SCUBA DIVING FITNESS

Why is it important

During your introduction to scuba diving, it is covered in your PADI Open Water Diver course, the importance of both physical and mental health/fitness. However, how does that translate to real-life, when many people dive only once or twice a year on vacation? Or worst, your PADI Open Water Diver Course Instructor is an overweighted individual that does not seem to bother about both his mental and physical fitness.

You will be forgiven to think scuba diving is not a serious sport and does not require hardcore fitness. Gently floating on the surface, following a drift, it is an activity that requires very little fitness. And that instructor who is overweighted seems like he is doing a good job and having fun at it.

However, all these tranquil scenes will change quickly when the gentle current picks up, or you encounter an up or down current. Equipment failure can quickly take a diver’s composure away. Or on more serious diving such as technical or sidemount diving or being in absolute trim, your core strength plays an important role in keeping you safe.

A true Story

For many years of my scuba diving career, I have hesitated quite a fair bit while teaching the importance of scuba diving fitness to scuba divers. Partially, the chill and relaxed lifestyle as a scuba diving instructor has made me a lazy person.

In 2020, when Covid hit the world, I managed to pack on a lot of weight. To be exact, I was weighing 95kg at the worst. Most people could hardly recognize me. I was an “all-rounder”.

When I went back diving in Pulau Hantu in October 2020, I realized what seems like a breeze to me in the past, has become physically demanding. I was trying to catch my breath. My heart was over working. I saw a need to cut down my weight from 95kg. It took me a gruesome 3 months of combining diet and exercises.