I’D PASS ON

DISCIPLINE: Did Jocko just show up in your dreams ??!! If he did, Good. Because at some level this is the only way to go. This section gets into Veteran speak. Falling ill is unplanned, but taking precautions, getting enough sleep, eating well and training hard are in your hands. These may sound trivial, but they are the key, like hydration and sunscreen. The benefits and the repercussions are all yours. Hydrate. Be disciplined. Stay hard. This course will create habits and as Sergei says “It’s easier to teach someone new than to correct old mistakes”.

TIME: Take time off. Have dry days to soak in the sun and a few beers. It’ll take anywhere from 2-3 months to finish and that’s a long time. There will be periods of stagnation, where the ears won’t EQ or it’s just plain exhausting physically. Be prepared mentally, and physically the body will respond.

BABY STEPS: The key I figured was to break down each session into what needed to be achieved today. An increase in depth by a meter at a time is not daunting, 32 meters depth, 70 meters dynamic sounds like a lot, but it’s baby steps all the way. The journey is far more rewarding.

FAITH: Having faith in your instructor and following the military’s favourite training philosophy of “Don’t Think, Do” is the best way. It’s the most uncomplicated way to approach it, you are a sponge, soak it up. There is wisdom in even the smallest of conversations, keep your ears open. Learn the good drills followed.

Looking Back or If I Had A Time Machine.

I would have pushed harder when it came to depth. It’s the one discipline that takes the most effort, logistically and otherwise, boats, conditions, a safety diver etc. There are too many factors that make it difficult to chase depth any other time. I would spend a longer time and try to get to 40 during the Masters course itself. The rest of it, I would not change a bit. Follow your Instructor.

CONCLUSION

What you will remember has very little to do with the classroom and theory. The daily diving, meeting the same group of Masters students, going through the same issues, post-dive hunger et all. Three months of intensive daily diving; That’s a long time to dive almost every day with the same group and celebrate each other’s PBs in any discipline, looking forward to watching a 50-meter tow happen in ripping current, watching every competition like we were next in line, swimming in a sea of jellyfish, doing FIM in a current where the line is at an angle that would make Pythogoras giddy with joy. These are just some of the experiences along the way that will remain as my version of “Back in the day when…., or During my Masters…..”

The greatest gift though, has been comfort in the sea. The sea is no longer daunting, unknown, and scary, she is a place of joy and comfort. Everyday. The confidence to feel and say this, to go and hang at 15 meters and just soak in the nothingness is where the metamorphosis takes place.

The student of Freediving Program Zero to Hero, is the little turtle crawling out of the sand and making its way to the sea. Just like a turtle, the first few years can be quite tumultuous, but be sure that once you go to the sea there’s no looking back.

FIN

How To Hold Your Breath Longer | STA Complete Guide

12.04.202317.04.2023sergeyvladivostok

Static apnea is the first step in freediving when you are holding your breath and not moving. Let’s talk about how to learn to hold your breath safely and for an extended period.

The best place to learn how to do a breath hold correctly is, without a doubt, a freediving course. In most cases, the agency or the location is insignificant. Just check that static apnea is a part of the beginner-level freediving course.

But what if you can’t do a course at the moment? Or you did it a while ago and forgot most of it (yes, it happens).
Then, this article is for you!

Trying to breathe hold without understanding what is happening in your body at this moment is not the best way.
Start (or refresh) your freediving journey by understanding the basic freediving theory. Again, the best place for it is the freediving course.
The second best place is to watch our online tutorials 🙂

The breath holds itself has three steps – relaxation breathing, the breath hold, and recovery breathing after it. The breath hold can be further divided into an easy and struggling phase (after contractions kick in).

After you understand the basic freediving theory, don’t be rash and immediately start holding your breath. Let’s first learn how to do breathing before a breath holds. Yes, it’s important.

Before a breath-hold, freedivers practice so-called breath up (relaxation breathing). The goal is to relax the body and stop worrying.
Here is more information on how to do relaxation breathing.

The next step is a big breath in. How deep should you inhale? In theory – as deep as possible. But for a beginner freediver, a huge breath-in usually makes it uncomfortable. What is the solution? In the short run – do less than the maximum inhale (let’s say 90%). In the long run – learn how to engage all the respiratory muscles for the maximum inhale and regularly do diaphragm and thoracic cavity stretching. The more air you inhale, the more O2 your lungs will have.

