Apnea is the ability to remain in the absence of respiratory movements . In swimming and in sport in general, training this capacity can have certain benefits, especially at the circulatory level , where the body is deprived of continuous oxygen and displays adaptations to optimize its use.
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BENEFITS OF FREEDIVING IN SPORT
We can do two types of apnea: with air in the lungs and without air in the lungs . In the first way, the body will make adaptations aimed at ventilating most of the pulmonary alveoli, when we normally use only a few areas.
In apnea without air in the lungs, what is facilitated is the venous return, in which there is still part of the oxygen. As we said at the beginning, with apnea the use of oxygen is optimized .
For swimmers , apnea lifeguard training near me can be very useful to reduce the number of head exits for air, which will save a few seconds in long tests and tenths in short ones.
Being able to stay underwater for longer will also help reduce the feeling of anxiety when doing a flip or when starting a race with more people such as a cross-country or triathlon.
FREEDIVING TRAINING
You can start with 2-4 series of 20-30 seconds underwater with rests of about 45 seconds between them, to later and in each training session increase the apnea time by 2-3 seconds and later the number of series.
When we have controlled the sensation of apnea, we can do active apnea training, that is, with movement. We can try to do series of 15-25 meters in apnea while diving or also swimming with breaths every 3-4-5 strokes .
Surely you have heard many times that some athletes train in hypoxia , as this is something similar, depriving the body of normal amounts of oxygen so that it gets used to working in these stressful situations .
TIPS FOR TRAINING FREEDIVING
An optimal relaxed state is ideal for training apnea. Forget about freediving after a hard workout or a day when you are very stressed.
It is not necessary to hyperventilate or take a breath many times in a row before doing the apnea, this can fool the body with the feeling that it has a lot of oxygen and then play a trick on us, it is enough to take a couple of breaths and in a normal way before to dive
If you are going to barely passive with air in your lungs, you need to have a support to avoid surfacing due to the buoyancy effect. The easiest thing to do is to hold on to the pool stairs, although the curb or lane ropes can also be used.
SAFETY IN FREEDIVING TRAINING
Of course, the first thing in freediving training is safety, which is why it is best to train together with a partner who will always keep an eye on us in case any unforeseen event arises. If we don't have a partner and we are in a pool, we can always notify the lifeguard courses near me of the activity we are going to do (although he will surely look at us with a strange face...)
Training just in open water is more dangerous than in a pool, however it is more satisfying especially if the environment allows good eyesight. But as we say, always in company.
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