Breath Work Workshop
峇里島 Tulamben

…to present some fresh breath work exercises for you guys. A little bit of fun exercises. Please everybody, let's give an applause to the master, the deepest diver in the world, Alexey Molchanov. They told me everybody is super super curious, so I need to go as far as possible. Because everybody is at different levels — Wave 3, Wave 4 — who's at Wave 3 level? Wave 4? OK, two, two. Wave 1, Wave 2. So mostly twos, some threes, a little ones. Who is doing breath work regularly? Three times a week? Seven times a week? Who's not doing breath work at all?

「⋯今天要帶大家做一些呼吸訓練的練習，有一點趣味性。請大家給世界上最深的自由潛水員 Alexey Molchanov 一點掌聲。他們跟我說大家都超好奇的，所以我會盡量講深。因為大家程度不同——Wave 3、Wave 4——這裡誰在 Wave 3？Wave 4 有人嗎？好，少數幾個。Wave 1、Wave 2 呢？大部分是 Wave 2，幾個 Wave 3，少數 Wave 1。有誰每天都在做呼吸訓練的？一週三次的？一週七次的？完全沒在做的呢？」

OK, let's start with our first concept — the theory. If you have a question, raise your hand. I love breath work since the very beginning of my freediving. I was doing it since 2004 and back then, there was no mouthfill. You Wave 2s know there's going to be a mouthfill in Wave 3, Wave 4 — a technique that makes equalization at depth so much easier. But back in 2004, there was no mouthfill. Everybody was relying on Frenzel.

「我們從第一個概念開始講——理論。有疑問隨時舉手。我從 2004 年開始就在做呼吸訓練，那時還沒有 mouthfill 這個技術。你們 Wave 2 學員知道之後 Wave 3、Wave 4 會學到 mouthfill，那是讓深處平壓變得輕鬆很多的技術。但 2004 年那時沒有 mouthfill，大家都只能靠 Frenzel。」

To equalize properly at depth, you had to develop your breathing muscles, stretch them a lot. You had to be aware of these breathing muscles, intercostal muscles, and get air at depth. Mouthfill is charging the air early and having that portion for the rest of your dive. So back then, you could only Frenzel down to 30 meters or so. Past that, as soon as you needed air, you had to compress, reverse pack — but you can't really push the air anymore. You'd feel stuck in the Frenzel zone.

「在深處正確平壓，必須發展呼吸肌、把它們伸展開。你要對呼吸肌、肋間肌很有覺察，才能在深處取得空氣。Mouthfill 就是提早把氣 charge 到口腔，剩下的下潛都用那一口空氣。但以前只能用 Frenzel 下到 30 公尺左右，之後一旦需要氣，就只能 reverse pack 把氣往上推——但其實再也推不上去了，那種感覺就是『卡在 Frenzel 區』。」

You have to be in the Frenzel zone after 30, 40 meters — but the Frenzel zone doesn't refill on its own. Once you compress, you need to do something to refill it, a small portion at a time. Back then you really had to fine-tune the technique. Some guys were diving with Frenzel to 50+, 60+, 70+, but it was very few people, not scalable. Only a few with very good flexibility and awareness could go deeper. That's why a lot of people were doing more breath work in the old days.

「30、40 公尺之後就只能靠 Frenzel——但 Frenzel 區不會自己補氣。一旦壓縮過了就得自己想辦法補一小口進來。所以以前你必須把技術調得非常細。是有幾個人能用 Frenzel 下到 50、60、70 公尺，但人很少，根本沒辦法規模化。只有極少數柔軟度跟覺察都很好的人能下更深。所以以前的人呼吸訓練做得比現在多。」

Now I feel people are a bit lazy with breath work, because mouthfill is sort of like a free ride — you charge it and go. But there are consequences: less attention to breath work means more risk of squeezes. There's less awareness about residual tension. After a deep inhale, if there's no pause or relaxation before the dive, there might be tension in the body. Because mouthfill works for deep dives, it doesn't matter as much in the moment — the tension is there but you can muscle through. Even though tension makes it much harder, the mouthfill can still be lost — that's one of the problems with mouthfill: it can be lost because of tension. So that's why breathing muscles are still important even with mouthfill.

