Breath holding advice

A few years, well actually many years ago I built up underwater breath time by practicing holding my breath while walking. A minute of walking while not breathing would equal more than a minute underwater time as long as the dive was in controlled relaxation mode. Biking and wind sprints are all good for core endurance but the body needs to be trained to use the oxygen effectively without replenishment during a dive. Hard aerobic sports mostly make the body more effective in using a constant stream of incoming oxygen.

Ding Ding Ding winna winna chicken dinna! The best way to condition the body for a better bottom time is by becoming proficient at using less oxygen.  A well conditioned athlete that focuses on wind sprints and intense anaerobic work trains the body to use oxygen efficiently which is what don't want to do in freediving.

What you want to do is kick in the mammalian reflex that we have and slow down all of our body functions.  There are some things that happen to us, blood shunting, contracting of the spleen and vasoconstriction of arteries that allow us to use less oxygen and turn on reflex.

O2 tables and CO2 tables are simple ways to build up tolerance to CO2 or to learn to deal with a lack of O2.
Dynamic Apnea is great for becoming more efficient at using less O2 while using energy.
Stretching and relaxed breathing exercises is probably the most important as you can increase the size of your lung capacity from 5-6L to up to 12L.

All of this is great but nothing can beat taking a class where you learn to become more efficient.  Freediving is about cutting through the water, becoming more efficient, finding the path of least resistance, using the least amount of energy and looking good while doing it 

Shameless plug here:

Myself and Kris Cortez, LiveAlohaKris, just recently completed the Fii Instructor School which was extremely challenging and took 10 days.  Kris and I aren't considered deep divers in world terms but for Northern California we do okay.  Kris and I both have hit 134 feet on a single breath and have a static breath hold of 4:30 and 5:00.

Classes changed my diving career forever and I now enjoy freediving almost as much as spearfishing.

We will launch our classes in November and start by teaching Fii Level 1 in which we will hopefully be able to get the students to hold their breath to 3:00 and dive up to 66'/20M.

We are going to do a video of our own beloved BigJim taking the class.  As you know BigJim is one of the best hunters we have but he doesn't have the best bottom times.  I'm hoping by taking this class we will see BigJim smash some of his personal bests and surprise one of our bests with what he can do.  If he fails miserably the video will never be released    J/K he will kill it!

Stay tuned for official launch to our freediving school we will be starting.  I will announce it here and it will also be announced on www.redtrianglespearfishing.com

A little about Fii:

http://www.freedivinginstructors.com/

My active status:

http://www.freedivinginstructors.com/fii/courses_by/138

Kris:

http://www.freedivinginstructors.com/fii/courses_by/139

Thanks! Matt

We are going to do a video of our own beloved BigJim taking the class.  As you know BigJim is one of the best hunters we have but he doesn't have the best bottom times.  I'm hoping by taking this class we will see BigJim smash some of his personal bests and surprise one of our bests with what he can do.  If he fails miserably the video will never be released    J/K he will kill it!

 

Yep...I pretty much suck and any gains I have had over the years have come slooooooowly, after a TON of time in the water....

Really looking forward to taking the class not only to see how it improves my depths/time but to learn more about how to be as safe as possible so I can make it home to my girls after each dive.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

  Kris and I aren't considered deep divers in world terms but for Northern California we do okay. Kris and I both have hit 134 feet on a single breath and have a static breath hold of 4:30 and 5:00.

Give me a break! 
You're killin' me Smalls.
I hope I can get the chance to take one of those classes someday.
Looking forward to seeing the Big Jim video. Big time!

  Kris and I aren't considered deep divers in world terms but for Northern California we do okay. Kris and I both have hit 134 feet on a single breath and have a static breath hold of 4:30 and 5:00.

Give me a break! 
You're killin' me Smalls.
I hope I can get the chance to take one of those classes someday.
Looking forward to seeing the Big Jim video. Big time!

Lol! Well when you have seen people dive over 200' with relative ease and watch people with over 3:00 bottom times you start to realize with a little training how much is attainable under the water!

We are truly fortunate that Northern California has some amazing fish/marine life from 0'-40' if most abalone started at 50' I think we would see an entirely different culture of freediving/hunting up here but since you can get them in 10' people just wing it.

Hopefully we can make it fun, introduce some safety aspects of freediving and make your days on the water much more enjoyable.

Here is a link to active classes:

http://www.freedivinginstructors.com/matt.lopez

Check www.redtrianglespearfishing.com for updates on classes.  I need 4 minimum to run a class and if weekends do not work I can always do weekdays if 4 people can get together to take it!

Matt

Sign me up!

I would be interested in taking your class depending on when it is.