For the underwater swim do you have to start at a standstill or do you push off the wall during the test? Also has anyone ever heard of the powerlung, and if so whats your thoughts on it? Thanks.

you can push off. But in between underwaters while resting you cannot hold onto the side you have to tread water.

Powerlung is BS, a Gimmick.

Good Lookin out Dog_Show. Just wanted to get a second opinion before i spent $80 on the "miracle breather". You and the other AST's on this discussion board really help out. Thanks fella's, and i hope to work with some of you all in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by johnston99:

quote:

Originally posted by Dog_show:
you can push off. But in between underwaters while resting you cannot hold onto the side you have to tread water.

Powerlung is BS, a Gimmick.

Dog Show:

You ever tried the power lung?

In the August edition of SCUBA diving there is an article on this product. This isnt an advertisment. It states that with 30 minutes of respiratory training for five days a week for four weeks will improve your swimming time by 66 percent. Several free divers also swear by it. I had read several books on Pipin Ferrares and Audrey Mestra and they practiced breath holding daily using resistance type devices.

This is like saying I run marathons but running on a treadmill is B.S and they are gimmicks.

These devices (treadmills and resistance breathing ) has thier places in training to build up muscles and endurance. However, they are not the ONLY solution for a training regiment.

Do you know about Bias, and Periodicals, When the new Chevy Silverado came out, and became Motortrend Truck of the year. You should be skeptical. Just because an Advertisement is disguised as an article, it's still an advertisment. Companies actually pay magazines to feature thier product in an article. and some authors are given the same deal. I have used similar devices. I ran track in high school. I noticed no difference. The use of these devices was prohibted at training due to an alarming number of collapsed lungs attributed to them.including one guy on my team. skinny tall people seem to be especially susiptable. Also in that sametime there was no proof that the device helped at all.

And as for swimming, Swimming is a technique activity. If what you say is true, they would hand those to Airmen wanting to be rescue swimmers. Many people fail costing the Coast Guard $$$. And all they needed was a few Powerlungs??

Johnston, Thier is no easy softer way. If you want to swim 66% faster, you have to swim. Swimming, makes you a better swimmer.

And the treadmill is not as effective running on the land. But to compare the treadmill to the powerlung? Next you tell me to get a thigh master.

The other side of this is you need to understand, Anatomy and Physiology. The Lungs provide plenty of air to the body. When start to huff and puff we may blame our lungs for not being efficent but it's our heart that is weak. The heart is not efficent. As the heart becomes more efficent it can beat slower, and move massive amounts of blood. when it's weak it beats fast to try and compensate, but this does not allow for the blood to become oxygenated. So we breath faster. and the heart pumps faster. So much we become flush, and maybe even cynotic (you can see this in guys with lots of muscle). The bottle neck is not your lungs, it's your heart.

So you can go puff on you powerlung, I will be in the pool. Nothing substitutes hard work.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dog_show,

Johnston99...

You do a lot underwater laps as an E-2 in ROTC?

quote:

I SCUBA, and free dive as a sport. I read alot on free diving and SCUBA. I am able to free dive to 350 feet. I SCUBA on trimix gases to 450 feet.

They must be feeding you some magic potion in the ROTC program if you are able to break the world record for free diving at 350 feet. Say hello to Peter Pan for us why you are down there.

quote:

Originally posted by johnston99:

quote:

Originally posted by AST3Kirk:
Johnston99...

You do a lot underwater laps as an E-2 in ROTC?

My brother is a navy diver in Norfolk. My dad was a navy SEAL. I swam competitive in college. I SCUBA, and free dive as a sport. I read alot on free diving and SCUBA. I am able to free dive to 350 feet. I SCUBA on trimix gases to 450 feet. Does an E-4 AST know about breath holding? Do they even SCUBA dive. Do they even free dive. Are they even given breath holding techniques in thier A schools or AST schools? Just because dogshow or you says it is B/S doesnt make it so. I bet neither one of you guys even ever tried it.

Do you read? I stated I have tried it, I stated a team mate of mine collapsed a lung on a powerlung (this seems to be a widespread problem).

Does Rescue Swimmer School (AST) teach breath holding school? Do Rescue Swimmers know how to hold thier breath?

