Healthy Diver – Happy Diver

Posted: Mar 28 in Dive Blog tagged Diving Safety by Jan

How physical health impacts your ability to scuba dive in Illinois

Scuba diving can be relaxing, but it can also be physically demanding. Sometimes when we’re underwater, we need to quickly perform strenuous tasks, especially in emergency situations. Though you by no means have to be an Olympic athlete to stay safe on your dives, good health and conditioning will help you improve both your safety and efficiency.

Because a healthy body is just as important as well-maintained dive equipment, every Illinois diver should ensure that he or she is healthy enough to handle the challenges of scuba diving before taking the plunge. Before you strap on your dive gear and jump in, it’s important to assess the following factors:

Your Habits

For divers, good health hinges on the same factors that affect everyone else: diet, exercise, rest and lifestyle. However, to ensure that you’re able to handle the unique challenges of scuba diving, it will be important to remember to:

• Avoid alcohol. You should never drink before a dive, or do drugs of any kind. Any intoxicant can impact your judgment underwater and their influences will be heightened by pressure. Drinking alcohol right before or just after a dive can boost your risk of decompression sickness, as can being dehydrated from drinking the night before a dive.
• Stop smoking. It’s no secret that smoking is bad for your health. Even if you’re determined not to kick the habit, it’s best to not smoke for several hours before and after you dive, as smoking will dramatically impact the functioning of your respiratory and circulatory systems. Smoking can also increase the chances of air getting trapped in your lungs, which can heighten your risk of an injury due to over expanding your lungs.
• Don’t dive sick. Even if you just have a cold, it’s best not to dive when you’re feeling ill. Diving sick can cause sinus and ear squeezes, while a chest cold can increase air trapping risk just like smoking. If you feel fine but are on prescription medications, check with your doctor to make sure they won’t affect you negatively while diving.

Your Fitness

Being physically fit helps you improve your diving ability in a number of ways:

• Better buoyancy control. When you’re fit, you’ll have more power and stamina, making it significantly easier to control your buoyancy and glide through the water with ease. You’ll also do less huffing and puffing, which will help you control buoyancy with your breath.
• Greater energy reserves. Being in good shape means you’ll rarely reach your physical limit—you won’t be overexerted and will be able to handle any challenge you face.
• Fewer weights required. Because fat floats and lean muscle mass sinks, a fit body means you can not only lug less weight around, but can distribute it more effectively as well.
• More streamlined physique. If you’re in shape, your body will have less drag and a naturally sleeker form. You’ll also have a smaller exposure suit, decreasing drag even further.

The better shape your body is in, the more capable you’ll be of diving safely and effectively, so be sure to treat your body with the same care you give your dive equipment. How do you stay healthy for scuba diving? Tell us in the comments below!