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>X-POP3-Rcpt: diver@ja*.ch*.ne*.au* >Return-Path: owner-hypbar-l@te*.te*.ac*.il* >Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 16:08:23 -0500 >Reply-To: HyperBaric & Diving Medicine List > <HYPBAR-L@te*.te*.ac*.il*> >Sender: HyperBaric & Diving Medicine List > <HYPBAR-L@te*.te*.ac*.il*> >From: "Dr. Louis W. Jankowski" <janoslu@VA*.CO*.CA*> >Subject: Re: Exercise for diving fitness >Comments: To: TJ Adams <EAXTJAD@ea*.me*.no*.ac*.uk*> >To: HYPBAR-L@te*.te*.ac*.il* > >In response to the question asked by T.J. Adams: >Based on some very old data from Goff et al published in the J.A.P. back in >the 1950's the Oxygen cost of underwater swimming with SCUBA at a speed of >just under one knot is close to 2.0 liters per minute. For a 70 kg person >that comes down to about 28.6 ml/kg min-1 or just over 8 METS. >Extrapolating from these data one can estimate that the absolute minimum >safe fitness level required to avoid excessive fatigue and/or a high >proportion of anaerobic work while diving should be at least 10 METS or 35 >ml/kg min-1. Obviously a greater physiological reserve would be all the >better. For example a highly fit diver with a physical work capacity of 16 >METS could theoretically swim underwater for a full hour before feeling the >onset of fatigue, while the "warm water bottom scratcher" with their >10 met capacity would do well to limit their swimming speed to about half a >knot. >Divers who maintain high levels of physical fitness are ideal dive buddies >since a highly fit person would be more effective while towing a tired buddy >through a strong current or a long way back to shore. > >The second portion of the question asked about ideal exercises for diver >fitness and the answer is NOT swimming which often surprises divers. >Swimming is primarily an arm exercise which we normally do while breath >holding or at least cnsciously limiting the normal respiratory frequency >and pulmonary ventilation. SCUBA diving is a leg exercise and SCUBA divers >must never hold their breath, limit their ventilation, or "skip breathe". >The principle of specificity applies,in that the best exercise for training >divers would be swimming with fins while snorkeling on the surface. In some >small pools tethered swimming devices, which employ elastic ropes or >surgical tubing for resistance, are sometimes used as training devices. Dry >land exercises include mobile or stationary cycling, jogging, rope skipping, >or stair climbing. The bottom line is simply to use the same muscles in the >same way one would while SCUBA diving. Exercises designed to improve >muscular strength and muscular endurance as well as flexibility are all good >supplements to the basic aerobic leg exercise program. > >A diver who trains regularly to maintain a high physical work capacity is or >is on the way to becoming a leaner and more muscular individual. These >physical characteristics translate to additional benefits in terms of >smaller wet or dry suits, less buoyancy and therefore less weight required >to attain neutral buoyancy in cold water. > >At the recent UHMS meetings in Seattle one investigator reported that >divers frequently suffer from lower back pain. While we sometimes think >that death, taxes, and backaches are the inevitable consequences of being >human, the best defense against back-pain is to maintain a healthy and >strong abdominal musculature. Back in the 1950's Krauss and Weber reported >that 96% of their patients with chronic back pain were relieved when they >could do 25 sit-ups. Since divers are prone to back pain it seems >reasonable to take some defensive action in the form of abdominal muscle >training. > >Thanks your interest I was becoming convinced that the modern diver had all >but forgotten the need to be physically fit. L.W. Jankowski, Ph.D. FACSM >-- >Exercise today, live better tomorrow. > > -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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