What are the Benefits of Freediving?

As a freediving school, Go Freediving knows what the benefits of freediving are and knows what impact these benefits have on those who choose to embrace freediving as a sport, past-time or, way of life.

If you’ve seen freediving and wondered what the attraction to the sport is, this article may just help!

Health Benefits of Freediving

Freediving, despite being classified as an extreme sport is actually a very relaxing, calm sport that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. The sport encourages participants to progress at their own speed with focus on the experience of freediving rather than any goal or target to reach. Freediving, for many, becomes a natural way of life with closer attention being paid to diet, exercise, relaxation and mental attitude – all important components of healthy living in our fast-paced environment. For even more health benefits of freediving, check this article.

Mental Benefits of freediving

Many people who discover freediving are not necessarily looking for a new sport or hobby. Instead they are looking for ways to help manage stress, anxiety, the inability to relax, water phobias and many other traits such as fear, lack of confidence and self esteem that come with modern day living.  We have seen people transform over the course of a two day course from tired or nervous, resistant students to invigorated, passionate and empowered students – which is awesome!

Meditative benefits of freediving

Hand in hand with the mental benefits of freediving are the meditative benefits of freediving. Time and time again we hear students liken freediving to yoga – and we couldn’t agree more! When freediving is performed correctly, your body and mind work in complete harmony. You reach a state of such relaxation that you reach a meditative state.

Harnessing this sensation and practicing it on dry land has helped chronic insomniacs, restless sleepers and also those who are resistant to relaxing and feel like they always need to be on the go. Learning to allow your body to surrender to this level of meditative relaxation can improve moods, concentration while reducing stress, lethargy and tiredness.

Fitness benefits of freediving

It is true to say that most sporting activities provide some fitness benefits. However, water based sports are much kinder on your joints! The resistance training involved in freediving in open water is, as one student put it ‘… a hell of  a workout…’ plus you will be surprised how much you move, twist and stretch freediving instead of scuba diving. Many students say that freediving feels like flying and it is that freedom of movement that encourages extra activity. You also have your power bursts when trying to keep up with marine life or other objects of interest underwater!

This increased activity, plus (very importantly) the breathing techniques you master through freediving can have a huge influence on your sporting performance on dry land too! I have taught many Olympic and professional athletes how to breathe as efficiently as their body allows. This training can (and has made) make the difference between getting a place on the winners podium.

We know that not everyone wants to be a professional or competitive athlete, but even if you have a regular training routine that has perhaps plateaued and you do not seem to be able to increase performance you may find a freediving course is the key. We have heard from keen rowers, runners and swimmers who have improved personal bests soon after a course with us.

Scuba diving benefits of freediving

When Scuba diving was in its infancy, you weren’t allowed to dive with a tank  until you could freedive. The British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) required students to be qualified as a ‘snorkel diver’ before they were allowed  to learn to scuba dive.

In 1984 the standards were changed, but even today, BSAC still promotes snorkel training before diver training.

There a a number of reasons the BSAC do this. Here are just a few ways freediving helps improve your scuba diving:

• You learn how to breathe correctly
• Learning how to fin correctly
• Learning hydrodynamics
• Learning buoyancy and weighting
• Learning mask and snorkel skills
• Improving confidence

Social benefits of freediving

Okay, this one is pretty optional! However, the freediving community is a very small, niche group. This tends to attract people who enjoy all the benefits I have mentioned. There is a great deal of sharing of information, encouragement and support from everyone which is important whether you are a newbie or a veteran! Freediving is practiced pretty much all over the world, so no matter where you are you should find a great freediving school or club hopefully not too far from you. If you can’t find a club you may still be able to find a buddy willing to train locally with you.

The freediving world also has a thriving competition scene, numerous freediving holidays and training camps as well as social events  throughout the year. Once you discover freediving, you’ll wonder how you hadn’t heard of it before.

Freediving Courses With Go Freediving