Freediving topics

Flow state and freediving

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 08:32:58 GMT

In this article I will explain how to best achive flow state in freediving

D id you know that our brain uses up around 25% of our oxygen supply?

How would it be if we could hack in to a state of mind to get that oxygen consumption down?

Today, I will be writing about what is called the "flow state" and how we as freedivers can reach this state to optimise our performance.

I will give you all the tools and methods needed so that you can perform at your best with minimal effort.

I will start off by briefly explaining the history of flow. This will be followed by an exploration of what happens in our brain during a flow state, what the different characteristics of flow state are, and also what actually triggers flow, so that you as freedivers can access into this perfect peak performance state of mind.

Lastly, we will go through a dive example and show you how you could put this information to practice.

What is flow?

I'm sure that all of you have experienced a flow state. Maybe when you were taking a nap and you were half awake and half asleep, and you were a bit spaced out. Or when you were out running and all of a sudden realise that you're already back at your doorstep, but don't clearly remember getting there, time just flew by as you were running.

The phenomenon has been called by different names throughout the ages and areas in which it occurs. Jazz musicians in the 50s started to call it "to be in the pocket" when they were hitting every single note while playing their music with nothing scripted. Later, in the 70s, athletes began to call this state of mind "to be in the zone", runners like to call it "the runners high". Comedians and writers usually call it "to be in the forever-box" when jokes come up one after another. It's a state of mind people experience at their very peak of performance.

As we can see, this heightened state of consciousness that we now refer to as "flow state" had been observed in many areas and had been called by various names.

It wasn't until the 90s when this Hungarian professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi started to research the subject, resulting in what would become the biggest study of optimal performance. Mihaly was traveling around the world for 10 years, interviewing different people from diverse backgrounds to understand what they experienced at their peak performance. And, surprisingly, they all explained similar experiences. Some of his interviewees explained the feeling as if flowing weightlessly downstream, without effort. So he decided to name the phenomenon "flow".

What happens in flow?

We've all experienced it, and it's

without a doubt a universal human condition.

And when we are in a flow state, a lot of interesting things happens.

But first of all, I have to clarify that flow is a spectrum experience. It's like any emotion. Take anger for example. You can be mildly hurt, or you can feel completely murderous. In the same way, you can be in a flow state to various degrees.

Let’s go into the psychological characteristics of flow state.

A lot of people experience what we can call a "micro flow". For example, when you're at work, some, but possibly not all, of the characteristic of flow state may be present. And at some other point, say running a marathon or writing away at a chapter for your new novel, you may be experiencing all of the flow characteristics at once, which some people confuse with a quazi-mystical moment, as it can be very profound.

Let's take a look at what happens when you are in flow, what the main characteristics of flow state are;

1. Your sense of time becomes distorted, time can slow down, or it can speed up (i.e. our normal sense of linear time disappears). With us freedivers, this may happen most commonly during the freefall, where you're so focused on keeping the mouthfill and equalizing, that you lose track of time. Before you know it, you hit the bottom plate and it's time to turn around.

2. Our sense of self tends to take the backseat, in essence your self-consciousness disappears and lets your subconsciousness take over.

Your focus on the task is so strong so you start forgetting about yourself.

You're not aware of the problems you as a citizen, as a son, a husband or a wife or whatever other roles you have in life, may have at that point in time.

At that moment, you're there purely as a freediver and are only focused on exactly what you're doing. the duck dive, equalisation, keeping the mouthfill and so on...

3. Flow shuts up our inner critic. We all have this inner voice telling us what we can't do and what we're not good at. That voice that we all have sits in the pre-frontal cortex of our brain, and almost never shuts up. Over time, this voice can be really fatiguing for all of us.

What happens when we are in a flow state is fascinating - our inner critic becomes silent. On a neuro-anatomical level there are quite a few interesting things happening - the term for this phenomena is called transient hypofrantality. And really, that's just a complicated way of saying that, for a little while, the front of our brain quietens down and is silent. Researchers have been testing this in MRI scans and have observed time and time again that this part of the brain showed almost no activity during flow state.

I believe that this is one of the main reasons why freedivers can keep calm even when in a hostile situation, 100 meters under the surface, knowing that one bad thought can end up with a deadly outcome. But, with the negative voice in our head taken out of the equation, this fear or thought of failure does not register, and we manage to come up to the surface having enjoyed a wonderful experience.

Next, let's go into how we as freedivers can better access or 'hack' our way into a flow state.

There are 17 psychological and environmental identified triggers, but I have chosen to highlight here those that I feel works best for freediving, starting with the psychological ones;

1. Focused attention on the task!

One of the primary purposes of flow state is to help you focus on a particular task. However, to hack into the flow state in the first place, you must be in a position that allows you to strongly focus your attention on your goals. This also means that multi-tasking is out. Flow demands singular attention and action.

Clear goals. Don't focus on the bottom plate or the surface. Focus on the present moment and that particular goal you have at that moment, step by step. For example, "breathe", "equalising the ears”, etc.

2. Immediate feedback

This trigger is a partner of clear goals. Clear goals tells us what we’re doing, while immediate feedback tells us how to do it better. If we know how to improve performance in real time, the mind doesn’t go off and search for other stuff to think of. For example. You feel like your freefall is not fast enough. You shift your posture a little bit, and you feel that you are falling faster. This also keeps you stay focused on the here and now, preventing your thoughts from wondering.

The following flow triggers are all environmental facets that you will be confronted by when freediving. As they are external, they cannot necessarily be controlled, but will nonetheless help you get into / immerse yourself deeper into a flow state.

3. High consequences . A high consequence environment / situation automatically helps you focus on the task at hand, blurring worries or distractions into the periphery. This is applicable to freediving as loosing your mouthfill due to the pressure of the water can lead to a broken eardrum, a bad turn can lead to a lung injury, and stress can lead to a blackout - all potential consequences.

4. Deep embodiment . This means that having an acute physical awareness again enables you to better focus on the task at hand. In the water, you are suddenly more aware of the different environment and how you move within it, shifting towards weightlessness and 3D movement. We are naturally earth-bound creatures, so when we are put in the water and become weightless, our attention will be directed towards this new surrounding and the sensations associated with it.

5. Rich environment. This goes hand in hand with the previous point, additionally highlighting that having a rich, interesting environment which allows us to focus on the here and now (rather than distracting us, as for example a TV in the background would) further supports the immersion into a flow state.

When we learn these new skills, we go through certain phases - first, we struggle, then we get through the release phase and then we arrive to the flow state.

As stated, at first we STRUGGLE when learning a new skill. For example, perfecting the mouthfill or finning technique can be a quite unpleasant or unexciting experience to begin with.

But, to really benefit from your struggle, what you should do next is, when you're back home and relaxed, visualise the dive a couple of times now that you are in a low-pressure situation. Visualisations is a perfect way to practice without being in the high-pressure situation.

The key to a good visualisation is to not just to run the pictures of your dive in your head, but rather to anchor the emotions and sensations to the picture, taking the time to feel all that you felt while diving again and at your own leisure. I for example always do my visualisations laying down on my back, do a full breathe up, take the final breath as in the dive, and do the entire visualisation on the breath-hold while doing the arm motions and equalisations as I would in a real dive in the water.

Visualisation is also practiced a lot in other sports to, for example for Basketball free-throws or Formula 1 drivers, as which on the players/drivers can be extremely high. By practicing this mentally in a low-pressure environment, you find it easier to analyze your actions and also later access this state of focused calm when back in the high-pressure situation. It's very common to find oneself in a high-pressure situation and loose focus, your mind suddenly unable to recall how to do something you've practiced a million times before. You can help prevent that by practicing the task in simulations.

As part of your simulations and in-water training, you should always try to think about what you could adjust to perform better, and this is what we can call the RELEASE PHASE. This may mean thinking about how your freefall is faster or slower due to your body position or other factor, and how the speed affects your equalisation, moutfill or mental state. With time, you will develop your personal formula for the perfect dive in which your mind is focused on each step, the sensations and how to make the dive as pleasant and positive as possible.

Let's run through of how this may be for you - next time when you are back in the water, as soon as you start to float on the surface, focus all of your senses on this particular moment. Feel the water, how it supports you, how it allows you to have 360 motion without Earths' gravity pushing down on your shoulders.

Next, shift your focus to your surface breathing and working towards relaxing your mind. Feel the breaths, how filling and emptying your lungs makes you more or less buoyant, realising how much calmer you get after each and every breath. You may feel like you are starting to zone out.

The following actions should feel like they happen automatically, but your still there. You're like a happy passenger and your subconscious mind is the designated driver, taking you deeper and deeper into flow state. Before you know it, you're already at the bottom plate, and it's time to go up. You're still partially in the flow state and you keep yourself there by focusing on the task at hand. You may want to focus on the pulling of the rope, counting every pull, or counting kicks if you're using fins. Keeping your focus on something concrete and relevant to the situation helps you have a calm mind during the entire dive. Suddenly, you’re at the surface again, and you've just had the best and most effortless dive you've ever had.

This is what we aim towards, as our dive should feels effortless when in flow. Hard to believe that a high-performance task close to your limit feels effortless, but it really can be this way.

So, next time you are on the surface doing you breathe-up and can't calm down, remember these three words - FLOW FOLLOWS FOCUS, and find something to truly focus on to find your flow state.

How to get more comfortable in deep water

Mon, 21 Dec 2020 12:37:47 GMT

A guide to how you get more comfortable in the ocean

Most of us have at some point felt a crippling fear run through our body when, trying to stand up in the water, we no longer feel the ground beneath our feet. It is quite natural to feel like this, but we can also work towards becoming more comfortable and relaxed in the water so as to better enjoy and explore our oceans.

You might, like many people, only swim in the ocean a few times each summer, and during those instances find yourself tense and anxious when thinking what may be under the dark ocean surface. This is very common, and it simply comes from you not being used to this environment, and rational fear of the unknown. This goes for any other scenario; we simply have to get used to a situation or environment and slowly get accustomed to it.

Step 1: Practice floating on the surface in the shallow area (Pool or ocean)

The first step is to come to the realisation that stress or fear is your worst enemy, and that you are actually able to float with little effort (note that the higher the salt content of the body of water, the easier it will be to float). Try this out by walking out to an area where the water reaches around your waist. Here, simply lay down on your back and try to balance on the surface. Breathe normally and pay attention to how your buoyancy changes in accordance with your inhales and exhales. The goal here is to get comfortable with just floating on the surface without using any extra energy. Relax your limbs as much as possible. Notice that your body is floating up more when you inhale, and that you tend to loose buoyancy when you exhale. Therefore, control your breathing and try to maintain a good amount of air in your lungs at all time so you can float comfortably. The trick is to breathe with a smaller amplitude so you're not exhaling too much air in your lungs all at once, which would lead to a loss in buoyancy. Practice floating face up until you feel comfortable and relaxed in this position and are able to stay afloat easily.

It is also worth mentioning that generally women float easier than men, but it also varies depending on individual factors such as bone density.

Step 2: Float with mask and a snorkel face down in the shallow area (pool or ocean)

Walk out to the waist-deep area in either a pool or ocean and then slowly put your face down in the water with a snorkel in your mouth. Here, use the same principles employed in the previous exercise. Notice how you don’t need to use any extra energy to safely float on the surface, and that you can do so simply by relaxing and breathing on the surface. Practice breathing with the snorkel in your mouth until you feel comfortable doing so. Hold on to the rim of the pool or a flotation device if needed to help you relax and feel comfortable with your face in the water. Use a similar breathing pattern as you did in the previous exercise, breathing with a small amplitude do as to not lose your buoyancy. Remember, the air in your lungs are your natural flotation device in the water!

