Back from the hole and back in the cave

I returned Saturday from the Bahamas and Dean's Blue Hole where I was training with William Trubridge. I learned a lot, and got in a solid four days of freediving plus an epic day of freediving and spearfishing on the outer reefs. I fell short of my goal to hit the 100' depth. My maximum was 72' which I did on the second day. One of my problems was my ears. I had been sick for the 10 days prior to the trip so every time I came up from a dive I had tons of snot in my sinuses. There were many dives where I couldn't get past 45' because my ear(s) wouldn't equalize. I'm happy I exceeded my previous personal best but a little bummed I didn't hit the mark I though would be reachable. The other positive was that I got really good marks on my form which definitely improved during the 4 days. Overall it was a great experience and I'm contemplating a return this coming February.

Meanwhile back to my training. I started this morning getting back to what I was doing before I left. For the next six weeks the program shakes out like this: M,W,F Mobility/Flexibility/Equilibre. I start out with basic joint prep which takes about 45 minutes. Next up a little flexibility, right now that would be cossacks with a 12kg bell, followed by straddle ups and then a 30 second round of wall runs. I repeat that circuit 3x with little to no rest, I was sucking wind this morning. Then on to wrist prep (full wrist pushups followed by first knuckle raises). After the wrist prep I do some handstand practice, 3 attempts followed by back bends 3X repeated. Then QDR's one hold alap on each side w/head off the floor. This is followed by some Jefferson Curls and repeated for 3 sets. I finish up with a combo or ring pull-ups and dips. Strict tempo on these doing 6 pull-ups followed by 3 dips and resting 120 seconds after each combo is completed and no rest between exercises. On Tu. and Thu. I will be back in the pool doing some dynamic apnea training tables and some freestyle intervals. I am going to try when I have time in the evening to work on some breathing and stretching exercises I learned at the freediving course that are designed to help expand the ribcage so you can get more air into the lungs.

Here's a picture of me and the lobster I caught while freediving on the last day of the course. I got him in 40 feet of water.