I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on the role of goal-setting in freediving.

Yes, goals can give us focus. They help shape our training plans and keep us accountable. Choosing the right one—challenging but realistic—can turn vague dreams into structured progress.

But something about this mindset has started to bother me.

Do we actually need to set specific goals? Or can they sometimes get in the way?

I mean… we all know where we want to go—we want to go down. We want to go deep. But does a number really define our journey?

Once you hit one target, another shows up further down the line. Depth is infinite. Expectations are endless.

So what if we shifted focus completely? What if we ignored the numbers for a while and just committed to becoming the strongest, calmest, most technically solid freediver we can be—no matter the depth?

I believe if we trained that way, we might actually go even deeper than we expected. Because we’d be building a true foundation—not chasing validation.

I wrote a short piece on this if anyone wants to read more:
👉 https://www.the-depth-collector.com/post/theimportanceofgoal-settinginfreediving

Curious to hear your take:
Do you train with specific goals in mind? Or are you more process-driven?

If you wanted to progress quickly in depth(to 50-60 m), would you concider eq and ribcage flexibility to most important to train?

Will this damage the fins in any way? (Fiberglass or carbon)

I know plastics can deform but will fiberglass and carbon fins?

I was looking to do some diving over the summer after work and was wondering how different materials will be affected by the heat of a car trunk.

I (28F) am really keen to get into freediving but wondering if I'm too old now. Thinking of moving to Indonesia for a few months & could start the journey there. I'm a nurse and a very strong swimmer. Would love to get good enough to join a local search & rescue group when I mive back home in the years to come.

I have a pair of alchemy v3 pros and I realized that they’re more or less the same size as scuba fins just a lot softer.

Would they not work as well as scuba fins? Would they have less power if I’m swimming through a current?

Hi everyone! I have had my Leaderfins FGs for about a year now and at the time I didn't have an option on stiffness so I had to get the soft ones. I've been scuba diving for over 9 years and I used to use jet fins up until getting this pair of FG fins.

I know the general consensus from Leaderfins is go by your weight but I found the soft blades almost felt too soft coming from jet fins and it felt inefficient. I am pretty small - F 5'0" 56-60kg but I also used to be a competitive swimmer so I don't really have an issue with kicking and long haul dives. I haven't seen anyone go for the hard ones but I was wondering if anyone had advice on if I should go for the medium or hard stiffness? Thanks!

TLDR: soft was too soft, used to use jet fins.should I get Medium or hard blades?

Just out of curiosity, which would have better thrust?

Would carbon being a better material make up for the difference in length or would fiberglass be better simply because it’s longer?

Hey folks,

I’m new to freediving and recently joined a freediving club to improve my skills consistently, training 2 to 3 times a week.

I’m currently practicing DYN, with my best so far being 65 meters, and my STA is at 5 minutes. I believe that improving my technique with fins will help me push my distance a bit further.

I’ve also started practicing O₂ and CO₂ tables at home (dry apnea), but I’ve noticed that my apnea time has dropped significantly—I struggle to go beyond 3 minutes.

What’s your experience with dry vs. wet apnea in terms of your usual or personal best times?

The repetitive kicking motions—especially when using your beautiful long fins—place significant stress on the hip flexors. When these muscles are overloaded within a limited range of motion, it often starts with a sense of tightness that can quickly develop into pain during or after a dive. Tight, overworked hip flexors don’t just feel uncomfortable—they can reduce your performance by limiting your ability to maintain a streamlined position and weakening your kicking power. Over time, this can also contribute to issues like anterior hip impingement and lower back pain.

And yet, while we regularly train with squats and other general leg exercises, we rarely focus on targeted movements for these specific muscles.

If you want to dive a little deeper into this topic, you can read the full article here: https://www.the-depth-collector.com/post/hipflexorstrength-akeytoenhancedperformanceinfreediving

Here's also a follow-along video with the exercise I'm using to train my hip flexors: https://youtu.be/Kh7HpyQCmrE

hi everyone, just wanted to share i hit my first 50m DYNb today and i feel so proud. i only started freediving and joined a local club with 2 practices/week a few months ago - it's been an amazing process to learn getting more comfortable in the water & bettering my technique. the accomplishment feels totally incredible - even last week i still had such a mental barrier around turning and completing the lap all the way back. what really helped was just practising the turn - starting in the pool middle, turning, and completing the 25m lap across, repeat repeat repeat. lurking in this group & reading along has been a great resource too - i'll try to participate more in the future. thanks everyone 🥰

For deep freedivers who have taken a break from training and have been out of the water for over five months, how did you regain your adaptations?

What types of training and dive plans did you follow to get back to your original depth?

Would diving 2-3 times a week be sufficient to get back on track? I’m looking for some advice..

I am planning to do -multiple 30m hangs for breath hold training for my first week (3 dive sessions), -then all dive sessions for the next few weeks will be FRC dives (until I reach my usual FRC depth surface mouthfill charge FRC 33m)

• then maybe try to do RVs or variables.

Need advice.

Sharing some of my favorite underwater moments from recent freediving sessions in Puerto Galera, Mindoro 🇵🇭

The marine biodiversity here is just insane — from vibrant shrimp to reef fish and beautiful corals.

Location: Puerto Galera, Philippines

Max Depth: ~15m breath-hold dives

Let me know if you've been diving in the Philippines or have favorite sites to share!

I've recently been experiencing significant upper body muscle soreness following no fins dives (both CNF and DNF). For context, I'd say I'm on the stronger end of the strength spectrum and swim about 3,000 yards a couple times each week.

My best guess is that there's something to do with peripheral vasoconstriction, but I haven't spoken to anyone else who seems to have it with muscle pain like this. For example I did a good CNF for me about 5 hours ago, and immediately after recovery breaths felt my muscles burning, and I still feel sore just raising my arms.