「現在大家對呼吸訓練比較鬆懈，因為 mouthfill 像是免費搭便車——charge 完就下去。但有後果：呼吸訓練做得少，squeeze 風險就上升。對殘餘張力（residual tension）的覺察變差。深吸氣之後如果沒有暫停、沒有放鬆就直接下潛，身體可能還帶著張力。因為 mouthfill 在深處還是有效，這個張力『感覺起來沒差』——你還是能平壓、硬撐過去。但張力會讓 mouthfill 變得更難守住，甚至會 lost mouthfill（口腔氣體流失）——這就是 mouthfill 的問題之一：張力會把它弄丟。所以即使有了 mouthfill，呼吸肌肉的訓練還是重要。」

The main idea: you want this awareness — you can spot tension in different areas of your lungs and muscles, and you can let go. You can do it before the dive. Pause after the inhale. Inhale is an effort, so every time we inhale we need to make sure there is no residual tension before we start the dive. You can exaggerate it: stay at the surface for five seconds after the inhale. It can normally be one or two seconds, but exaggerating builds the habit. After an inhale: pause, lower your rib cage, lower your ribs, and make sure your rib cage is soft and compressible.

「主要概念：你要有這個覺察——能察覺肺部不同區域、肌肉裡的張力，然後放掉。下潛前就可以做。吸完氣後停一下。吸氣本身就是出力的動作，所以每次吸完都要確認沒有殘餘張力才開始下潛。可以誇大一點：吸完氣後在水面停 5 秒。正常 1–2 秒就夠，誇大練習能建立習慣。吸完氣後：暫停，把肋骨往下放，確認肋廓是軟的、可被壓縮的。」

When you dive, do this body scan every five meters: 5m, 10m, 15m — equalize, move, then return your attention to your body. Is my rib cage relaxed? Are my ribs relaxed? If you have any tension in the neck or back, you expand your rib cage and become less compressible — your ribs are elevated, you pull on your vocal folds more, and you create lower lung pressure. Lower lung pressure makes equalization harder. So develop awareness with exercises to feel pressure in the lungs, and stay as close to neutral pressure as possible.

「下潛時每 5 公尺做一次 body scan：5m、10m、15m——平壓完、推進完之後，把注意力拉回身體。我的肋廓放鬆嗎？我的肋骨放鬆嗎？如果頸部或背部有張力，你會把肋廓張開、變得不容易壓縮——肋骨上抬、更用力拉聲帶、形成更大的肺內負壓。肺內負壓越大，平壓越困難。所以要透過練習培養這個覺察，去感受肺內壓力，盡量維持在中性壓力附近。」

Question: Could you explain residual tension in more detail? Alexey: Residual tension is the tension you have after inhale, because inhale is the contraction of muscles. To inhale, you contract muscles, elevate the rib cage. It's heavy duty — especially in water, especially depending on body position. I love a head-up vertical position. If my lungs are under water it's even harder, but I prefer it for focus and control. I prefer vertical to not have to deal with different surface conditions. If it's a bit wavy, I don't care. People who prepare lying on the back have a harder time adapting to wavy conditions.

「提問：可以詳細說明 residual tension 嗎？Alexey：Residual tension 就是吸完氣後身體殘留的張力，因為吸氣本身就是肌肉收縮。要吸氣，你必須收縮肌肉、抬起肋廓。這是很費力的——尤其在水裡、又看身體姿勢。我自己喜歡頭朝上垂直；肺在水面下會更費力，但我喜歡它的專注和控制感。我偏好垂直姿勢，這樣就不用管水面狀況。有點浪我也無所謂。那些習慣躺著準備的人，遇到有浪就比較難適應。」

There is tension after inhale, and if you don't intentionally drop the shoulders and rib cage, residual tension stays in the breathing muscles, which creates stronger vacuum — lower lung pressure. It's not that you have resistance to the pressure — you don't have resistance, that doesn't make sense. You want to trust the laws of physics. If physics says lungs should be compressed two times at 10 meters, then they should be compressed two times — not 10 times. You might have a subconscious fear: "if I let go completely, the sea will crush me." No, you will not be. At 10m: 2 bar, 2× compression. 20m: 3 bar, 3×. 30m: 4 bar, 4×. (3 hydrostatic + 1 atmospheric.) Trust your environment, trust your body. Pre-diving is a lot about trust.

「吸氣後身體有張力，如果沒有刻意把肩膀跟肋廓放下，呼吸肌會殘留張力，反過來造成更強的負壓——更低的肺內壓。這不是說你在『抵抗壓力』——你抵抗不了壓力，那不合理。你要相信物理定律。如果物理告訴你 10 公尺肺要被壓縮 2 倍，它就只會被壓縮 2 倍——不會是 10 倍。你可能潛意識裡害怕：『如果我完全放鬆，海會把我壓爆』。不會的。10m：2 bar，2 倍壓縮；20m：3 bar，3 倍；30m：4 bar，4 倍（3 個水壓 + 1 個大氣壓）。所以你要相信環境，相信身體。下潛前的功夫很大一部分都是『信任』。」

Q: What specifically do you trust? Alexey: Three things: your abilities, the environment, and your team. If you have any worry in any of these, you'll have tension. If there's someone doing safety for you whose skills you don't trust, you should not be diving deep — you can't trust your life to inexperience. I cannot dive deep outside of competition where I know there are experienced safety divers, oxygen, doctors. Outside of that I might die — there's tension because of that.

