Strength Training For Freediving
Building Power and Endurance Underwater
Freediving requires precise physical preparation alongside mental discipline and breath-holding capacity. This sport emphasizes short, high-intensity performances, typically under five minutes, with most dives lasting around three minutes. Strength training tailored to freediving can significantly enhance your ability to perform anaerobic activities efficiently. This article explores the key aspects of such training, focusing on Free Immersion (FIM), Constant Weight with Bifins (CWTB), and Constant Weight No Fins (CNF). Additionally, we’ll provide a sample base training plan to help you get started.
Why Strength Training is Crucial for Freedivers
Strength training goes beyond building muscle—it improves efficiency, control, and resilience. For freedivers, these benefits translate to more effective propulsion, reduced oxygen consumption, and a lower risk of injury. Given the anaerobic nature of freediving, training lifts on breath-holds in the gym mimics the physiological demands of underwater performance, enhancing your body’s tolerance to carbon dioxide and its efficiency in oxygen utilization.
Key Benefits
- Boosting Confidence: Knowing your body is strong enhances your mental focus during dives.
- Minimizing Lactic Acid Build-Up: Stronger muscles improve anaerobic endurance, reducing fatigue during dives.
- Extra Durability: Endurance and strength provide the stamina needed for extended depth training sessions.
- Improved Recovery: Better physical conditioning lowers heart rate and speeds up recovery between dives.
- Focus on Technique: With stronger muscles, you can devote more attention to equalization and technical precision.
- Injury Prevention: Stronger and more flexible trunk muscles protect against strain and injury.
- Enhanced Cardiovascular Fitness: Efficient blood circulation and elastic vessels improve muscular oxygenation and reduce recovery time.
- Core Stability: Essential for freediving efficiency, core strength helps maintain form and streamline movements.
The Importance of Warming Up and Stretching
Proper preparation is critical for both performance and safety in strength training for freediving. A thorough warm-up before your workout helps increase blood flow to your muscles, improve flexibility, and reduce the risk of injury. Dynamic stretches and light movements prepare your body for the intense demands of strength training.
Equally important is post-workout stretching, which helps to cool down the body, improve flexibility, and reduce muscle soreness. For freedivers, stretching enhances your range of motion and keeps your body supple, which is essential for maintaining efficient techniques underwater.
Progressive Overload: What It Is and Why Freedivers Need It
Progressive overload is a fundamental principle in strength training that involves gradually increasing the intensity of your workouts over time. This can be achieved by lifting heavier weights, increasing the number of repetitions or sets, or improving exercise efficiency. For freedivers, progressive overload is crucial because it builds strength and endurance in a controlled manner, allowing the body to adapt to higher demands without risking injury.
Why It’s Beneficial for Freedivers
- Improved Anaerobic Capacity: Freediving is an anaerobic activity, requiring short bursts of intense effort. Progressive overload enhances your ability to perform under these conditions by strengthening the muscles and improving their oxygen efficiency.
- Enhanced Muscle Resilience: By gradually increasing the workload, muscles become more durable, reducing the risk of fatigue and injury during dives.
- Optimized Adaptation: Progressive overload ensures consistent improvements, preventing performance plateaus.
- Mimicking Dive Demands: Training under breath-hold conditions with progressive overload closely replicates the physiological challenges of freediving.
Example of Progressive Overload
- Barbell Back Squat: 5x50kg, 5x55kg, 5x60kg, 5x65kg, 5x70kg, 5x75kg (6 sets of 5 reps).
- Romanian Deadlift: 5x60kg, 5x65kg, 5x70kg, 5x75kg, 5x80kg (5 sets of 5 reps).
- Always lift only 80% of your maximum capability for a given number of reps. For example, if your absolute max is 10 reps, perform 8 reps instead to ensure controlled and safe progression.
- Over time, gradually increase the weights while maintaining proper form and control.
Base Training and Periodization
A well-structured training program ensures gradual progress and prevents overtraining.
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Tips for Effective Strength Training
- Getting a coach: Who can support you, and customize your training plan is a gamechanger. Book Online-coaching with Klaus Simonsen here.
- Consistency is Key: Stick to your training schedule to see steady progress.
- Progressive Overload: Gradually increase weights or intensity to continue challenging your muscles.
- Track Your Progress: Keep a workout log to monitor improvements.
- Listen to Your Body: Adjust exercises if you experience discomfort or fatigue.
- Pair with Freediving Practice: Combine gym sessions with water training like swimming, or shallow drills for a holistic approach.
- Combine with Cardio: I like to combine my strength and flexibility training with running 20-40mins 2-3 times a week, to improve my vo2max. It could also be swimming.
- If you have not ben taught about what a good technique for back squats and Romanian deadlift is. I strongly advise you to get a coach, who can teach you how to lift safely with good and correct technique. I learned the hard way by getting a herniated disc injury from back squatting with 130kg, without a proper technique. I wouldn’t wish anyone to experience this.
Closing Thoughts
Strength training is a game-changer for freediving performance. By focusing on the muscles used in the disciplines you want to improve, you’ll enhance your power, control, and endurance underwater. Use the basic sample training plan as a foundation and adapt it to your needs and goals. With this plan I have now become stronger than ever, with only six months of gym training, and less than a year after my back injury.
Embrace the process, stay consistent, make it a habit and remember: the stronger you are, the freer you’ll feel in the depths. Happy diving!