Step 3: Start and stop swimming without touching the bottom

Now that you have mastered floating comfortably in the water, try to swim forward a few meters while breathing through the snorkel with your face in the water. To begin with, you can swim or propel yourself forward any which way you like, as long as you keep relaxed. Stop after a few meters, change direction without touching the bottom, and then swim the few meters back. Again, feel free to use a flotation device if needed, while actively trying to depend less on it with each turn. Do this exercise for a few minutes until you feel like you get the hang of it. Start by swimming in shallow water and slowly progress deeper as you gain confidence.

Lastly, I hope that this article have helped you to gain some confidence in the water and have given you the tools on how to get more comfortable in the water. So, next time when you decide to take a dip in the sea, you can enjoy the sea without any worry!

Can you get decompression sickness (Bends) while freediving?

Mon, 27 Jul 2020 11:48:18 GMT

An article about why and how decompression sickness (DCS) manifests, and how to reduce the risk of getting it in the first place.

You have probably heard about scuba divers getting “divers disease” or decompression sickness, also called “bends”.
In scuba diving you learn that you shouldn't swim up faster than the bubbles you exhale. And you should also do a decompression stop before you reach the surface.

In freediving and spearfishing however, you rarely hear about it. But the truth is that it happens more than you think.

What is decompression sickness? This is what happens in the body when you get decompression sickness

So what happens is that, nitrogen bubbles build up in the body and are not properly dissolved before resurfacing.
The nitrogen bubbles in your system might then get stuck and block tiny blood vessels. This can lead to heart attacks, strokes, ruptured blood vessels in the lungs and joint pain.

Here below is a link to a story of one of my freediving friend who recently got decemopression sickness while in a competition in Indonesia.

https://www.dansa.org/blog/2020/03/27/getting-decompression-sickness-while-freediving#:~:text=Unlike%20when%20breathing%20compressed%20gas,dives%20over%20a%20short%20time.

What can cause decompression sickness?

Not enough surface interval
Too long time at depth
Multiple deep dives (+55m)

What makes you more susceptible to decompression sickness?

Dehydration
Lack of sleep
Being overheated
Genetically factors
Muscle fatigue

So, how do we avoid getting decompression in the first place?

Have sufficient time on the surface in-between dives

Most importantly, we want to make sure that we’re taking sufficient enough surface interval in between dives. Meaning, when we’re diving to less than 30 meters, we want to rest at the surface for at least three times your dive time.

So, let’s say that your dive to 30 meters took 2 minutes, then you need to wait for at least 6 minutes before you dive again. If you would be diving between 30 and 50 meters, then you need to multiply your dive time with *4.
Don't dive more than one time a day deeper than 50 meters.

Drink enough water

Be sure that you are well hydrated when spending time in the water, especially when in a warm climate.
Bring a water bottle to the buoy and drink some while on the surface.

Sleep at least 7 hours the night before freediving

We have seen that there is an increased risk of getting decompression sickness when tired and exhausted, so make sure to have a good nights sleep before going out diving.

So, what are the symptoms of decompression illness?

Localized deep pain, ranging from mild to excruciating. Sometimes a dull ache, but rarely a sharp pain.
Active and passive motion of the joint aggravates the pain.
The pain may be reduced by bending the joint to find a more comfortable position.

Itching, usually around the ears, face, neck, arms, and upper torso
Sensation of tiny insects crawling over the skin
Mottled or marbled skin usually around the shoulders, upper chest and abdomen, with itching
Swelling of the skin, accompanied by tiny scar-like skin depressions

Altered sensation, tingling or numbness, increased sensitivity.
Confusion or memory loss
Visual abnormalities
Unexplained mood or behaviour changes
Unconsciousness

Ascending weakness or paralysis in the legs
Problem urinating
Girdling (also referred to as girdle, banding, or tightening feeling) around the abdominal region and/or chest

Headache
Unexplained fatigue
Generalised malaise, poorly localised aches

Loss of balance
Dizziness, vertigo, nausea , vomiting
Hearing loss

Dry persistent cough
Burning chest pain under the sternum, aggravated by breathing
Shortness of breath

Can you get decompression sickness from just shallow snorkeling?

The short answer is Yes, although you would have to do a serious amount of shallow dives with almost no surface interval during many hours to risk that. I have heard stories from some of my spearfishing friends that have gotten the bends from a day trip of spearfishing for 8 hours diving to deph of maximum 20 meters. The reason why they got decompression at that time was probably because they didn't spend enough time on the surface between the dives.
If you on the other hand would be snorkeling around at the reef of say 5 meters, it would be most unlikely to run the risk of decompression sickness, Just due to the sheer volume of diving one would have to do.

The most important thing you can do to mitigate the risk of getting decompression sickness

If there is one thing that you should remember from this article, then that is to spend sufficient time on the surface in-between dives. Be it if you dive to 10 meters, or to 50 meters. Always spend at least 3 times the dive time on the surface between the dives (if the dive is shallower than 30 meters).

Freediving is one of the safest activity one can do, if practiced according to the safety standards. And part of the safety standards should be to consider the risk of decompression sickness.

I hope that this article have cleared up some questions, and hopefully will let you safely enjoy the underwater world!

How to freedive deeper - How I went from 0 to 85 meters in three years

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 07:20:22 GMT

In this article I will explain the different steps I took to be able to dive down to 85 meters within a period of three years

For the past three years, I've dedicated the majority of my time to deep freediving. I've had the privilege to dive with much better divers than myself, and this has helped to shape my diving to what it has become. Now, I am one of the somewhat deep divers, so what I hope this text will do, is to get you to exceed beyond what you thought was possible in deep freediving.

The planting of a seed

I was never a good swimmer, nor was I any more aquatic than you or most of the people reading this article. I used to strongly dislike swimming in school. I grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, and even though it's a city built on islands, you would rarely find me swimming in the waters there. It wasn't until I first went on a holiday with my family to Greece, I was then thirteen years old, that I got my first experience of snorkeling in clear blue water. Greece had just won the Euro cup in soccer, and I remember on that night, the Greek people celebrated by throwing burning torches in the water, which I then planned to pick bring back up from the ocean the following day. During that holiday, a seed was planted, but it wasn't until thirteen years later that I would explore freediving again.

My first freediving course
I was backpacking around Thailand at the moment, and I found this freediving school on Koh Lanta in southeastern Thailand. I remembered how much I enjoyed my snorkeling experience during that trip to Greece fifteen years earlier, and I was certain that this was something I wanted to try. So I signed myself up on the course.
The first day was theory and static breath-holding. I remember that my first try, I was able to hold my breath something around two minutes. After a few tries however, I was able to push myself to 3:14 of breath-holding.
The next day was open water. In the beginning I found it awkward diving on a line, I couldn't really equalize and pull down the line at the same time. So the first day in the open water was not a success, I don't think I made it down below 10 meters on the first day. On the second day however, everything came together and by the end of that session I was able to dive down to 20 meters.
After this freediving course, I got a taste for freediving and I wanted to dive deeper. Mostly due to the reason that my instructor told me about something called the freefall, which she said that happens when you dive below 25 meters. And from this point onward, I was as determined as one can possibly be, to be able to experience that. For the rest of this trip, I spent as much time as possible snorkeling around the reefs. In this way I would get more and more comfortable in the ocean and increase my relaxation underwater, which, I would later find out, was crucial for deep diving.

Tip#1: Spend as much time as possible in the water, do plenty of snorkeling to get used to being in the ocean.

Back home and breath-hold every day for four months
After that backpacking trip, I was back in Sweden, unable to freedive for the next few months. I was determined that I would continue my freediving training and see where it would take me. So, every single morning, when I woke up I held my breath before eating breakfast. In a couple of months I was able to hold my breath for 6:26 in the bed. I continued this way of training until I was able to get back to tropical waters. I wrote an article about how I trained dry static breathholding which you can read about here: https://www.alexanderfreediver.com/how-to-hold-your-breath-for-5-minutes-in-less-than-a-month

Stretching
I didn't spend any time on stretching my legs, arms or hips or doing yoga. Instead, I put all my effort into stretching my diaphragm. Here below you can see how how this stretch looks like.

The stretch is called Uddhyana-Banda and it is, in my opinion, the most efficient way to stretch for deep freediving. The stretch will make you more comfortable with the increased pressure you feel when you dive deeper. I used to do this stretch every other day on an empty stomach.
How to do uddhyana-banda -
1) Start by exhaling completely
2) Lock your throat
3) Relax your abdomen

Hold until you feel the urge to breath, (never hold this stretch with contractions).

I used to repeat this stretch around 6-8 times per session.
Tip#2: Build a good foundation with breath-holding and diaphragm stretching (continuity is key).

First time depth training
(October 2016)
I am now back in Thailand to start my depth progression. I started progressing quite fast and became comfortable diving down to the bottom of the waters we were diving at. In just two weeks of diving, I was diving comfortably down to around 37 meters, and this was the deepest we could dive to here. Even though I wanted to, and was eager to explore where my limit was, I was now limited to the depths of 37 meters because this was as deep as the sea around Koh Tao went.

Repeating 37 meters for one month
Four days a week for one month, I was diving to 37 meters. By the end of that month I was even able to hang down there for a while, making the entire dive last for around 3 minutes. I was also able to practice all the essential parts of a deep freedive, like freefall, equalization etc. What is also worth mentioning, is that until this point, I didn't know anything about advanced equalization methods like mouthfill. All I was doing was using the frenzel technique down to 37 meters. Now, in hindsight, I think it was possible thanks to the diaghragm stretching I had done the months before, making me more comfortable with the increased pressure and able to equalize down there.

Going to deeper waters
Later on the same trip, I went on a workshop organized by Adam Stern, who had just started to run what he now calls "deep week". During that week I was able to progress from 37 to 50 meters depth. This is a very fast progression and I think all that diving I had just done on Koh Tao payed off! When I had been diving time over time to 37 meters for a month, it made my body used to spending a long time down at depth and also getting used to longer dive times. I was now diving to 50 meters and I was still using frenzel equalization. Up to this point I hadn't yet figured out how to use advanced equalization methods. 50 meters was the bottom of the bay in Amed, so I was now again limited by the sea floor. Now it was time to go ta an even deeper place!
Tip#3: Spend as long time as you can in a place where you can dive deep.

Going to even deeper waters
I then asked Adam where he suggest that I should go next. He told me that Panglao, in the Philippines, would be a good spot. I arrived there with the limited amount of money I had left and signed up for 10 freediving sessions which I planned to do over the next 20 days with one rest day in-between each session.
There, I was introduced to Alenka Artnik, the female world record holder, and she told me that she was looking for someone to train with. Little did I know how valuable that would be for my freediving progression. I was just happy to have someone to train with. There was probably no change in my technique or equalization during those 10 session. But what changed was my perspective to depth. I didn't think of 60 or 70 meters as particularly deep dives. Every other day I saw Alenka, with ease dive down to 70 or 80 meters. This gave me the confidence to dive deep myself and approach depth with a more relaxed mentality.
During those sessions, I was told to not progress more than three meters per session. I followed this advice and went from 50 to 66 meters in 10 sessions. The dive to 66 meters was my last dive on this trip, and I felt like this was the limit of my equalization at this point.

