Copyright © 2005 by Form Fitness, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from Form Fitness, LLC, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review with appropriate credit. Permissions may be sought by emailing [email protected]. First edition 2005 ISBN 0-9770719-1-X Cover artwork includes photo by Vadim Ternovski. 2 Warning This book is about increasing diver health and safety above all. The following information is provided for educational purposes only. Use this information at your own risk. It is not intended to replace qualified medical advice. Seek approval from a physician before attempting any change in activity, and know your limits. The workouts contained herein are guidelines, not prescriptions, and are not intended to replace the instruction of a qualified fitness professional. Complete and follow the recommendations of Appendix A- PAR Q & YOU. This book and the information contained herein are not intended to instruct you about diving. No one should participate in diving without qualified instruction and successful certification. Important Exercise Guidelines 1. Joint pain is never OK. Always be mindful of your joints, and stop immediately if you feel any joint pain. 2. Back pain is never OK. Always be mindful of your back, and stop immediately if you feel any back pain. 3. If an exercise feels odd or you are uncertain of a technique, stop immediately and seek the assistance of a qualified fitness professional. 3 Table of Contents Unit 1 Introduction 5 Chapter 1 About This Guide 6 Chapter 2 Principles of Physical Conditioning 9 Chapter 3 Age, Fitness, and Diving 16 Chapter 4 Warming Up 20 Unit 2 Cardiovascular Conditioning 22 Chapter 5 Cardiovascular Conditioning and Dive Safety 23 Chapter 6 Methods of Cardiovascular Training 30 Chapter 7 Rating of Perceived Exertion 37 Chapter 8 Training by Heart Rate 39 Chapter 9 Zone Training 44 Unit 3 Strength Training 47 Chapter 10 Strength Training for Diving 48 Chapter 11 Equipment Options 53 Chapter 12 The Exercises 56 Unit 4 Stretching 97 Chapter 13 Principles of Stretching 98 Chapter 14 Preventing Foot and Calf Cramps 104 Chapter 15 Knees to Neck 108 Chapter 16 Reaching Your Valves 112 Unit 5 Dive Day 116 Chapter 17 Exercise on Dive Day 117 Chapter 18 Dealing with Heavy Gear 128 Chapter 19 Dive Day Nutrition 132 Chapter 20 Nutritional Supplements and Diving 139 Unit 6 The Programs 145 Chapter 21 Program Design 146 Chapter 22 Physical Assessment 152 Chapter 23 Beginner Program 156 Chapter 24 Intermediate Program 203 Chapter 25 Advanced Program 257 Unit 7 Appendices 311 Appendix A Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire 312 Appendix B Passing the Open Water Swim Test 314 Appendix C Summary of Research Regarding Exercise and Diving 317 Appendix D Daily Plot of Resting Heart Rate 324 4 Unit 1 Introduction Chapter 1- About this Guide Chapter 2- Principles of Physical Conditioning Chapter 3- Age, Fitness, and Diving Chapter 4- Warming Up 5 FITNESS FOR DIVERS Chapter 1 About This Guide We’ve known for some time that exercise is important to good health. The reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, diabetes, cancer, and on and on, is reason enough to maintain a good regimen of fitness. Recently, we’ve begun to reexamine the impact that our physical fitness can have on the safety and enjoyment of our diving. From handling our gear on the surface to handling problems underwater, the increased function that comes from conditioning our bodies can only make a day of diving easier. The idea of reducing our risk of decompression sickness is only icing on the cake. Connecting the Dots This guide is not intended to educate the reader completely on either exercise physiology or decompression physiology. Rather, it is intended to demonstrate the overlap between the two and point the path towards further knowledge. That is why the word “complete” is not in the title. While I do attempt to provide an in-depth explanation of the physiology of fitness for divers, in the end, fitness is not rocket science. Move more, and your body will adapt to make future movement easier. Any fitness program involving cardiovascular and strength training can make you a healthier, safer diver. That said, I feel that the cause and effect of physical conditioning and its impact on us specifically as divers is very interesting, and I hope most readers will agree. I have included references throughout the discussions on exercise and hyperbaric physiology, the majority of which can be found online. If you want a true understanding of what we know about these topics, I encourage you to read the original studies and draw your own conclusions from their results. The Units I have organized the chapters of this guide into seven units, each centered around a common topic: Unit 1- Introduction This unit, including this chapter, will acquaint you with a basic understanding of why we get out of shape and why we can get back in shape at any age. It also presents the need for a warm-up before exercise. 