Diving your dream Dive destination; the array of bright colours, the variety of aquatic life, the formation of the coral... the bubbles from your Dive Equipment?
When you go Diving anywhere in the world, you rely on your Diving Equipment to maintain your life in a hostile environment (a place we are not really designed to be). For this reason we wash our Diving Equipment properly after every Dive, we ensure that our Regulators are serviced regularly (we need them to breathe) and our tanks are tested visually each year and hydrostatically every five years. We make sure our gauges are properly calibrated and give us accurate information and when the battery light begins to flash on our top of the range Suunto Dive Computers... Yes! You guessed it, we change the batteries.
So, if we take such good care of our Diving Equipment, why do many of us neglect our Diving Bodies?
The Definition of Fitness in the dictionary is:
1. The state or condition of being fit; suitability or appropriateness
2. Good health or physical condition, especially as the result of exercise and proper nutrition.
3. Biology The extent to which an organism is adapted to a particular environment.
General Fitness is beneficial to anyone as it makes life in general a little easier. Unfit people can find even simple tasks such as; climbing the stairs or grocery shopping tiring and unmanageable. Although a Diver doesn’t have to enrol in a strict training regime before taking part in a course or a Dive, it does help if they are in reasonable shape. A Diver must have the strength and aerobic capacity to meet the demands of the environment in which they are diving and, unfortunately, Diving alone is not sufficient to maintain fitness.
Smoking
Many Divers, Dive Guides and Diving Instructors around the world are Smokers. It is a strange state of affairs that this demographic of people, who rely on their lungs so much for their sport are so compelled to ruin them.
Smoking makes the smoker more prone to developing Airway Disease, which puts them at a greater risk of barotrauma from trapped air when Diving.
Equally, and possibly the better known reason for Divers to quit smoking is the increase in Carbon Monoxide in a smoker’s airways. When a Diver Smokes a cigarette, he or she is inhaling many toxic substances into the lungs, which then take part in the Gas Exchange in the Alveoli. Carbon Monoxide is one of these gases that are then absorbed into the blood. Because of its unstable nature, Carbon Monoxide bonds more easily with Haemoglobin than Oxygen does, which results in excess blood Carbon Monoxide and a decrease in Oxygen. As we remember from our training courses, at depth, the effects of Gases are greater than at the surface due to the change in Pressure, so the Carbon Monoxide will have a greater effect at depth, which means that to be a healthy, fit diver, quitting smoking should be top of the ‘to-do’ list.
Obesity
Another health factor to consider for Divers is weight and being over-weight. Think back to the days of your decompression theory lectures! When we dive, our bodies absorb Nitrogen into the tissues of our body and for theoretical purposes; we split these tissues down into compartments. Different tissue compartments saturate at different half-times; some are faster and some are slower.
Fat tends to take Nitrogen on faster than any other type of tissue and is slower to relinquish it. This means that an overweight Diver would on-gas Nitrogen faster and off-gas slower than a Diver who is the right weight for his or her size.
Obesity not only increases the risk of DCS but the risk of other diseases that can cause difficulties underwater. High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, heart attacks and strokes are just some of the diseases that an obese individual is pre-disposed to.
Diminished Lung Function is another factor affecting Divers who are obese. With a lower lung capacity, the Diver will find that they will not be getting enough Oxygen and retain Carbon Dioxide, which results in a build up of this waste gas causing breathlessness and confusion and, more importantly for the diver, could result in drowning.
Finally, obesity generally means any exercise takes more exertion than normal. In a Diving situation, there is more resistance to movement in the water, heat is conducted away from the body faster, the work of breathing is increased due to the effects of pressure making the gases more dense, which puts more strain on the cardio vascular system and lungs. where you may need to swim against a current or rescue a diving buddy or even yourself, this exertion can become too much and result in a panicked situation.
Our bodies do need a little fat on them to provide Insulation against the cold (particularly cold water Divers) and to cushion the organs inside, but we need to balance a healthy diet with exercise to ensure that we stay within the healthy weight range to avoid, not only health complications but diving ones too.
Muscle Strength
General Strength is also important for Divers, after all, the Diving Equipment is not going to get itself to the Dive Site, onto the Boat or down to the Shore and back. A full set of kit can weigh anything between 15 and 40kilograms and above, depending on the rig and weights needed, so lifting and carrying is important and a Diver needs the strength to do this safely.
Muscle Strength peaks in our 20s and after that it begins to decline as we age. Many ask if there is a cut off age at which point we should stop diving and retire from our sport gracefully. Thankfully, the answer is no! Older Divers can be just as fit as younger divers depending on their lifestyle. It is possible for a pensioner who exercises regularly and maintains a balanced diet to be more fit and have more muscle strength than a sedentary person 20 years his junior. Heart health, Lungs and muscle strength are all affected by age, yes, but it is all relative to lifestyle. With regular exercise the rate of decline can be halved, so age in itself is not a factor to Diving.
Back problems are a big problem for Divers. With heavy lead belts around our waists and 11kg of steel on our backs, we are always lifting and carrying a lot of weight, which feels 10 times heavier when we re-emerge after a dive having been weightless. Again, exercise is the answer. Divers should work to build up their core muscles around the abdomen, offering more support to the back, helping it to stay healthy.
Exercise
As much as we would like to believe that there is a quick fix out there, I’m afraid that there are no shortcuts when it comes to being fit and fit to dive. We have to maintain a nutritious balanced diet combined with regular exercise. This doesn’t mean that we should all be pounding it at the local gym. Exercise is defined as any activity that raises the resting Oxygen consumption above it basal levels; so even a brisk walk for half an hour, 3 times a week will have a positive effect on fitness levels.
We have to be fit to dive. In fact, in the very first Diving course you took, you may remember having to show your fitness by swimming a set distance and treading water for a certain period of time. If a Diver is unfit, she or he can become tired out in the event of unexpected stress (currents etc) and need rescuing.
Benefits of being fit for the Diver are
- Fit Divers feel less tired after a Dive
- Decreased Gas Consumption meaning more bottom times
- Less chance of Injury, Back Pain and DCS
- More able to tackle more challenging Dives
- Helps to avoid Cramps
However, Divers must be aware of the timing of their exercise, as intense physical activity too close to diving can be problematic in itself. The information and research into this matter is, as yet, incomplete but the general theory is that if you avoid vigorous exercise 24 hours before and after a Dive, you should be ok. Although, some studies are pointing toward possible benefits of doing a work-out 24 hours before a Dive.
A major cause of diving fatalities is Heart attack. A fit person who exercises regularly, doesn’t smoke and is within a healthy weight range is less likely to suffer from this. A simple test that you can do at home is to try 120 step ups to 18 inches in under 5 minutes. If you can complete this test without collapsing, then you are probably fit to Dive.
A Diver’s Heart, Lungs and Muscular Strength are just as important to Diving as the Regulators we breathe from. Even more so, as a simple annual service of the lungs cannot restore them to their previous level of peak performance. We, as Divers must learn to look after our bodies and maintain a degree of fitness to be able to enjoy our sport and Dive Safely.
Use Common Sense. When it comes down to general fitness, you are probably the best judge
by Shelley Patient @ Scuba-Tech Diving Centre, Cyprus
