Reporting about my training and it’s contents has been on a low level, not that we want to be all sneaky and mysterious about it. I think testing a method and putting it out there, should not be done at the same time.

So what kind of exercises do the schedules consist of ?

• 70-90% of max performance in either DYN or DNF *
• Backstroke (only legs)
• Breaststroke without breath - interval breathing
• Crawl without breath - interval breathing
• Crawl without breath - slowly exhaling whilst crawling
• Crawl without breath (50% and max distance) *

* Max performances or over 50% performances are never performed without safety

Furthermore on training days we look into technique and execution from the crawl and how to improve it, keeping in mind the freediving approach to crawl. So the technique comes down to how to do surface training in such a way that it emphasizes the freediving effect. The execution comes down to the timing, force and path of certain stages during the crawl. Of course the crawl-technique doesn’t directly relate to the breaststroke-technique, but the overall approach does.

For me these kind of schedules trigger the mental part of the training and that’s a thing which is likely to be underestimated. Through this way of training I would like to breach a certain barrier which withholds me from going beyond from where I’ve gone so far. At this point in time, this is where the focus lies for my training. Physically my body should be capable of proving our method, but my mind is currently not on the same level with my physical level.

Instead of posting afterwards about our findings, I would like to add insight about our freediving schedules during the process. Don’t hold back on any feedback, questions and suggestions, comment in this article or post a message in the forums.

What are you waiting for? You’re faster than this. Don’t think you are, know you are. Come on. Stop trying to hit me and hit me.

Since a few weeks Kostas from Greece has been joining us for our Friday training sessions. As we got more acquainted during our sessions, one of Kostas stories was about his favorite hobby spear fishing in combination with equalizing.

Most amazingly he told me that when spearfishing he must be the only shallow water spearfisher around, as equalizing isn’t quite working for him. He’d been trying to get this problem looked at with almost every doctor and also tried a freedive course to get the hang of the equalizing thing… but in the end he had to conclude that this wasn’t getting him further.

A good reason to rent the 5m deep pool at the Tongelreep for an equalizing session. After trying a few different ways of equalizing suddenly he got his drums to equalize at the bottom 5m’s deep. Coming up he was very pleased to see equalizing was finally working for him.

Rest of the session he’d been trying to repeat and train his eardrum and we did some more fun stuff. See the short movieclip from this evening below and pictures from the gallery can be found here.

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1. Always use a buddy!

Especially important if you try to hold your breath in the water! Better yet; follow a freediving course that will teach you and a friend how to look out for each other during breath hold attempts. But at the minimum let your buddy check you every 15 seconds or so by tapping on your shoulder. You can then give him an okay sign, and if your buddy sees an okay sign then it’s time for some rescue techniques. Even when you’re doing a breath hold on land, it’s wise to have a buddy. Best position is sitting on a nice sofa, so that if you pass out you don’t fall on the ground. Lying on the bed is not wise, as it’s possible, if you’re in bad luck to swallow your tongue. So, never ever try it alone and if possible educate yourself by following a course. That being said…

2. Relax

If you want to hold your breath for a long time it’s best to relax your body and mind before trying. So first of all take your time for this and don’t try it between lunch and coffee. Just sit down on your knees in the water or sitting down relaxed on the sofa. Take your time just sitting there, calming your body and mind. And after a few minutes it’s time to…

3. Breath!

Do 2 minutes of breathing with a 5 second interval breathing in, and a 5 second interval breathing out. Just do it slowly and find a nice rhythm. Make sure that after inhale you will fully…

4. Exhale

Remember, exhaling is so much more important than inhaling. Just push in your belly to push out every bit of air out of your lungs, so when you inhale you have the maximum amount of fresh air in your lungs. Remember, used air has to get out, fresh air has to go in. After those 2 minutes of breathing just take a nice full…

5. Inhale

The trick, especially for beginners, is not to fully inhale so that you have blown cheeks and are ready to pop. It’s important that you only breath in for 80-85 percent of your maximum. This way you can still be relaxed during the breath hold itself. Just try it! Breath in as much as you can and feel how tense you are. Breath in only for 80 percent of your maximum and you can still relax. After your last inhale you only have to…