Ok, now you ready to hold your breath. But how long should you hold?
For beginners, we recommend holding only until the first contractions kick in. In freediving, we call it the “no contraction” table.

After practicing the “no contraction table” for a while, you can measure how long you can hold. But remember, no pushing! Let’s say you can hold until the urge to breathe kick in and a little more (10-30 seconds). The more you postpone the desire to go all in, the better chances to understand the basic principles of the breath hold.

After you have done your max (it’s not the actual max since you were not pushing, right?), try the easy version of CO2 table – classical. There is some criticism of this table (mainly because it is too easy), but it’s worth it for you as a beginner.

Here is our tutorial on how to do a classical CO2 table.
And for the first month, do nothing else. 2-3 days of no contraction table, then easy CO2 table. Every two weeks, you can do your new “PB.” Try to avoid pushing too hard.

After 1-2 months of training, you can intensify your training. For example, include a “one breath” table in your training regime. Also, on your dry days can exhale STA, just for versatility.

Avoid trying PB too often if you can do more than three minutes now.
Pay attention to the idea of overtraining. Though it’s quite hard to harm your body, training too much can lead to losing interest in continuing training. Choose the frequency wisely. Ideally, you don’t want to train more than three-four times per week for a few months.

Of course, we are all different, and one approach can be perfect for one freediver but not another. So, come back to the beginning of this post – you want to train with a coach. But what if you don’t have a coach?

Then check out our online coaching program!

Everything you want to know about Cressi Gara Modular Impulse fins.

02.02.202202.02.2022sergeyvladivostok

Even if you are new to freediving or spearfishing, you might have already realized that you want to have personal gear?

It is more comfortable.
It is more reliable.
It will fit you perfectly.

One of the first things freedivers buy after finishing their freediver course is freediving fins. If you have a quick look at freedivers forums, most freedivers state that carbon fins have the best performance.

Cressi Gara Modular Impulse Freediving Fins

That is true. But carbon fins most likely will cost you a fortune. So if money is not a big deal for you – get yourself a pair of carbons.

But if you need a smart solution for your pocket – it makes sense to go for plastic fins.

And here the market also provides a wide variety of choices.

As a freediving school, we have tried many plastic fins for our students. Our main criteria of good-quality fins are medium stiffness, durability, and a comfortable and robust foot pocket.

In concern of these three aspects, let’s have a closer look at Cressi Gara Modular Impulse fins.

Stiffness. Cressi Gara Modular Impulse fins are very soft for fins made of plastic. The blade looks thin, and Cressi says it is thinner than other fins. Also, according to specifications, the Modular Impulse blade is 5cm longer than the average freediving fin blade. After a few months of using Gara Modular Impulse, I can state they provide a soft kick, and the legs don’t get tired after a long swimming period.

The shape of the tip of the blade reminds a caudal fish fin. This design is supposed to give better fin control. I am not sure how we can check it, but it sounds reasonable as all fish passed the years of evolution and have more or less the same tail tip.

Despite blades of Gara Modular Impulse are thin and soft, Cressi promises that they are durable and strong. Besides, if you treat plastic fins properly, they will serve you for many years. In any case, all gear has a warranty – so keep the receipt, and if something happens with your fins during the warranty period – you can always claim for exchange or repair.

The comfortable foot pocket is what Cressi is proud of for all their freediving fins. Still, they keep evolving their designs, and in Modular Impulse fins, Cressi implements a self-adjustable foot pocket. What does it mean? First of all – the foot pocket is soft. It doesn’t squeeze or press or provide any unwanted tension on your foot. Besides, this foot pocket makes it possible to wear these fins with or without socks, depending on the water temperature you dive in. Even tropical waters can be cold enough, and it’s a great advantage to dive in the same pair of fins barefoot in Thailand and the Philippines wearing the socks. Footpocket should stretch slightly to make both options comfortable.

If the foot pocket is too wide for you, you can also use insoles (come in a set with fins), which help reduce the foot pocket size. And if it’s not enough and the fin fits loose, I would recommend going for fin-holders. Small rubber straps which you put ON the fin. You can check a short video here on how to use them. And you can order the fin holders from Amazon.