Tip#4: Train with people that are better than you (ultimately world record holders or very deep divers)

Back to Sweden
A big part of freediving training is rest, and it's important to spend sufficient time away from depth to recover. Also, maybe more importantly, you don't make money while training freediving, so its a good idea to save up a good amount of money before going to a place to dive deep, so you can focus sorely on deep diving when you are at the place to dive. I think it was a good thing that I wasn't living abroad during these times, and only spent a month or two training depth.

During the time in Sweden, I was training dry breathholding on exhale and apnea walks. I wrote about the training in this article: https://www.alexanderfreediver.com/how-to-train-freediving-away-from-the-water

Planning for my first depth competition
(June 2017)
I had just signed up for an instructor course with Adam in Bali. I arrived back to Bali and set my aims for my first depth competition. I started my depth progression and found myself getting sick with a cold. Having a cold as a freediver can be catastrophic. It might mean that you will not be able to equalize for the coming month, and that was exactly what happened to me. After finishing the instructor course, I went to Panglao to train for my first competition, but I couldn't dive deeper than a few meters before my ears would stop equalizing.
During this trip, I met Max Lindqvist, Sweden's most talented depth diver. Instead of competing in the competition myself, I took note of how Max was training for the coming competition. Here again, I realized that one´s perspective about depth is really important. And after seeing Max being able to dive down to 106 meters with such ease, I saw the depth I was able to dive to as really shallow. When the competition was over, I had around two weeks left before it was time for me to fly back to Sweden. At this point I really wanted to get my trip´s worth by diving deeper than before. I managed to dive to around 64 meters, but there it stopped. I was simply too eager to get down to the bottom, and with that mindset you never get anywhere in freediving. At this point, I consulted Max about how I can dive to 70 meters with the limited time I had left in Panglao. I was hoping for an answer describing a secret way to equalize deep or something of the like. Instead he answered: "Your aim is not to dive to 70 meters, you will dive to 80 meters or deeper sooner or later, so it doesn't matter if you go to 70 meters on this trip or the next one." This answer taught me a good lesson, and from this point onward, I made a point to approach my freediving more casually, which helped me in the long run.
Tip#5: Don't be too eager to dive deep, take your time!

Tip#6: Change your perspective to depth. Think about the depth you are going to as shallow. What is deep?

A short stop at home and then my first trip to Dahab
(October 2017)
My last trip didn't take me any deeper, but now I had two months diving in the blue hole in front of me and a different mindset to my diving. I had realized that I had to drop all my expectations and start freediving for enjoyment instead. I started my depth adaptations like I always do. I start by diving to 30 meters, and then I progress around five meters for every session until I get to my personal best, which at this time was 66 meters, and from here I would not go exceed my maximum depth by more than three meters. I began enjoying the dives more and more, and before I knew it I freefell down to 72 meters!

Time for my first depth competition
At this point, I had spent one month diving in the blue hole and was doing comfortable dives to 70+ meters in free immersion (the discipline where you pull yourself down and up o the line). Instead of writing details about this experience, I have a video about my first competition here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-P7jrao_cA

Lots of dry training
After that depth competition, it was time for some well deserved rest from deep diving. So I returned back to Sweden to work and to continue with my dry training.
A big part of why I was able to progress deeper when I went to a place to dive, was thanks to all the breath-hold training I had done outside of the water.
I continued doing the dry breath-hold training that I mentioned earlier. I did that every second day during the periods I spent away from the water.

How to get rid of pressure contraction
Up to this point I had be dealing with contractions on the way down, starting at around 30 meters. This was the reason why I didn't dive deeper than 72 meters. Due to these contraction, I had a hard time keeping the air that I need in my mouth to equalize with. So I had to come up with a way to get rid of the contractions on the way down.
My theory was that the problem was caused by an inflexible thoracic cavity. So I bought a small stretching ball and began to lay on that daily.

I was doing this stretch every second day and on half empty or empty lungs. I would lay on the ball like that until I felt the urge to breath. I would rest for about one minute until I repeat the same stretch. I was repeating this stretch 6-8 times per session.

Buying a monofin and my first 80 meter dive
(November 2018)
Until this point I had been diving with plastic fins for 50 dollars. Instead of investing in expensive freediving gear, I spent my money on quality freediving training and on living cost in the places that I was freediving at.
After some time in Sweden, I felt it was time to try another discipline, so I got myself a monofin. I took my new monofin and flew back to Panglao, excited to try out this new fin and see where it would take me.
I had gotten used to doing dives past 70 meters which took over three minutes in free immersion.
So when I first dove to 70 meters with a monofin, it felt like I didn't even start then breathhold before it was over. The dive to 70 meters with the monofin took 2:15.
Also, the pressure contractions were gone. I was now able to freefall without contraction. Which allowed me to equalize comfortably deeper.
With my new-found confidence, I signed up for another depth competition and started to train more with the monofin.
I was diving down to 78 meters just a few days before the competition, so I arrived to the competition announcing 80 meters on the last day. Here is a video on how it went: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3tyFcvx6wk
Tip#7: Spend money on quality training and on living costs in places you can dive deep. Buy a monofin when you are used to 3+ minutes dive time on the deep dives.

I went back to Panglao to squeeze out the last bit of my diving for this time. I was able to do another personal best dive to 82 meters. This was my equalization limit to this point. I simply didn't have any more air in my mouth to equalize the air with to go deeper. I was however pleased with my performances both in competition and in training, so now it was time to return home to Sweden and rest up for next trip.

Dry training for deeper diving
I now had a few months away from diving before it was time for my next depth competition in Dahab. I spent this time in Sweden doing plenty of apnea walk simulations and also continuing with the thoracic ball stretching.
The reason for me not being able to dive deeper than 82 meters, was due to one main factor. I was getting the urge to breathe during the freefall due to high levels of co2, and this would make me to loose my mouthfill . So, to change this I started to experiment with slight over-breathing (hyperventilation), so I would be able to freefall with less Co2 and therefore be able to equalize deeper.
My apnea walk simuation would look like this:
- breathe up (tidal breathing through the nose) for two minutes, followed by 6 big sighs breaths before the dive breath.
- Walk fast for 30 seconds (simulate time it would take to freefall)
- Lay still until 1:25 (simulate the freefall until turn at around 90 meters)
- Stand up and start walking until around 3 minutes total time.

I would do this walking apnea training every second day and tamper with different ways of breathing. In this way, I could figure out exactly how much I could breathe to not get the urge to breathe during the freefall, but still be able to make it back up without being low on oxygen.

Tip#8: Do apnea walk simulations to find out which breathe-up that suites you to not have co2 contractions on the way down.

Return to Dahab and diving to 85 meters!
September 2019
I returned to Dahab in the end of the summer and I now felt ready to progress deeper!
I spent around one month in Dahab and during this month I was constantly diving to over 80 meters. When it was time for the competition, I felt ready to announce a new personal best. So I did. During this competition I was able to make it down to 85 meters, which also meant I was the deepest diver of the competition.

At the time of writing, it's may 2020 and the world has entered lockdown due to the current coronavirus-situation.
So, that dive in Dahab during the summer of 2019 was the last time I attempted a deep dive.

If there is one single thing that I want you to take with you from this article, then that would be to understand the significance of the mental aspects of deep freediving. I hope that this article has helped you to shift your perspective of what you think is deep, and develop an ease of mind during your dives.
Because in the end, freediving is 90% mental, and you decide what is deep and what is shallow. I decided that the dives that I was about to do was shallow, and that allowed me to go to these depths. My motivation for doing deep freediving has always been to enjoy as long freefall as possible, and the depth showing on the depth gauge has always been secondary. This is the approach that has worked for me during the past three years, and I hope that this article has given you some ideas of what might work for you to enjoy a long freefall yourself!

Wim Hof method and freediving

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 10:22:57 GMT

Is Wim Hof breathing compatible for freediving?

The increasing popularity of the Wim Hof breathing method has also resulted in many questions regarding if the method can work together with freediving.

In this article I will explain if you can use this kind of breathing for freediving and what could be dangerous about it.

I have practiced the Wim Hof method myself for around two years. Separate to my freediving training. I have also used Wim Hof breathing for experimental reasons, such as for static breath holding to see if it’s beneficial or not. I will explain later about my discoveries.

But first, what is Wim Hof breathing technique?

It’s structured as a cycle with three different phases.

1. First there is a phase of heavy hyperventilation for about 1-2 minutes or 30 breaths. Each breath should fill up the lungs completely, followed by a relaxed exhalation. This phase will deplete your system of carbon dioxide and make you feel lightheaded.

2. The second phase is holding your breath after a passive exhale (FRC). So simply, after the 30 hyperventilation breaths, you exhale passively and then you hold your breath. You should hold your breath until you get the first urge to breathe.

3. The third and last phase involves the final inhalation and the breath-hold. Here you will take a full inhalation and then hold your breath for around 15 seconds.

The idea is to repeat this cycle around four times. Here is a video explaining more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXOaxQWy54s

So, What do you experience while doing Wim Hof method and why?

The most common sensations one might experience are euphoria, lightheadedness, and tingling in the arms and legs. Some people might see different colors or patterns behind their eyelids, and hear a ringing noise in their ears.

Why does one experience this?

During the phase of hyperventilation, you will experience a feeling of lighheadedness and tingling. This comes from the reduction of carbon dioxide and therefore the pH will increase and get more alkaline. When blood is more alkaline, hemoglobin binds more tightly with oxygen. Which results in not enough oxygenation to the brain and other parts. We need carbon dioxide in our system to get the release of red blood cells to our tissues and to have a more efficient transportation of the oxygen in our body.

You might say “but I could hold my breath for so much longer after doing the Wim Hof breathing method prior to my breath hold, it seems to work?”
Simply put, what happens is that, due to the lack of carbon dioxide in your system, you won't feel any urge to breathe, and at the moment you take your inhale, and you start experiencing these symtoms of euphoria and lighheadedness it will be because of low oxygen. Even though you've probably never held your breath this long before, it may in fact be that at the end of the breath hold, you may be dangerously low on oxygen. Much lower on oxygen than you would have been if you would have done normal breathing prior to the breath-hold.

What happens in our bodies when we hold our breaths after hyperventilation vs breathing normally?

The above image shows that after hyperventilation, our carbon dioxide levels will be very low, resulting in a inefficient transportation and release of oxygen. The oxygen levels will therefore drop faster than normally. Our bodies' inbuilt oxygen-saving-mechanism is the mammalian dive response, which kicks in more profoundly as soon as we get contractions and the urge to breathe. This is also why our oxygen levels tend to drop faster after hyperventilation.

The above image shows how our bodies' gases react after normal breathing (tidal breathing). The oxygen levels will be decreasing in a much slower rate than before, and as soon as we get our first urge to breathe, our body starts conserving oxygen and becomes more oxygen efficient.