「提問：你具體在『信任』什麼？Alexey：三件事：能力、環境、團隊。任何一個有疑慮就會產生張力。如果有個人在幫你 safety，你不真的信任他的技術，就不應該下深——你不能把命託付給沒經驗的人。我自己除了比賽不下深，比賽有經驗的 safety、氧氣、醫師。比賽之外我有可能會死——光想到就會緊張。」

Environment includes weather, waves, visibility, thermocline, jellyfish, sharks. If you have worries you weren't paying attention to, recognize what's making you tense. Adaptation: first day in a new environment you might be tense because everything is new. Give yourself a few days — easy dives at first — and you'll have neurological adaptation. Once in Mexico I was diving a new spot. There was a cloud of jellyfish, not stingy ones, all the way down to 40m — you just dove into the soup. Another time it was orcas — reports said they were 100m away, very nearby. I couldn't see them, but I knew. At the bottom turning, I didn't want any warm-up noise on the rope. I was faster than usual. There was tension. Not a nice dive — more hypoxic than I'd like. Two-three days later, nothing happened. My nervous system relaxed. Exposure → rest → next time more familiar. By day 4 or 5 you don't have to think about it.

「環境包括天氣、海浪、能見度、溫躍層、水母、鯊魚。如果有些擔憂你之前沒注意到，要找出是什麼讓你緊張。適應：到新環境第一天會緊張，因為一切都是新的，這很正常。給自己幾天，前期下淺一點，神經系統會適應。我有一次在墨西哥下一個新點，遇到不會螫人的水母群，從水面到 40m 全是水母，你就直接潛進那鍋湯裡。另一次是虎鯨——回報說 100m 外有，很近。我看不到，但我知道牠們在那。下到底要轉身時，我不想在繩上發出暖身的雜音。那次比平常快，緊張了，潛得也不漂亮——比我想要的更缺氧。但兩三天後沒事發生，神經系統放鬆下來。暴露 → 休息 → 下一次就熟悉了。到第 4、第 5 天你就不用再想它。」

Another unusual environment: one of the deepest cenotes in the world, in Mexico — about 400 meters deep. It's in a bay, not jungle cenote — an ocean basin. Sulfur clouds in the water. I was free-falling with my light, good visibility, and suddenly there was a wall — but it wasn't a wall, it was a sulfur cloud. Super transparent — you turn, suddenly it's in front of you. Spooky. I was tense because of that. So those are environment examples.

「另一個很特別的環境：墨西哥一個世界最深的 cenote，約 400 公尺深。它不是叢林裡的 cenote，是在海灣裡，海洋盆地。水裡有硫雲。我下潛時帶著燈，能見度很好，然後突然眼前出現一道牆——其實不是牆，是硫雲。超透明，你一轉身它突然就在你面前，毛毛的。那次因為它讓我很緊張。這些都是環境的例子。」

The third area: trust in your abilities. Build skills with courses, training, mobility, technique. As soon as you feel you can swim better — better style, better economy, less CO2, less oxygen burn — you trust your abilities, which makes diving easier. That's why pool sessions and reps are fundamental. If you can do reps with max distances of 100, 150, 200m, depth feels easier. To dive 100m, double — for a 50m dive, if you're confident at 100m, that's plenty. I have the economy, my equalization is there, I don't even think about it. Optimization, breathing, stretching, technique — three main elements, plus a bit of strength and general fitness.

「第三：對自己能力的信任。透過課程、訓練、活動度、技術練習累積技能。一旦你覺得自己游得更好、姿勢漂亮、效率高——CO2 變少、氧氣消耗變少——你對能力就有信任，下潛自然輕鬆。所以泳池訓練跟反覆練習是基礎。能反覆做 100、150、200m，深度當然輕鬆。要下 100m，能力設兩倍——下 50m 的話，能力到 100m 就很穩。我經濟性夠、平壓沒問題，根本不用想。優化、呼吸、伸展、技術——三大要素，再加一點力量跟基礎體能。」

If you don't feel ready, ask: what specific area worries me? Where am I not as prepared as I'd like? Focus your sessions there with specific exercises — even once or twice a week, you'll progress. Once a month, probably not. Then there's regaining confidence after trauma. If you have a black-out — we envision this as a natural part of an athlete's life, you progress, you push your limits — you need a plan to regain confidence and prepare for the next championship. Hard task: how do you go from unsure to sure again? Same approach: break it into small pieces. How can I improve recovery? Stretching? Improve technique by even 5%? Do this 2–3 times a week, different sessions. You need to physically feel it — not just imagine. If before the dive you don't feel "yes, I can do 20, 30, 40m," then something is missing. Talk to your coach, do more exercises. This is one of the most important requirements for a good dive.

