Not all heroes wear capes, some wear wetsuits By Akshay Thatte (These are my thoughts on having completed the Zero To Hero course two months ago. I feel it would be good to share my thoughts and experiences a few months after having finished it, just to ensure that there is no bias or hangover of the course persisting. A lot of things are said in jest and must not be taken seriously. Any hurt caused is deeply regretted. Do not come after me. Please ) The Freediving Program From Zero to Hero is a long-term course that allows anyone with no prior freediving experience to progress and make it all ..read more

Static apnea is the first step in freediving when you are holding your breath and not moving. Let’s talk about how to learn to hold your breath safely and for an extended period. The best place to learn how to do a breath hold correctly is, without a doubt, a freediving course. In most cases, the agency or the location is insignificant. Just check that static apnea is a part of the beginner-level freediving course. But what if you can’t do a course at the moment? Or you did it a while ago and forgot most of it (yes, it happens). Then, this article is for you! Trying to breathe hold without un ..read more

Even if you are new to freediving or spearfishing, you might have already realized that you want to have personal gear? It is more comfortable. It is more reliable. It will fit you perfectly. One of the first things freedivers buy after finishing their freediver course is freediving fins. If you have a quick look at freedivers forums, most freedivers state that carbon fins have the best performance. Cressi Gara Modular Impulse Freediving Fins That is true. But carbon fins most likely will cost you a fortune. So if money is not a big deal for you – get yourself a pair of carbons.  But if ..read more

If you have already done your first Freediving course, then you learned that hyperventilation is dangerous and should be avoided before a breath-hold. But also probably seen some elite-level freedivers doing it before their massive STA breath-hold  So, who is right? First, let’s discuss the theory and then whether you should do hyperventilation or not. Your breathing rate and depth are mainly regulated by how much CO2 you produce at the moment. Usually, your breathing rate and depth match your current metabolic activity level. But if you voluntarily start changing your breathing rate or/a ..read more

If you are already an experienced freediver looking for a new exercise to improve your Dynamic Apnea Bi-Fins technique and results, think about underwater sprints. There are a couple of reasons why you might include it in your Freediving training  Improve your finning technique Include anaerobic work for your legs When you get some experience with this exercise, you can add some resistance to it. For example, you can wear a swimming parachute or swimming drag shorts. For more information about sprints for DYNb training, check out my video below. If you are looking to buy a swimming par ..read more

What do we know about buoyancy? In general and buoyancy for freediving? You normally learn it on your Freediving course, but lets refresh it here. Buoyancy for Freediving Google tells us that buoyancy is the upward force applied by a fluid on an object when the object is put in or submerged in the fluid. In a more simple way for freedivers, it means “sink or float or stay on the same depth.” Why does it have any meaning for us as freedivers? If you are not properly buoyant, it will cost you much more energy to cover the same distance. But as freedivers, we want to save energy as much as possib ..read more

Let me start with a question – WHY do we need to do safety for each other on freediving open water sessions? Despite it rarely happening, we shouldn’t ignore a slight chance of shallow water blackout on ascend. For this reason, the safety diver needs to dive and meet the ascending freediver at approximately one-third of the depth and escort him to the surface. Freediving Safety Let’s have a closer look at the most frequent mistakes. The first “popular” mistake is not to follow the surface interval between the dives. So, for example, the freediver comes up from the deep dive, and instead of tak ..read more

          It’s hard to underestimate the role of a safety buddy in any freediving discipline.           At first glance safety skill for STA seems to be very easy – you need to carefully watch your buddy and be ready to assist if necessary. However, safety for static apnea is a unique experience in freediving: only in static safety buddy can talk to the freediver during the breath-hold – give comments, support, and motivate. In this case, the safety buddy in static apnea acts as the coach. So don’t ignor ..read more

Freedivers are blessed to require very little equipment to enjoy the underwater world. We only need fins, a mask, and a snorkel. But do we actually need the snorkel for freediving? Let’s find it out. Freediving STA For safety reasons, you have to remove a snorkel from your mouth during any breath-hold. But what about providing safety to your freediving buddy or while relaxation breathing before the breath-hold? Let’s start with static apnea. There are two options for relaxation breathing before STA. Some freedivers use a snorkel if they prefer to prepare with a face down in the water (it also ..read more

Quite often, I start a beginner Freediving course by asking my students whether they think freediving is a dangerous activity or not. Some say yes, some say no, it is absolutely safe. The truth is somewhere in the middle. If you follow safety rules, Freediving is safe and enjoyable water-based activity. But if you break these rules, then Freediving becomes a Russian roulette without guaranteeing of a happy end. And one of such rules is – don’t do hyperventilation before a breath hold! But first of all, what is hyperventilation? Hyperventilation is over-breathing – when you breathe more than y ..read more