As freedivers, we have to get used to feeling the urge to breathe and raised levels of carbon dioxide. As hyperventilation can fool one's body into thinking that oxygen stores are high when they are not, normal breathing is recommended as a preparation for your dives and is the safest way to approach freediving. We just have to spend more time doing specific training to get used to the raising carbon dioxide levels. Here is a link to a training you can do for just that: https://www.alexanderfreediver.com/what-stops-you-from-holding-your-breath-longer

So, what happens in our bodies when we do Wim Hof breathing?
I tested this out on myself, hooked onto an oxymeter to measure heart rate, oxygen saturation and perfusion index. All breath-holds were exactly two minutes. This is what I found out -

The first image shows how my levels were during the breath-hold of the Wim Hof method

At the end of my Wim Hof breath-hold my levels were:
Oxygen level: 66.3%
Heart rate: 60bpm

Perfusion Index: 9

The next day, keeping the same environment, I did the same 2 minutes breath-hold and this was the results:

At the end of my normal breathing breath-hold my levels were:
Oxygen levels: 80%
Heart rate: 50bpm

Perfusion Index: 4.2

The graphs show what was expected, my body was using up much less oxygen by using a normal breathing preparation prior to the breath-hold.
My heart rate was 10bpm lower which also helps to reduce the oxygen consumption.
My perfusion index was also significantly lower. This means that the ratio of the pulsatile blood flow of my peripheral tissue, such as in the fingertips, was lower, indicating that the mammalian dive response had kicked in and was redistributing the blood from arms and legs to the more vital parts, such as the brain for example.

My next experiment was to test this in a more dynamic way. Meaning that I would now walk around while holding my breath.

Both breath-holds were exactly 2 minutes long and on different days, under similar circumstances (fasted state in the morning).

At the end of my Wim Hof breathing breath-hold, my levels were:
Oxygen levels: 44.9%
Heart rate: 58bpm
Perfusion Index: 1.6

At the end of my normal breathing breath-hold, my levels were:
Oxygen levels: 71.1%
Heart rate: 55bpm

Perfusion Index: 1.2

What can we learn from all this?

From a safety standpoint, doing the Wim Hof breathing preparation for a dive could potentially be deadly. I was reaching oxygen levels lower than 50%, which in an untrained person would most likely result in a black out.

It's safe to say that this breathing technique should only be practiced separately from any sort of freediving activity.

This really shows how important it is that we distinguish between these two activities and never ever combine Wim Hof method and freediving.

Conclusion

Wim Hof and freediving should for everyone’s safety be practiced separately. I do think that the Wim Hof method has it’s place and has made more people than ever conscious about their breathing. It also has proven health benefits, which together with cold exposure can be a very powerful method to improve ones' health.

When it comes to freediving though, we need carbon dioxide to stay oxygen efficient, and to avoid spontaneous black outs.

The accumulation of carbon dioxide can cause unpleasant sensations at first, but a big part of freedive training is to get used to the elevated levels of carbon dioxide and stay relaxed even though you have an increasingly stronger urge to breathe.

Lastly, I hope that this blog article has made it clear to you how dangerous hyperventilation can be if you combine it with any sort of diving.

I hope you keep practicing both the Wim Hof method and freediving, but when you do so, separately.

What freediving equipment should I buy?

Fri, 20 Dec 2019 23:26:32 GMT

A breakdown of the cheapest quality freediving equipment which won't break the bank!

I have always been what you could call a minimalist-freediver. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get the cheapest possible freediving equipment (without compromising too much on quality), so I could then spend more money and time diving deep.

In this article I will explain which freediving equipment is the the best regarding price/quality, so you then can spend more time freediving too!

The most important freediving gear includes:

Mask
Fins
Wetsuit
Nose-clip
Snorkel

Lets start with the most essential

Freediving Masks

The mask is the most basic equipment needed by a freediver. It’s pretty much all you need for most of the freediving disciplines and it’s easy to find a cheap and good freediving mask for around 25 - 30€. Here below I will list what is important to look for, as well as the cheapest, yes good quality, freediving masks around.

What you should look for in freediving masks-

Low air volume - meaning that the space of air in the mask is as low as possible. This will let you to dive deep without equalising the mask.

Field of view - depending on what kind of freediving you are doing, you need various levels of field of view. If you are snorkelling and want to explore a reef, then you want to bring a mask with a wide field of view and a good lens. If you will dive on a line, then you are set with a simpler mask with a lower volume.

Fit - how do you know that the mask won’t leak in the water?

The easiest way to know that is to, when you are at the dive shop, put the mask on without the straps and then suck in the air from the nose and see if the mask get stuck to the face. If it stays on the face while you’re breathing in from the nose, then it fits well to your face.

Here is a list compiling what I consider, from experience, to be the masks with the highest value for money on the market right now -

1. Aqua Sphere Sphera - 20€

The cheapest freediving mask around. It has also one of the lowest volumes, meaning that you can dive to around 25 meters without equalizing the mask.

The downside on this mask is that this mask is more fragile than other masks, and the durability of this mask is usually around a year, but the low price compensates for this disadvantage.

2. Mares X Free - 29€

One of the cheapest masks around and also one with the best quality. I’ve been using mine now for almost two years and it’s still holding up. It also has very a low volume and will let you dive to around 25 meters without equalising the mask.

3. Epsealon freediving mask - 19€

A good mask for the money. The downside is that it can be hard to find in dive shops. I have only been able to find it online and there you won’t be able to try the mask on the face and make sure it fits.

If you are able to find it, then it is similar to the aqua sphere sphera mask.

Freediving Fins

The second most important gear in freediving.

The fins for freediving are longer than scuba diving fins. The length varies between 70-90 cm and they are usually made of plastic, carbon fibre, glass fibre or a mix of carbon and glass fibre.

The things to look at when purchasing freediving fins includes -

Footpocket fit - depending on if you will use your fins for leisurely snorkelling or to perform max performance in competitions, you will want a different tightness in the footpocket.

For max performance competition fins, you want a tight footpocket that won’t let your feet move at all inside the footpocket. The downside here is that it will only be wearable for around 15-20 minutes before it gets unbearable due to the discomfort in the feet. Keep in mind that this is the recommended for very deep divers only.

If you, like most, people only will use your fins for snorkel activity , then you want to wear as comfortable footpockets as possible. Also, make sure to choose larger footpocket if you think you will use your fins together with socks.

Another great idea, if you want to have the best both of worlds, is to get comfortable foot pockets that you can use without pain. Then when you want to do a max performance dive, put on thick neoprene socks to make your feet have a tighter fit inside the foot pocket.

What can I do if my footpocket is causing my feet to cramp up?

Use a blow dryer to make the footpocket larger or better moulded to your feet. Put on a thick pair of socks or two, and then put your foot in the fin foot pocket. Then put on a hair dryer on medium or high heat, and hold it around 30 centimetres away from the footpocket for 90 seconds. Let the plastic cool off, and try the fit again. If it still feels uncomfortable, repeat the process until the foot pockets feel comfortably molded to your feet.

Stiffness of the fin -

The general consensus around freedivers is that, the softer the blade is, the better. At least for depth disciplines. It seems though that when it comes to pool disciplines, the world record swims are done with a much stiffer fin blade.

So, for depth disciplines - a soft blade is recommended

For pool disciplines - a somewhat stiffer blade

Durability & Material-
Plastic fins are great for their durability and they usually have many years lifetime.
Carbon and glass fibre on the other hand are lighter and also more fragile, so you have to be extra careful with them.

The price range for the different materials and their qualities are as follows:

Plastic fins - 45€ - 200 €
Plastic fins are the most durable fins and also the cheapest. The downside is that they are usually pretty stiff and the energy output is not as good as many of the more expensive carbon fibre fins. They are a good option for beginners or those who are not particularly concerned about depth diving performance.

The carbon fibre fins 107€ - 600€
These are the ones to get if you are sure that you will start getting more serious in your freediving. These fins are usually softer and the energy output with these fins is lower, meaning that you will travel further with a lower energy output.

Cheapest plastic fins:

1. Mares Concorde (45.49€)

2. Cressi Gara professional (46€)

3. Cressi Gara 2000 (53€)

Cheapest carbon fibre fins:

1. Picasso Carbon (107€)

2. Leaderfins Carbon fibre (150€)

3. Leaderfins Pure Carbon (173€)

Snorkel

The simpler the better. For a freediving snorkel you don’t want any fancy vault or similar. Try to find the cheapest one possible, that will most probably make the best freediving snorkel.

I found one at a food store for 7€, and I’m using that to this day!

Nose-clips

When it comes to freediving on the line, you can come a long way with a nose-clip. It is a very simple yet super effective tool when it comes to stopping water from entering the nose or air escaping. For example, in disciplines like free immersion and no-fins, then all you need is a nose clip. And if those disciplines are the only ones you want to delve into, then you’re set with just a nose clip.

The cheapest nose-clips:

1. Omer Umberto nose-clip - 9€

2. Mares nose clip - 25€

3. Octopus nose clip - 33€

Freediving wetsuits

If you are snorkelling around in warm waters then I wouldn’t go into buying a wetsuit yet.

When you start diving on the line though, as you will be spending more time breathing up while completely still in the water, you will get cold faster and using up more energy to stay warm if you're not using a wetsuit.

The reason why I put this in the end of my list, is that you can do a lot of freediving activities without a wetsuit. On top of this, wetsuits tend to be a bit pricey. You can usually also borrow a wetsuit at freediving centres where you are training. In a pinch you can use a surf or triathlon wetsuit as well.

The things to look at in a freediving wetsuit is:

Thickness
1mm or 10mm? The thickness in wetsuits are measured in millimetres and the thicker wetsuit you have, the more lead weights you have to bring with you. With more weight it gets harder to dive, so try to reduce the thickness and also the lead weight to a minimum if you can. Of course you don't want to be shivering in the water, but you also don’t want to be too hot.

Here is a a table of water temperatures and wetsuit thickness I recommend. Warmest to coldest:

Water temperature: 27c-32c - Wetsuit thickness: 1mm-3mm.

Water temperature: 10c-27c - Wetsuit thickness: 3mm-5mm.

Water temperature: 0c-10c - Wetsuit thickness: 5mm-10mm.

Fit -
Make sure that if the suit fits like a tight glove.

If you order a tailor made wetsuit, then measure all lengths really tight to your body. It’s better that the wetsuit is a bit tight than too loose.

Open cell vs closed cell -

Here it depend on what you will use it for.

For cold water and longer times in the water, then open cell is better. The downside here is that it is more fragile with open cell.

In warmer waters it’s enough with closed cell, it will keep you warm and it will last longer.

Smooth skin or not?

Here it comes to style and what you think looks best. You will maybe gain a little bit in hydrodynamics but it will probably not be noticeable.

A deep freediver friend of mine was about to do a 100 meter dive, and just before his dive, his smooth skin wetsuit tore apart. He had to change to a closed cell wetsuit with nylon on the outside and his dive time was exactly the same as with a smooth skin wetsuit, and he had the same speed.

The bottom line is that most people think smooth skin wetsuits look better, but the claims about better performance are debatable. Overall they have a much shorter life expectancy and they get damaged by the sun easily.

Here are the cheapest freediving wetsuits I found:

1. Aqualung Sport - 156 €

2. Mares Apnea instinct - 161 €

3. Salvimar Fluyd pure swim - 181€

To finalise, you can start freediving for as little as 9€ for a nose clip or 25€ to get a good freediving mask.

You can also buy a whole set of freediving gear including:

Mask for 25€

Snorkel for 7€

Fins for 45€

Wetsuit for 156€

Everything for a cost of 233€

If you shop around, this is what you can pay for the most essential freediving equipment. The idea is to spend within your level and your needs, to then upgrade when you feel it’s time. Like a race car driver starts his or her career by driving a small go- cart and then hopefully ends up in a formula 1 race car.

