Dan

You need to consider that on deeper dives the work is not as extreme as on a
workout. or even a free dive if one is spearfishing or doing other work
related activities. Therefore the carb loading needs to be less than for a
balming workout. With hi carbs there is increased insulin and when it drops
some feel shaky, etc. I think for workouts I would tend to go with Barry
Sears entern the zone approach. and with diving activities I would keep my
carns down a little and increase my protein.and fat (cis fat).
Also many overweight divers will gain additional weight by carb loading
without having a productive exercise period. Even with a good balance of
complex carbs this is true. Those wanting to lose weight who have already
attempted hi carb diet and had them fail(they work for many and put weight
on others) I for one gain weight on hi carb diets even with all my activity.
So many may wish to go to 50 to 60 % protein and split the balance between
carbs and good cis fats. This works for many people . I recommend to those
who have already tried standard balanced nutrition dies with hi carb and low
fat who find they either do not lose weight or tend to gain weight to switch
to a diet while trying to lose weight of 60 to 70 and for the first three
weeks limit their carbs to 10 to 15%. Once they approach their weight goals
then increase the carbs to the point they are no longer gaining weight and
maintain this amount of carbs in their diet. I also think they should drink
a minimum of 80 ounces of plain old water per day and totally eliminate soft
drinks especially diet drinks.

It is a different perspective but one I know for a fact works for hundreds
of people.

The other thing is to avoid starvation diets as more muscle mass is lost
than fat So a sound diet and at least 20 minutes a day of exercise is a safe
way to lose weight.

For activity levels then get the calories up but bring them up correctly and
I think a diver who wants to maximize  their diving capabilities should
devote at least an hour a day to exercise. It can even be divided into
segments as long as at least one segment is a 20 to 30 minute aerobic one.
For those just enjoying dives then the 20 minutes 3 X a week should be a
minimum. In fact I would be delighted if all divers would do this minimum,
as many do absolutely  zero exercise other than diving.

The common excuse is time. That always bothers me because in addition to
developing a healthier body exercise also relieves stress and increase
productivity therefor more than making up for any time loss devoted to it.
Most people could get up in the morning one hour earlier and get a workout
in.

I'm a great believer in supplements and do a ton of them. Patti uses ginger
supplements as they are excellent in preventing sea sickness.
The Ma Hung is a herb one should experiment with on land first and then on
shallower dives prior to its use for deeper diving. I personally would not
use the Ma Hung when doing deep dives or long moderate depth dives.

Tom
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy Downs <dcrco@jp*.ne*>
To: Dan Volker <dlv@ga*.ne*>; Tech Diver <techdiver@aquanaut.com>
Cc: freeattic@co*.ci*.uf*.ed* <freeattic@co*.ci*.uf*.ed*>;
rebreather@nw*.co* <rebreather@nw*.co*>
Date: Thursday, March 26, 1998 10:13 PM
Subject: Re: Diet and Training series for fitness in deep diving, Part one;
Hydration


>Dan,
>Very good information, I look forward to the future segments. I just feel I
>should mention one area in the post should contain more of a warning since
>the paper is being directed at those training for extreme diving.
>
>Awhile back I tried some energy supplements given to me by a student, they
>worked great, I felt considerably better and experienced a marked
>improvement in my RMV on several simple reef dives. This prompted me to
>closely examine these and their interaction in the hyperbaric
enviroment.The
>three primary components were Ma Huang (ephedrine), Ginsing & Guarana
(along
>with several other minor items).
>
>I found little conflict with the Ginsing (George did mention they had
>negative experience with it but he could produce little facts), it's uses
>and benefits above water are well published and the inreased blood supply
to
>your brain seems advantagous.
>
>Guarana is basicly a highly concentrated source of caffine (much higher
than
>coffee), Terry mentioned caffine's negative aspects associated with general
>health although he was addressing coffee and failed to mention the
>connection with Guarana, caffine's conflicts with diving (especially
extreme
>varients) are well published so I'll refrain from rehashing old news.
>
>The big issue is with Ma Huang, this is a very potent herb/drug with many
>advantages and some signifigant dangers:
>
>-Ma Huang is ephedrine which is a commonly used drug in energy pills,
>metabolism boosters, diet supplements, and asthma drugs in both pill form
>and in bronchial inhalents, it also has close ties with adreniline
>production (this is why it is such a powerful metabolism booster and
gaining
>popularity with students as a cheap & legal drug).
>
>-The drug works by dialating the bronchial passages and concentrating blood
>& O2 in the cardio-pulminary regions by constricting capillary regions
>thereby reducing blood flow to secondary organs and many other tissues
(this
>is what helps reduce air consumption but also increases complications with
>decompression which definitely cancels the benefits of low RMV).
>
>-The reduction in blood supply to the digestive system also causes
>signifigant appetite supression making it very popular in natural diet
>supplements.
>
>-It raises blood pressure a little (more signifigant over extended abuse).
>
>-It is a powerful CNS stimulant and can have strong side affects in
>association with oxygen managment (a real problem in advanced diving
>activities).
>
>-In combination with caffine it is very powerful (this is usually how it is
>sold).
>
>-It's a natural antihistamine.
>
>-Dangerous interactions with some other drugs such as muscle relaxants,
etc.
>
>These supplements have considerable advantages in moderate use at the gym
>and in other uses but the side affects, although fairly minor above water,
>are very dangerous in the diving enviroment. I'm not bashing them at all (I
>now even occasionally use the TwinLab version as a booster in my longer 3-4
>hour workouts) but the dangers as they relate to our activities do need to
>be understood. If somebody decides to use them responsibly they should
>understand that they need to discontinue their use at least 24 (if not 48)
>hours before any dive with even minor exposures and at least 12 hours
after.
>Anybody considering using these suppliments needs to fully research &
>understand them before taking a single dosage and they should allways be in
>careful moderation.
>
>One sidenote, I have experimented a little with it in freediving situations
>and it seems to increase time/distance potentials. I believe this is
related
>to the decrease in blood flow (and therefore O2 consumption) in less vital
>tissues and expanded efficiency in the bronchial passages. I believe the
>dangers of deco & O2 management are basicly nil in this application so this
>may have potential as a reasonably safe & effective tool for free divers.
>
>Thanks again for the work your doing.
>Jeremy
>
>(I Cc'd this to some other lists as they were involved in some earlier
>discussions on this subject)
>
>
>
>At 11:59 AM 3/26/98 -0500, Dan Volker wrote:
>>In this first installment of articles Terry is contributing for deep diver
>>fitness, the most important issue to your nutrition is addressed. This
will
>>be followed by some general nutrition based articles, and some  fitness
>>training, with specific emphasis on increased conditioning for deep
diving..
>
>-----snip------
>
>>Next
>>Nutrition makes an energy carbohydrate powder called Ultimate Orange. It
too
>>derives it's carbs from long chained grains sources, but in addition
>>contains energy stimulants such as Guarana and Ma Huang. It only has 16
>>grams of carbs per serving - so I mix it double dose and it will really
wire
>>you for your workout. Some of the people I use it on get kind of squirrely
>>on it, they don't feel so hot, the Ma Huang can do that. If that happens,
>>discontinue use, unless you are a sadist.
>>
>

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