Many people know what freediving is, especially those who spend a lot of time on the seas or in the pool. Freediving is a type of diving based on breath holding (apnea) without the use of special equipment for this purpose.
If you analyze the history of the emergence of freediving, it becomes clear that it was he who acted as the very first form of scuba diving. The settlements living on the coastal territory fed their families not only by collecting crabs, but also by spearfishing. Moreover, specially trained people with freediving skills were once used by the great maritime powers in military operations, which gave them significant advantages over the enemy. It was the utilitarian and military-applied functions that were the main functions of scuba diving.
Modern varieties of freediving
Today, the technique of scuba diving has found its application in many directions, in each of which it is applicable with its own special purpose. Conditionally freediving can be divided into the following areas:
Amateur, or recreational freediving - is aimed mainly at the knowledge of one's own internal reserves, the study of the mental and physical abilities of a person. The purpose of such activities is to dive for pleasure, while freediving is accompanied by moderate load that does not harm the health of the body;
Sports freediving - is carried out with the aim of achieving certain sports results and records. Sports freediving is available for a person of any age category and, like recreational, promotes training and development of the body and mind;
Freediving as spearfishing is an equally common use of scuba diving. You can get the skills you need for spearfishing at special courses, where diving techniques are improved, the duration of stay in the underwater space, as well as the development of new depths and places for spearfishing;
Freediving for the purpose of photo and video filming is a popular freediving direction in recent times. There is even a special type of underwater models that specialize in shooting exclusively in such conditions.
Changes in the body during freediving
It is easy to guess that scuba diving has a lot of benefits, primarily for human health. This is a kind breathing exercises , the opportunity to improve their physical data. Most often, professional freedivers highlight the following benefits of freediving:
First of all, scuba diving provides a person with complete relaxation. Moreover, the diving reflex contributes to bradycardia - slowing heart rate which allows you to feel more comfortable in underwater conditions.
The gradual adaptation of the swimmer's body to conditions of moderate hypoxia increases endurance, and makes the swimmer easily endure heavier cardio loads. One can only imagine how freediving develops the lungs! This is their absolute ventilation, the development of the chest and an increase in the vital volume of the lungs.
Underwater diving improves human hydrodynamics. Any actions under water become smooth, it becomes possible to avoid gravity, which is difficult to do on land. Freediving is considered to be one of the safest activities.
As proven by science, body cells are better able to survive in conditions of moderate hypoxia - low oxygen content. Thanks to this opportunity, freediving helps to rejuvenate the body. And it is not just words!
Finally, freediving is incredibly interesting! Having tried freediving at least once, you will want to explore the underwater world again and again, while improving your health and body water flexibility.
Do your ears hurt when diving deep?
However, freediving often causes controversy among mankind regarding its benefits to the body. One of the controversial issues is the negative impact on the hearing organs. Beginner divers, not fully familiar with the technique of free diving, periodically feel ear pain during a dive. This phenomenon is quite understandable from a physical point of view - human body 89% consists of a liquid that is difficult to compress.
Pain is observed only in those places where there is no compensation of internal pressure. By creating a load on the eardrum, water sometimes causes severe pain, but it is possible to get rid of it simply by compensating for pressure. In the ear cavity, pressure can be normalized in the following ways:
When diving with a wake mask, blow air into the mask space. Thanks to the connection of the nasopharynx with the middle ear cavity, breathing will equalize internal pressure and eliminate pain in the eardrums.
A common technique can also be a solution to the problem - a few “yawning” or swallowing movements.
Another way to eliminate pain in the ears is to pinch your nose with your fingers (there are special “pockets” in masks for this), after which it is enough to inhale through your mouth and exhale through your nose, but do not unclench your fingers.
Freediving will definitely bring you not only benefits, but also a lot of pleasant impressions. Join our happy minority - lovers and fans of breath-hold diving!
Freediving is diving while holding your breath, which changes the physiological processes in the body. What is this - the new kind sports or an ancient way of obtaining food and sea treasures?
In the last half century, freediving has attracted the attention of physiologists due to its effect on the human body. And immediately acquired the halo of sports for some people. What actually happens in the body during breath-hold diving, what are the contraindications and myths, and why Olympic champions include freediving in their training program, MedAboutMe tells.
The history of freediving follows logically from the processes of obtaining food from the inhabitants of coastal areas. In those days, when neither scuba gear nor diving bells had yet been invented, people were already diving for edible mollusks and algae, hunting for fish and collecting pearls, plunging solely on holding their breath.
