Cathe, is SUBA diving a workout?

[Liz66]

Hi Cathe,

First off - hope you're feeling better!

Everyone in my family is a certified SCUBA diver; each year we have our diving trip and dive 2 - 3 times per day. I find myself pretty tired after diving and trying to hit the gym sounds brutal! Does diving provide any of the benefits that we associate with more 'traditional' exercise? The gear is heavy to haul around, but that's about it in terms of using your muscles. It doesn't seem terribly strenuous! I've asked this question to many people, but no one really has a good answer (including PADI!). Any reliable information or suggestions on where to look would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Liz

 

[tacar]

Hi Liz,

I'm not Cathe, but I am also a scuba diver. I don't think of diving as exercise. I dont want to get my heart rate up, because it will make me use more oxygen and use up my tank which means less time diving.

But your right about hauling the gear around. Walking back after a beach dive with all the gear can be a challenge. Boat dives are the way to go.

Ashley

 

[The Duck]

My 10yo did his first Discover SCUBA dives just last week - though I've been certified for 27 years, I tagged along with my two sons just to have fun diving together! Glad to hear of another family that dives together.

I use DietPower software to track exercise and food - according to the DP database:

SCUBA Diving (Navy Seal), 0.0873 calories/pound/minute
SCUBA Diving, average, 0.04761 calories/pound/minute
SCUBA Diving, fast, 0.119 calories/pound/minute
SCUBA Diving, leisurely, 0.0318 calories/pound/minute

My Polar HRM is supposedly water "resistant" to 50meters, but I don't think I want to test the difference between "resistant" and "waterproof" to check the numbers!

DP cites the following for sources:

"About 80 percent of the entries in our Exercise Dictionary are from the latest (2002) edition of The Compendium of Physical Activities, prepared by Barbara E. Ainsworth, former director of the Prevention Research Center at the Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina. The Compendium is used by scientists all over the world as a tool for quantifying human energy expenditures.

The remaining 20 percent of entries are from Diet Power 3.3, whose burn rates derive mostly from publications of the American College of Sports Medicine, reports in scientific or health journals, and research by exercise-equipment manufacturers. In some cases, we extrapolated or interpolated to cover body weights, speeds, and other factors not included in the original sources. We've also adjusted some of these older entries to reflect data in the more recent Compendium."

Happy diving!

Be seeing you,
The Duck

 

[Liz66]

WOW! Thanks a lot for the information!! As I mentioned, I've had NO luck finding ANYTHING! This is just 'Ducky'!

Liz

 

[candi]

Even though you do not want to expend energy in order to keep your breathing slow and controlled, the longer you are underwater, the more your body is working to keep itself warm.

So, although you are not purposefully energetic underwater, your internal body functions are working hard to keep the proper temperature and you are burning more calories.

I know when we go on a diving vacation where we go on 2 or 3 dives a day, I eat like a horse and still lose weight.

 

[mogambo]

I agree with that. It's the water temperature that makes the difference, not the physical exertion.

I also wondered if it might be OK to really push it occasionally, maybe if you're not real deep and you're not really likely to use up all your air anyway, but I found out from the DAN (Divers Alert Network) staff that you can "over-breathe" your regulator if you exert yourself too much, and it can even lead to faster narcosis at depth.

But if you go diving off the West Coast or in Florida's freshwater springs, you'll get so cold it probably burns a Cathe workout or two worth of calories. And shivering on the surface burns calories too!