Equalisation workshop
Equalisation is the most important key to relaxed apnoea diving. Even more than holding your breath.
The good news is that anyone can do it. Unless there are medical reasons not to. If you have no problems on an airplane when you are healthy, then there are generally no problems when freediving. It doesn’t always work right from the start. But in the end it’s just a matter of practice.
In both beginner courses AIDA 1 and AIDA 2 we show you the tricks to the basic technique, the Frenzel maneuver.
The beginners’ courses are not the end. Practicing and refining equalisation accompanies us throughout our entire Freediver life.
Every depth has its own challenges and every diver needs support at a different point.
That’s why we offer training plans with customized and sensible exercise sequences for all depths.
Many exercises can be completed in the dry. We can therefore accompany many training plans online. A combination of online and on-site training here on the island is better. Of course, the best and most beautiful thing is to come here and be looked after personally.
For whom does special equalisation training make sense?
Training beginners 0-10 m
How is 10m beginner? If you’re just starting out with freediving, 10m sounds like the abyss of the Mariana Trench. But you’ll see that you’ll be down there pretty quickly.
The first 5m often still work with the simple technique that we know from airplanes, mountain gondolas or bottle diving. In technical jargon, this is called the Valsalva maneuver. In the courses we learn a better technique called Frenzel.
It happens again and again that the instructions are not enough during lesson time. No need to despair. There are tutoring sessions for that.
Once you have “cracked” the first 10m, you are usually at peace up to 20m.
Training plan advanced up to 30 m
Feeling pressure on the chest, refilling the mouth with air in good time, balancing the mask carefully, longer diving times …. These are just some of the factors that can make it difficult at first or take away your relaxation.
At this level, it is easiest to establish routines and automatisms through clever training. Up to 30m is the range that can be most relaxed if the technique is right.
Freediver training plan between 30 m - 50 m
Unfortunately, in our opinion, the mouth-fill technique is taught far too early in apnea course systems. Mouth-fill is actually only needed from depths of 50m or more. The result is that unfortunately many talented freedivers get really stuck, especially between 35m and 42m.
With the mouth fill, usually learned in the last course, you can “cheat” your way down to these depths. But most of the time, you can’t really relax. No real progress, even after dozens of attempts. That is frustrating.
One problem is that there aren’t many places in the freediving world where you can get really well structured instruction.
The secret is to execute the Frenzel technique in a certain way with a step-by-step individual program of meaningful exercises in shallow water and to refine it really well.
To refine it so that equalisation is as easy as in business class on a plane, even below the residual volume of the lungs. This is possible for anyone who trains programmatically with sensible exercises. Without mouthfill!!! Without reverse packing!!! I swear!!! And it’s not difficult to get to 50m. It’s really just technique and structured training.
Training plan Freediver plus 50 m
Once you’ve arrived here, it’s time to learn the right mouth fill.
But there are also other challenges to consider. The strong negative pressure in the lungs and thus tension on the glottis, increasing tightness in the chest, pressure on the trachea, psychological dive time, psychological pressure at depth, long time under residual volume, swallowing stimulus, long freefall etc. etc.
You can build up a lot slowly in “shallow” water up to 30m. Train your technique in the comfort zone and then master new challenges.
SINK POSITIVE
