The below explains the general concept of the Anerobic Interval Resistance Training System that David followed to lead to him 5 successful world record attempts over a 4 year period. David is in the process of designing an online training system to replicate the AIR-TS (Anerobic Interval Resistance – Training System) that was used for his 5 world records. Stay tuned to be one of the first to try the AIR-TS system.
Training Without the Presence of a Trainer (written 2003 by David Lee):
Sometimes people ask, “how do you have a trainer but you are not in the same town as he is?” Well, this is where the power of the internet comes in play. I get my training in 3-4 day segments by e-mail. I log all my training in an excel spreadsheet. This spread sheet includes things such as exercise type, sets, repetitions, weight used, time under water, difficulty, pulse before, pulse after, and rest time. In addition I attached to each days’ training a cardiograph. I submit this log to Rudi (my trainer) where he will review it and prescribe the next 3-4 days of training. Every couple of months I will take a trip to Rudi for a more in depth spot check on my current shape. It takes an incredible amount of discipline to train at this level when you don’t have a physical coach standing over you and screaming at you. This method is not considered ideal, but it has worked for us this whole time.
Many times we get caught up in a training routine that the body will eventually get used to. Introducing changes to your routine is always good. When you are on an island where you don’t have access to 24 hour gyms and 25m swimming pools it forces you to become creative to keep your body in the shape that the depth demands.
The first cycle of training consists of mostly cardio and weight training. Trying to get the muscles a little larger and stronger, but still not too large where it would hinder aquatic performance. My day starts around 8am with a run on the hill where I live in Jamaica. 30 minutes of running before breakfast up and down the hill 4 times…Makes for an interesting cardiograph.
At around 10:30 I start another cardio cycle which is a 30 minute swim in the Blue Lagoon. So approximately 60 minutes of cardio each day. Sometimes a bit more depending on how deep I plan on diving that day….If not too deep I may do an additional 30 minutes of cardio or if I am doing 1-2 unassisted dives between 40 and 50m then I keep it at 60 minutes as to not be worn out for the dives. The dives take place around 2:30 and are performed in the same sequence that I do all my training and record dives. Breathing cycles, two negative pressure dives, then the actual dive. If it’s more than one dive a day I give myself a 10 minute rest before going down again. Note to everyone: when I am diving I have a full safety team to take care of me in the case of an emergency.
I have found that on days where I really don’t feel to do traditional training I will go surfing for cardio instead. Of course it’s not 60 minutes of steady heart pumping cardio but it’s 3-4 hours of good fun and good exercise. Very strange thing about static training, I used to love doing static and even worked my way up to 7:02 static. Over the last 3 years it has become incredibly boring for me. On days when I should do static training I go spear fishing. Old school training at it’s best 🙂