I need to mention some other benefits of these fins:

– 29 degrees angle of a blade, which works for better streamlining and kicking techniques;

– anti-slip water rails prevent water flow from escaping sideways, which results in a “spoon effect” and better efficiency of your kicks;

– replaceable blades make it possible to change the blades easily. This feature is helpful if you, for example, want to use soft fins for freediving and more stiff fins for spearfishing, and this foot pocket fits you perfectly.

To conclude, Cressi Gara Modular Impulse fins are soft, durable, and comfortable in both concerns – wearing and kicking.

The affordable price of these fins allows me to say YES, plastic fins can be really good.

You can order the Cressi Modular Gara fins on Amazon.

By Svitlana Gaidai

What Every Freediver Should Know About Hyperventilation

13.08.202101.11.2021sergeyvladivostok

If you have already done your first Freediving course, then you learned that hyperventilation is dangerous and should be avoided before a breath-hold. But also probably seen some elite-level freedivers doing it before their massive STA breath-hold

So, who is right?

First, let’s discuss the theory and then whether you should do hyperventilation or not.

Your breathing rate and depth are mainly regulated by how much CO2 you produce at the moment. Usually, your breathing rate and depth match your current metabolic activity level. But if you voluntarily start changing your breathing rate or/and depth, you are more likely to do hyperventilation.

What are the disadvantages of hyperventilation?

elevated heart rate
cerebrial vasoconstriction
suppressing Bohr Effect
increased risk of Black Out

To learn more about hyperventilation, watch this video.

More about Bohr Effect for Freediving

If HV is dangerous, then why can you see it on the STA competition?

The answer is simple – competitive Freedivers are ready to accept the increased risk of having Black Out to have their urge to breath later (in the attempt of having more extended breath-hold).

And also let’s not forget that the safety during the competition is usually better organized than your regular training session.

If you are looking to buy heart rate monitor, here is the link (Amazon)

Sprints For DYNb Technique | Freediving Pool Training

16.07.202129.07.2021sergeyvladivostok

If you are already an experienced freediver looking for a new exercise to improve your Dynamic Apnea Bi-Fins technique and results, think about underwater sprints.

There are a couple of reasons why you might include it in your Freediving training

Improve your finning technique
Include anaerobic work for your legs

When you get some experience with this exercise, you can add some resistance to it. For example, you can wear a swimming parachute or swimming drag shorts.

For more information about sprints for DYNb training, check out my video below.

If you are looking to buy a swimming parachute or drag shorts, check the affiliated links below.

Swimming parachute https://amzn.to/3l4piye

Swimming drag shorts https://amzn.to/3iZvAwk

BUOYANCY FOR FREEDIVING OPEN WATER

06.10.202001.11.2021sergeyvladivostok

What do we know about buoyancy? In general and buoyancy for freediving? You normally learn it on your Freediving course, but lets refresh it here.

Google tells us that buoyancy is the upward force applied by a fluid on an object when the object is put in or submerged in the fluid. In a more simple way for freedivers, it means “sink or float or stay on the same depth.”

Why does it have any meaning for us as freedivers? If you are not properly buoyant, it will cost you much more energy to cover the same distance. But as freedivers, we want to save energy as much as possible, not to spend it.

There are 3 types of buoyancy: positive, neutral and negative.

If we refer to Google again, we can find out that positive buoyancy occurs when an object is lighter than the fluid it displaces. The object will float because the buoyant force is greater than the object’s weight. Neutral buoyancy occurs when an object’s weight is equal to the fluid it displaces. Negative buoyancy occurs when an object is heavier than the fluid it displaces. The object will sink because its weight is greater than the buoyant force.

In more simple words, if the freediver is positively buoyant at a certain depth – he floats up without any effort. If the freediver is neutrally buoyant – he stays on the same depth and doesn’t move up or down at all. I believe we can compare it to zero gravity feeling. I have never been to space yet, but I guess neutral buoyancy is what we might feel while wondering in the universe. Negative buoyancy is when the freediver just keeps falling down if he relaxes and doesn’t move. This “phenomena” is called freefall and for many freedivers, this is the best and most favorite part of dive.