NOOO! We sit on the side of the pool in lounge chairs watching pros like yourself show us how it is done.

They do teach it. Then when you get it. They throw a man on your back to drag you under and test your breath holding skills. Once you get in him controlled and throw him in the basket. You only have 5 more men to deal with. Yes, I would say they teach it.




Get a load of this guy. He goes to "summer" programs to get a taste of military life. Wears a uniform once a week.

What else do you know about being a ROTC...? I mean if you Google ROTC, What you explained about the program is in the second link the search engine finds. To the letter. Copy and Paste....????

Back to the powerlung.

The greats, you said use it. Why are you not great, you use it? Maybe you lack in some area they do not. I will bet in technical skills.

Drag shorts work, drag shorts are specific to swimming, Your swimming while you where them. You want to talk credintials. Swimming is not a sport, at least not for me. It's my profession...a it is my profession.

66% is a big claim, huge. That's a little more than supplemental. That's over half. More than half of you effiency can attributed to the power lung?

quote:

I am getting a college degree and then will be an officer in the Navy. Its not really a "summer program". Someday you may be addressing me as "sir".

Since you are on a Coast Guard forum it is unlikely that will happen.

quote:

I am getting a college degree and then will be an officer in the Navy. Its not really a "summer program". Someday you may be addressing me as "sir".

You know any body can be called Sir it does not mean you have earned true respect of junior personnel. Also going into the Navy I dought that many Coast Guard people will ever call you Sir because you will underway for 9-12 months out of the year just wishing you would have went into the Coast Guard and stayed on land.

johnston, just leave the forum. you are downtalking CG AST's. Not wise. I'm not even an AST (yet) and you're pissing me off. Just leave, don't come back, have a nice life.

Time to chime in. Stats or whatever records.. my money is on Dog Show. My nephew did ROTC/Marines in collage. He deployed every summer. He had a good time, till they found out he had a bum knee so he was "booted". Anyway, J99, unlike the "other" service. We Coasties may not be on best of terms with each other at times, but bad mouth one or stir up some dust and we come out of the woodwork with shock and awe as one and unite. After it's over, we got back to bickering each other . Sometimes, it's best just to cut your losses and walkaway. But, as with any forum, you have as much right to be here as anyone else and if you enjoy the abuse, the post away. Goodluck.

Underwater swimming is great, but can you surf?

Rock and Ice with my kids and almost always with protection or top rope for my kids, we also boulder. Hey gotta go surfinfg at 1, cowabunga and
Good luck with your ROTC training

Hey Fred,
I have never climbed big walls and mostly love to hike, climb and bushwack with a rope for protection when encountering tough scrambles with my kids. When the opportunity arrises we climb some smaller cliffs or rappel down for fun. My two oldest kids have climbing belts , have done some sport climbing and I carry webbing to make swannee belts for the youngest kids. I did some climbing with the Tacoma Mt Rescue while stationed in Sitka Ak.in the late 70's early 80's. They were just starting and looking for volunteers from the airstation.
Good luck in ROTC,
Dick

I'm going to have to agree with Dog Show here too. Swimming may be a sport, but not in the Coast Guard. Swimming as a sport is competitve, any way you want to look at it, it just comes back to being competitive. As an AST if you even think about the competitive side, I'm pretty sure your going to end up taking it to personal and flaking out. What I mean is if you took the number of people you saved and number of people you lost and put them in the wins-loses bracket then your mind is in the wrong spot.
As for using a device to help you holding your breathe I think is stupid. Most of its more in your head than anything else, if you know anything about swimming you know if you just relax swimming 25m underwater intervals is simple. But the minute you panic or begin to think I can't make it is when you begin to struggle. I've seen 6 year-old make it all the way underwater easly. I'm not saying that you are all stupid for worrying about it, but I am saying its easier than you think your mind just needs to be into it. First Heart, Mind, then Body..