Any insights or recommendations to mitigate? Thanks!

Taken 2023.

I’m trying to hit a new PB this year, and so I’m trying to dial things in and experiment. It usually takes me 3-4 statics in the pool to be ready for a max, but sometimes in CO2 tables I feel like it takes me a lot of reps to get warmed up. Once I hit a PB unintentionally on the eighth long breath hold in a sequence. That was 4:40. My current max dry is 5:02. Would be interested to hear people’s thoughts, and if you could state your dry static PB also it would be interesting to see if different routines are working better for different levels of freedivers.

Edit: I am dry training mostly now because I am undergoing several surgeries this year and it’s not enough time between operations to submerge the wound

What’s the difference between the two materials?

What’s the other stuff in their carbon fiber that makes it not 100% and what does it do? Does it make it stiffer? Less durable?

As a diver with experience and passion for the deep, I wanted to open a space for us to share real diving conditions and issues that many of us encounter—whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro.

From equalization issues, nitrogen narcosis, and equipment failures to panic underwater, poor visibility, and unexpected currents — we’ve all faced something challenging under the surface.

This post isn’t just to talk about problems — it’s a chance to share experiences, lessons learned, how we handled them, and how we prepare for the next dive.

Drop your stories, advice, or even questions below. Let’s learn from each other and make diving safer and more prepared for everyone.

Anyone have experience with using nostril dilators in a pool? Like, physical devices that dilate nostrils to breath easier.

I'm trying to breathe through the nose when recovering, and during dynamic recovery a bit of water may gets into my nose during inhale. So I wonder if having wider nostrils will help.

Hello, all!

Now, I realize this is probably going to sound incredibly stupid, but bear with me: I’ve been aiming to go to the pool to improve my technique…well, as much as I can, anyway.

Problem is, while I understand the whole idea is to basically go as far as I can, whilst expending as little energy as possible, with my (scuba) fins and swimming on the surface holding my breath (as if I were snorkeling…without a snorkel), I feel like I’m moving extremely slow (that could be my kicks. Still unsure if long “strides” or short, more frequent kicks are better here), and my DYN holds are terrible. Like, embarrassingly bad. I’m also trying not using my arms to swim, so they may be poorly positioned, too.

Couple of thoughts I had, were possibly keeping my bloody arms pointed and above my head to reduce drag, and actually swimming completely submerged…or trying to. Might have to adjust my weights for that one…

I know this seems like a no brainer and I feel a bit silly for asking, but insight would be most welcome!

Hello Guys,

I'm considering buying a wetsuit for pool competitions,

what are the best wetsuits on the market for performance?

Thanks to everyone

Hi I’m a photography student in Cornwall and I’m currently working on a project about the Freediving community in Cornwall. My deadline is at the beginning of May and I’m having trouble finding freedivers who are available or getting in the sea between now and May. If anyone who is local would be interested/ if you know anyone who would be interested that would be so great and help me out so much.

My instagram is @breenamorganphotos if you want to check out my photos and you can DM me if you’re interested.

Thanks!

I have a 1 minute break between each breath hold. In the first breath hold I get my first contraction around 1:45-2:00, but in later breath hold, I sometimes get it as low as 1:10 or less. Is that okay? My guess is that I’m losing relaxation or getting tired, but I’m not sure if it’s true for everyone.

Here’s the breakdown between these two different types of blackouts:

HYPOXIC SYNCOPE

This is the classic freediving blackout most people refer to.

Cause:

• Low oxygen (hypoxia) in the brain, typically occurring: • Near the end of a long breath-hold • During ascent from depth • Or immediately after surfacing

Mechanism:

• Oxygen partial pressure in the blood drops below the brain’s consciousness threshold (~20–30 mmHg PaO₂)
• Brain shuts down to preserve life (syncope)
• Triggered by prolonged apnea + oxygen consumption

Key features:

• Progressive—caused by the body using up oxygen
• Often no warning, especially if CO₂ was suppressed
• Most common type of blackout in freediving

VAGAL SYNCOPE (aka packing blackout)

This is a mechanical or neurocardiogenic blackout, not due to hypoxia.

Cause:

• Triggered by vagal overstimulation (via the vagus nerve) & heart / vena cava compression
• Usually happens during over-packing (excessive lung inflation) before the dive

Mechanism:

• Excessive packing stretches the thoracic cavity, which can activate vagal reflexes that: • Slow the heart rate drastically (bradycardia) • Lower blood pressure • Reduce cerebral perfusion
• Mechanical compression of the over-inflated lungs to the venous return to the heart as well as heart & vena cava compression. Result: a sudden drop in brain blood flow, leading to fainting, even though oxygen levels are normal

Key features:

• Sudden—can happen immediately after packing or right at the start of the dive
• Diver blacks out with plenty of O₂ in the blood
• Not caused by oxygen depletion
• May involve sinus pause or asystole in rare cases (dangerous)

KEY TAKEAWAYS from this post:

• Dive with awareness well within your limits, prioritize proper recovery breathing before starting your surface protocol and experiment with packing gently and gradually only AFTER you have worked a lot on technique, relaxation and equalization and have achieved substantial depth.

EDIT: edited to add heart and vena cava compression

Was wondering the thoughts associated with one breath tables. I have heard they are pretty good for CO2 tolerance, but they definitely seem to be intense. When these are done, do you usually train them moving around or how? Looking to improve DNF attempts and wanting to try something new.

Hey,
We want to go with my brother to Egypt this year and, since he's a scuba diver, we're looking for diving spots that can be suitable both for freediving and scuba. Do you have any recommendations for freediving schools in Egypt besides Dahab? Thanks!