Buoyancy depends on different factors – personal and external.

A personal factor, which influences the buoyancy, is body composition. Different body tissues have different density – bones and muscles are heavier than fat. Skinny people are usually less buoyant then people who have some body fat.

When we are talking about external factors influencing the buoyancy, first we need to think about the environment. In saltwater freediver more buoyant than in the freshwater due to different water density. So don’t forget to adjust your weights correspondingly, if you change the diving conditions. Otherwise, duck dives in the sea will be a real challenge, if you take the same amount of weights, which you take normally in the lake.

The second important external factor is a wetsuit. Wetsuit does affect buoyancy. The thicker is a wetsuit, the more buoyant it is. And the new wetsuit is more buoyant than the old one. Which means, if you are diving for 2 years in the same wetsuit you may need fewer weights after a certain period of time, then you used when your outfit was a brand new one. Just opposite – if you get yourself a new wetsuit – don’t forget that you may need some extra weights.

What you can do if you are too positively buoyant? You can add weights on your weight belt or neck weight. It is more difficult to adjust the buoyancy if the freediver is “too heavy” in the water. The easiest way is a wetsuit – if you put it on – it will make you more buoyant. But, if for some reason you cannot wear a thicker wetsuit – maybe it would be too hot in it, and then nothing could be done. At least at the moment, freediving gear manufacturers cannot solve the problem of negatively buoyant freedivers. Who knows, maybe soon someone will create rash guards with tiny balloons all around? We’ll see 🙂

And now, let’s discuss how we can check if we have proper buoyancy for open water trainings.

First of all, the freediver needs to be positive buoyant on a surface – when he lies down on a surface he is not sinking. The reason for it – you want to be able to rest before and after the dive – before the dive, you want to relax and take time to prepare, and after the dive, you might be a bit tired and want to recover. If you need to kick to stay on the surface – it is not the most relaxing, right?

Except being positive buoyant on a surface you need to be positive buoyant even after passive exhale. What does it mean “passive exhale”? You do full inhale and then you exhale without any force, passively release a little bit of air. After this manipulation you still need to float on a surface – may be a few centimeters below the surface, but definitely not sinking (even slowly) down.

Why?

If the worst-case scenario happens and the freediver loses consciousness on the way up, he will still stay positively buoyant on ascending and the whole rescue procedure will be much easier to do. Because when the freediver loses consciousness, the diaphragm relaxes and goes to the neutral position, which results in a little exhale. So when we do a buoyancy check with a passive exhale on a surface, this is a kind of imitation of air release in case of a blackout.

Besides, the freediver should be also positively buoyant the last couple of meters of ascending. Because on the last few meters of ascend freediver passes the riskiest depth, so it would be more reasonable to save little energy and not to kick hard. In this situation, the freediver can slightly relax and save some energy (read oxygen) on the last 5-10 meters due to positive buoyancy, which helps to prevent shallow water blackout.

Neutral buoyancy should be somewhere around 10 meters. At this depth, you don’t sink or float up. How you can check it? You dive to 10 meters. You slightly hold the line – make some kind of loop with your fingers around the line, so you don’t actually touch the line. And you will see if you go down or up. Ideally, you should stay on the same level – this means you have neutral buoyancy at this depth.

The depth of neutral buoyancy depends on how deep the freediver is going to dive and for experienced freedivers depth of neutral buoyancy might be deeper. But if you are a beginner or intermediate level freediver, you need to be neutrally buoyant at 8-10 meters. There is a one really cool warm-up exercise which our students find enjoyable. If you feel comfortable at 10 meters, try to hang there for a while. If you close your eyes, you can imagine yourself an astronaut in the open space out of gravity. This exercise we call hangs. But don’t hang too long – always remember you still have 10 meters to go up to the surface.

And when the freediver passes neutral buoyancy he gets into the impact of negative buoyancy. At the beginning of 12-13 meters, you don’t feel it much, because it is still very light. If you relax for freefall at this depth, you will fall super slow and just waste your oxygen-treasured time. So I wouldn’t recommend you to start freefall shallower than 15 meters.

