Back 2 Training & Extreme Ironing!

After a 6wk break from training at the gym and pool, and with Christmas and new year new over and done with including the seasonal coughs and bugs, it was back to training!

Really hit it hard this week all in preparation for a World Record Attempt this weekend. Extreme Ironing! Myself and another 127 divers including other freedivers from SaltFree are getting together at Chepstow to try a new WR in this crazy sport. People have tried ironing up Everest and even jumping out of planes but never underwater with this many people before. (and never in temperatures of this kind either!!) The Ozzies currently hold the WR for the most divers underwater ironing at the same time, not for long....(come on the UK)

I'm sure there will be lots of pictures coming on here soon....

Pool training last night was hard, i only managed 4mins 45sec on my last hold taking around 40 contractions but i suppose that is what happens when you don't train for ages. I tried my new fins (Cressi Gara Pro's) they were fine, really flexible and comfortable.

Off to pack my bags for tomorrow's trip to Wales now....

Motivation Back, Let's Crack On!!

After giving myself a good kick up the bum last week i finally got back with the programme. managed to get into the gym a few times this week and it felt good to get out on my bike again. Training certainly got me motivated again!

I went to the pool and did nothing to enhance my performance before, i even ate 1hr before going to the pool and had a crafty fag on the way!

I started by doing two FRV holds, one at 50secs and the second at 1min 10secs with a minute rest in between. I then went into two inhale holds, one of 2mins 27secs and the second 2mins 37secs. I completed one FRV hold in between the inhale holds which was dead on 1min.

I then went into a full inhale plus packing which i held for 3min 40secs (not looking good at this point i must say) and then completed a second with a hold time of 5mins 03secs.

Quite happy as all the warm up's a usual were only 10 contractions and the last was only 40 contractions, these seemed quite comfortable.

I'll carry on like this until next year now and then have a hard push around the end of January as since my 6min hold i have been 30 secs off the mark for a good 4-5wks now.

Lack of Motivation

I don't know if it's that time of the year or if I'm simply not motivated but i just can't seem to get on with my training at the moment? Work is pretty tuff but i have had the opportunity to train but simply haven't.

I missed the gym on every occasion and didn't even get down to the pool this week! My head didn't seem up to it so i pulled out completely this week.

Maybe i have been over training this year and just need a break, time to heal and recover can't be a bad thing. I am going to make a conservative effort next week to at least get in the gym a couple of times and do some cardio on my bike maybe once or twice. I feel very lazy and lethargic when i don't train and energised when i do, so arse in gear next week.

I went down to http://www.wrecksandreefs.co.uk/ today to pick up my suit, fins, mask, knife, belt & snorkel. I came across the store which is situated in Basildon, Essex on the Internet whilst trying to source all my gear from one supplier. They deal with Cressi Sub and ordered everything in for me within a week, Thank you! It all fitted perfect and the new Cressi Gara Professional fins looked fantastic. I'll do a write up on their newest fins once I've used them in Jan.

5mins 26secs

Another good week in the pool after no training again this week (including no dry training) This time of the year is very busy for me and I'm finding it hard to put make time to do quality training but with Christmas round the corner I'm bound to miss some training sessions. As long as i keep ticking over until Jan i know I'll be fine for next year when i can step up my Dynamic and Static training 100%.

I only managed the gym once in the last 3wks and i haven't been doing a great deal of dry training tables either but i did get into the pool again this week for some static sessions and i was happy again with my performance.

I started with FRV holds (3 in a row) which got me straight into the zone. I then completed simple breath holds with no packing and carried out FRV holds again in between. I did manage a 1min 40sec FRV hold which is my best yet!

The last two holds i packed and completed a 4min 40sec and 5min 26sec taking only 40 contractions again. The contractions seemed slightly harder to control than last week but i still managed to keep them slow and controlled.

Good all round session and looking forward to next week.

Spiro-Meter Test

I finally went to see my Doctor today and had my first spiro-meter test, i have seen many freedivers talking about their lung capacity and being a smoker i decided to have a go myself and see what it was all about. A spiro-meter for those who don't know measures the following...

• FEV1 - Forced Expiratory Volume in one second. This is the amount of air you can blow out within one second. With normal lungs and airways you can normally blow out most of the air from your lungs within one second.
• FVC - Forced Vital Capacity. The total amount of air that you blow out in one breath.
  
• FEV1 divided by FVC (FEV1/FVC). Of the total amount of air that you can blow out in one breath, this is the proportion that you can blow out in one second.

My results were as follows........

1. FEV1 4.83ltrs (128%)
2. FVC 6.73ltrs (149%)
3. FEV1/FVC 72 (base) 92 (max)
4. Lung Age Less than <20yrs

I didn't realise that i was not to eat before or smoke, i had a large dinner and a cigarette before the test!! Oh!! I have booked in another test in 3mths time to compare the results after changing training routines. I have started to use tables (dry) and going into negative diaphragm exercises this week which should help me deal with contractions much better going forward into next year.

Basics work

Well my getting back to basics training really worked. After the last 4wks of chest infections, poor training and a week away in Dublin my training was not going great. I have been using some crazy tables to train with (dry) and have helped me deal with the severity of my contractions massively. I only trained static on Wed this week and managed a very easy and very enjoyable 5min 31secs.

I went back to FRV holds to start with which i still find the best for me. Then i done some very basic inhale holds (no packing) but this time in between holds i done FRV holds.

I found myself getting up to 1min 30sec on the FRV holds and when i finally got ready for my last breath hold i managed the 5min 31sec.

The contractions seemed very easy and very slow and i managed 40 of these slow contractions, way more that i have every done at such a slow pace. I came up early also as i was expecting about 4mins after all the alcohol i consumed the week before.

Training since has been non-existent though due to work commitments (something had to spoil the good training) but i intend on doing 2 sessions per day of crazy tables to keep my diaphragm nice and stretched.

The Dublin trip was great although we did do some work and the hotel had a pool so i took my boss Mat Bowker in for a quick breath hold lesson. He managed a 31sec hold but after some teaching this went up to 1min 55sec in no time, beating the directors of our host massively!! Well done Mat!