The same goes for freediving, learn the basics and spend more of your money and time on freediving courses and training, so then when you start diving deeper, you can start investing in the top performance freediving equipment.

How to train freediving away from the water

Thu, 28 Nov 2019 10:14:17 GMT

Landlocked? Here is how you can train yourself to dive deep when you are out of the water.

Coming from cold Sweden I had to come up with alternative ways to train freediving outside of the water. I was first inspired by the deepest man himself Herbert Nitch, who was the first person I’ve heard talking about this sort of training, which he calls “couch-training”.

In this article I will explain how to prepare your breath-hold and flexibility before going to a place to dive. This is so you don’t have to waste time on your holiday to train things that you can easily train at home.

Then when you are about to go on your next diving trip, all you have to train is equalizing and technique in the water, making the most of the finite time you have at the dive location.

Breath-hold

When Herbert Nitch said that he did Couch-training, he usually referred to holding his breath in cycles while watching a sitcom on the TV. This is something that is very efficient and will make your dive reflex stronger in just a couple of days, and it will also make your breath-hold longer. I wrote an article about how to train your breath hold which I recommend that you read - https://www.alexanderfreediver.com/how-to-hold-your-breath-for-5-minutes-in-less-than-a-month

FRC breath-holds

When we are diving down below the surface, the surrounding pressure will make the air in our lungs compress, making our lungs smaller and smaller the deeper we go.
At 10 meters depth, our lungs will be 50% of the size they were on the surface. This means that on the majority of the dive, you will be diving with lungs half their usual size or smaller. To get used to this sensation we can train breath-holding on half lungs, meaning that we do a passive exhale before we start our dry breath-hold.
Do the first four breath-holds until the first contractions, and then on the 5th try to hold for max.
For optimal results, I would recommend to do this training four times a week.

Apnea walks

To simulate that we are moving around and holding our breath, we can do what we call “apnea walk”. It means that we, while holding our breath, walk around in a slow pace, staying relaxed and getting used to the urge to breathe while moving around.

This sort of training gives you confidence for deep diving. If you time yourself doing apnea walks and manage to do one minute walking around, then you have the breath-hold for a 30 meters dive, if the speed of the dive is of 1m/s.

Another way to simulate an even deeper dive in apnea walks is to simulate the freefall.

To make an example, say that you want to dive to 40 meters on your next trip, then this is an apnea walk simulation below that you can try out.

First you will start by walking the first 20 seconds (this will simulate 20m from the surface until freefall). Then after 20 seconds you will lay down or sit down and relax to simulate that you are freefalling.

So you will be still for the next 20 seconds (which simulates 20 seconds of freefall from 20 meters to 40 meters).

Then stand up and start to walk again for the last 40 seconds (the time it will take you to swim up to the surface from 40 meters).

This is a really great way to practice breath-holding while moving. And gives you a lot of confidence to do the dives in the water as well. It also allows you to practice this many times a day, which you can not do in the ocean due to the risk of DCS (decompression sickness).

I would recommend doing this training 4 repetitions, 4 times a week.

Stretching

The most important part to stretch in freediving is the diaphragm . What you see in this picture, is me doing Uddhuana Banda (diaphragm stretch), and this is in my opinion the most essential part to stretch in freediving. It gives you a more flexible diaphragm and will make your contractions feel softer. It also enables you to equalize comfortably deeper and makes it possible to relax with a greater surrounding pressure.

The idea is to - after a complete exhale, lock the throat and then relax the stomach area, then try to move the diaphragm up and hold the diaphragm for a few seconds until releasing it.

Practice this in the morning on an empty stomach. It might be tricky at first, but slowly you will get a better awareness of the diaphragm and you will be able to control it better the more you do it.

Dry training is a great way to help you save time in your freediving and will let you focus on the right things at the right place.
Training breath-holding or stretching shouldn't be anything you focus on when you are at a stunning reef, wanting to get the most of your diving holiday, or when you are doing your freediving course. at those times you want to have all these things in place so you then can enjoy the underwater world to the fullest!

How to hold your breath for 5 minutes in less than a month

Sat, 26 Oct 2019 07:08:02 GMT

In this article you will learn step by step how to hold your breath for 5 minutes

(All breath-holds must be practised dry, and never in the water if you don’t have a qualified safety)

This article will guide you to go beyond what you thought was possible before, and to make you get more comfortable with holding your breath.
It is outlined to help you to reach this specific goal. It might be to finish a certain freediving course, become a better spearfisher, take underwater-pictures or just practice breath-holding for the positive physical effects it has on the body. Here is a link to a study that explains the positive physical effects of breath-holding: https://www.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/jappl.1967.22.2.201

Tips and tricks for a longer breath-hold

Hold your breath the first thing in the morning, before eating anything. Your metabolic rate will be lower and your body will consume less oxygen.
Don't drink any caffeine prior to the breath-hold. The caffeine will raise your heart rate which is negative for the breath-hold.
Lay down completely still and relaxed for at least 2 minutes before the breath-hold. It is during this time your body will have time to relax, and store oxygen in the muscles that you will need for the breath-hold.

Week 1: Objective - Breathe-up, Relaxation and Mental Techniques

You start by laying completely still and relaxed in your bed. Focus on your breathing and relax every single muscle in your body.

Breathe-up

Here I will explain how you easiest figure out how to breathe before your breath-hold. The aim will be that you find your own personal way to breathe before the breath-hold.

You start by laying completely still and relaxed in your bed. Focus on your breathing and relax every single muscle in your body.

It’s important to not over-breathe too much - then you risk to become hypoxic, and black out too soon.

It is also important to not under-breathe too much - then you might have too early onset of contractions and discomfort, then you burn through oxygen too fast and therefore become hypoxic, and black-out too soon.

Try to find the middle spot for yourself, and feel free to experiment with the ventilation during the first week and see how your body respond.

The breath-hold - First Phase

This is the first and most enjoyable phase of a breath-hold.

Breathe-up for 2 minutes and then take 2-4 big breaths before you take a big inhale.

if you feel discomfort and contractions before 1.30 min, then try to ventilate slightly more.

If you start feeling tingling sensations during your breathe-up, then slow down the breathing. The tingling is usually a sign of too much ventilation.

The first weeks training will be plenty of short breath holds, and on each breath-hold you will stop just when you feel the first contraction! Repeat this 12 times and breathe-up for 2 minutes in between each breath-hold.

Mental Techniques

The mental aspect of a breath-hold is very central and should be something you practise as much as anything else.

You can choose from these alternatives, and decide which of these mental techniques works best for you!

Body scanning - Here you want to scan through every single muscle in the body, from head to toe ans relax them separately.
So for example, you start by visualizing your neck muscles and make sure that your neck is as relax as it can be. This might take 10-20 seconds. Then you run through other muscle groups and spend at least a few seconds to make sure that each muscle is relaxed. The idea of this is, that while doing the body scan, you will distract yourself from the breath-hold, and the time will pass faster.

Visualize a memory - When you start your breath-hold its important that you have a nice and comfortable feeling. A way to do that is, to play up a pleasant memory in your mind while your holding your breath. Try to remember as much details from this memory as possible. When creating a landscape in your mind, then you will find other things to focus on and the time will pass much faster.

Be present in the moment - Here you will try to achieve a maximal presence in the "now".
So how do you do that? You will start the breath-hold by focusing on a sensation. For example touch, you want to be very aware of the feeling of a certain body part. The easiest will be to pay notice to the feeling of the skin touching what you're laying on.
You can also pay notice to the sounds you hear and try to focus on that. It's all up to you what you want to focus on, as long as it is something that is happening at that exact moment.
This method can make the time pass faster. Though it might be a bit hard in the beginning to find the focus, and you might find your mind drifting off to other random thoughts. The payoff however will be much greater with this method. Not only will you become a better breath-holder, you will also become much more aware and focused in everyday life.

Do this training every second day the first week.

The aim will be to get a two minutes breath-hold without discomfort or contractions in the end of this week.

Week 2: Objective - Get used to high co2 (urge to breathe) - Second Phase

Now you will hopefully be able to have around two minutes of the comfortable phase in each breath-hold, so now you will have to train the next phase. That will be the contraction phase, or fighting phase.

This week will be many short breath-holds with an even shorter breathing interval in between. This is so you get used to the feeling of having the urge to breathe.
You will do this training every second day during this week. and each training takes around 20 minutes to finish.

This is the training table:
Repeat the table four times per training

Week 3: Objective - Get used to low oxygen (hypoxic resistance) -Third Phase

In this part of the training you will be working on your hypoxic tolerance. Meaning that you will train yourself to stay awake without blacking out even if you have low oxygen saturation.

This week will consist of longer breath-holds with more ventilation in between each breath-hold.

At this point you will probably be able to have 2 minutes of comfortable phase. Followed by around 2 minutes of contractions and urge to breathe.

So now the breath-hold is hopefully around 4 minutes altogether.

What we want to train now, is the last part of the breath-hold, and this will probably be the most challenging part.

We will be having the strongest urge to breathe at this phase. And this urge to breathe will morph into a sudden euphoric feeling when you start getting hypoxic (low on oxygen). Here it is important that you notice your own symptoms. Everyone has their own hypoxic symptoms. Some have tingling in their fingers, some hear ringing in the ears, or narrowing of the vision field. So notice your symptoms and use them as a sign to start breathe again.

When you start to get over 4 minutes, open your eyes and try to stay clear, and pay notice to any change in the sensations.

Here is the training table for O2 table (hypoxic table)

Week 4: Objective - Warmups and Max

In this week you will put everything together and try and make it to five minutes. You might do it on the first tries, or you will do it in the end of this week.

Important is to wait 1 day in between each max breath-hold.

1st warm up - You will start by making the first breath-hold until the first contraction.

Followed by two minutes of breathe-up.

2nd warm up - hold your breath until 1 minute of contractions.

Followed by two minutes of breathe-up.

Max - this is when you will bring everything together and give it your all!

Remember that, even though you don't manage to get up to a 5 minute long breath-hold during the first month, you will soon reach it if you continue with the persistence.

Enjoy!

The benefits of freediving and sensory deprivation tanks

Sat, 31 Aug 2019 04:22:04 GMT

How did I experience a sensory deprivation tank, is the experience any different from a freediving hang and what is the proven benefits of floatation tanks? These are some of the questions I will try to answer in this article

One of the more enjoyable things to do when freediving is what we, in freediving terms, call a “hang”.

This is done by simply pulling yourself down to a depth of around 10 meters, where you are neutrally buoyant, meaning that you’re neither positive nor negative buoyant and then whilst there, hang in the water without any effort.

When we’re there, we close our eyes and let our mind wonder and pay notice only to the sensations felt.

When I first heard about sensory deprivation tanks, I couldn’t help but notice the many similarities they had to a “freediving hang”. So, I decided to try it out for myself and see how it felt.

What is a sensory deprivation tank?

It’s a pitch-dark soundproof tank which is filled with saline water with a very high salt contents, which makes you float. The idea of the tank is to deprive you of your sensory input, and in this way bring you into an extremely deep state of relaxation. It is said to reduce stress and anxiety by lowering the cortisol levels.

