Friday Five #1

Hey, good morning!

Here is your Friday 5 roundup of this week’s freediving facts, fun and f’ups…

😅 What are the 4 problems with max attempt trainings?

• Many freedivers I know do 1 (or more!) max attempt dives almost every training session! (Max attempt meaning that he/she basically dives as deep as he/she can that day OR doing a maximum distance in dynamic OR a max breath-hold in static apnea). 
  
  Imagine that concept playing out in other sports, for example someone going to the gym and bench-pressing their absolute maximum weight every single gym sesh, or in running, someone who runs 1 mile at max speed every single training. It would be a bit crazy to do this long-term! And super stressful for your central nervous system!
   
• Eric Fattah writes a lot about this in his book, Holistic Freediving. Here are his 4 disadvantages to what he calls, ‘The One-Max Method’

1. One max training is too stressful to maintain for months or years at a time
2. One-max training results in too short a training duration per week
3. One-max training does not produce enough high-O2 and low-O2 transitions, and does not produce seal-like blood
4. One-max training, in all probability, does not have enough training volume to stimulate myoglobin production
   
   I’d recommend reading Holistic Freediving, which goes into all the details about this!

🐐 Training in Dahab? If so, check-out how to do CPR for a goat!

• Dahab isn’t just a mecca for freediving, but it’s also a mecca for goats! Check-out this AMAZING video which went viral on YouTube, showing a goat-herder resuscitating one of his goats back to life! Make sure to watch till the end!

• Who knows goat CPR may come in handy on your next trip to Dahab! (Plus I think you can use the same resuscitation technique for a dog!)

💬 What quote I’ve been thinking about –

“All great truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”

– Arthur Schopenhauer, German Philosopher, the ‘philosopher of pessimism’

1️⃣ What is your ‘ONE THING’?

• In Gary Keller’s book, ‘The One Thing’ he talks about how the ONE THING is the best approach to success and getting what you want in life. “It’s asking yourself the question: What’s the ONE THING, that by doing it everything else will be either easier or unnecessary?” And you can apply this question to any / every area of your life, i.e. career, relationship, freediving, etc!
   
• So I thought about what’s my ONE THING for freediving, where if I do it, it’ll make my freediving easier, with more joy, and where I’ll progress better in depth…
   
• Well, at the moment, what’s preventing me from going deeper is the feeling pressure on my chest during the deepest part of the dives 🙁 So I think my ONE THING would be FRC diving in order to get better adapted to the hydrostatic pressure. And maybe some empty lung stretching in the am to prepare for the FRC training. So I think I’ll focus on FRC and uddiyana bandha stretching for the next week or so, and will see how it goes 🙂
   
• What’s your ONE THING for Freediving? Join my Facebook Group and let’s hear!

👥 What to keep in mind when freediving with 2+ people

• Social psychologists, John Darley and Bibb Latane performed a famous experiment: they sat students in a classroom and then slowly filled it with smoke that suggested that there was a fire nearby. If a student was alone in the classroom, he or she usually left quickly. However, if the student sat with a group of two to four other people (who were part of the experiment), and those people did not leave when the room filled with smoke, the student often remained-even if the smoke was so thick he or she could no longer see the other people in the group.
  
  Embarrassment and confusion were the two reasons cited by the students for not moving, but they also said they were looking to the others in the room to signal if there was anything wrong.
   
• The ‘Bystander Apathy’ experiments show that people may react less to an emergency if they are in a group situation than if they are alone. I think this is helpful to keep in mind when you’re freediving with two or more people. Remember, if you think you should ACT!
   
• Also, side note – this can go to show you that the people you’re around and the groups you’re apart of are the strongest external factors influencing your decisions!

It’s an absolute pleasure and honor getting to spend some time with you, hope you have a great weekend!

Renee