Increasing Depth and time Hunting?

[RuhRoh]

I have waded through a lot of threads in the freedivers forums on O2 tables and Co2 tables along with apnea walks etc. I was wondering what some of you do to increase your dive depths and times for hunting. Do tables work for you? Should I look at constant weight training things for ideas to increase or do some spearo's have helpful suggestions.

Thanks !

[dave]

Just get in the water as much as possible, anything else is of pretty limited help for hunting. There are no short cuts, just dive a lot and your times will naturally increase
cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment

[spaghetti]

Originally Posted by dave

Just get in the water as much as possible, anything else is of pretty limited help for hunting. There are no short cuts, just dive a lot and your times will naturally increase
cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment

Very well said, Dave. Freediving is freediving, spearfishing is spearfishing.
Increasing your CO2 tolerance for hunting is just minimal help (and possibly a danger), cause when you hunt you do not concentrate on the dive: it's no introspection, it's circumspection. You have a gun to handle, a terrain to scan, fish to seize, in short it's not the same thing at all.
Just learn to breath properly: three or four breathing acts before each dive, deep and slow breaths, with the exhale time longer than inhale time, and then proper intervals to oxygenate between dive and dive. And NEVER stretch your breath hold time to the limit while hunting: always save some "emergency" air for the case you get tangled or so. (This is nothing scientific, just a real-life amateur spearo's experience)

[trux]

The risk of doing only tables is that you will become more used to the breathing urge, contraction, and will be able to endure through the struggle phase longer and close to your physiological limit. But unless you train properly (it means a wide variety of exercises enhancing your overall performance, not only the tolerance), it is actually quite dangerous for spear fishing and I'd strongly advice against it. It is OK for pure competitive freedivers who train and dive in well controlled environment, with buddies watching them very closely at each dive and each ascent. But at spearos or freedivers who dive alone or with buddies just close to, but nor really watching each other permanently, reducing the safety margin by increasing your tolerance may quickly turn a fatal step. The tables have place in freediver's training, but it should not be relied exclusively on them. You should better join a club with a good training program, or buy a book explaining the training methodology better. Diving a lot is a good training too, but when diving alone or with "loose" buddies, you should never ever push the limits, so the progress may be slow.

EDIT: argh, I did not see Spaghetti posting almost the same in the meantime

[spaghetti]

Originally Posted by trux

EDIT: argh, I did not see Spaghetti posting almost the same in the meantime

Yes, but your post is more knowledgeable than mine: you're a freediving expert, I'm just a fishy smelly reef crawler

[trux]

Originally Posted by spaghetti

Yes, but your post is more knowledgeable than mine: you're a freediving expert, I'm just a fishy smelly reef crawler

I am no expert, I just spend way too much time on computer (instead of going to dive)

[jharryd]

hey guys just a question.. i see a few product by the name of "ultra breathe" on ebay. its supposed to expand ur lung capacity... is this just a fake or does it really work and has anybody actually tested it in real life, if so pls share ur thoughts,

[spearo2]

Originally Posted by jharryd

hey guys just a question.. i see a few product by the name of "ultra breathe" on ebay. its supposed to expand ur lung capacity... is this just a fake or does it really work and has anybody actually tested it in real life, if so pls share ur thoughts,

No it is a trainer for your lungs similar to the product heart and lung patients use to help them get back up to speed.I have one but have been told by a few people that it does not help in breath hold and may actually be counter productive.I don't think a study has been done as to its benefits or drawbacks as far as freediving is concerned.

[LastOneOut]

What effect does O2 table training have for the hunter? Is the O2 level of tolerance different than the CO2 level tolerance in terms of danger of SWB? I am a little confused as to the effect of dynamic training and O2 tables vs. CO2 tables. Seems like O2 tables and dynamic training would help the hunter use less O2 - thus less likely to blackout. I guess my real question is do the O2 tables just make you more tolerant of low O2 levels i.e. just as bad for a hunter as a high tolerance of high CO2? Any clarification would be helpful.

[amihov]

Well there is many things you can do extend your under water time. All of tables will help you by extending your dive. In general the best thing you can do when you are not in the water is to tray to do apnea walks together whit tables. By doing the table you will learn how long you need to breath up before a long dive or apnea walk. The more you practice the better you will become and you will be able recognize sings of you getting close to your limits. This is helpful for your safety when you are hunting alone there is nobody to help you if you get in trouble. So if you want to push your limits first practice on land and when you feel comfortable whit the results tray them in water but never push your limits in the water because an error can be deadly. So again i am sorry about my poor English but again never push you limits in the water. We are not doing this for records we are doing it for fun. It is better to come back whit no fish but alive.