Stretches for diving

A lot of freedive sites I've seen recommend pack-stretching, but I just take a comfortable full breath & do a series of these:
http://www.stretching.name/index.php?filt=intercostal

Not the same stretches(just first google match), but these are a good sampling and will work the same. I use a few that feel right from the Manual of Freediving book. No need to do pack stretching because you'll feel the pressure on a full lung just fine.

On trips, I generally always dive better the second day - after I've "warmed up" & fall into the groove. Part of that is your lungs/ribs are stretched out & everything is primed. Doing a set of stretches the night before & a bit in morning of first day helps jumpstart past that & feel loose on first day. Cuts down that initial "tight" feeling of first set of dives.

some basic yoga inspired stretches also help..

grabbing your hands together over your head and leaning to the left and right to stretch the obliques

grabbing hands behind your back and raising them up together while bending over stretches the front of the chest and shoulders

the baseball stretch with a towel or speargun, grasp the object with your hands more than shoulder width apart and raise your arms up over your head and down behind you (chest and biceps)

and a good reach for your toes and pull back to stretch the ever important hamstrings and calves.

If i spend about 20 minutes doing these stretches before a dive, I dive better and am not sore at all after

yoga!!...nice:thumbsup2:

Quote from Dan

What are these stretches fuzz?

diaphragm stretches to increase lung capacity.

sit in a chair take a full breath through your diaphragm( expanding the stomach) , then the chest, neck, and finally the cheeks. hold for a count of 10. then exhale slowly--all your air and lean forward to get all the air out. straighten up -you should look like a starvation victim .flex the stomach muscles in and out then lift up the diaphragm . you can carefully pull out your rib cage to expand it. hold for a few more seconds-if you can.
repeat this exercise several times. If you do this regularly you will have a more flexible rib cage which will enable you to have a better lung capacity.
hope this makes sense.
For any of you in the So Cal area we will be working on this and other breathing exercises and techniques at the July OC Spearos mtg.