6. Hold Your Breath

That’s the easy part, just hold it. Close your mouth and if your in the water let yourself float. After this just…

7. Relax

Probably one of the most important things. You have to relax your body as much as possible. This way your heartbeat will go down as well, also one of the reasons why you shouldn’t inhale to your maximum. If your in the water, just float on top of the water, and don’t use any weights to put yourself on the bottom. Floating at the surface with your face down is an excellent way of relaxing. If you’re in the water on the sofa, just try to relax your complete body. Start with your toes and work you way upwards. Try to relax everything, from legs to your fingers. One of the most common problems is the inability to relax your neck and shoulders. And last but not least, try to relax your mouth and your tongue, so that you don’t have a forced breath hold. Keep a continues feel to your body if you’re relaxed and remember to…

8. Concentrate

You’re lying or sitting there while holding your breath. If you want to make sure that it is a short time then start counting in your head or looking at your stopwatch! Don’t do such a thing, you main goal is to forget time! Remember that when you’re doing something pleasant times go by very fast, and if you’re doing something awful time goes by so slowly… So don’t look at your watch, it’s time to have nice thoughts going on in your head and try not to think about the fact that you’re holding your breath. Guys, just don’t think about all those great bed stories, because then the blood goes to the wrong place and your heartbeat goes up. Try to think of something calming. Nice vacation, a good experience, some music, etc. Be creative with this. And when you can’t relax or concentrate yourself anymore it’s time to…

9. Distract

At one point while your hold your breath, relaxation is over and you can’t think about anything else then the fact that you have to breath and why oh why you’re doing this. Then it’s time to distract yourself. Use a small physical movement to distract. So don’t start swimming around, or walking around, just slowly move your fingers together and make small figures with them, touch each finger with the opposite finger, just play around. This way time passes by like crazy and makes you forget about the horrible pains your enduring. It’s fun to hold your breath, or so they say. And when you can’t hold your breath anymore, just hold a little longer and then…

10. Recover!

Before you start cheering about your new record, first you need to recover. You’ve hold your breath for a long time, so first things first; get all the used air out of your system by blowing out a little bit of air (20%) and then quickly fill it again to maximum. This makes sure that you give oxygen to the most critical parts again fast! After that you can exhale completely and for at least three times make a complete deep breathing cycle. Then you look at your watch and you can cheer about your time!

Remember, there a literally hundreds of methods to increase your time, but the most important part is that you’re safe! So always obey rule number 1 and never train alone. If you got some additional questions you can leave them in the comments.

Is there such a thing as training too much…I think it depends on what your goals are and how you implement them into your life. In the past six months I had quite a few questions coming to my mind about my goals, motivation and what I like to do in life. It occurred to me that I experience more joy in freedive training itself then participating in a freediving competition. Although it’s always a lot of fun to go to freediving competitions, it doesn’t bring me the joy a training can bring me. But don’t get me wrong that I’m going to set back in my participation in freediving competitions, I just like to highlight the fact of enjoying training.

Whilst training I can focus on my goals more easily, whilst keeping in mind that I’m doing it all to make progress in my freediving experience. When Jorg and I set goals for a certain period, these goals will keep my mind strong for a “down” period where I don’t have a strong motivation. When I go into the gym for my fitness-exercises, I won’t think about how big my arms will get after training them. My thoughts will be that I’m training for my overall body fitness and I’m trying to stay in shape so that I can elevate my freediving performances due to a fit body. I’ve found that to be a good motivational factor to get more from my training and myself.

So how come you never see it paying off in competitions? That’s the question… and not a odd question to ask. But if I look at my training and performances during the past freedive years, I’ve booked some serious progress over those years. For me knowing that I’m capable of doing a 7 minute static and actually doing it in a competition is a world apart. I’d rather do this in training and see Jorg smile about it*, then doing this in a competition where proving yourself means more than the performance itself (in my experience).

* An example actually caught on camera: at the end of this clip from my 13 project Jorg was just as pleased as I was with my 125m performance.

I enjoy my training and I will train as much as it takes to keep myself satisfied whilst relaxing at home.