Somewhat later, with the development of navigation and the advent of military battles on the water, a special profession appeared - an apnoist warrior, a diver capable of sabotaging an enemy ship and returning unnoticed. Similar combat swimmers, "frog people", were active during the Second World War.
Some ethnic groups have survived to our times, living thanks to the collection of seafood without special adaptations. Pearl divers from the islands of Polynesia, Bajao sea gypsies in the Philippines, Khene, "women of the sea" in South Korea. Army units also include apnea diving in their training programs.
Until 1961, physiologists, based on observations and experiments, were confident in the depth limit that the human body can withstand - 50 meters. However, in 1966, Enzo Mallorca, one of the protagonists of freediving (and Luc Besson's film The Blue Abyss), officially registered new record at 54 m, which prompted experts to reconsider their views on the capabilities of the body and set a new limit of possibilities at 100 meters. Deeper dives would no doubt lead to chest injury and death.
Jacques Maillol, friend of Enzo Mallorca, another legendary person and hero of the same film based on real events, spent 10 years of training to prove that what is available to other mammals, such as dolphins, can be done by humans. In 1976, he officially broke the 100-meter limit without fatality and, moreover, without harm to health. In 1983, Jacques Mayol set his last record at 105m.
It turned out that the human body really has amazing adaptation mechanisms that allow it to withstand high water pressure at depth. On this moment the maximum recorded diving depth is 214 m (without scuba gear!), and every year athletes dive deeper and deeper.
One of the world-class freedivers who broke several records was the Russian Natalya Molchanova, who came to this sport at the age of 40.
Freediving, contrary to popular belief, is not limited to deep diving. There is also swimming under water, and disciplines of statistical apnea, and diving can be with fins, without fins, with a load or only on own weight, as well as with a special sled that takes the athlete deeper.
What allows people to dive like dolphins and withstand extreme loads?
During a dive while holding the breath, the body “remembers” the previous experience of physiological adaptation (we all come from an aquatic environment) and the so-called diving response, or the reaction of mammals, wakes up.
Dolphins, whales, and fur seals were the first mammals to have a set of physiological changes that help the body adapt to diving. When it turned out that some possibilities are not alien to man, they began to study them much more closely.
So, what is included in the body's diving response complex?
- Bradycardia.
As you dive, your heart rate slows down, reducing oxygen consumption. Moreover, this effect occurs not only when immersed, it is enough to lower your head into water that differs in temperature from air by 5-10 ° C. Ancient customs of calming down at high emotional stress by dipping your face in a barrel of water on the street are just a consequence of the manifestation of this part of the diving reflex.
Interestingly, special receptors that distinguish between the humidity of the environment have been found in humans on the facial part, in particular, on the forehead (which is why freedivers do not close their foreheads when diving or static training in the water). And the lower the temperature of the water, the slower the heart beats. On average, heart rate drops by 10-15%, but there are professionals who have a heart rate of 6 beats per minute during deep dives!
- Vasoconstriction or vasoconstriction.
Peripheral blood vessels constrict during immersion, redistributing blood to vital organs: the heart, brain, and lungs. The contraction of the heart muscle increases, blood pressure rises.
- Blood shift.
It is this ability of the organism that allows us to dive to a depth of more than 40 meters. At these depths, the pressure compresses the lungs to the maximum expiratory volume, and without the effect of blood shift internal organs And rib cage would be crushed by the water.
However, the blood draining from the extremities arrives in the central part of the body and fills the internal organs, primarily the lungs. The alveoli are surrounded by blood plasma, which allows the lungs not to collapse. As soon as the water pressure is reduced, the plasma from the lungs returns back to the tissues.
Another process that facilitates apnea diving is the release of deposited red blood cells from the spleen. According to studies, in the process of diving professional divers, there is a decrease in the spleen by 20% and an increase in hemoglobin in the blood by 10%. This allows you to increase the oxygen capacity of the blood, however, not to the extent that it is developed in real marine mammals. Some species of seals, for example, are able to increase the number of hemocytes (blood cells) by 65%.
This effect, unlike the diving reflex, does not occur immediately. Experienced freedivers need 15-20 minutes of "diving" before the spleen begins to release red blood cells. For inexperienced, the preparation process takes up to one hour.
Hypoxia, hypercapnia (increase in the level of carbon dioxide in the blood), water pressure affect the body, no matter how strange it may seem, very positively and lead to a whole range of positive changes in the process of long-term adaptation.