The very first tank was designed in 1954 by John C. Lilly, an American physician and neuroscientist. He designed the tank to study the consciousness by cutting off all external stimuli. His research took a controversial turn in the 1960s. That’s when he began experimenting with sensory deprivation while under the effects of LSD and ketamine.

So how did I experience the sensory deprivation tank, and is it any different from a freediving hang?

This is how I experienced the sensory deprivation tank -

Sense - Hearing
You are in a complete silent environment and the tank has a soundproof shell ✔️

Sense - Smell
In the tank I experienced a smell of salt and hot water✖️

Sense - Touch
The water you are in is the same temperature as your skin, so you don’t feel your skin touching anything ✔️
However, if you make the mistake of getting some highly saline water in your eyes, you will certainly be feeling a great deal of discomfort!

Sense - Signt
No visual input, complete darkness in the tank ✔️

Sense - Vestibular
The saline solution salt makes you float, making you feel as though you are weightless ✔️

And in comparison, what senses do we deprive on a freedive hang?

Freediving hangs

Sense - Hearing
Depending on where you are, the water environment could range in sound. I’ve experienced close to silence when I’ve been doing hangs in the open ocean. But there is still always the slight noise of a distant boat engine or the noise of fish eating away at the corals.✔️✖️

Sense - Smell
This is a sense you don’t experience when freediving. Usually we have a nose clip which means that we won’t smell anything, and therefore this sense is completely deprived when we freedive.✔️

Sense - Touch
When we’re floating weightless in the water, we experience the slight feeling of cold water touching on the areas which are not covered by our wetsuit. Theoretically, we could be freediving in a place where the water temperature matches our skin temperature at 33c degrees, and then we could assume to get the same effect as in the flotation tank. ✔️✖️

Sense - Signt
There is no visual input when we hang. We close our eyes and it's as dark as it would be in the tank. ✔️

Sense - Vestibular
Here, I would say that one’s sense of direction gets even more distorted and numbed when freediving, compared to laying in a tank. You really feel weightless when you’re hanging at around 10 meters, and this feeling is hard to simulate, even in a floatation tank. ✔️

So, what are the scientifically proven health benefits of sensory deprivation tanks?

In the 1970s, commercial float tanks were created and began being studied for possible health benefits. The studies found that:

Stress, depression, anxiety, and strong pain were significantly decreased, while optimism and sleep quality significantly increased for the flotation-REST group.
There was also a significant correlation between mindfulness in daily life and degree of altered states of consciousness during the relaxation in the flotation tank.

Here is a link to the study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4219027/

Although not entirely the same, freediving hangs are able to deprive one of many of their senses, and most freedivers would agree that hangs can give you a real sense of peace. I’d even argue that freediving, if done in a mindful and relaxed state, may have similar benefits to the health as the flotation tank.

Freediving injuries and how to prevent them from happening

Sat, 10 Aug 2019 07:00:06 GMT

What do we injure when freediving? In this article i will try to answer that and also how we can avoid getting injured in the first place

Like in most sports, freediving involves a risk of injury. The injuries however don’t look at all similar to those sustained in other sports like soccer, running or climbing, where a broken ankle or arm may be more common.

In freediving on the other hand, twisted ankles and broken bones are virtually unheard of, as our injuries usually relate to the pressure change experienced by our bodies when diving. In In this article, I will describe where and how they most commonly happen, as well as how to prevent them from occurring.

The ears

This is the part that you’re most likely to injure when freediving. It can happen to anyone that tries to dive down into the water, even just a meter or two.

If you have tried to go down below the surface without equalising the ears, then you know how painful it can be. Your ears are unable to equalize the higher external pressure of the water with the lower internal pressure of the ears. Your ears are telling you that you need to go back to shallower waters. If you then continue down only even a meter without equalising, you run the risk that the membrane in the outer ear may rupture due to the rising pressure, giving yourself a barotrauma (pressure injury).

How to prevent it

1. Always equalise before feeling discomfort. It is very important to never continue down if you experience pain or discomfort in your ears.

2. Equalise every meter on the way down. Better to do it too often than infrequently, before you feel any pain in the ears.

3. Be aware and careful of diving with sticky ears and make sure to turn around and come back up if one ear doesn’t equalise. (Sticky ears = having mucus in the eustachian tubes, making it hard to equalise)

Sinuses

The sinuses, small air-filled cavities behind your cheekbones and forehead, are also a part prone to injury when freediving. They go hand-in-hand with the ears, as the sinuses usually equalise simultaneously with the equalisation of the ears. But sometimes they fail to do so if you are suffering from a cold or have recently had a cold. Some people are more prone to sinusitus (inflamed sinuses) and therefore develop problems with the sinuses from a sudden change in temperature in the water or on land, using air conditioning for example.
Injury to the sinuses can cause blood coming from the nose, feeling pressure in the sinuses on land or headache after diving.

How to prevent it

1. Do not dive if you have a cold.

2. Don’t go further if you feel any pain in the area of your sinuses.

3. Rinse your sinuses with a neti pot with saline solution before diving.

4. Avoid using air condition in the room prior to diving.

Lungs and trachea squeeze

These are some of the most serious injury in freediving and usually happens when the freediver dives too deep, too fast, not giving the body time to adapt to the pressure. If so, the lungs or trachea might get injured due to the pressure. When coming up, the freediver will then have the urge to cough, spitting up blood with their saliva.

This is not likely to happen if you’re just snorkelling around or freediving to a depth shallower than 30 meters, but there is still a slight risk anytime you’re immersing yourself and increasing the pressure exerted on your body.

This usually happens to more advanced or competitive freedivers and can happen for a couple of reasons, but the most common reasons include-

Not being well adapted to the depth. When diving deep you have to be very careful that you’re not diving too deep, too fast. Always get used to the depth and never dive beyond 3 meters of the previous depth you were comfortable at.

Other common reasons for having a lung or trachea squeeze can be having strong contractions at depth or a poor equalisation technique.

How to prevent it

1. Always dive within your limits. Never dive deeper than you’re comfortable with.

2. Do not exceed by more than 3 meters the depth you did comfortably last time. This is similar to rule number one, but it’s worth repeating. Never push down to a depth that you’re not comfortable with.

3. Avoid having big contractions down at depth. Even though we will probably have contractions when diving deep, we want them to be as light as possible and we don’t want the contractions to come as a surprise. Instead, be aware as the urge to breathe increases and be prepared to make the diaphragm move softly with the contractions. This can be trained dry on static breath-holds.

4. Practise equalisation so you have a good equalisation technique before diving deep. It’s also a common issue that people injure their lungs when they, without realising, take up air from the lungs. This could be dangerous because the lungs are so compressed down at depth. For example, when you are down at 40 meters, then your lungs are a 1/5 of their full size, and to take up air from your lungs when they are so compressed could result in an injury.

5. Do not do any hasty movements down at depth. We want to move like in slow-motion when we’re diving deep, so we stay relaxed and don’t surprise the tissues around our lungs and trachea with sudden movements.

6. Never tilt your head at depth. This could result in a trachea-squeeze. Always look straight, at the line, so you have your head in a natural position when going down.

If you would happen to injure your lungs or trachea when freediving, you have to take enough rest to get the tissues healed up again.

The time for recovery varies from person to person, but a general consensus is 3 weeks rest.

Although there are other types of injuries, these are the most common injuries I have come across in freediving, both from my own experience, as well as seeing and hearing about other freedivers getting injured.

Freediving, like all activities, involves a risk of getting hurt. But by taking responsibility for our own diving safety and making sure that we’re not taking unnecessary risks, we can effectively mitigate the risk of injury.
Dive safe!

How to choose the right freediving course

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 09:55:02 GMT

A navigation through the jungle of freediving courses

PADI, AIDA, SSI, Molchanovs, Apnea Total.... What do they all stand for? Which is the best organisation to choose for a freediving course, and can you change between organisations as you do different level courses?

In this article I hope to answer these questions and more.

In the beginning of my freediving career, I went through most of them in the search of the cheapest and best option.

Like many freedivers, my budget was very limited and my priority was to get as much time freediving for as little money as possible.

After going through the above organisations, I realised that the most important rule when choosing a freediving course is to make sure you get a good instructor.

Most of the courses will have a similar outline and structure. This means that the biggest factor will be the person presenting the information and supporting you throughout the course.

How can you then ensure that you get a good and trustworthy instructor?

For this you can take a peek at the different organisations requirements.

The first thing would be to check what it takes to become an instructor for the organisation.

The deeper or harder requirements the organisation has for the instructor candidate, the more you can be sure that your instructor has gone through a lot of own training and deep diving. He or she has probably also experienced a lot of setbacks and come up with ways to get around them, which will make them able to better explain and help you to go deeper or overcome a certain barrier. You will also make sure that your instructor has a genuine passion for freediving, which is probably the most important quality for an instructor.

The depth requirements for freediving instructors are as follows (Deepest first):

1 . Molchanovs - wave 3 instructor - 52 meters CWT bifins. Wave 1 & 2 - 42 meters.

2. AIDA - 50 meters.

3. SSI - 40 meters, SSI level 3 is 50 meters

4. Apnea -Total - 40 meters

5. PADI - 40 meters, or 20 meters if already are scuba diving instructor.

How much does a freediving course cost?

The prices vary from school to school and are usually more expensive in big cities and in more developed countries where the school or instructor has to pay more tax and has more expenses.

The price for a freediving course can go for anywhere from 150€ to 500€. And it doesn’t really differ much depending of the organisation. The school or instructor will set their own price regardless of the organisation they’re teaching from.

The cheapest places to learn freediving (from my experience) are:

1. Thailand (Koh Tao)

2. Philippines (Panglao)

3. Indonesia (Bali) (read more about the cheapest places in this article - https://www.alexanderfreediver.com/freediving-on-a-shoestring-budget “

So what do the different organisations stand for?

1. Molchanovs - Made by the best freediver in history, Nathalia Molchanova. By freedivers, for freedivers. This organisation is all about teaching you the right way from the beginning. If you want to learn from the best instructors and make sure that your instructor is trustworthy and has a true passion for freediving, then this organisation is for you. What’s so different with the molchanovs system, is that you are able to continue your training and follow a training schedule from the website and be part of the molchanovs community.

2. AIDA - Association Internationale pour le Développement de l'Apnée, Here you get a good course for your money. A safe and reliable course where you learn the right basics. Also an organisation which only teaches freediving. The first course I took and which I enjoyed a lot. Has also top level instructors.

3. SSI - Scuba Schools International, A very accesible school which you can find in most places you go to. As for the name, it can be a bit misleading at first. But even though they started with scuba diving teaching, now they’re been in the freediving business for long and are also a safe bet to choose and is widely spread and have a good recognition.

4. Apnea Total - This organisation has a very easygoing and fun attitude towards freediving education and is usually very affordable. Here you won’t have any theory tests or long theory sessions. Instead, most of the course will involve diving both on the line and snorkelling around the reef but usually no pool session.

5. PADI - maybe the most well known organisation of the above. You can find a school teaching PADI pretty much everywhere you go, so its really accessible and has a lot of instructors around the world. But the downside is that some of the instructors are scuba diving instructors and have little or almost no experience in freediving. This is due to that they’ve made it so easy for PADI scuba diving instructors to crossover to freediving without much training (They only have to be able to dive to 20 meters). So here you have to be extra careful to make sure you get a legitimate freediving instructor!

So, can you switch around from the different courses?
For example do a level 1 with SSI, and then do wave 2 with Molchanovs?

