“Freediving – The Physiology” is a complete guide for the three levels of freediver training, the three levels of instructor training, and for the instructor trainer. The book works as a manual for everyone, introducing all readers to the greatest secrets of the human body’s responses to freediving, from the new freediver to the doctors who look to expand their knowledge in freediving.
Since the first Greek edition of the book, 15 years ago, it has become a respected manual for all freedivers and instructors in Greece, a country with a great tradition in freediving and diving medicine. Written in a very simple and comprehensive language, the book covers every aspect of freediving physiology, providing valuable knowledge and advice. Special illustrations, sketches and underwater photos cover all subjects of freediving physiology.
A new freediver will find chapters on ear equalization, the diving reflex, the mechanism of apnea, the factors of breath-hold, the danger of shallow water blackout, advice on a special diet before and during the freediving day, and many more interesting subjects for a beginner in freediving.
Experienced freedivers will enhance their knowledge of deep freediving, safety rules and rescue techniques, through subjects including the human diving responses, specialized advice on deep freediving lung equalization, advanced ear equalization methods, special factors and methods for increased apnea duration, safety rules and methods on avoiding hyperventilation and a hypoxic state (hypoxia – blackout or LMC – loss of motor control), the rescue methods for the hypoxic diver, advice on thermal problems, and particularly hypothermia in prolonged freediving activities, a chapter about special diet methods before and during the diving day for increased performances in freediving, as well as an abundance of knowledge crucial for expanding their performance underwater and correcting possible mistakes.
Deep freedivers, instructors and doctors will all find everything there is to know about freediving physiology in this book! And, at their level of expertise, they need to know everything! Extreme freediving has its place in every chapter of the book, covering aspects of great wonder and mystery to be researched, such as methods in reducing the brain’s oxygen consumption during apnea, lung equalization and the diving reflex at great depths, gas narcosis in deep freediving, freediving decompression sickness, along with dangers arising from methods used by a number of athletes, such as lung packing.
“The Physiology of Freediving” is a book written by a Freediver Instructor Trainer PADI, a designer of freediving programs for PADI, a biologist – researcher of diving physiology, but, mostly, an instructor that has trained hundreds of freedivers and whom he has had the honor of introducing to the wonders and mysteries of Freediving - and that is what he hopes to accomplish for each and every reader of this unique book!