Personal experience
Elena Petrushina, Aqualibrium club coach, AIDA master instructor
I perceive freediving as an element and, at the same time, a motivator healthy lifestyle life. Living in a training regimen, you become very sensitive to yourself, and then it is easy to follow the regimen, do gymnastics, eat and drink on time, have enough rest - do what is good for me. Moreover, there is absolutely no need to force yourself to train - you quickly get involved in the process, and everything “turns out by itself”. Freediving classes change the attitude towards oneself - they make it softer, more attentive, tolerant.
Freediving demonstrates how great the adaptability and learning ability of a human being. The progress of a freediver, with at least some regular training, is impressively fast. Beginners usually do not need to try to achieve everything best results- just train and observe the dizzying changes in your own body.
Being engaged in freediving, one has to study the human body, psyche, its interaction with the environment. It is not only endlessly fascinating, but also instructive: the freediver becomes a person who knows himself well.
It is believed that the first to introduce the practice of yogic exercises into the discipline of freediving is the already mentioned Jacques Maillol. This moment is really well shown in the film: while other record holders used the method of hyperventilation of the lungs and dived "to the limit", Mayol reached a state of deconcentration of attention, which is now recognized as one of the necessary factors when diving.
Mental, mental and mental preparation before diving or static exercises holding your breath allows you to restrain pronounced emotional reactions, it is easier to experience and control body contractions when the level of oxygen in the blood drops, not to get lost in difficult situations and, at the same time, adequately evaluate everything that happens around the freediver and inside the body.
That is why many athletes, including Olympic champions, have recently begun to include freediving in the program personal training. Learn to properly control your breathing, be able to concentrate in a relaxed way and overcome extreme situations without consequences is essential for any sport.
“I hope I can take these skills to the starting point, where this relaxation is the key to victory,” says Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics freestyle skiing champion Dara Howell, who learned freediving while on vacation in Hawaii and already passed the 50 feet (15 meters) depth mark and 5 minutes of apnea.
Personal experience
Ekaterina Valova, freediver
I came into freediving out of curiosity, trying to understand how it is possible to dive without scuba gear to incredible depths, without breathing for five to ten minutes. It seemed to me then that it was available only to very special people, and certainly not available to me. And when I suddenly found myself in the company of Czech freedivers, who did not differ in any way from ordinary people, I decided to start learning.
It turned out that in three days it is quite possible to reach a depth of 25 m (about the height of a nine-story building) and not breathe for 2.5 minutes. At the same time feel completely relaxed. Office owl, I suddenly began to get up with the sunrise, somehow immediately quit smoking. Upon returning to winter Moscow, it turned out that my feet and hands were no longer cold, and in general the impression was that I had spent several weeks at a spa resort, and not several days in training.
Understanding your body, the ability to manage its reactions, your emotions and a very positive, almost meditative calmness were those unexpected bonuses that appeared from a simple desire to satisfy the curiosity “How does it feel to dive to such a depth?”
Athletes who are engaged in freediving, descending tens of meters under water while holding their breath, are subject to significant impairment of the function of the cardiovascular system. These violations can be a potential hazard, especially for inexperienced or poorly trained divers. This is reported in a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society. North America(RSNA 2015).
Apnea is temporary holding of the breath. Over the past decade, the ancient practice of swimming underwater while holding your breath, freediving, has become hugely famous around the world, in connection with the coverage of this extreme look sports in the media and increased competition and training for elite divers and recreational divers. However, this sport poses a certain danger because freedivers must hold their breath for long periods of time while being subjected to water pressure and physiological changes.
Recreational divers are most at risk due to lack of training, but even elite divers can suffer long-term effects from freediving or accidents. More recently, freediving champion Natalia Molchanova went missing off the coast of Spain during a dive in August 2015 and is presumed dead.
Researchers at the University of Bonn, Germany, are using MRI to study the simulated effects of freediving on cardiovascular system 17 elite athletes from Germany and Austria age range from 23 to 58). To study the effect of oxygen deprivation on heart function and blood flow, divers underwent MRI scans of the heart and carotid arteries before, during, and after maximum breath holding.
“Our goal was to study the changes that occur in the heart during sleep apnea in real time,” explains study author Jonas Dorner, MD, who currently works at the University Hospital Cologne.
The average apnea was 299 seconds (just under five minutes) and 279 seconds (about four and a half minutes) during the first and second MRI tests, respectively. The maximum breath hold during testing was eight minutes and three seconds.
"These athletes are specifically trained to be able to hold their breath for long periods of time," Dr. Dorner said. “When they enter the water, they are able to hold their breath even longer thanks to the diving reflex.” When immersed in water without oxygen, the body reacts with a “diving reflex”, which consists in lowering the heart rate, constricting blood vessels in the limbs, and draining blood from the limbs to the brain.