After your turn on the planned depth, you need to do the way up which is just opposite to the efforts on the way down – first, you need to kick really good and strong to struggle with negative buoyancy. After you pass neutral buoyancy, you get into the positive buoyancy world and can relax a bit. Last 5-6 meters you may just float up fully relaxed without moving or glide a lot between kicks or between pulls, depending on your freediving technique.

To make a conclusion I would like to underline once again the key points of this article – when you check the buoyancy – you check it first on a surface. Even after passive exhale you should be positively buoyant. If you start sinking after passive exhales – remove the weights. Check if you are neutrally buoyant at 8-10 meters. If you sink – remove some weights from your belt.

And the main things – don’t forget to enjoy your freefall and your hangs in space.

If you are looking for the best freediving float check out 2 Be Free equipment company. Use promo code KAIZEN and get 10 % discount for all their products.

By Svitlana Gaidai

SAFETY FOR FREEDIVING OW SESSION

10.09.202001.11.2021sergeyvladivostok

Let me start with a question – WHY do we need to do safety for each other on freediving open water sessions?

Despite it rarely happening, we shouldn’t ignore a slight chance of shallow water blackout on ascend. For this reason, the safety diver needs to dive and meet the ascending freediver at approximately one-third of the depth and escort him to the surface.

Let’s have a closer look at the most frequent mistakes.

The first “popular” mistake is not to follow the surface interval between the dives. So, for example, the freediver comes up from the deep dive, and instead of taking full recovery as if he gets ready for his next deep dive, almost immediately, he confirms he is prepared to do safety.

What is the problem here? – Obviously, the freediver hasn’t recovered fully. So when the freediver gets ready for his deep dive, he would rest after the last dive and never dive just after the recovery breathing. It takes a while to remove extra CO2 from tissues and renew the gas balance in the body. So why would the freediver prepare for the deep dive more carefully than for the safety dive? Just perhaps, safety dive to 10-15 meters doesn’t sound like a challenge. And if a safety diver needs to watch and escort the freediver, it is not a big deal at all. But imagine the situation when the freediver loses consciousness, and the safety diver needs to grab him, bring to the surface, and then do all rescue procedures. You know, all this lifting and supporting an unresponsive diver on the surface is a pretty exhausting activity. So make sure you rest long enough to perform as safety and rescuer if you need to. Take your time; no rush in freediving.

The second mistake freedivers usually make connected to equipment.

Before your dive, you probably leave a snorkel in the float to avoid dragging. But when you watch your buddy’s dive from the surface, it is more convenient to have a snorkel in the mouth. Of course, you hold the line to know when to start the dive, but sometimes it is not enough – your freediver may forget to pull the line, or he pulls too weak. So looking down is a good idea because you can react faster and not miss your freediver, making the snorkel a helpful piece of equipment.

The same story is with the fins. If you train without fins, you still need them for safety. Even if your no fins technique is brilliant, lifting a blacked-out freediver to the surface is not a piece of cake. You have to swim fast, which will be impossible to do without fins. And use proper freediving fins for safety – scuba fins or monofin are unacceptable; you can use them only for your dives.

The third mistake is to miss the moment when to begin the dive.

How do you know when to start your dive as a safety? When a beginner freediver dives to 20-30 meters, the easiest way to check when you need to start the safety dive is to do the following: you lie on the surface and hold the line when your freediver reaches the target depth, he grabs the line for a turn and pulls it (which is a part of turning technique). You feel this pull, and it means your freediver started the ascend, which is a signal for you to start your dive.

For deep freedivers, it’s a bit different story since they know precisely how long the dive lasts and at what exact depth you need to meet them.

Mistake number four – not to watch freediver till his full recovery.

I guess this is the most common mistake. Freediver comes up, and after he finishes recovery breathing, you stop paying attention to him and do your staff. It’s a huge mistake. Full recovery is not the same as the end of recovery breathing. Recovery breathing is a certain amount of active inhales, and passive exhales and may last only 5-15 seconds. But full recovery takes more time. You cannot be sure your freediver is ok 5 seconds after he breaks the surface and shows ok. Some freedivers have a habit of showing ok as soon as they can. And the freediver could have LMC even after he did recovery breathing. So if you are not continuing watching freediver carefully for a while, you may miss the moment when he requires some support.

