(Old text) Freediving is just as much a sport as it is recreation and having a wonderful experience. As in all sports, you have to train to get better. The better trained you are – the more you will enjoy freediving.  Having a fit body will help you in many ways. Also, being in good shape and feeling strong and healthy is the best confidence you can have, no matter if you’re a deep, -pool or recreational freediver.

Freediving is a complex activity. It combines many types of muscular and energy systems, as well as integrating the body-mind connection.

The best way to become a better freediver is of course to train freediving. The more time you spend in the water the better you will become.

Freediving training includes:

1. Equalising. Your ears are the most likely physical reason to limit your depth.
   You can only go as deep as you can equalise your ears.
2. Technique training. Having a good technique will save you oxygen,
   give you better hydrodynamics, and make your dive more enjoyable. This is best practised on the surface in a pool and while doing dynamic apnea.
3. Breath hold training. You need to get “comfortable” holding your breath.
   This training can include maximums, Co2 tolerance & Hypoxic tolerance.
4. Relaxation. This will make your dive 100 times more enjoyable and save you lots of oxygen.
5. Lung-training. Slowly adapting your lungs to handle the depth and compression. This can be done with certain yoga-exercises and FRC training in shallow pools.

As you see many of those can also be done out of the water, but you still need a good swimmingpool.

If you are planning to increase your depth, dynamic length or breathhold you also need physical training. It will not only make you a better and stronger freediver, but you will also feel better about yourself. When you are far away from warm waters and good swimmingpools, this is what you can spend your time doing:

Physical training includes:

1. Cardiovascular training. Gives you a good cardiovascular ability (high Co2 max – oxygen uptake), strong heart and a low resting pulse.
2. Cardio high intensity training. Makes you able to tolerate high levels of lactic acid and making use of the anaerobic energy system.
3. Muscular training. Gives you muscles at the right places, trained for what you want them to do and making your movements more energy efficient and relaxed.
4. Flexibility training/Yoga will give you better knowledge of your body and make your muscles more relaxed. Flexibility will give you better technique and decrease the risk of squeeze.
5. Mental training.