These changes also occur during prolonged breath holding without immersion, but to a lesser extent. When oxygenated blood flows from the extremities to the brain, blood pressure rises.
MRI testing allowed the researchers to observe the cardiovascular changes that occur during the diving reflex in real time. During sleep apnea, there is an increase in the amount of blood that flows to the brain through carotid arteries, but then the blood flow levels off.
"At the onset of sleep apnea, the heart begins to work harder than it normally would," Dr. Dorner said. “Gradually it expands and starts to struggle.” By the end of the apnea period, Dr. Dorner said, divers' heart function began to fail. “At this point, not enough blood enters the brain, because. the heart cannot pump blood because of the great resistance of the blood vessels."
Although the changes in systolic heart function in apnea divers are similar to those seen in patients with systolic heart failure, Dr. Dorner noted that the condition was short-lived in freedivers. “Heart function was restored again in divers within minutes of resuming breathing,” said Klaas Nahle, MD, head of the magnetic resonance research team. “It appears that elite freedivers develop compensatory mechanisms that help them adapt to the cardiovascular changes that occur during apnea.” However, for people with little training, freediving can be dangerous.
“Speaking at the amateur level, freediving can be dangerous for those who have heart or other health conditions and are not well prepared for the sport,” said one of the leaders of the study, Dr. med. Lars Eichhorn, from the department of anesthesiology and intensive care at Bonn University Hospital .
Dr. Eichhorn added that the highest mortality among highly skilled divers occurs in a discipline called deep diving. This is a special type of breath-hold diving in which the risk of prolonged breath-holding is combined with changes in ambient pressure.
We have collected the main misconceptions and myths about freediving that we hear most often.
Misconception #1: Freediving is a dangerous sport, all freedivers are crazy
Number one in popularity. Freediving really exists as a sport. But the number of freediving athletes is negligible compared to recreational freedivers for whom freediving is an outdoor activity.
It so happened that the film “The Blue Abyss” (Luc Besson, 1988) used to be the starting point for most people in freediving. And he also formed the main opinion about freediving, as about the heroic pursuit of meters of depth. And now the brightest materials that get into the "air" also cover mainly only the sports component.
But the vast majority of freedivers do not dive deeper than 30 meters. And a depth of 30 meters is a simple, achievable and safe mark. Amateur (recreational) freediving does not require extra effort, hard sports diets and exhausting workouts. With a reasonable and competent approach, you can easily dive to 15 - 20 and even 30 meters of depth. 15 - 20 meters of depth - this is approximately the height of a 5-story building, 30 meters - a 9-story building.
As a good analogy, we give skis. They can be hard sports such as ski race or biathlon. Skiing can also be an extreme sport, such as downhill. They can also be something unimaginable like ski jumping. But at the same time, no one considers your friends crazy who ski in the park or down the hill on weekends, do not participate in competitions and do not call themselves athletes, but just ski. Also, people who freedive for their own pleasure just dive.
Let's not dissemble, there are certain risks and dangers in freediving. But we learn to evaluate and manage them. Just like we cross the road on both red and green traffic lights (you can’t cross the road on a red signal!).
Misconception #2: It takes ability and long-term training
Again, if you do not consider freediving as a heroic diving for a record, then everything is simpler. The main ability that should be is the ability to swim and the absence of fear of water. Even if these abilities are not there, then you can probably name a couple of examples from your friends who have learned to swim and are no longer afraid of water.
What is freediving? Is it only championships and sports records, is it only serious sport for serious pros? Of course not. Freediving can also be done for your own pleasure, listening to yourself, getting to know your capabilities better, rejoicing in your own records and achievements. This is an opportunity to be alone with yourself or feel unity with the oceans. This is an opportunity to improve your physical state and achieve peace of mind and philosophical tranquility.
Whether you're into freediving or just thinking about trying it, this article is for you. And for someone who has not even thought about this sport, it can inspire learning.
Elena Petrushina, freediving coach, AIDA master instructor, and Irina Zelenkova, sports medicine doctor, sports physiologist, candidate of medical sciences, leading specialist Innovation center Russian Olympic Committee.
After trying freediving, people fall in love with this sport, and this is not surprising. It's not just about what impressions come from contact with the underwater world and the discovery of one's own abilities. All freedivers notice that with training, their well-being improves - more energy, better mood and work capacity. It's not just a psychological phenomenon, regular classes freediving really has a positive effect on overall health and physical form. In this article, we will look at what factors contribute to the development of these effects.