「如果還沒準備好，問自己：我具體擔心的是哪塊？哪邊沒到我想要的程度？針對那塊做專門練習——一週一兩次就會進步。一個月一次大概沒用。再來是 black-out 後重建信心。我們把 black-out 看成運動員生涯自然會發生的事，你進步、推極限就會碰到——你需要計畫，重建信心、為下一個比賽準備。這很難：怎麼從『懷疑能力』回到『相信能力』？方法一樣：拆成小塊。怎麼改善 recovery？怎麼改善伸展？怎麼讓技術再進步 5%？一週做 2–3 次，不同訓練。你必須『身體真的感覺到』——不是只用想的。如果下潛前你沒有那種『是的，我可以下 20、30、40m』的感覺，那就有東西沒到位。跟教練討論缺什麼，加練。這是好下潛體驗最重要的條件之一。」

Awareness of pressure: positive pressure (inhale → expansion). On positive pressure, the goal is: how can I feel less pressure? What breathing-muscle position helps me feel less pressure? Let go of abdominal muscles — less push toward vocal folds. If you keep intercostals engaged, there's tension. Underwater we'll soften and relax. Dry, this is hard because we don't have the compression water provides. Underwater, compression is there, so pressure against vocal cords, abdominal muscles, diaphragm is less. But dry, when you relax, feel how the pressure feels and how breathing muscles relax. Observe how pressure changes when you relax your lower rib cage and big muscles, how it pushes against vocal folds. Then neutral pressure after exhale — quick relaxation. Then low pressure when you exhale everything: how do you react? How do you use it to stretch the diaphragm? Stay close to neutral pressure as possible.

「壓力覺察：正壓力（吸氣 → 擴張）。在正壓力狀態下，目標是：『我怎樣才能感覺壓力比較小？』什麼呼吸肌位置能讓我感覺壓力較少？放掉腹肌——減少對聲帶的推力。如果一直把肋間肌繃著，就會有張力。水下我們把它變軟、放鬆。陸上練比較難，因為沒有水的壓縮。水下有壓縮，對聲帶、腹肌、橫膈膜的壓力反而少。陸上放鬆時，要感覺壓力是什麼感覺、呼吸肌怎麼放鬆。觀察當你放鬆下肋廓跟大肌肉時壓力如何變化、它如何推向聲帶。吐氣後是中性壓力——快速放鬆。完全吐光後是負壓：你怎麼反應？怎麼用它伸展橫膈膜？盡量靠近中性壓力。」

OK, let's start with warm-up and chest grip. Chest first, then belly. For inhale, work on lower-rib-cage lift, less shoulder lift. Use auxiliary muscles less. We need more lower ribs and chest lift. Inhale chest, focus on elevation of lower ribs. Relax neck, shoulders. Exhale. Inhale, inflate space into the shoulder base — forward. Rib cage up and forward, back inflates as well. Pause and make sure working muscles contract but neck and shoulders are relaxed. Hold a few seconds, exhale. Now harder version — top-ups. Inhale, hold, top-up. No pulling air or lowering. Don't try to pull air with muscle contraction; use the technique. Keep shoulders down, neck relaxed.

「好，先做暖身跟胸式吸氣。先胸式，再腹式。吸氣時，著重在下肋廓抬起，減少肩膀代償。輔助肌肉用得少。要多用下肋骨跟胸抬。胸式吸氣，專注下肋骨抬起。頸部放鬆、肩膀放鬆。吐氣。吸氣，把空間填到肩膀根部——往前。肋廓往上往前，背側也鼓起來。暫停，確認在動的肌肉是收縮的，但頸部跟肩膀放鬆。停幾秒，吐氣。現在做難一點的——top-ups。吸氣，停住，做 top-up。不要硬抽空氣、也不要降氣。不要用肌肉硬抽；用技巧。肩膀放下，頸部放鬆。」

Q: I feel it's easy when I pull on the rope and wait. Is there any way to recover better? Alexey: Drink water first of all — it's hot. To avoid being dizzy, you can combine it with a small breath hold before you inhale fully. Or use the "MOC"-style safety: hold your breath for a few seconds, make sure there's a bit of CO2, then come up slowly — slow inhale spread over 20 seconds. If you change pressure too rapidly, your body might not be adapted. With practice you'll be able to handle it. Some athletes have black-outs in competition not from hypoxia but from pressure change — they inhale, the pressure compresses blood vessels, no blood circulation to the brain, and they wipe down even with lots of oxygen. So slow your inhale, give yourself time to adapt, and prepare your CO2 resistance.

