Stop Muscle Soreness Before It Starts

Tired, stiff legs don't have to dog your dive vacation. Fire up your fins with these 10 beat-the-soreness tips.

- by David Taylor

Eccentric vs. Concentric Movements | Temporary Cures | How to Prevent Muscle Soreness | Get Over It | Our Readers Help

It's the price we often pay for a sedentary life—muscle soreness, typically brought on by a bout of intense activity preceded by a long lapse of non-use.

Sound familiar?

It should. Tired, sore legs are often one of our body's first signs we're on a dive vacation. But it doesn't have to be that way. Not even for the softest of couch spuds.

Eccentric vs. Concentric Movements

Divers do them both.
Although muscle soreness can be caused by a variety of movements, the most common culprit is an "eccentric" movement—when a muscle lengthens under tension during exercise. During a "concentric" movement, the muscle contracts—the up phase of a biceps curl, for example—and is followed by an eccentric movement, or lengthening of the biceps muscle as the weight is lowered.

Similarly, during the two-cycle kick most often used with scuba fins, leg muscles must continuously contract and lengthen against the resistance of water, with the knees, ankles and hips providing pivot points.

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Quick Tip During a dive, the mammalian diving reflex lowers your heart rate as much as 17 beats per minute, compared to the same level of exertion on land. As a result, it's easy to overexert yourself while diving—one more reason to relax and slow down when below.

Temporary Cures

Relieving symptoms—until the next time.
There are as many research studies about how to treat muscle soreness as there are about its cause. Most of the treatments that weekend athletes are familiar with provide some immediate relief, albeit temporary:

• gentle stretching
• application of ice
• athletic balms
• massage
• hot baths and saunas
• NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), such as aspirin or ibuprofen.

Usually the application of ice, hot baths and saunas are done after exercise; gentle stretching and massage with athletic balms are usually done before. To maximize their effectiveness, NSAIDS should be taken on a regular basis per instructions until symptoms subside.

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How to Prevent Muscle Soreness

The progressive application of stress.
The good news: You can dive hard after a layoff and prevent leg soreness—if you play it smart. The one thing we know for sure about muscle stress: it produces a rapid adaptation response. Once you've adapted to a given level of intensity, soreness won't occur unless you increase it suddenly. The trick, therefore, is to stress muscles in a way that allows adaptation yet minimizes soreness. You can do both on a dive vacation if you:

1. Gradually increase the intensity and duration of your dives. Most dive resorts encourage new arrivals to ease into their diving with shallow, easy dives. As your comfort level increases, you naturally progress to more challenging depths and conditions. Now you have another reason to follow this typical resort profile: Not only will your dives be safer and more enjoyable, you'll also ease your muscles into diving without the fatigue and soreness we so often feel mid-week of our dive trips.

2. Include a simple warm-up routine. An effective pre-dive warm-up can be as simple as a few minutes of gentle stretching before suiting up (see "Boost Your Fin Power.") or a pre-dive aerobic exercise such as an early morning swim. Making the 8 a.m. dive boat, however, can reduce your warm-up to simply starting your dive slowly and easing into your effort as you go. Regardless of the method you choose, an adequate warm-up offers real benefits. It:

• Produces faster, more forceful muscle contractions;
• Prevents injury by increasing muscle elasticity;
• Gives you better muscle control by activating neural pathways to muscles;
• Improves joint range of motion;
• Prepares you psychologically for diving by increasing your arousal and focus.

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Get Over It

Allowing sufficient time for recuperation.
So, you did everything right but still ended up sore and tired? Remember that sore muscles are damaged muscles. They now require time to heal. Add in an easy day of light diving or no diving. You'll be fresher and even safer if you do—a mid-week break from a steady diet of three to five dives a day can provide a substantial hedge against decompression sickness.

Talk about a real vacation downer.

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Our Readers Help

From RSD's Diver-to-Diver Message Board I'm An Air Hog. Please Help!

I have done only 10 dives, but this is crazy: I suck down air in no time flat. On my last dive, although there was strong current, my depth was only 40 feet with great vis. I started with 3,000 psi, and in 20 minutes I had to surface with only 750 psi left. My buddy had twice that left. I felt bad because she could've doubled her bottom time. How do I improve? Any ideas or hints would be greatly appreciated.

—Scubiie

Pause After the Inhale

Best advice I ever got was to pause after the inhale. This isn't breath-holding. Normally we pause after the exhale on land, but under water the pause is more natural after the inhale. Don't know why; just know it works.

—Carmichael

Relax and Get Horizontal

1) The more you dive, the more relaxed you'll become. Your air consumption will improve because of that.
2) Breathe deeply with emphasis on the exhale.
3) Make sure you're using just enough weight. Too much drags your feet down and you end up plowing through the water instead of knifing through it, if you were horizontal.

—Bob

Bio-Fins in Your Future

Relax and see if you can get your hands on some Apollo Bio-Fins. They'll improve your efficiency.

—LadyDivr

Put Some Steel in Your Tank

I just bought a steel 100-cubic-foot tank, which gives me 20 more cubic feet than the typical aluminum 80. Did my first dive on it tonight, down to 147 feet, then worked our way up. Dive lasted 65 minutes; I had 1,300 psi left over. Had to wear less lead, too.

—Ranrat

Pool Work

Swim laps. Lots of laps. Work up to a mile. Speed is not important. You'll be more self-confident in the water and your improved cardiovascular system will also help you use less air.

—fugupete

Looonnng Exhale

I was the worst air hog when I started diving. Around 25 dives I had tried enough suggestions to know what worked for me. For myself, the looonnng exhale was critical. Just went down to 85 feet last week for 45 minutes (nitrox) with an aluminum 80 and came up with 1,150 psi.

—Beachman

Hum a Happy Tune

I find that humming under water helps me relax in tense situations and uses less air. You will see an amazing improvement in your comfort level of diving somewhere after your 20th logged dive. Keep diving—experience is the best cure.

—Verna

Go Slow

Everyone will tell you that long, slow breaths are important. They are. Focus on the exhale. Exhale long, constant, slow. You cannot do a long inhale without a long exhale. Fin in a slow constant manner. It's easier to walk a slow mile than to sprint a quarter mile, rest, sprint, rest, etc. I've been in your fins. You will get better, then you won't believe how much air you used to consume.

—whaletale

Self-Checklist

As you get more dives under your belt, you'll become more relaxed in the water and use less air. Also, check a couple things:

1.   How's your weighting? Are you over-weighted and hauling around too much lead? Are you under-weighted and having to fight to stay down?

2.   Do you swim with your arms? Most of your swimming should be done with your legs. Flailing arms can use up a lot of air.

3.   How's your streamlining? Got a lot of stuff hanging such as lights, gauges, etc.? Not a huge contribution, but it will affect you.

4.   Is your rig efficiently set up? Are you constantly dealing with your gear instead of relaxing and enjoying the dive?

5.   How well can you swim? Some folks who can't swim well on the surface are uncomfortable as divers.

Just a few thoughts. Good luck!

—Officer Chuck

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