When approaching depth progression there are mainly two types of training cycles depending on the duration of our cycle. Ladder training, also known as linear progression training and Pyramid training, also known as cyclical progression.
LADDER TRAINING - LINEAR PROGRESSION
For those with short training cycles limited to 3 weeks to a month, ladder training is usually how we get to build our confidence and experience in the water.
Before moving to Dahab, access to the water for me was limited to two weeks to a month at a time.
Having virtually no Personal Best in any of the disciplines, my approach to freediving training was straightforward - it started with acclimatisation to the water and then progressively going deeper and deeper, building up PB after PB in one discipline until a certain plateau was reached, or simply my time ran out.
Plateaus in freediving are those moments in a training phase when we keep on getting in the water with no evident progression. Whether they are caused by equalisation issues, hypoxia, mental blocks such as fear of the depth, or a general sense of being tired (likely due to overtraining), the outcome is that of being stuck at a certain depth for a prolonged amount of time.
A way of overcoming plateaus when they arise is to stop training, take some due rest, analyse what the issue has been and then take action on our weaknesses to introduce some change. Another possible way to overcome plateaus is to switch discipline and build up the progression from the start.
PYRAMID TRAINING - CYCLICAL PROGRESSION
Approaching my second year of training ahead of my second competitive season has brought me to revise my training plan, moving towards a pyramid training approach. Also known as cyclical progression, the Pyramid training spans over a longer time, usually three months, and aims to build a solid base foundation leading to a peaking phase at the end of the training cycle.
The advantage of pyramid training is that to avoid plateaus due to overtraining in the form of mental and physical exhaustion, or due to lack of proper foundations in technique or equalisation.
At the bottom of the pyramid is the so-called base training cycle at around 50% of maximum performance.
The base training should be high volume and low intensity and can include multiple dry and wet exercises such as:
Extending dive time
Lowering dive time
Under weighted diving so to test our performance with high C02 in the descent phase, and having an easier ascent phase
Over weighted diving so to test our performance with easier descent but harder ascent
Technique checks
Equalisation drills such as FRC and RV dives, mouthfill exercises, or understanding one’s own Delta
Gym or bodyweight workouts
Dry tables and breatholds
Mobility exercises
Aerobic workouts
The second phase of the pyramid consists of the sub max phase, where the dives are between 70-80% of one’s Personal Best. This consists of moderate volume and moderate intensity exercises in and out of the water.
As the Peaking Phase starts just ahead of competitions, we want to have high intensity and low volume exercises, both dry and wet.
That is where we reach our full potential in terms of depth, increasing one’s personal best at every training.
DIVE LOGS
I recommend keeping a dive log of your dives so that you can keep track and monitor your progress. For your information here is an article on How To Keep a Freediving Log
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