We have all been there, on our way back to the dive centre after two awesome dives and suddenly it hits you, an overwhelming sense of tiredness and warmth. As the journey continues you feel your eyelids drooping and then you’re off, you have slipped into that delicious post-dive nap that we all know and love.
But your scuba diving instructor does not feel tired, so why do you?
Here are three reasons why you feel tired after scuba diving.
1.Physical exertion makes you feel tired after scuba diving:
Scuba diving is a full-body workout that engages various muscle groups. The scuba diving cylinder, weight belt, wetsuit and BCD all add extra weight to the diver.
This extra weight requires scuba divers to exert more effort to move against water resistance. The constant finning, adjusting buoyancy, and underwater currents contribute to increased physical activity. Despite the sensation of being weightless when scuba diving, the body is working a lot harder than you think.
To give you an idea of just how hard your body is working, PADI estimates that an average shore-dive burns as much as 600 calories per hour. The average person will have to walk 10,000 steps just to burn 300 – 400 calories.
To avoid feeling so tired after scuba diving, you should maintain a good level of fitness.
2.Thermal stress makes you feel tired after scuba diving:
Maintaining a comfortable body temperature is crucial for scuba divers. When in water, your body loses heat 25 times faster than when you are not. The body responds to this thermal stress by diverting energy to regulate temperature, which can lead to increased tiredness after dives.
Diving in cold water demands even more energy expenditure, as the body has to work even harder to stay warm.
To avoid feeling so tired after scuba diving, make sure you have an appropriate thickness of wetsuit that fits you correctly. Also make sure to have eaten a good meal before the dive as these extra calories will fuel your body to keep you warm.
3.Mental Fatigue makes you feel tired after scuba diving:
Scuba diving requires a high level of concentration and awareness.This is why those who are learning to dive will feel more tired after scuba diving than those who have a lot of experience. The more you concentrate and the more adrenaline you experience the more tired you will feel after scuba diving.
To avoid feeling so tired after scuba diving, you should practise scuba diving regularly. The more you dive the more calm and confident you will become and you won’t experience as much mental fatigue.
