Freedive Training: Cardio, Intervals, CO2 and O2 Tables
Freevive training can be a complicated process for many people. Just about every dive will agree that the best way to train for breeding is to freedive. Nothing beats in water experience. Unfortunately, not everyone has the time or access to be in the water as much as we would like. Fortunately there are several ways to train for freedivng outside of being in the water. It should be noted that these training techniques try to help the same muscle groups and mental skills that are helpful in freediving. Remember, never train freediving in the water without a dive buddy that understands rescue protocol.
Cardio: How Endurance Improves Freediving
There are a lucky group of people that actually enjoy cardio. Those people are widely considered crazy by the rest of us. The rest of us just need to grin and bear it when we are doing cardio and recognize that doing some of it will help us enjoy other hobbies. The biggest benefit of cardio in freediving is building up endurance. There is nothing worse than getting in the water in a strong current and struggling to be able to dive because you are running out of energy on the surface. Implementing a regular cardio routine has untold benefits to allowing you to enjoy a long day in the water. Some great activities that help also build up you leg muscles are swimming, biking, and of course running.
Intervals: Improving Recovery and Anaerobic Exercise
If there is anything more unpleasant to train than cardio it has to be intervals. It takes the unpleasantness of cardio and magnifies it with the feeling like your heart and lungs are going to explode. For those of you unfamiliar with Interval workouts the more familiar term is sprints. Sprints can be applied to any of the previously mentioned cardio exercises. Basically just push yourself further than you can sustain.
If you are running you can do distance intervals or timing intervals. Runt to a light pole, walk to the next light pole, or run 30 seconds then walk 60 seconds. Swimming can be swimming hard for a lap, recover for a lap. This process is designed to spike your heart rate and helps train your body to recover from anaerobic exercises quicker. Anaerobic exercise is any exercise that uses more oxygen than your body can replace in the amount of time the exercise continues. You can understand how this type of exercise could be helpful I training for freediving.
CO2 and O2 Tables: Training the Mind to Accept Discomfort
CO2 and O2 tables are useful tool in getting your body used to holding its breath. They eat h work in different ways to improve this goal.
CO2 tables focus on getting a build up of CO2 in your body. ?This helps your body become accustomed to that discomfort that makes your mind think you need to breathe. It is not a lack of oxygen that makes you think you need to breathe, but the build up of CO2. By regularly exposing your body to increased levels of CO2 it pushes your mental limits of what your body considers normal. The method of doing this is typically to hold your breath for a consistent amount of time and to reduce the amount of time you breath up before holding your breath.
O2 Tables work on a similar principle but in an inverse way. O2 tables allow for a more gradual buildup of CO2 by having a consistent breath up and holding your breath for longer and longer intervals.