6 About This Guide Unit 2- Cardiovascular Conditioning The cardiovascular system arguably has the greatest impact on our bodies’ ability to resist decompression sickness (DCS), or “the bends.” A fit cardiovascular system can also help us to get through our days of diving with less overall fatigue, leaving more energy to enjoy the topside activities that come with vacationing in exotic locales. This unit discusses the physiology of cardiovascular conditioning and its effect on the transfer of dissolved gas into and out of our bodies. This unit also discusses the importance and methods of measuring exercise intensity to ensure that you are working your body hard enough to improve without overdoing it. Unit 3- Strength Training Strong muscles and bones not only help us to carry our dive gear on the surface, they might also contribute to our resistance to DCS. This unit describes the proper way to strengthen the body, including demonstrations of the exercises used in the programs that follow in Unit 6. Unit 4- Stretching There are many ways to stretch each part of our bodies, all of which can give us flexibility we can use. This unit presents one such set of stretching techniques that prepare your body for the ranges of motion most often used in diving. Unit 5- Dive Day Our surface activities and nutrition can have direct impacts on how we handle our diving. If we are committed enough to both exercise and diving, we need to know how to organize the two around each other. We also need to know how to manage the heavy gear that comes with a day of diving without hurting ourselves. Proper lifting techniques are demonstrated in this unit, along with guidelines for exercising and eating on dive day. Unit 6- The Programs If you read only one unit in this book, this should be it. Following the fitness programs presented in this unit will improve your overall health while conditioning your body specifically for diving. Unit 7- Appendices Many readers skip chapters labeled “Appendix.” However, some of the most important information can be found in this unit, including a summary of most research done on fitness and diving. Every Dive is a Decompression Dive While most divers think of “decompression” as extra time spent in the water to prevent the bends, all dives require decompression. It’s just that most decompression performed by recreational divers is done on the surface as the gasses in their tissues return to surface pressure. Keep this in mind as you read references to decompression throughout this guide, as the information provided applies no matter how shallow you dive or how little time you stay at depth. 7 FITNESS FOR DIVERS Mountain or Molehill This book also contains many references to studies that show how a lack of fitness might increase our chance of getting bent. Any time we discuss the risk of decompression sickness, it is important to keep in mind that the overall risk of getting bent on a recreational dive is very small. Any increase in risk should be taken seriously but measured in terms of starting from that small, baseline risk. Keep Training While this book is about the need for consistent fitness training to be the best diver, I strongly believe that all divers should also be consistent with their dive training. The more time you get with a qualified dive instructor, the better your diving will be regardless of your fitness level. In fact, it is ultimately dive instruction and experience, not fitness, that can have the most profound impact on your safety underwater. Good physical fitness is truly important, but only as a complement to continued dive training and experience. “Absorb What is Useful.”- Bruce Lee Some of the information in this guide is quite academic. Certain sections require an understanding of decompression and exercise physiology that is impractical to convey in one book. These sections are included to demonstrate how the various systems in our body adapt with exercise to better cope with the physics of diving. For those readers who are more interested in getting to the point, I have made sure that the fitness programs stand alone. You do not need an understanding of decompression or exercise physiology to begin any of the programs in this book as all of the exercises are plainly described and demonstrated. The programs are also designed to allow you to incorporate workouts from other resources and still end up with a plan that will improve your diving and overall health.