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Eric, Cycling won't shrink you're upper body any time soon, but if you do it the way competitive cyclists do (the muscles we use in what we call a round pedal stroke), you will find that you do an excellent job of developing the same muscle groups (both strength and endurance) used for the frog kick. This occurs with a far greater range of motion/with resistance than in any other aerobic sport. We do a kind of power interval where we find a good sized hill (or big bridge for those of us in S. Florida) and start at the bottom in our 52x12 gear (the gearing which gives you the highest ratio and highest total speed capability, assuming you have the power)...the idea is to slowly accelerate up the incline in this monster gear (going maybe 2 mph at the bottom, and obtain muscle failure by the time you are close to the top. It forces you to use the leg biceps, glutes, hipflexors, back and many other groups most people never really realize they are supposed to use....and it will do WONDERS FOR YOUR FROG KICK after about 3-4 weeks of training this once per week, within the normal 5 to 6 day training regimen cyclists are caught up in (monday rest/Tuesday 10 sec ATP/Creatine Phosphate system sprints with huge rests in between/ Wednesday 6 power Intervals on a hill with 6 speed intervals in the smallest gear afterward, and then a 15 minute light spin, followed by two Anaerobic Threshold level 10 minute time trials with 10 minute light break between/ Thursday is Long Steady Distance day, pure aerobic system and fat burning enzyme system development--3 to 4 hours / Friday is light aerobic spin for an hour to help recover from last two days / Saturday is medium aerobic spin/ sunday is a major hammer--race simulation or real race day where every aspect of your training gets thrown in. --- This is the modified Greg LeMond training plan I have used for 7 years now) I think freediving would be a great way to develop your ability to control your heart rate while diving, since that is probably the single greatest task faced by good freedivers. If you learn to control your heart rate, this will control your breathing rate. If you are fit from cycling or swimming, and get to be good at controling your heart rate, you will get major bottom times on scuba without the air consumption your used to. One other note---I think the place I used to use up the most air was right in the first 2-5 minutes, when you jump in and start blasting down. I would get excited here (prospect of big fish to shoot, mermaids, the whole bit) and my heart rate would go up much higher here than in the rest of the dive (after I had a chance to calm down). Freediving teaches you to slow everything down BEFORE you start your descent, and this is critical in changing your gas consumption during the first five minutes of your dive. My last dive on the Skycliff I did 18 minutes at 200 feet , with a single 95 (I had a pony I did not touch) spent the next 45 minutes doing deco and safety, and got on the boat with 1000 psi. While at the bottom I did two complete circuits around the 300 foot long ship (compared to the standard rigged tech group on the dive with doubles and stages) who swam a total of about 50 feet on the ship, the whole dive. I got the two times around with slick gear configuration and cressi rondine gara fins, as well as ultra low heart rate due to freediving and aerobic training from cycling. I saw three grey grouper about 25 pounds each, and one hogsnapper about 18 pounds. On this particular boat, the captain would not condone spearfishing, so I was having to settle for stalking each one as if I had my gun with me. You have no idea how frustrating this can be. I know I took in at least one or two BIG breaths when I saw the 18 pound hog, before I forced myself to calm down again and get on with it. This was just a normal dive---If I was challenged to have better air consumption, I'm certain I could. Hope this helps, Dan > > O.K.- cycling is a great,low impact,endurance builder. > But the circular path doesn't help me if I use the frog kick > exclusively. I just meant that runners, swimmers,and cyclers all > have to deal with their body weight as a major factor in their > sport, and when you see the runners on the side of the road > you can count the veins. This slender shape and endurance is > definetly a plus. > > My point is that-I am big and no matter how little body fat I have > my shoulders and chest won't get any smaller- so I have a larger > profile swimming head on into the flow of a cave. That makes me > have to work a little harder to swim. Taking all this into account, > I still notice a rise in cons. when diving in a new place or with > new gear or new people. That rise and fall varies more than any change > due to fitness (fitness beyond my current state, I'm not saying > fat slobs wouldn't gain some ground). > > So getting up off your ass makes a big difference-but so does the > experience and mental preparedness. > > EZ > > Dan Volker SOUTH FLORIDA DIVE JOURNAL "The Internet magazine for Underwater Photography and mpeg Video" http://www.florida.net/scuba/dive 407-683-3592
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