Beginners Training for Freediving

Pages in this article 1  2   January 2, 2005 12:55 AM

Several people have posted inquiries about how to begin freediving training, and although I am not an expert, some of the techniques that I have developed for the beginner, are a starting point by which one can then modify and develop their own regimen for training for breath hold diving.

Location:
I utilize a parks and recreation pool located close to my home, since I work full time as well as living in the Pacific Northwest, which can always make the dive training somewhat more challenging. During the adult lap swim time gives me the opportunity to use the deep section for the static breath hold portion of my workout.

I personally feel that the workout done in full gear, sans wetsuit, prepares the mind to accomplish the task that I am setting before it, so I utilize my mask, fins and snorkel & weight belt for each workout. I must confess that the pool sometimes fluctuates in temperature by as much as 10 degrees, so I do wear my 2mm suit.
To mentally prepare myself, and to give myself a workout as well, I swim enough laps with my gear on to cover a distance of 2 miles. This also helps to train your leg muscles to adapt to kicking and gives a good cardiovascular vascular workout as well. I usually do this in about 20-25 minutes, getting my heart rate up to my target heart rate for an efficient aerobic workout.

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