Overweight Divers

[fireflock]

Have you been to a big city mall lately?

Scuba is seen by some as a lazy mans extreme sport. You can tell your friends you dive, and they think it's dangerous or cool, and you don't have to break a sweat except to cart your tank back to the car.

7:15 miles are not something most people can run without training. I picked a random 5k race with a lot of participants, and a 7:15 pace puts you in the top 10% of finishers (3 miles, not 2).

Cool Running :: 14th Groton Road Race Race Results

[longtailbda]

Man thats not fat, its extra insulation for cold water dives.
Size can often times be deceiving, its ones general health and fitness that is the important thing. Most extreme long distance swimmers are not known for being svelte but they will eventually leave us all in their wake no pun intended.

[diver-wife]

Originally Posted by fireflock

Have you been to a big city mall lately?

Scuba is seen by some as a lazy mans extreme sport. You can tell your friends you dive, and they think it's dangerous or cool, and you don't have to break a sweat except to cart your tank back to the car.

slipping into a wet suit on a 90 degree day while hauling a set of doubles are more work than leisurely floating in the ocean

[jtkkym]

Originally Posted by freeski4ever

Ok, I know I'm probably going to piss off a lot of people with this thread, but I just have to know. Why are there so many overweight divers? Could it be that I am just naive, since I come from a prior-military background where almost everyone was in shape and could run 2 miles in less than 14:30 mins? The first time I went diving I was blown away by how 'large' some of the other divers' wetsuits were ( I'm trying to be politically correct). I'm not trying to be rude by any means, and I understand that in today's society, being 20-30 lbs overweight is acceptable, but I thought that scuba divers would be in-shape, physically fit individuals. Please feel free to comment or provide insight, but please don't flame!!

It doesn't have to "physically fit" individual to be a scuba diver. A diver should be medically healthy.

[coral cowgirl]

Diving has been the only incentive that helps me push away from the table and stay off sweets. Before I started diving I had no real reason to try to get more fit....now it's a priority so I'm glad I got wet!

[Bigg_Budd]

I stumbled on this thread late, and did not read every post. So forgive me if my post is redundant..

I just want to say "easy cowboy". Don't be so quick to judge a book by its cover...

I'm a big dude at 6 foot, 300 and try as I might, I'm always gonna be a big dude. But be careful if you choose to judge people by their size. I played college ball, was a power lifter, and I still work out 3 times per week. I've run 5ks, 10ks, and did so weighing over 300 lbs.

I may have a gut. I may not be a marine, airborne, or a SEAL. But I'll challenge you to a 3 mile run any day, head directly to the weight room and throw up 400 lbs on bench. Twice.

Peace!

[buddhasummer]

Originally Posted by Bigg_Budd

I stumbled on this thread late, and did not read every post. So forgive me if my post is redundant..

I just want to say "easy cowboy". Don't be so quick to judge a book by its cover...

I'm a big dude at 6 foot, 300 and try as I might, I'm always gonna be a big dude. But be careful if you choose to judge people by their size. I played college ball, was a power lifter, and I still work out 3 times per week. I've run 5ks, 10ks, and did so weighing over 300 lbs.

I may have a gut. I may not be a marine, airborne, or a SEAL. But I'll challenge you to a 3 mile run any day, head directly to the weight room and throw up 400 lbs on bench. Twice.

Peace!

Im 5'5" and 136 I reckon I could bench 400lbs

[rumblefish]

I think the feeling of weightlessness underwater is appealing for many people.

[scubasamurai]

i can't agree on the smoking part. i dove with an 70 yr in shape but smoke pretty good. well needless to say his bottom time was better than mine. so becareful on that one. the rather large population in this country is pretty shameful but thats the way it is. i though diving and being in shape went hand in hand butnot true. if you really figure it out if your in the water you really don't expend that much energy, unless you hit a current, emergency or screw up you nav and have to swim back. but still most of us diviers like to eat and drink. thankfully i am still in shape.

[diver-wife]

Originally Posted by buddhasummer

Im 5'5" and 136 I reckon I could bench 400lbs

I hope you are joking