How important is it to be fit as a Diver?

[Ruminari]

I too think that fitness is an integral part of diving. You have to begin by looking at just swimming. It takes a fair amount of fitness to be able to swim for an hour, although SCUBA isn't nearly as difficult as donig a breaststroke for an hour it still is a physically demanding sport.

[cummings66]

I think being fit is good, but not to the extent that somebody would mistake me for Arnold, unless it was the paycheck they were writing.

I am not as fit as I'd like, I will get better over time. I know it will help my diving to be more in shape, but diving isn't a sport where you need super human strength either. There is a happy median for it.

[TAH 73]

Keeping fit is important to the idea of improving your abilitiy to dive better, but look at in another way, being fit will allow you to be active and healthy longer letting you keep diving.

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by Rascal1933

Just wondering how you a diver you would rate the importance.

The politically correct and trendy answer is that you need to be fit but the truth is that if you are just doing easy boat dives in no current all you have to do is roll off the deck and splash into the water and hang there weightless for 45 minutes of so and then there is a platform where you get out.

But... I've had to tow a buddy up current twice. Diving at the beach when the surf is up and take some physical effort. And for some reason here in So Cal the parking lots are always up on top of some bluff and the ocean is always on the botton of some long steep path. Walking up takes some effort.

For some reason the very oveweight ad out of shape divers don't dive at the beach. Diving can be a very low energy sport if yu pick you site
and condition and just do the easy dives

[TopSully]

I'm a newbie to diving, but to potentially dangerous situations. You should be "reasonably fit" to undertake any activity that could be considered dangerous. "Reasonably fit" should mean mentally as well as phsyically. I was in the Marine Corps for a long, long time. Fitness was important for obvious reasons, but also because an unfit Marine is dangerous, and possibly deadly to his fellow Marines. I also ride motorcycles, sometimes with others. If someone else is "unfit" to ride due to either a physical weakness, is too tired to be alert or has been drinking, they are a danger not just to themselves but others. As a diver I want to be fit enough so that I don't endanger myself, a dive buddy or a dive master. I don't think that means you need be a gym rat, but you do need to mentally and physically prepared to handle the regular rigors of your dive and the possibility that something might go wrong.

[the gooch]

Being in shape is definitely an important aspect to diving.

[DirtyWaterIL]

i think properly fit for diving is one of those hard to define things. obviously being a top shape athlete would be best, but i know several people whoa re overweight with poor diets who get along just fine underwater.

[Rick155]

Being fit is obviously important: It helps you maximize your bottom time. It helps you minimize your risk. It helps you in the inevitable stressful situations where confidence in your own skills and strength can play a large and important role.

DAN says that 20-30 percent of all scuba-related deaths are caused by "cardiovascular events", ie, heart attacks. How many of those are caused by the diver's lack of basic fitness? My guess: probably a large percentage of them.

I don't agree with the idea that if one is diving only in relatively shallow depths in warm, clear and familiar waters, then fitness is less important. That's roughly equivalent to saying, "I'm just driving a couple miles from home to the supermarket; what can happen?" The answer of course is that anything can happen. Why do you take a signaling device with you on every dive? Because you want to be prepared for whatever might happen, no matter how unlikely it seems. Fitness is just another kind of basic preparation. Like that signaling device, you can make many uneventful dives without it. But one day you'll be very glad you have it. Besides, fitness pays off on every dive with better mobility, better breathing efficiency....it's a no brainer!

[thor]

We spend so much time making sure that all of our equipment is in the best working order. Why shouldn't our bodies fit into the same category? Fitness is important to every aspect of diving.

[DiveCaptain]

I feel like an idiot, but what does SAC rate stand for? I can't find it anywhere on DAN or the internet in general. Please be kind to my inferior intellect.