Your right...the more fear you have, the more oxygen you use. I surf and sometimes getting held under for ten seconds by a ten foot wave can seem like 2 minutes. But if you just relax and pretend your holding your breath on the couch in the living room you would be suprised how long you can hold your breath. I think a device is stupid. Just stay relaxed.

quote:

Originally posted by johnston99:

quote:

Originally posted by 14969320:
I'm going to have to agree with Dog Show here too. Swimming may be a sport, but not in the Coast Guard. Swimming as a sport is competitve, any way you want to look at it, it just comes back to being competitive. As an AST if you even think about the competitive side, I'm pretty sure your going to end up taking it to personal and flaking out. What I mean is if you took the number of people you saved and number of people you lost and put them in the wins-loses bracket then your mind is in the wrong spot.
As for using a device to help you holding your breathe I think is stupid. Most of its more in your head than anything else, if you know anything about swimming you know if you just relax swimming 25m underwater intervals is simple. But the minute you panic or begin to think I can't make it is when you begin to struggle. I've seen 6 year-old make it all the way underwater easly. I'm not saying that you are all stupid for worrying about it, but I am saying its easier than you think your mind just needs to be into it. First Heart, Mind, then Body..

And you are using your many years of experiance as....what. An AST? A free diver? I am sure you have some experiance or knowledge of expertise on this subject matter.

Well other than the fact I have my degree in Kinesiology and Child Psychology, and swam at a D1 university, made olympic cuts, and have taught and coached swimming for the past two years. I would have to say I have NO experiance what so ever. See you learn more about the games your mind plays with you under stress than you do by doing breathing exercises. When it comes down to it, its not how many times you have improved your breathing techniques or how much you have worked out, its how you deal with it under stressful situations.
If you had any idea what I was talking about, you would understand no matter how much you really prepare yourself for something like that, YOU WILL NEVER BE PREPARED. Your body your mind re-acts differently from how you have prepared and worked out for when you are put in stressful stituations. Any three year-old can look up breathing exercises on the internet, any three yearold can practice those exercises. But you know what it really comes down to? You knowing, you believing you can do those exercises and hold your breath for X amount of time. You keep looking up thigs on the internet how to improve holding your breath, your only going to make that stress so much greater if you get into AST A-School, cause trust me your gonna be worried about it, there gonna work you inside out, upside down, and not give you a hole lot of time to think about things. Question is now, they are gonna make you wanna quit, there probably hasnt been one person who has gone in who hasnt wanted to quit at one point, will you last? Don't give me the BS I'm going to be completly ready for everything, prepared for the un-thinkable because they are just going to prove you wrong. You cannot be prepared for it, its your heart. Is your heart into it? Do you really want it?
You wanna know what drives me Johnston? Losing, I love to win, but nothing drives me more than the fear of failing. That motivates me, it doesnt come from my head, or my body, it comes from my heart. Thats why I am the man I am today. I have the drive, do I have any Idea what AST school is going to bring me? None, I've been a damn good runner, swimmer, and all around athelte but it isnt even about that. I'm prepared to get my butt kicked like it never has before.

Don't be insecure man, obviously your worried about the breathing exercises. I understand, I worry about everything. But don't come off disrespeting other people, espcially in a way when you dont know who they are or where they are from, and what their experiances are. How did you know I wasnt and AST to begin with? You didnt. Everyone has insecurties, deal with it the right way, be a man and dont disrespect others.

JohnSton99
You completely mis-understood me. By saying that fear burns oxygen, I did in fact mean that panicing burns oxygen, and I didn't mean just relax in a stressfull situation, I meant stay in control and keep your confidence. Thats all you can do. Your gonna be scared sitting at a platform ready to jump knowing that when you break the surface 3 AST's are going to act like panicing survivors. Your lying to yourself if your telling yourself your not going to be scared. If your that worried about holding your breath just go to the pool and PRACTICE. You will get the self satisfaction of knowing that you did it all on your own not with some device you know? Good luck in ROTC by the way. My buddy is in ROTC.

