Most Freedivers Are Training Wrong...Are you one of them?
- Anthony Feoutis
- 22 hours ago
- 5 min read
Why Ego, Exhaustion, and Depth Obsession Are Ruining Progress
AIDA & Molchanovs Instructor Trainer
He is the founder of The Depth Collector and VD Freediving Taiwan. With over a decade of experience, he focuses on solving real-world freediving problems, from equalization to depth adaptation, using practical, field-tested methods.
When Training Turns Into Self-Destruction
One of the biggest mistakes I see in freediving is divers constantly trying to prove something during training.
Every session becomes a war.
More contractions. More hypoxia. More blackouts. More squeezes and suffering. More “mental toughness.”
More nervous system destruction disguised as dedication.
And then they wonder why they plateau, stop enjoying diving, feel mentally exhausted, develop mental blocks, or suddenly lose performance completely.
I remember training with a Chinese diver who was trying to reach 70 meters. He was blacking out almost every day. Every single training session, I woke up already knowing there was a good chance I would end up grabbing him around 10 meters and towing him back to the surface.
That little routine lasted for around ten sessions. He blacked out on probably 60% of the dives and early-turned the rest.
And the craziest part?
He kept telling me his brain had developed a “blackout reflex.” According to him, blacking out had somehow become normal for his body.
Honestly, that was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard in freediving, and sadly, it wouldn’t be the last time I heard something like that in this sport.
No, his brain had not developed some sort of cursed blackout adaptation.
He was blacking out because he simply was not ready for that depth.
That’s it.
Repeating the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result is basically the definition of insanity.
He should have stepped down. Rest. And then dropped the line at 65 instead of 70. Let his body adapt. Let his nervous system adapt. Let his mind adapt.
But many divers do not understand what adaptation actually is.
They think suffering automatically means progress.
It doesn’t. It just means you are tired.
Over the years, I’ve seen divers completely destroy their progression because they approached every session emotionally. Every dive became a test of courage instead of structured training. And honestly, for almost everybody, except maybe the tiny minority chasing world records, freediving should be about the journey, not the destination.
The name of the sport you supposedly love so much (and I assume you do if you’re here reading these lines) is freediving, not depth-chasing, competitive yellow-stopper touching, or touch-the-plate-at-all-costs.
Social media has made this mentality even worse. Everybody wants to post numbers. Everybody wants to dive deep and make it look easy. Everybody wants to look “blessed” underwater, posting poetic captions about peace and flow even when the reality was pure suffering from the bottom plate all the way back to the surface.
Don’t try to bullshit a bullshitter.
I know exactly what it feels like to turn at 60 meters in full panic mode. I know what it feels like when the ascent becomes ugly, when contractions hit hard, when the brain starts getting noisy and survival suddenly becomes much more important than looking graceful for Instagram.
And honestly, there’s nothing wrong with difficult dives.
Difficult dives are part of freediving.
Not every dive will feel magical. Sometimes the contractions arrive early. Sometimes the freefall feels wrong. Sometimes the ascent becomes a fight.
Sometimes survival becomes much louder than relaxation.
The problem starts when divers stop being honest with themselves and just keep dropping the line deeper instead of allowing adaptation to happen.
It’s like adding plates to a deadlift bar every set until your back finally gives up.
Freediving is not a sport where you can force adaptation through aggression and willpower alone.
A huge part of freediving performance depends on your nervous system.
That incredible communication network inside the body that controls movement, breathing, relaxation, stress response, coordination, emotional reactions, heart rate, focus, recovery… basically everything freedivers depend on underwater.
And in freediving, all those things matter.
Your ability to stay calm.
Relax under pressure.
Tolerate contractions.
Control panic.
Equalize smoothly.
Maintain efficient movement while hypoxic.
None of that is purely muscular.
A lot of it is neurological
Freediving Is More Neurological Than Most Divers Realize
Most people think freediving adaptation is mostly physical.
It’s not.
Relaxation is neurological.
Equalization is neurological.
Contraction tolerance is neurological.
Emotional control is neurological.
Even technique changes when the nervous system becomes overloaded.
I can often see it immediately in divers who are overtraining. Their movements become less fluid. Their equalization becomes inconsistent. They lose confidence. Small stressors suddenly feel overwhelming. Their dives become emotionally heavy.
And yet many of them react the exact wrong way:
they train even harder.
That’s where the downward spiral usually begins.
Learning to Listen to the Voice Inside
The solution is actually pretty simple: listen to that internal voice.
When you start your dive and suddenly hear that little whisper in your head going,
“What the fuck am I doing here?”
maybe it’s time to take a break and go drink whatever your favorite drink is.
When you planned eight dives for the session, but after the third one you already start feeling that deep internal resistance, that feeling that you are not even sure you want to do the next dive… listen to it.
Go sit down.
Go rest.
Go drink your coffee, tea, coconut water, beer, whatever makes you happy.
Freedivers love saying that the sport is about “diving inside ourselves.”
Okay.
Maybe it’s time we actually start listening to what we hear down there
instead of constantly trying to override it with ego, pressure, or depth obsession.
Most Freedivers Are Training Wrong
The longer I stay in freediving, the less impressed I become by numbers and suffering.
Anybody can destroy themselves for a few sessions.
Anybody can force a couple of ugly dives through ego, adrenaline, nervous system abuse, and pure stubbornness.
That’s not mastery.
Real progression is much quieter than that.
It’s built slowly. Through consistency. Through recovery. Through honesty. Through learning when to push and when to back off before your body is the one making that decision for you.
Because in the end,
freediving is supposed to add something to your life, not slowly consume it.
Most Freedivers Are Training Wrong. Are you one of them?
And honestly, if your entire relationship with depth is built on exhaustion, panic, blackouts, emotional warfare, and the constant need to prove something… maybe it’s time to stop asking how deep you can go and start asking yourself whether those are actually good reasons to go there in the first place.
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