Interview with Karsten Mohr in the AIDA Germany podcast (28.3.2025)
How can you achieve top performance in freediving – without any contractions? For Karsten Mohr, freediving athlete, AIDA instructor trainer and co-founder of Magma Coaching on El Hierro, the answer is clear: through comfort, inner peace and a rethink in training. In a recent podcast episode from AIDA Germany, Karsten shares his philosophy of “No Contraction Freediving” – and why doing without struggle and pressure underwater not only feels good, but also leads to measurable progress.
Contractions: An unnecessary evil?
Contractions – involuntary breathing reflexes when holding your breath – are often seen as a necessary part of training. Karsten sees it differently. For him, they are an alarm signal from the body, often triggered by stress, mental restlessness or physical discomfort – and not exclusively by a high CO₂ value.
“Contractions are not progress, but a sign of stress in the nervous system.”
That’s why Karsten’s motto is: as soon as you feel unwell – whether due to pressure, mental restlessness, jet lag or physical exhaustion – you turn around. The training should feel good, allow the body to adapt, not overtax it. For him, this is precisely the key to real depth.
The three phases of holding your breath
Karsten distinguishes between three phases in the dive:
- Happy-Happy-Zone – maximum relaxation, clarity, joy of being.
- Mental activation – first breathing impulses, thoughts about breathing begin.
- Physical reaction – first involuntary movements, swallowing stimulus, contractions.
The focus of his training is clearly on extending the first phase. Karsten calls the feeling of diving in this zone “beautiful diving” – without alarms, without struggle.
Train without suffering: The path to depth
Karsten recommends completing 80% of training in the comfort zone – with a feeling that there is still room for improvement. Only in planned training cycles, e.g. in preparation for a competition, do you dive into the limit range.
“If you feel uncomfortable – then turn around. You can work on that. But not in the moment.”
Instead of classic CO₂ tables, Karsten relies on targeted hang exercises at depth, mental preparation, nervous system-friendly training and realistic dive planning. The goal: contraction-free dives to 70 meters – or even beyond.
What Karsten offers
On the volcanic island of El Hierro, Karsten:
- Individual coaching for advanced freedivers (30-50 m)
- Special training on pressure equalization and mouthfill technique
- Preparation for freediving vacations and instructor training
- No Contraction Training & mental freediving programs
Karsten and his team often work with divers who are stuck on a plateau between 30 and 42 meters – often because of technical or mental stumbling blocks, not physical limits.
PDF: Introduction to contraction-free training
For all those who want to go deeper: Karsten provides a free PDF that explains the most important principles of no contraction freediving – including a basic exercise: “hiccup or puff”.
🟦 Simply contact us and request the PDF.
Conclusion: Dive deeper – with ease
Freediving is not a fight against the body. Karsten Mohr impressively demonstrates how relaxed training, mental clarity and targeted preparation can lead to greater safety, more enjoyment – and measurably more depth.
“Peak Performance in Inner Peace – that is our credo. And it works just as well under water as it does on the surface.”