Yes, in most cases you can. Here again, it’s up to your instructor, and if he or she feels that you are ready or not. But in my experience, this has been possible in all the organisations. And I am personally letting people join my courses coming from different organisations if I feel that they’re ready for that.

The last thing I want to mention is the amount of students that will be in the course.

The best would be if it’s only you and the instructor on the course, so you get more time freediving and as much attention during the course as possible.

According to the rules, it’s not allowed for the instructor to have more than 4 students in the course. If there are more, the instructor needs an assistant to help out.

Me personally, I try to avoid a class of more than 3 people when I’m teaching. Just because it’s hard to give everyone the right amount of attention and the time freediving that the student paid for.

So to summarise, when you walk in to the next freediving shop or are looking around on the web. Ask who your instructor will be, what experience he or she has, and what organisation the course will be taught as.
As you can see in the article, I let you decide for yourself which of the different organisations to choose. I can not say which one is the best or the worst. It is a question of preference, and what you're looking for. I hope this article has made it easier to make this decision.

Lastly, make sure that the location is what you’re looking for, and go ahead and start your freediving journey, be it in rough conditions in a cold Swedish lake, or in the warm tropical waters of the Caribbean!

Here is a link if you want to enroll on a molchanovs course: https://myfreedivinginstructor.com/en/listings/1013136-molchanovs-freediving-course-wave-1-in-panglao-philippines

How to best prepare for your upcoming freediving course

Fri, 14 Jun 2019 10:28:26 GMT

a step to step guide to get ready for your next freediving course!

Are you about to enroll on your first freediving course and want to make sure you are coming as well prepared as possible? In this article you’ll find a step to step guide, so when you start the course, you can enjoy these days of freediving to the fullest!

The first thing you will do when you arrive to the course is to have a two or three hour of theory lesson. After that, the rest of the course is practical, and the first thing you will do is, a series of dry breath-holds. Meaning that you will be laying on the floor, holding your breath with your instructors supervision.

The instructor will tell you to use belly-breathing, meaning that when you inhale, the abdominal area moves.

An easy way to get control of this, is to put the left hand on the chest and the right hand on the stomach. When you then breathe, and do this the correct way, your right hand moves and your left hand will be still.

Then, after breathing like this for around two minutes, you will learn how to take your pre-dive-breath.

This is the inhale that will fill up your lungs and is the inhale that you will hold your breath with.

The way the instructor will teach you this varies, but usually you train your control of the breath from the abdominal area, then the intercostal area.

To prepare for this, you can practice to take a few big breaths. Starting from your lower part of the abdominals and then working your way up during the inhale and stop at the neck area.

This is also something you can practice at home before the course. At first it can feel uncomfortable to hold the breath with full lungs, so it’s a good idea to do this a couple of times before the course.

Now it’s time for the breath-hold part.

The instructor will get you to do a series of breath-holds and let you experience the urge to breathe.

The best way to prepare for this is to train a series of breath-holds at least 4 sessions before the course so you get accustomed to the feeling and can enjoy the breath-hold as much as possible!

Here is a an article where i wrote about breath hold training/ https://www.alexanderfreediver.com/what-stops-you-from-holding-your-breath-longer

The next parts of the course might be hard to practice in a home-setting because it will be practiced in the pool and in the ocean.

For the pool part, the best way to train is what we call “walking apnea”

You sit down and breathe like you did in the previous exercise.

Then you take your “pre-dive-breath” and start walking. “Time” yourself and walk in a slow and relaxed phase.

Do this exercise 4 repetitions and try to aim for 50 seconds per breath-hold.

The main factor determining whether people pass or do not pass a freediving course is if they can equalise their ears or not. This is something that is pretty hard to explain in text so instead I recommend to watch a instructional video, I've put the link of a “how to equalise” video here https://youtu.be/Mo07gZR741M

On the second and the third day of the course, you will head out to the ocean and practice depth-diving on a line.

Having the ability to dive deeper in the open water is the reason why most people do a freediving course, and is also the most enjoyable part of freediving.

The breath-hold training that I mentioned earlier will make this part much easier and enjoyable.

That’s it! After the depth sessions, you will probably do a theory test and then you’re hopefully a certified freediver!

What stops you from holding your breath longer?

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 07:41:50 GMT

Everyone who has tried to hold their breath in the past has experienced the feeling of discomfort and the urge to breathe.

If you are a beginner without experience, it usually takes around 45 seconds from when you start holding your breath until you want to start breathing again.

The good thing is that this doesn’t indicate that you are low on oxygen, even though it might feel like it. Instead, it’s just the body sending signals to your brain that it’s time to exhale the carbon-dioxide that you have been building up while you’ve been holding your breath. You still probably have over 90% of the amount of oxygen you usually have in your body when you get the urge to breath.

The graph below is from a beginner student who on his first breath-hold of 1 minute and 30 seconds did not go below 95% oxygen saturation.

He still however experienced a strong urge to breathe that made him stop the breath-hold. But knowing that this comes from a rise in the carbon dioxide and not from low oxygen can make it mentally easier to hold your breath.

If you go past the first signals of the urge to breathe, you will start feeling the diaphragm moving. This may be uncomfortable at the beginning but is nothing to worry about, as this also happens due to the elevated levels of carbon dioxide.

The more you get used to the urge to breathe, the longer you can hold your breath.

So a big part of a freedivers' training is to get used to high levels of carbon dioxide.

How do we train this?

A simple and effective way is to just hold your breath more often, or you can do what we call Co2 tables.

The point of this is to keep the breath-hold interval time the same, but make the breathing time shorter.

The table below is a good way to start training breath-holding. Try doing it for around 3 days a week, in your bed or couch, or with an experienced freediver as safety if you do it in the water. Good luck with your training!

Behind The Scenes Of Competitive Freediving

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 04:01:41 GMT

How much does it cost to compete? Do you win anything? This are some of the questions I answer in this article about competitive freediving

Everything starts around six months before the actual dive, this is when you need to sign up to the competition and pay the competition fee.

So, how much does it cost?

The price to participate in a freediving competition varies. But in most cases, you will pay around 100usd per dive. Which adds up to be around 300usd for a three day competition.

There are some exceptions though, one of my favourite competition so far is the Sabang competition organised by Stanley Sradaputta and is 100% funded by the Indonesian government, which makes it free to compete and also offers very generous prizes. I will come to the prizes that one can win in a competition again later.

Another free competition could be the AIDA world championships where, if you’re selected to represent the national team, you can get the competition fee paid for by your country’s freediving organisation.

But for most freedivers, this is not the case and we have to pay from our already depleted pockets.

After the payment is done, the spot is secured and the training can start!

Can anyone join a competition?

Yes, most competitions are open for anyone!

You just need a medical certificate showing that you are healthy. You also need to be connected to a freediving club and sign up to AIDA’s website and make an account. After that you’re good to go!

There are some competitions however, where you need to be invited by the organiser to be able to compete. This is for the more prestigious competitions, like Vertical Blue, also called the “Wimbledon of freediving”.

Once you paid your fee or got invited to the competition, you usually plan out your training in sections, and try to build up your performance so you peak once you do your competition-dive.

Fast forward until you’re at the competition site and it’s one week before the competition starts.

The competition platform is set up and all the logistics for the competition are already in place.

Most competitors arrive to train at the platform for at least one week prior to the competition, some a month or more before. This is partly to get used to the environment. For example, the temperature in the water, thermoclines, dark waters etc.

The night before the competition starts, there is the inauguration, which is also when the organisers brief everyone about the rules and procedures during the competition days, taking into consideration that for some it will be their first experience competing.

At the end of the meeting, you will have the chance to announce your depth for the first day. You will write down your nationality, your announced Depth, if it is a world record or a national record, and an estimation how long the dive will be.

You are only allowed to announce a depth within your limit, meaning that you are not allowed to suddenly announce 100 meters if your previous deepest dive was to 75 meters.

The depth limit is usually 3 meters more than your personal best, and if you would be announcing something deeper than that, the organiser could possibly suspend you for the rest of the competition. This is to make sure that everyone is diving within their limit and don’t do anything reckless.

The same evening, a list stating dive times for the next day gets sent out. This is so every competitor has time to plan for their upcoming dive. When to wake up, when to eat, and when to start heading to the competition area.

Usually the first diver dives at around 9am.

If it would be me, I would wake up around two hours before my dive.

Then I will treat the morning like any other morning, and try to not put too much attention on the competition dive ahead.

One hour before my dive starts, I have to arrive to the competition area to check in. Here the doctors check my pulse and oxygen saturation, to make sure I’m fit to dive that day.

After that, when it is 45 minutes before my time to dive, I can jump into the water and start warming up. This time is carefully calculated for most freedivers. Especially if you do many warmups.

Some write down the times on their hands, so they make sure they don’t start their warmups too early and get too cold before their dive.

Then you arrive to the competition platform. It’s usually dead silent, the only voice you hear is the judge shouting out how many minutes are left for the next diver to start. It’s so quiet you can really hear a pin drop.

If you have to talk to someone, you have to whisper. This is to not disturb the diver who’s breathing up on the line. This is a nice display of sportsmanship and mutual respect for your freediving friends, and illustrates what freediving competitions are all about.

Now it’s 30 minutes before my dive, so I continue to one of the many buoys where I get greeted by a safety diver who is checking on me while I warm up.

After I’ve warmed up, I go to the platform and start preparing for my dive.

Now it’s 5 minutes before my dive and I can go to the competition line and start with my breathe-up.

After a while, the judge start counting down from 2 minutes, 30 seconds.

Every 30 second I will hear how long I have until my dive starts.

I sometimes think about how similar this is to an lift off of an spaceship.

An astronaut sitting in a space-ship getting the count-down from the control center. “T-minus 2 minutes till lift-off”

Before I know it, I hear “30 seconds till official top” so I start inhaling the air I will take down with me. Then I hear, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Lift off! Or official top maybe.

Then I dive down until at around 20 meters depth I reach freefall and can let gravity take me down.

Fast forward until I’m back up at sea level and the judges have hopefully given me a white card.

Then the celebration starts and you can start enjoying watching the second greatest thing about attending freediving competitions. Which is, watching your friends dive!

The competition continues like this throughout, and then it’s time for the award ceremony on the final day.

Prize money is rarely seen in freediving competition. In the Sabang competition, the Indonesian government compliment the winner with 1.400 USD, plus many other prices.

But in general, most prizes are coming from sponsors in the competition. Like freediving watches and freediving fins.

After the prize ceremony is over, it’s common that there is a big party. So after months of not drinking alcohol, it can be quite a fun party to go to!

No matter if you’re a competitor, looking into starting to compete or just curios and want to be a spectator, this is one of the friendliest and most humble sports-competitions you can witness.

I hope to see you there next time, watching or competing together with us deep diving explorers!

5 Things to know about freediving under ice

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 10:01:57 GMT

Are you about to go ice-diving, or are you just curious about freediving under ice? Here are some guidlines for your next cold adventure!

1. Be safe!

Ice-diving can be very dangerous if you’re not careful! Be sure that you tell your buddy before you do anything and let everyone know about your plan. You probably won’t be able to hold your breath as long in cold water as in warm water, so never push your limits and be conservative in anything you do!

When going under the ice, always follow a dive line so you find your way back to the hole.