Let’s finalize and try to set up four main rules for safety in the open water:

follow surface interval timing for your safety dives same as for your deep dives
check/put on your gear before you confirm you are available for safety dive
start the safety dive in time
Watch freediver till he fully recovers, not till the end of recovery breathing.

If you are looking for the best freediving float check out 2 Be Free equipment company. Use promo code KAIZEN and get 10 % discount for all their products.

By Svitlana Gaidai

Safety for STA

03.08.202001.11.2021sergeyvladivostok

It’s hard to underestimate the role of a safety buddy in any freediving discipline.

At first glance safety skill for STA seems to be very easy – you need to carefully watch your buddy and be ready to assist if necessary.

However, safety for static apnea is a unique experience in freediving: only in static safety buddy can talk to the freediver during the breath-hold – give comments, support, and motivate. In this case, the safety buddy in static apnea acts as the coach.

So don’t ignore the requirement to train with a safety buddy – it’s not just about following the RULE No.1 in freediving, which you learned on your Freediving course – never freedive alone, but it is also very convenient to have someone who can tell you “Hold it. Don’t give up. 5 seconds left!”

Except that your safety buddy should be a freediver, who knows how to do rescue in case of LMC or blackout, it would also be good to know how to do CPR. Of course, nobody wants to use this skill, but you never know what can happen.

Moreover, it’s always a good idea to refresh rescue skills from time to time – maybe once a week or once a month – in this case, you can be sure that you remember all steps and can do them even if you are stressed out.

And when I say that you need to watch your buddy, I mean to observe, paying all your attention to the freediver who holds his breath. When your freediver does relaxation breathing, you can relax, but as soon as he holds the breath – all your attention goes on freediver till he comes up and finish recovery breathing. You need to make sure your freediver is fully recovered. You must control the situation even after your freediver showed you the OK sign and a little bit after that. Don’t look around or check your phone when you do safety, as you can skip the moment when freediver blacks out.

I agree that sometimes it is not the most exciting job, especially if your freediver does long tables or a set of long breath holds. But this is a part of the game, and as we say, “if you like to sled, must like to push your sled up the hill.”

The last aspect of safety – your position towards freediver.

What do we do in Crystal Freediving for our pool training sessions – if someone does the maximum attempt or the near-maximum – 70-80%, or trying to set up the personal best, safety buddy stays in the pool next to the freediver. In this case, there are many more chances for some emergency, and the safety buddy’s quick reaction matters.

If we are training easy breath-holds – 50-60% of the maximum, it is acceptable for the safety buddy to stay out of the water on the side of the pool. Still, hand-distance to freediver is a “must”. Although during easy static apnea training, the emergency case is hard to happen, it doesn’t mean you can sit on a sunbed and drink coffee while your freediver is holding the breath. You never know how it goes, so you should be close to your buddy.

In my opinion, freediver’s results depend a lot on safety buddy. If you can trust your buddy, if you are sure that he is attentive enough and will not confuse anything, and will proceed as you agreed, then you can relax much better. And, as you know, relaxation is the primary key to success in freediving.

By Svitlana Gaidai

Looking to buy the best freediving computer? Here is the link (Amazon) for Suunto D4

Snorkel For Freediving

31.05.202001.11.2021sergeyvladivostok

Freedivers are blessed to require very little equipment to enjoy the underwater world. We only need fins, a mask, and a snorkel. But do we actually need the snorkel for freediving? Let’s find it out.

For safety reasons, you have to remove a snorkel from your mouth during any breath-hold. But what about providing safety to your freediving buddy or while relaxation breathing before the breath-hold?

Let’s start with static apnea. There are two options for relaxation breathing before STA. Some freedivers use a snorkel if they prefer to prepare with a face down in the water (it also helps to trigger Mammalian Dive Reflex but create extra “Dead Space”). Other freedivers are breathing, either leaning on a pool wall or lying on the back. A safety buddy usually doesn’t use a snorkel since it is not necessary to put his face in the water.

The other pool discipline is dynamic apnea, where a freediver swims horizontally underwater, and a safety buddy follows him on the surface. Most of the time, relaxation breathing is done without a mask, and a snorkel, and the mask can be put on only right before the breath-hold. However, like with static apnea, some people feel more relaxed with a face in the water to get ready. In this case, before the swim, it makes sense to unclip the snorkel and leave it on the side of the pool to prevent unnecessary dragging. Safety buddy in this discipline has to wear the snorkel to constantly watch freediver from the surface, ready to assist as quickly as possible.

