It's been a little while since my last update, I am now in Colombia, staying in a small fishing village with some of the cheapest scuba diving in the world.
I am also trying my hand at some freediving while I am here. Freediving is diving without any breathing apparatus, just holding your breath. It is a hell of a lot cheaper and more convenient than scuba diving, plus you can do it anywhere.
Most people without any training or practice would struggle to hold their breath longer than about 30 seconds while sitting down on dry land, let alone while swimming underwater. This is fairly normal. However, professional freedivers can stay under for five minutes or more even while swimming. Frankly I find that seriously inspiring, so over the last couple of days I have been practicing some freediving techniques to gain more bottom time.
For a sneaky glimpse of how tranquil it can be to drift with the fishes in the Caribean sea, watch my underwater video here. Why don't you try holding your breath along with me ;-).
Freediving is very much a mental sport. My current PBs for breath holding are 1:14 while swimming at -3m and 3:40 on dry land, but I'm certain these could be improved hugely by a little practice. I'm convinced 5:00 above water and 2:30 while swimming are easily within reach. I am going to take a two day freediving course this weekend to try and improve this.
Humans actually have a number of built in adaptations that kick in when we submerge ourselves underwater, I won't go into it here but google "mammalian diving reflex" if you are interested. The key to longer times underwater is proper mental control.
Maintaining a relaxed state is the most important thing. You have to keep your heart rate low and move very slowly and as gracefully as possible through the water. Your urge to breathe is like a little fishhook in your brain, it starts by tugging very gently and slowly progresses to a wrenching yank that pulls you almost involuntarily to the surface. Fighting it will agitate you and raise your heartrate, having an opposite from desired effect. You need to disassociate from it and chill out, man. I have had a lot of success by relaxing my mind and using calming visualisation techniques, this alone has pushed my times at depth from 30 seconds to over a minute.
I actually like freediving quite a bit more than scuba diving. Scuba is very relaxing and a really unique experience, but breath hold diving is even more tranquil somehow. I particularly like the mental discipline aspect of the sport, it's almost a form of meditation.
The underwater world here is just mindblowing and incredible. I've been trying to snap some decent underwater photos so I can share it with you, but it doesn't do it justice. And let me tell you, taking good photos underwater is horribly difficult. The light is bad, focussing takes a long time, added to the fact that fish move, you are also moving and as soon as you get in a good position your brain is SCREAMING at you for air, you've got a recipe for a real challenge. I'm pretty proud of some of the photos I've managed to snap, the best of which you can see below.
Most people without any training or practice would struggle to hold their breath longer than about 30 seconds while sitting down on dry land, let alone while swimming underwater. This is fairly normal. However, professional freedivers can stay under for five minutes or more even while swimming. Frankly I find that seriously inspiring, so over the last couple of days I have been practicing some freediving techniques to gain more bottom time.
For a sneaky glimpse of how tranquil it can be to drift with the fishes in the Caribean sea, watch my underwater video here. Why don't you try holding your breath along with me ;-).
Freediving is very much a mental sport. My current PBs for breath holding are 1:14 while swimming at -3m and 3:40 on dry land, but I'm certain these could be improved hugely by a little practice. I'm convinced 5:00 above water and 2:30 while swimming are easily within reach. I am going to take a two day freediving course this weekend to try and improve this.
Humans actually have a number of built in adaptations that kick in when we submerge ourselves underwater, I won't go into it here but google "mammalian diving reflex" if you are interested. The key to longer times underwater is proper mental control.
Maintaining a relaxed state is the most important thing. You have to keep your heart rate low and move very slowly and as gracefully as possible through the water. Your urge to breathe is like a little fishhook in your brain, it starts by tugging very gently and slowly progresses to a wrenching yank that pulls you almost involuntarily to the surface. Fighting it will agitate you and raise your heartrate, having an opposite from desired effect. You need to disassociate from it and chill out, man. I have had a lot of success by relaxing my mind and using calming visualisation techniques, this alone has pushed my times at depth from 30 seconds to over a minute.
I actually like freediving quite a bit more than scuba diving. Scuba is very relaxing and a really unique experience, but breath hold diving is even more tranquil somehow. I particularly like the mental discipline aspect of the sport, it's almost a form of meditation.
The underwater world here is just mindblowing and incredible. I've been trying to snap some decent underwater photos so I can share it with you, but it doesn't do it justice. And let me tell you, taking good photos underwater is horribly difficult. The light is bad, focussing takes a long time, added to the fact that fish move, you are also moving and as soon as you get in a good position your brain is SCREAMING at you for air, you've got a recipe for a real challenge. I'm pretty proud of some of the photos I've managed to snap, the best of which you can see below.
 |
| -5m |
 |
| So pretty! |
 |
| Pufferfish |
 |
| Lionfish |
No comments:
Post a Comment