Relaxation
One of the main aspects of freediving is relaxation. Minimization of muscular and mental work is necessary to conserve oxygen. Freedivers learn to intentionally relax during and in preparation for a dive. In addition, holding the breath as such leads to general relaxation and inhibition of body processes, with the same goal - saving oxygen. This is one of the physiological mechanisms of adaptation to sleep apnea.
The healing effects of the systematic practice of relaxation have been confirmed for a wide range of different diseases. Regular relaxation strengthens cardiovascular health, reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, and stabilizes blood pressure. In a state of relaxation, work is normalized immune system, therefore, the risk of infectious diseases decreases, inflammatory processes subside. This state of the body is necessary for optimal functioning. digestive system. No wonder the relaxation reaction is called "rest and digest" (rest and digest), in contrast to the stress reaction - "fight or flight" (fight or run). Of course, relaxation training improves emotional regulation and overall mental health. In addition, chronic anxiety is known to accelerate the aging process at the cellular level. This premature aging was found to be reversible in remission of the anxiety disorder - when patients regularly practiced relaxation techniques.
Breath control
Beginner freedivers have to learn how to take full breaths and deep breaths. At first, this may be due to noticeable discomfort, because we are not used to breathing at full capacity in ordinary life. With practice, such breathing quickly becomes easy and enjoyable, and lung capacity increases.
Freedivers also get used to harmoniously involving the diaphragm in the process of breathing, which ensures an efficient supply of oxygen to the body. One type of therapy for people with asthma and other lung conditions is diaphragmatic breathing training. In addition, the optimization of the diaphragm function improves the biomechanical stabilization of the body, in other words, it makes it easier to maintain the correct posture.
Conscious breath control plays important role in psychological regulation. In the basic freediving course, beginners are taught "preparatory breathing". In short, its essence is to take deep slow breaths and even slower exhalations. Such breathing induces relaxation and helps to focus only on the task ahead, ignoring extraneous thoughts and external stimuli. In a variety of life situations, this skill can and should be used to consciously manage the state.
Adaptation to breath holding
The most profound morphological changes in the body of freedivers occur precisely due to regular apnea training.
It is clear that when you hold your breath, oxygen is consumed, as a result of which the body approaches a state of hypoxia - a low level of oxygen in the arterial blood. It is not obvious to everyone that simultaneously with this process there is an increase in the content of carbon dioxide - hypercapnia. So the complex state of holding the breath is called the term hypoxic hypercapnia. Regular exposure of the body to such a redistribution of gases causes a number of adaptations aimed at optimizing oxygen consumption, which have a positive effect on human health. Various variants of hypoxic-hypercapnic training are used in classical and sports medicine.
An increase in the efficiency of oxygen distribution and consumption occurs mainly due to adaptations circulatory system
:
. improves blood supply to organs and tissues, facilitates the movement of blood in the vessels of the brain;
. reserve capillaries open and new vessels form;
. the level of hemoglobin and the number of red blood cells increase.
Along with this, the work is optimized central nervous system
:
. more dopamine and serotonin are produced - hormones responsible for good mood and successful learning;
. cerebral vessels redistribute oxygen more efficiently, responding to physical activity;
. increased brain tolerance to hypoxia.
Improving body resistance:
. mechanisms of hormonal regulation are mobilized;
. the work of the immune system is optimized;
. increased antioxidant activity.
water exercises
Moving in the water, you have to overcome the force of resistance, which acts in all directions. It tones and strengthens the muscles of the entire body. On the other hand, due to the buoyancy that compensates for the gravitational force, exercises in the water are very gentle on the joints, ligaments and tendons. Water gymnastics is used in rehabilitation after injuries, as well as for the treatment and prevention of diseases of the musculoskeletal system precisely because of the delicacy of its effects. In addition, training in water gives a milder load on the cardiovascular system compared to exercises of the same intensity on land.
So, freediving, like no other sport, improves health, gently develops endurance and strength. However, it should be noted that in order to form and maintain all these effects, it is necessary to exercise regularly. At the same time, it is important to make training not too intense and frequent; Rest is part of the training process. This is the most ingenious beauty of freediving: a disciplined freediver knows how to relax.
thanks the Aqualibrium club for the material provided. The club has been operating since 2010, conducting freediving courses - from basic to instructors - in the pool in Moscow and at depth: in Dahab, Tenerife, now in Russia in the Lazurny quarry (Sverdlovsk region) and in Turkey (Kash).