Now let’s have a look at what we have with diving in the sea.

If you dive in calm water, you can prepare for a dive without a snorkel lying on your back. However, if the sea is a bit choppy, it would not be the best position for relaxation breathing. You can imagine – you lay on the surface, do your final deep breath, and when almost ready to go, some water can accidentally get over your face. So, in this case, it would be easier to do relaxation breathing through a snorkel face down in the water. I prefer to leave my snorkel on a float and not to have it clipped to my mask underwater.

A safety buddy usually has a snorkel to watch a freediver during his descend and, in some cases, watch how the diver is coming up. Besides, a safety buddy doesn’t dive that deep, and snorkel dragging is not a big problem. Some Freedivers keep it attached to the mask; others hold it in hand or put it under the weight belt.

A bit different story is with recreational freediving when freedivers explore the local reef and enjoy the marine life, combining snorkeling and freediving. They dive pretty shallowly, and while they swim on the surface, they look for something exciting underwater. Does it make sense to wear a snorkel? It does! And how to deal with a snorkel during your dive? You have several options – leave snorkel on the float, pass it to your buddy, hold it in hand during the whole dive or keep it clipped to the mask – whatever you find more convenient.

Looking for a snorkel for Freediving? Check out here (Amazon link)

Hyperventilation for Freedivers

01.05.202010.10.2021sergeyvladivostok

Quite often, I start a beginner Freediving course by asking my students whether they think freediving is a dangerous activity or not. Some say yes, some say no, it is absolutely safe.

The truth is somewhere in the middle.

If you follow safety rules, Freediving is safe and enjoyable water-based activity. But if you break these rules, then Freediving becomes a Russian roulette without guaranteeing of a happy end.

And one of such rules is – don’t do hyperventilation before a breath hold!

But first of all, what is hyperventilation?

Hyperventilation is over-breathing – when you breathe more than you need to. Usually, the rate and depth of your breathing depend on a current metabolic activity (mainly on how much CO2 you produce). So, more CO2 you make – deeper or faster you breathe.

For example, when you are sleeping, you are not producing that much CO2, and your breath is shallow and quiet. But in contrast, if you are running, you create much more CO2, which dramatically affects your breathing rate and depth.

Back to Freediving. Remember, how breath-hold looks like? Relaxations breathing, breath-hold itself, and recovery breathing after.

Relaxation breathing can vary among freedivers, and we like to experiment with it. And some freedivers intentionally or unintentionally can do hyperventilation instead of relaxation breathing.

Why would someone do it intentionally? Is it an attempt to bring more O2? Unlikely, since the vast majority of O2 in your body is already connected with hemoglobin, this will not be affected by manipulation with breathing.

The answer is that someone does hyperventilation to decrease CO2 in the blood and delay the urge to breathe.

And what about unintentional hyperventilation? It can happen with a freediver who thinks that only fast breathing is hyperventilation. For example, you can hear such advice as “exhale as twice longer as inhale.” This is indeed a mild version of hyperventilation

But why is hyperventilation is not a good idea for Freedivers?

1. HR will go up. If you do deep and fast breathing, your heart rate will inevitably increase. And the heart is the muscle that requires O2. The more it works, the more O2 it consumes.

2. Lower CO2. Think about your urge to breathe as an alarm clock. When you have it, consider it a signal that you might come close to your hypoxic limit. If you remove too much CO2 by hyperventilation, you can come too close to your hypoxic limit and have a Black Out.

3. Also, removing too much CO2 will increase the blood pH level, making it alkaline. It will lead to cerebral vasoconstriction (constriction of the blood vessels in your brain), and as a result – less blood, less O2 will be delivered to the brain.

4. Hyperventilation suppresses the Bohr Effect. The presence of CO2 makes an easier O2 release from hemoglobin. If CO2 goes down, this mechanism is not working that well anymore.

Bottom line – hyperventilation should be avoided by beginner and intermediate freedivers by all means! It doesn’t give you any benefits but puts you at unnecessary risk.

More about Hyperventilation here

Stay safe!