It took me eight years !!! Eight years of training, eight years of diving deep into the blue, but also into the knowledge needed. Eight years of love and passion for the sea, for pushing my mental and physical limits, and for the profound discipline required to keep moving forward or, in this case moving downward. Eight years of studying everything freediving-related I could put my hands on. Physical, mental, and, without a doubt, spiritual, freediving is a door to knowing yourself, teaching yourself, to connect. That is what it is for me. Physiology, mobility, muscles, breathing, swimming, nutrition, mental preparation, and so much more have been my life for the last few years. With one thing always in mind, the desire to pass this knowledge acquired to my students. So I first created what I truly believe is the best freediving Master course in Asia then I moved on to realize my next dream:
The creation of a training plan, individually customized, dedicated to bringing you deep and preparing you to compete. I called it: “DEPTH SQUAD.”
This course is out of any freediving education system. Instead, it follows my philosophy, my ideas of progression to depth, and my way of training the body and the mind in and out of the Ocean.
To have your access granted to the Squad, You need to be a 40m diver, eager to learn and open-minded enough to follow my plan.
Trust the process
Diving deep is a journey made of successes and lessons. It requires discipline and dedication. The depth always comes with practice, always. It is the reward for all the time spent training, learning, and adapting your body, mind, and soul to the pressure. A new Personal best is like the bounty you collect after hours sacrificed to the technique tuning, the organization of a perfect dive, and so much more.
Everything can be achieved without hurting yourself or blacking out. There is a fine line we should always get close to but never cross. Pushing our limits just enough to improve, pushing our body and mind just enough to become stronger but never too hard. It is a real challenge to find the perfect balance. A challenge You will not face alone as I will design the best training Progression for you to discover your depth and always stay safe.
“The god of the Ocean is hiding in the details of your dive.”
This is precisely what we are exploring with the Depth Squad: The details in which lie the difference between a good freediver and a great one.
Ocean training
I organized the « Depth squad » training the same way I plan my own: in three steps:
- Step 1: Depth adaptation and equalization below RV (this day is optional but highly recommended)
- Step 2: The first 30m, aka The foundation of deep diving
- Technique tuning
- Dive plan
- Freefall and mental technique
- Dive time
- Step 3: Deep diving on a competition setting
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For this course, and to match the schedule of everybody’s busy life, the training takes place during the weekend. These three days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) should be repeated until everything is learned and mastered. The training is customized along the way to fulfill your needs and correct whatever needs to be corrected.
Here are the 3 important steps:
Friday, Day 1: Depth adaptation and equalization tuning
Like Aharon Solomons likes to say: « This is RV.»
I Love RV training. It is, without a doubt, the best exercise you can do to master your equalization below your Residual volume and boost your adaptation to pressure. It has been a game changer for me, and I am still dedicating a lot of my training time to it. The benefits of diving empty lungs also extend to BTV. The secret of hand-free equalization is hiding here.
Saturday, Day 2: The first 30m, aka The foundation of deep diving
This is where you build a solid foundation for your deep dives. The focus is on four key points. Each of them needs to be near perfect before moving on to the next one.
Key point 1: Technique tuning
We dig into each detail: the size of the kick, the position of the ankle and knees, the arms reload, the size of the pulls, the glide, etc. As I said before, Poseidon is hidden in the details, and believe me when I say we are looking for him everywhere. A great technique of movement execution is crucial to saving oxygen. Still, the technique tuning of this specific key point continues beyond the correction of movement. It extends to buoyancy, the final breath, the execution of a perfect recovery breathing, and, last but not least, to deep safety and rescue.
Key point 2: The dive plan
The 30 first meters of the dive have to be planned. Simply because the better your organization is, the deeper you will go. Deep diving is similar to classical music. There is no place for improvisation here. It is not Jazz!!!
Knowing exactly what to do, why you are doing it, and how and when to flawlessly execute everything brings a lot of confidence. From this confidence comes relaxation and, with relaxation, pleasure and enjoyment rise. Pleasure leads to constant progress. The strong motivation to train and the discipline are just a little behind.
When to take your mouthfill? When to start free falling? When to set the alarms? How and why counting your kicks / Pulls is essential? These are some of the things we organize during this key point.
There are many ways to plan these first 30 meters. The one we choose together will be uniquely designed for you to match your freediving style.
Key point 3: The freefall and mental technique
Free Falling is where real freediving starts, where the famous “Freediving is diving inside yourself” takes all its senses. It is an art.
With it, we are entering the concept of tube and drag. During this moment in training, we will work on the transition between the active part of the dive (swimming or pulling down) and the passive part (the freefall). We will correct your body position for you to cut into the water like a knife.
But freefall is not just about Hydrodynamics. There is so much more.
We will also work on mental techniques and specific tools to help you fall peacefully into the blue, slow down your metabolism, and truly enjoy this moment where the Ocean is welcoming you as a part of itself.
We practice all this at a shallow depth (20 meters), allowing us to repeat the exercises many times. How? Well, that is a secret! Come and follow the training plan to find out.
Key point 4: Dive time
Getting used to long dive times is crucial to prepare for the depth. Therefore, we will choose and progressively simulate the dive time of your target depth. To be as close to reality as possible, You will dive to your freefall point (25m to 30m) at the same speed as a standard deep dive and wait there, practicing the mental techniques learned during the precedent key point.
This exercise is a depth opener and will train slowly and consistently your nervous system, your body, and your mind to reach a specific depth.
Sunday, Day 3: Deep diving on a competition setting
Time to go deep. It is Boat dive day. Because we are drifting, the current does not affect your dive at all. It will be the moment to apply what you have learned and trained during the previous days and weekends.
The only way to excel at deep freediving is to go deep; nothing can replace that. A depth is considered mastered when comfortably repeated three times. That is the condition in the depth squad to set the line deeper.
Because you are getting ready for freediving competitions, you will practice under the competition rules. I am an AIDA judge, and the “Official top, surface protocol, and all the reasons you could get a yellow or red card” have no secret for me. The line we use during these deep dives is set exactly like the one in the official AIDA competition: a fifteen-kilogram bottom weight, a bottom plate with tags, and a camera that will tell us if you pull out of the candy cane zone.
With this training plan, you are guaranteed to progress, to go deeper, and to put all the chances on your side to get a white card for your next competition.
Training never stops
On top of the Ocean training, you will get dry training. In other words: homework.
These exercises will help you to speed up your progression in the water.
You will start with a generic homework plan, including rib cage and advanced diaphragmatic stretching, special apnea walk simulating deep dive with freefall, exercise to unlock the access to a more significant lung vital capacity, visualization, guided mindfulness meditation…
Then you will keep going with individually improved dry training to match your needs, depending on the difficulties you encounter in the water.
As an oxygen advantage coach, breathwork, and dry training expert, I take great pleasure and pride in designing the best dry training plan for you.
Are you ready to join the Depth Squad?
If you want to dive deeper, if you are passionate, in love with the Ocean, if you want to push your limits, conquer your fear…The Depth squad is waiting for you. We are a team of professional coaches and instructors with a mission: To give you the best guidance to unlock your depth. We are fully committed to helping you unleash your full underwater potential.