-Randy

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 9494465,

I knew that you werent an AST by your profile. It states, considering joining the Coast Guard. Last I looked, you need to be in the USCG to be an AST. Training in as much as life like scenerios does prepare oneself for controling fear and panic. YOU WILL NEVER BE PREPARED if you dont train, is what you should of really said. I know many of people that cant Scuba that are on swim teams because they are fearful of drowning. There has been many people that washed out of AST school that were excellent swimmers. Its NOT all about swimming, Its about controlling your fears, training and the want of becoming an AST. Guys like you "that fears losing" are the ones that loses. Get a life.[/QUOTE]

You must be a teenager Johnston99. Your proving your insecruities by disrespecting me in every response you have. I'm not going to sit here and get into a stupid online fight and tell you this and that. Let me you in on something, ask any "true competitor" what drives them. I promise you the first thing that comes out isnt winning, its the refusing to accept losing. Which turns into winning. The fear for failure or losing is stronger than the will to want to win, as long as you use it the right way.
No for AST school you won't be prepared even if you do train. You can prepare for the swims, the runs, the push-ups, sit ups, the book work and all the other classroom and physical things. But there is one thing you can't prepare for that goes hand and hand with why you are doing those things, and thats the mental game your mind and body are going to play with you. I haven't even gotten into A-School yet, but I know one thing. You CANNOT PREPARE FOR IT. There is no duplicating someone yelling in your face, there is no duplicating the stress level you will be put at, and NO MATTER how much you prepare yourself for it, it doesnt really matter because your right about one thing. Whos heart is in it to be there. I agree that there probably have been some really good swimmers that have probably failed as well. I dont know what the fear of drowning has to do with anything, I'm not scared to drown! ha. I never said it was all about swimming, read the hole thing. I said you could be good at all those things, and yet you could still fail. Thats more so because you CANNOT prepare yourself for it. There just is NOT a way to duplicate the stress level. You think when your doin a muilti that all those breathing exercises are going to help you stay calm? I doubt you are even thinking about those exercises when you get there. It need to be a second nature for you to know what to do and re act to it. Please dont disrespect anyone anymore, there is no reason for name calling, you can simply respond without the childish name calling. Last time I check the CG was about respect, pride, and integrity. I suggest you ask yourself those things when replying to someone.

quote:

Originally posted by johnston99:

quote:

Originally posted by 14969320:
I knew that you werent an AST by your profile. It states, considering joining the Coast Guard. Last I looked, you need to be in the USCG to be an AST. Training in as much as life like scenerios does prepare oneself for controling fear and panic. YOU WILL NEVER BE PREPARED if you dont train, is what you should of really said. I know many of people that cant Scuba that are on swim teams because they are fearful of drowning. There has been many people that washed out of AST school that were excellent swimmers. Its NOT all about swimming, Its about controlling your fears, training and the want of becoming an AST. Guys like you "that fears losing" are the ones that loses. Get a life.

You must be a teenager Johnston99. Your proving your insecruities by disrespecting me in every response you have. I'm not going to sit here and get into a stupid online fight and tell you this and that. Let me you in on something, ask any "true competitor" what drives them. I promise you the first thing that comes out isnt winning, its the refusing to accept losing. Which turns into winning. The fear for failure or losing is stronger than the will to want to win, as long as you use it the right way.
No for AST school you won't be prepared even if you do train. You can prepare for the swims, the runs, the push-ups, sit ups, the book work and all the other classroom and physical things. But there is one thing you can't prepare for that goes hand and hand with why you are doing those things, and thats the mental game your mind and body are going to play with you. I haven't even gotten into A-School yet, but I know one thing. You CANNOT PREPARE FOR IT. There is no duplicating someone yelling in your face, there is no duplicating the stress level you will be put at, and NO MATTER how much you prepare yourself for it, it doesnt really matter because your right about one thing. Whos heart is in it to be there. I agree that there probably have been some really good swimmers that have probably failed as well. I dont know what the fear of drowning has to do with anything, I'm not scared to drown! ha. I never said it was all about swimming, read the hole thing. I said you could be good at all those things, and yet you could still fail. Thats more so because you CANNOT prepare yourself for it. There just is NOT a way to duplicate the stress level. You think when your doin a muilti that all those breathing exercises are going to help you stay calm? I doubt you are even thinking about those exercises when you get there. It need to be a second nature for you to know what to do and re act to it. Please dont disrespect anyone anymore, there is no reason for name calling, you can simply respond without the childish name calling. Last time I check the CG was about respect, pride, and integrity. I suggest you ask yourself those things when replying to someone.

Are you even in the USCG or any branch of the military. You ever served?....[/QUOTE]

10-4.... US Coast Guard, waiting on airman school. Currently doing my non-ranked work