2. Question: - I must be able to hold my breath longer in freezing water thanks to the strong onset of the mammalian dive response?

Not really! The MDR works in relation to the air temperature. So it would be even stronger if it would be warm in the air, and usually at locations where you dive under the ice, it will also be minus degrees in the air.

The shift in temperature experienced by the sensors around your face will therefore not be much greater than in a tropical place. What you could do is, if it’s a sunny day, face the sunlight before you dip your face in the water. This will make the difference experienced in temperature greater and hopefully the dive response as well!

3. Question: - What wetsuit should I be wearing?

The wetsuit is the most important gear when you’re jumping down in ice-cold water. Depending on if you’re about to go for depth or if you’re mostly going to be at the surface, there will be two choices.If you will dive deeper than 10 meters, I would recommend a 5mm wetsuit with open cell material inside. If you will be staying mostly at the surface or dive shallow, then a 7mm open cell wetsuit would be the choice! If you’re diving deeper with a thick wetsuit, you also need more weights and you will have to swim up those weights.

4. The second most important gear: Gloves and socks!

The first parts that will be getting cold are the feet and hands. So make sure to have at least 5mm neoprene socks and gloves.

Another important thing is to have three-fingered gloves. If the fingers are kept together, then they will keep the heat much better!

5. Bring a coffee thermos!

But not to drink hot beverage from. Instead you should fill it up with hot water, so that after you’ve been in the ice-water and you start feeling cold you can pour some of the warm water into the wetsuit. Then pour some in the gloves and socks. After that you are ready to go back down in the water and enjoy the the freezing water for longer!

What goes through my mind on a deep dive?

alexander.emanuel.nilsson@gmail.com (Alexander Nilsson) — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 06:34:15 GMT

I submerge my face in the water and start the descent, focusing on how the water feels as it streams past the areas left uncovered by my wetsuit, like my hands and face.

Continuning down, I hear the first alarm set on my watch, at 22 meters. I start filling up my mouth with air from my lungs, so that I can carry it down with me to equalise my ears.

I stop kicking, and start freefalling, letting gravity pull me down.

Here, my eyelids relax and fall partly closed. I hook my thumbs onto the straps on my thighs and focus on relaxing my chest area.

I focus on keeping myself positioned so I can freefall comfortably and fast.

At around 40-50 meters, I sometimes get small pressure contractions in my diaphragm, but then I think about my friend Max and that he was able to go down to 106 meters with these contractions, and so I continue.

The deeper I go, the further my eyes close, relaxing more and more for every meter.

I see that the water turninig darker and I think about how quiet it is down here.

I feel that the water is getting colder, and I sense it streaming by on my hands and face.

It’s getting even darker and I keep closing my eyes little by little the deeper I go, until they are almost fully closed.

I focus on what I can see, some small particles in the water passing by, little bright dots in the dark water. I’m passing by these dots faster and faster, and soon I reach my maximum freefall speed, 1.1 meter per second, or 4 km/h.

I feel that the volume of air in my mouth is getting smaller, compressed, and I shift my focus towards my mouth, so as to keep equalising my ears. I hear my ears making a popping sound with every equalisation I do, and I know that I can continue down.

I hear the second alarm on my watch, set at 10 meters before the target, at which point I equalise and know that I will reach the aimed at depth!

I feel the line passing by my fingers now until I reach the tennis ball at the end of the line. I turn and start the ascent!

Here I count the kicks, deciding that I will count to 24 kicks, and then start over again.

I put my arms over my head for better stream-lining, and keep counting throughout the whole way up. During this time, I only think about counting.

I then meet the safety diver, and realise that I can now slow down the kicks and let the buoyancy take me to the surface.

Before I know it, I reach the surface and fill my lungs up with fresh air again!

Freediving on a shoestring budget - The cheapest locations to go deep!

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 15:31:32 GMT

Travel and freedive without breaking the bank!

We all look for the best value freediving spots, and you may be surprised that by going somewhere a bit more tropical, you may actually be saving money overall!

Here you have the 4 cheapest places you can freedive at, from beginners to competitive freedivers. I can personally vouch for each of these locations and give you a breakdown of the approximate costs of training and living.

Dahab, Egypt

Best for: Freedivers with own equipment
Max depth: 94 meters

Water Temperature: 22-29C

How to get here : The closest airports are Sharm el Sheikh (2h away by taxi) and Eilat in Israel (3 hours by bus). Cairo is an uncomfortable 10h bus ride away, not recommended.

Freediving costs: FREE!

If you have a buddy and your own buoy and line, the freediving training here is for free! Transportation costs to and from the Blue Hole are about 1-3 € a day depending on how many people you share the ride with. If you need only up to 40m, then you need no transportation and can easily set up a buoy in the main bay of Dahab, in the Lighthouse area.

Living cost s : Approx 400€/month.

You can find cheap housing options through different Facebook groups. Renting apartment costs between 60€ - 200€ a month. Food in restaurants goes for around 2€ to 6€/ meal.

Panglao, Philippines

Best for: All levels

Max depth: 120 meters

Water temperature: 26-30C

How to get here : You can take the flight directly yo Panglao, or fly to Cebu (take a 2h boat to Bohol, and then a half hour taxi ride until Panglao)

Freediving costs : FREE / 350$ (approx. 300€)/month.

The way training works here is very similar to Dahab. You could just go here with a another freediving buddy and bring your own set up with buoy and line and train for free. Another way is to connect to a freediving school and there are a lot of them on the island. The cheapest schools however, M’Ocean or Free Soul diving, and there you can train for as little as 15 usd per session. M’Ocean is located at Almira diving resort, and its easiest to find it on google maps. Free soul is on the middle of the island and is also possible to find on google maps.

Living costs: 500€ /month

You can find cheap housing for around 100-300€/month around the island. Food goes for around 2-7€/meal.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Best for: Beginners - intermediate level

Max depth : 40 meters

Water temperature : 26-31C

How to get here : The closest airports are Koh Samui (1-3h boat ride), and Surat Thani (2-4h boat ride). You can also take a bus to Surat Thani from other locations in Thailand, and take the boat from there.

Freediving costs: If you are a beginner, the SSI level 1 course with Blue Immersion will cost you 149€. This is probably the cheapest option for you to learn freediving, covering all the freediving basics in two days.

Keep in mind that the sea around Koh Tao is not particularly deep, meaning it is not the spot to go to if you want to go deeper than 40m. But as a beginner, this is a great and price-worthy place to start.

Look at https://blue-immersion.com/ for more info!

Living costs : 500€/month

Koh Tao is a very budget-friendly place to live in, you can find housing for around 100-200€ /month and eat cheap and tasty food at restaurants or from the street vendors for around 1€-5€/meal.

Amed, Bali, Indonesia

Best for: Beginners to intermediate level

Max depth: 50 meters from shore, 100m+ with boat
How to get here: Amed is a 3h car ride away from Bali's main airport, Nagurah Rai (Denpasar)

Water temperature: 26-31C

Freediving costs: 200$ (approx. 170€) for a level 1 beginner course, with Apneista or Fusion Freediving school.

Amed is a sleepy fishing village in the north-east of Bali, surrounded by steep hills that plummets down to the bay of Amed, which has a depth of 50 meters and is easily accessible from the shore. For deeper depths, you can take a boat out, but this will be more expensive.

Apneista is recently built freediving center located on the main hill in Amed, and is probably the most scenic freediving center around. For beginners, Apneista runs a basic freediving course over two days which will cost you 200$. For the more advanced freedivers, they offers training sessions for around 20$ (17 €) a session with a competent freedive buddy, although they do offer discounts for those who purchase several sessions.
For the most recent offers, have a look at: www.apneista.com

Alternatively, you can also find Fusion freediving at the bottom of that same hill. They also offer beginner courses for 200$, and you can choose from PADI, AIDA, and Pure Apnea freediving certifications.

Check out Fusion freedivings' website at: http://fusionfreedive.com/

Living c osts: 600€/month

Amed is quite affordable when it comes to housing. You can find a cheap room for as little as 200€/month and eat out in the restaurants for around 2€-8€/ meal. Amed has a really great selection of safe restaurants, so if you enjoy gastronomy and freediving, this is the place for you!

7 skills you will learn in your first Freediving course!

alexander.emanuel.nilsson@gmail.com (Alexander Nilsson) — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 17:02:49 GMT

If you are thinking of trying out your first Freediving course, these are the 7 skills you will be gaining:

You will first learn the proper breathing technique for a breath-hold, and be able to hold your breath for up to 3 minutes!
You will get a better awareness of your body and mind. This is not only good for freediving, but will improve your breathing and help you stay calm in your everyday life!
You will learn how to equalize in an easy and effortless manner without experiencing ear pain . If currently you feel pain in your ears when going a few meters below the surface, don't worry, that is totally normal and should not hold you back from trying out freediving! There are several different types of equalizing which can allow you to go to depths you never thought were possible.
You will be able to dive safely and comfortably to a depth of 10 meters or more!
You will gain more confidence in the water . Learning about the inbuilt mechanisms which allow us to stay under water comfortably will make you realize that being in oceans or lakes is second nature to us!
You will learn the proper technique for efficiency under water . Throughout the course you will better your swimming technique and become more streamlined. This will also lower oxygen consumption and make your dives longer and more enjoyable!
You will learn how to do safety on a dive-buddy so you’re ready to practice freediving wherever you go!

A short introduction to Freediving depth disciplines

alexander.emanuel.nilsson@gmail.com (Alexander Nilsson) — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 16:21:57 GMT

If you have been looking into freediving and come across terms such as 'FIM', 'CWT' or 'CNF', and been a bit confused by what they all mean, you have come to the right place!

Most of these acronyms refer to the different freediving 'disciplines', which is the way in which a freediver moves down into the depths and back up. Each discipline has its own rules to consider when in competitions!

FIM
Free Immersion = Pulling oneself down and up on the rope.

In this discipline the freediver uses the rope for both the descent and ascent, while wearing the same weight throughout the entire dive. Often the freediver is not wearing any fins at all when doing FIM, as he or she uses only their arms' strength to pull themselves up and down the line. The advantage here is that you only need to use the smaller muscle groups, those in the upper body (arms and back), which means you are not consuming too much oxygen. FIM dives usually take longer , but it’s also the most relaxing discipline of them all!

CWT

Constant Weight (with bifins)

In constant weight with bifins you have a fin on each foot and use a scissor kick to get you down and up, with the same weight throughout the dive. When competing in the CWT disciplines, athletes are not allowed to hold on to the rope, except once, when turning around at the bottom to go back up.

This discipline requires one to use their large leg muscles to get down and up, but with the right technique and good streamlining, you will be able to reduce your oxygen consumption to a minimum.

This discipline is a real old school discipline which has been existing since the birth of competitive freediving, and seems to be on the rise again!

CWT

Constant weight (with monofin)

The same as above, but with a monofin, meaning both feet are in one large fin, and you swim like a dolphin! Here, one needs to put a bit more emphasis on technique, but when you get it right, you will go deep! CWT with monofin is the self-propulsion discipline with which competitors go deepest, and is likely the one that will get you the deepest too! The reason for this is the relative speed and the energy-efficiency you get from a monofin-thrust.

CNF

Constant weight without fins

The purest of all the depth disciplines!

In this discipline you are swimming down and up without any help from your fins or the rope. It’s considered to be the most physically demanding discipline, but it is also the discipline that gives you the most freedom under water!