Manual of Freediving: Underwater on a Single Breath

388 Pages·2004·71.173 MB·English

by  Umberto Pelizzari, Stefano Tovaglieri

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Utl Stefano Tovaglieri
3 9999 06828 194 6
Manual of Freediving
Underwater on a single breath
Boston PobHc Library
/#
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2017 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/manualoffreediviOOumbe
MANUAL OF FREEDIVING
Underwater on a single breath

Umberto Pelizzari - Stefano Tovaglieri
MANUAL OF
FREEDIVING
Underwater on a single breath
CG
IDELSON-GNOCCHI
MANUAL OF FREEDIVING
Underwater on a single breath
by Umberto Pelizzari and Stefano Tovaglieri
English Translation Copyright © 2004 by Idelson-Gnocchi Ltd.
Published by Idelson-Gnocchi Ltd., Subsidiary Publisher Division of
IDELSON-GNOCCHI Sri - Editori dal 1908 - www.idelson-gnocchi.com
Sorbona • Grasso Morelli • Liviana Medicina • Grafite • Idelson Gnocchi Ltd.
Via M. Pietravalle, 85 - 80131 Naples, Italy - Tel [phone] - Fax [phone]
12255 NW Hwy 225-A Reddick, FL 32686 USA - Tel. [phone] - Fax [phone]
Idelson-Gnocchi Ltd. Publishers is Member of:
• DEMA, Diving Equipment & Marketing Association
www.dema.org
• FPA, Florida Publisher Association
www.flbookpub.org
• HDSUSA, The Historical Diving Society USA
www.hds.org
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.
Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be mailed to:
Permission Department
Idelson-Gnocchi Ltd. Publishers
12255 NW Hwy 225A
Reddick, FL 32686 USA
www.boatseafari.com
email: [email protected]
email: [email protected]
This is a translation of “Corso di Apnea”
Copyright © 2001 by Gruppo Mursia Editore S.p.A. - Italy
Revised and updated by the author.
Copyright © 2004 by Umberto Pelizzari. All Rights Reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
[Manual of Lreediving - Underwater on a single breath]
ISBN 1928649270
Translated from the Italian by William Trubridge
Cover photograph by © Alberto Muro Pelliconi. All rights Reserved.
Drawings and Tables by Nicola Refolo
CONTENTS
Foreword
Acknowledgements XIII
Conversion table
Introduction: The history of apnea
Origin of apnea: from myth to history
History of the records: the first by a Greek fisherman
The apnea of the women
The disciplines
Part one
BEFORE ENTERING THE WATER
1. Approaching apnea
1.1 The first rule: verify psychophysical conditions
1.2. From mask to ballast: how to choose equipment
A brief history of masks, 25; Getting dressed, 31; Instruments, 32; Other
accessories, 33.
2. Adapting the body to water
2.1 The physics of immersion
2.2 The oxygen cycle
Cardiovascular system, 46; Cardiac cycle, 48; Respiratory system, 51.
2.3 Underwater vision 64
2.4 Heat 68
3. Adapting the body to apnea
3.1 Aquatic nature of man
3.2 The dive reflex 73
3.3 Blood shift 77
3.4 Ears, nose, mouth
Prevention and hygiene, 86; The Proplug, 88; Periodic check-ups, 88.
Part two
THE ART OF NOT BREATHING
4. Breath and relaxation
4.1 Stress, anxiety and boredom
What happens to our body during anxiety?, 97; Avoid stress by under-
standing it, 98; Causes of stress in apnea, 100.
4.2 Techniques of respiration
Improving the elasticity of the ribcage, 103; Exercises for the improve-
ment of the elasticity of the ribcage (costovertebral and intercostal joints),
104; Yoga breathing techniques, 109; Exerases to improve respiratory sen-
sitivity, 110; Pranayama, 113; Diaphragmatic respiration, 116; The car-
pa, 124.
4.3 Techniques of relaxation
Relaxation, 126; Mental effects of relaxation, 127; Physical effects of re-
laxation, 127; How to relax, 128.
4.4 Mental training and apnea
Autogenic training, 131; Relaxation with colours: Katabasis, 133.
5. Underwater relaxation
The coconut, coral and the sea: small story, almost Yen, 137; How to pre-
pare for a static apnea, 138.
5.1 Static apnea
Stopwatch: pros and cons, 139
5.2 Dynamic apnea
5.3 Freediving 144
Part three
BECOMING AN APNEIST
6. The Finstroke
6.1 Biomechanical analysis of finning
Axes and planes of the human body, 152-153.
6.2 Ideal finning technique
Velocity and constant weight, 160-161.
6.3 Different ways of finning
6.4 Errors of finning
6.5 The Monofin
Preliminary monofin exercises, 190; Exerases with the monofin, 193.
7. Compensation
7.1 Compensatory manoeuvres
Valsalva technique, 197; Marcante-Odaglia technique, 198; Personal tech-
niques, 200.
7.2 Using the diaphragm to compensate
7.3 Tubular aerobics
The purposes of tubular exerases, 202; Muscular exercises, 202; What, when
and how much to exercise, 203; Autoinsufflation, 205; Warning, 205.