So you have booked a spearfishing course and want to prepare yourself to be in the best shape possible for the weekend! Below i will talk about cardiovascular training, muscular training and basic equalisation.
“Spearfishing is a physically demanding water based activity that requires basic cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance.”
Lets learn some Basics about spearfishing so what is it ?
Spearfishing is a method of fishing that involves diving underwater to hunt and catch fish using a specialized tool called a speargun or pole spear. Unlike traditional fishing with a rod and bait, spearfishers rely on their swimming abilities, breath-holding skills, and precision aim to target fish directly. It requires a deep understanding of marine ecosystems, fish behavior, and safety protocols to ensure sustainable and responsible harvesting. Spearfishing enthusiasts are drawn to this challenging and immersive sport for its connection to nature, adrenaline-pumping experiences, and the opportunity to provide a more selective and environmentally friendly approach to fishing.
"The demands on the body"
Spearfishing often involves hours in the water, a normal session on a course is 2/4 hours in the ocean swimming with long fins against the wind and currents while dragging a Spearfishing buoy with fish connected. in-between the swimming to desired marks we are lowering our heart rates and mental state to hold our breaths for extended periods of time then swimming down to depths of 1m to 10m on a course but experienced spearfishermen can dive to over 100ft for minutes at a time. We also need to ambush fish on the bottom and swim back up to the surface and repeat this process up to or over 40 times in a session. As you can imagine this requires a good basic level of fitness, you don't need to be an iron man but if you cannot foresee yourself being able to maintain this you are going to find spearfishing difficult and not a enjoyable experience.
Relaxation- This is the biggest factor that will determine your ability to hold your breath and relax on the bottom, if you cannot relax you cannot hold your breath or equalise the pressure in your ears. Approaching fish and letting fish approach you fundamentally relies on your ability and skill to relax underwater and not scare everything away! A diver who is not physically fit enough will not be able to relax and carry out the tasks required.
"Some basic physiology"
The respiratory system is responsible for facilitating the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the body and the environment. It consists of organs such as the nose, trachea, bronchi, and lungs. During freediving, the respiratory system plays a crucial role as it allows the diver to hold their breath for extended periods underwater. When a freediver takes a deep breath before descending, the lungs fill with oxygen. As the diver descends, the pressure increases, causing the lungs to compress. During this time, the body's natural reflex called the mammalian diving reflex is triggered, reducing the heart rate and directing blood flow to vital organs, conserving oxygen. This response, along with trained breath-holding techniques and proper relaxation, allows freedivers to extend their breath-holding time and explore the underwater world with reduced air consumption, making the respiratory system ideal for freediving.
Freedivers and spearfisherman need a good function respiratory system to dive with a good level of relaxation, for this we need to train the cardiovascular system. If you have little to no experience in training the cardiovascular system i would suggest a walk run routine to start.
Always wear suitable running shoes for any impact activities. If you feel you have a good level of cardio fitness skip this walk run example.
Week 1-2:
Warm-up: 5 minutes of brisk walking
Interval 1: Walk for 2 minutes, Run at a very slow pace for 1 minute
Repeat Interval 1 four more times (total of 5 sets)
Cool-down: 5 minutes of easy walking
Week 3-4:
Warm-up: 5 minutes of brisk walking
Interval 1: Walk for 2 minutes, Run at a slow pace for 2 minutes
Repeat Interval 1 three more times (total of 4 sets)
Cool-down: 5 minutes of easy walking
Week 5-6:
Warm-up: 5 minutes of brisk walking
Interval 1: Walk for 1 minute, Run at a slow pace for 3 minutes
Repeat Interval 1 three more times (total of 4 sets)
Cool-down: 5 minutes of easy walking
Week 7-8:
Warm-up: 5 minutes of brisk walking
Interval 1: Walk for 1 minute, Run at a moderate pace for 4 minutes
Repeat Interval 1 three more times (total of 4 sets)
Cool-down: 5 minutes of easy walking
Week 9-10:
Warm-up: 5 minutes of brisk walking
Interval 1: Walk for 1 minute, Run at a moderate pace for 5 minutes
Repeat Interval 1 three more times (total of 4 sets)
Cool-down: 5 minutes of easy walking
As the weeks progress, you can gradually increase the running duration and decrease the walking time until you can comfortably run for an extended period without needing to walk. Remember to listen to your body and rest or adjust the program if you experience any discomfort or fatigue. Additionally, always start and end your workout with a proper warm-up and cool-down to prevent injuries.
"Intermediate cardio training programme"
Week 1:
Day 1: Easy run for 30 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 2: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 3: Easy run for 35 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 4: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 5: Long run for 40 minutes at a moderate pace.
Day 6: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 7: Rest day.
Week 2:
Day 1: Easy run for 35 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 2: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 3: Easy run for 40 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 4: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 5: Long run for 45 minutes at a moderate pace.
Day 6: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 7: Rest day.
Week 3:
Day 1: Easy run for 40 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 2: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 3: Easy run for 45 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 4: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 5: Long run for 50 minutes at a moderate pace.
Day 6: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 7: Rest day.
Week 4:
Day 1: Easy run for 45 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 2: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 3: Easy run for 50 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 4: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 5: Long run for 55 minutes at a moderate pace.
Day 6: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 7: Rest day.
Week 5:
Day 1: Easy run for 50 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 2: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 3: Easy run for 55 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 4: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 5: Long run for 60 minutes at a moderate pace.
Day 6: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 7: Rest day.
