Jamboree DAY 3 ..blew the other two right out of the water!
William Trubridge is a clever guy. While his intense sessions with Freedive Flow on Gili Air he likes keeping the training plan a secret until just before the participants get in the water. Maybe this way, no one has time to worry about trying something they’ve never done before. No warm-up dives and deep training tables were the order of the day! Surprise!
Open Water Session: A freediver, a buddy and a world record holder that takes footage for further analysis
Most freedivers have a set routine that they rarely vary from. Warm up dives with hangs and FRC (passive exhale) dives usually precede the actual deep attempt. Today, Will encouraged everyone to try for their PB in their chosen discipline and do it with no warm up. He warned that they might feel contractions on the way down, and perhaps much earlier than they’re used. He added that you should not be put off by this because it means that the Mammalian Dive Reflex (MDR) is kicking in and your ascent will feel much easier than normal. Some divers felt a bit nervous about trying this for the first time but knowing that the relaxation phase would be three to four minutes really helped getting the mind in the right place. Everyone hit their target and there were even two new personal bests (PBs) in the group. What an incredible confidence boosting exercise! It is never to late to switch up your freedive routine, play around with new things and see what really works for you. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut because of an irrational fear of the unknown.
The second part of the session, deep training tables, were also fun, but fun of the “no pain, no gain” variety. Doing CO2 training benefits your body and mind because you will also feel more confident after each table you complete successfully. Since the mental aspect is huge in freediving, it’s imperative to replace “I can’t!” thoughts with “I can!”.
Sunrise Yoga Session: Maite introduces Fly-high Yoga techniques as an very effective form of stretching
A perfect way to prepare for an open water session is a dedicated yoga practice. In this morning’s sunrise yoga session our yoga teacher Maite Mendez worked on participants’ chest flexibility using straps and short breath holds. Chest flexibility is important for deep dives: it improves comfort, safety and equalization.
The afternoon session began with video analysis of the morning dives. Will highlighted the importance of hypercapnic and hypoxic tolerance training as part of a freediving regime. If you don’t have a coach, it’s easy to take it easy on yourself by making training tables too easy. You need to step back, think about your goals, commit to them by staying disciplined and challenging yourself. When your body adapts to a certain table, you need to make it harder. The key is to keep it tough but attainable. A decent training table should take between 15 to 20 minutes in the pool.
Will lead a workshop on lung stretching exercises that benefit thoracic, diaphragmatic and rigid airway flexibility needed to deep dives. Then it was back in the pool for another, more challenging training table.
The reward for everyone’s hard work was a stop at the local gelato joint, for some well-deserved sugar. No, Will didn’t have any, just in case you were wondering…
The evening’s talk centred on a lighter subject: Freediving through swim-throughs, including a freedive through the famous Blue Hole Arch in Dahab.
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