Week 6:
Day 1: Easy run for 55 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 2: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 3: Easy run for 60 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Day 4: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 5: Long run for 65 minutes at a moderate pace.
Day 6: Rest or easy walk for 30 minutes.
Day 7: Rest day.
Throughout the program, focus on maintaining a comfortable pace during the easy runs and gradually increasing the duration of your long runs. Stay hydrated, listen to your body, and adjust the plan as needed to avoid overtraining or injury. Proper warm-up and cool-down routines are still essential for injury prevention and overall performance.
"Muscular endurance"
Muscular endurance refers to the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to sustain repeated contractions over an extended period without becoming fatigued. It is a crucial aspect of fitness, especially in activities that involve prolonged use of muscles, such as endurance sports, long-distance running, or swimming. Regularly training for muscular endurance improves the muscle's capacity to resist fatigue and increases overall stamina, allowing individuals to perform tasks for longer durations with reduced muscle tiredness. This type of training often involves using lighter weights or bodyweight exercises and performing higher repetitions to challenge and strengthen the muscles' endurance capabilities.
In spearfishing and freediving we need some basic muscular endurance to withstand the demands of swimming with long fins and repeating duck dives over and over throughout the session. If are muscles in the legs tire to soon we will not be able to stay in the water for extended periods of time.
All muscular training can be completed with basic press-ups, sit ups and pullups from home there's no requirement to lift heavy weights at the gym. I would add strength training once you have build up some basic cardio fitness, you can remove 1 or 2 of your runs per week and replace with a strength training session or combine the 2 add press-ups and pullups to the end of your runs! remember to get enough rest per week and to listen to your body.
Week 1
Day 1:
2 sets of 8 push-ups (on knees if needed)
2 sets of 10 sit-ups
2 sets of 10 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 10 resistance band bicep curls
Day 2: Rest
Day 3:
2 sets of 8 push-ups (on knees if needed)
2 sets of 12 sit-ups
2 sets of 12 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 10 resistance band tricep extensions
Day 4: Rest
Day 5:
2 sets of 10 push-ups (on knees if needed)
2 sets of 15 sit-ups
2 sets of 15 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 12 resistance band rows
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest
Week 2:
Day 1:
3 sets of 8 push-ups (on knees if needed)
3 sets of 12 sit-ups
3 sets of 12 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 12 resistance band bicep curls
Day 2: Rest
Day 3:
3 sets of 8 push-ups (on knees if needed)
3 sets of 15 sit-ups
3 sets of 15 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 12 resistance band tricep extensions
Day 4: Rest
Day 5:
3 sets of 10 push-ups (on knees if needed)
3 sets of 18 sit-ups
3 sets of 18 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 15 resistance band rows
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest
Week 3:
Day 1:
3 sets of 10 push-ups (on knees if needed)
3 sets of 15 sit-ups
3 sets of 15 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 15 resistance band bicep curls
Day 2: Rest
Day 3:
3 sets of 10 push-ups (on knees if needed)
3 sets of 18 sit-ups
3 sets of 18 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 15 resistance band tricep extensions
Day 4: Rest
Day 5:
3 sets of 12 push-ups (on knees if needed)
3 sets of 20 sit-ups
3 sets of 20 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 18 resistance band rows
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest
Week 4:
Day 1:
4 sets of 10 push-ups (on knees if needed)
4 sets of 18 sit-ups
4 sets of 18 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 18 resistance band bicep curls
Day 2: Rest
Day 3:
4 sets of 10 push-ups (on knees if needed)
4 sets of 20 sit-ups
4 sets of 20 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 18 resistance band tricep extensions
Day 4: Rest
Day 5:
4 sets of 12 push-ups (on knees if needed)
4 sets of 22 sit-ups
4 sets of 22 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 20 resistance band rows
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest
Week 5:
Day 1:
4 sets of 12 push-ups (on knees if needed)
4 sets of 25 sit-ups
4 sets of 25 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 20 resistance band bicep curls
Day 2: Rest
Day 3:
4 sets of 12 push-ups (on knees if needed)
4 sets of 25 sit-ups
4 sets of 25 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 20 resistance band tricep extensions
Day 4: Rest
Day 5:
4 sets of 15 push-ups (on knees if needed)
4 sets of 30 sit-ups
4 sets of 30 bodyweight squats
2 sets of 22 resistance band rows
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest
What is equalisation ?
Equalization in freediving refers to the act of balancing the pressure between the inner ear and the surrounding water as a diver descends deeper underwater. The increased water pressure can cause discomfort and potential injury due to the difference in pressure between the inner ear and the external environment. To prevent this, freedivers use various equalization techniques, such as the Valsalva maneuver (pinching the nose and blowing gently against it) or the Frenzel maneuver (using the tongue and throat muscles to control airflow through the nose) to equalize the pressure in their middle ear. By equalizing regularly and effectively, freedivers can safely explore greater depths while minimizing the risk of ear barotrauma and other related issues.
On your course you will go into equalisation at depth but there is some training you can do before hand to get yourself ready. This video by Adam stern explains Frenzel and how to perform it its highly recommended to watch.
To summarise if we have a good level of fitness we are able to relax and enjoy ourselves in the water and keep ourselves safe when out at sea spearfishing or freediving. Everyone has busy lives and to follow a training programme to the letter is not a easy task, so be kind to yourself and don't put to much pressure on yourself and listen to your body and rest when you feel you are over training. You will learn all about equalisation on your course with Matt however with the videos attached above and using the equalisation tools with the videos you are putting yourself in the best position possible prior to your course.
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