「提問：我覺得上升時拉繩慢慢上來反而比較不暈，有沒有什麼方法？Alexey：第一件事先喝水——這裡很熱。要避免暈，可以在完全吸氣之前先做一個小憋氣。或者用 MOC 系列的 safety 方式：憋幾秒、確認還有點 CO2，再慢慢上來——把吸氣拉長到 20 秒。如果壓力變化太快，身體還沒適應就會出狀況。比賽裡有些選手會 blackout，不是因為缺氧，而是因為壓力變化——他們吸氣 → 壓力把血管壓住 → 沒有血流到腦 → 即使氧氣充足也會 wipe down。所以放慢吸氣，給自己時間適應，順便把 CO2 耐受度準備好。」

OK, let's continue with the mobility exercise — shoulder rotation. With inhale, lift your shoulders. With exhale, roll your shoulders forward. Goal: open your rib cage, roll the shoulders, and stretch the back as well. Inhale, open the chest. Exhale, elbows forward. If there's space, you can put your hands on your waist as well. Now reverse it: inhale, elbows forward; inhale into the back, opens up; exhale, open your chest.

「好，繼續活動度練習——肩膀旋轉。吸氣，肩膀抬起；吐氣，肩膀往前滾。目標：把肋廓打開、肩膀滾動、同時拉伸背部。吸氣，打開胸；吐氣，手肘往前。有空間的話，可以把手放腰上。現在反過來：吸氣手肘往前，吸氣到背部、打開背部；吐氣，打開胸。」

Now gentle side stretches to work the rib cage and side bends. Inhale 100%, open your chest. Side bend, gentle shoulder rock. If easy, make it harder with arms behind your head. Inhale, open your chest. Exhale, the other direction. Make sure your neck is relaxed, your shoulders are relaxed. Focus on the lower ribs, the cage. Lower ribs up, good chest up. Shoulders relaxed, neck relaxed.

「再來輕輕的側彎，鍛鍊肋廓兩側。完全吸氣 100%，打開胸。側彎，輕柔地肩膀搖擺。如果太簡單，把手放頭後加深難度。吸氣打開胸，吐氣換邊。確認脖子、肩膀放鬆。專注在下肋骨、肋廓。下肋抬上、胸抬上。肩膀放鬆、脖子放鬆。」

Now mobility for shoulder blade and shoulders. Slow breathing, 5 seconds in, 5 seconds out. With your elbow up, inhale and move it back a little. Exhale and stretch — very slowly. Less focus on stretching: 50/50 — 50% on breathing (full chest expansion), 50% on stretching. No need for full inflation, no hyperventilation — just good chest inhale plus stretching. So you stretch not with brute force, you stretch with breathing — with the deep, long inhale.

「現在練肩胛跟肩膀的活動度。慢呼吸，吸 5 秒、吐 5 秒。手肘上舉，吸氣的時候手肘往後移一點。吐氣，伸展——非常慢。不要把所有注意力放在伸展上：50/50——一半在呼吸（完整胸式擴張），一半在伸展。不需要吸到 100%，也不要過度換氣——好好的胸式吸氣加上伸展。重點是你不是用蠻力伸展，是用呼吸去伸展——用深、長的吸氣。」

You see the rib cage movement? You don't really know how many ribs are left — it's going in all directions: 360, forward, sides, and the back. Try to visualize your rib cage attached to your spine. You want all your ribs.

「看到肋廓的動作了嗎？你其實沒辦法分清楚剩下哪幾根肋骨在動——它是 360 度全方位在動：前、側、後。試著想像肋廓黏在脊椎上。你要的是每一根肋骨都在動。」

Now, exhale stretches. Pause after exhale. Hold the breath. Check your lower muscles, relax them. Gently lift your rib cage — your torso muscles work. Hold the breath, lift your rib cage, and pay attention to how the pressure changes. You'll feel low pressure. If your big muscles are off, and you open your chest very well, you can feel the pull on your larynx, on your tongue, as it pulls down. Can you feel that when you do it correctly? Yes. If you feel the pull, you're doing it correctly. You make your breathing muscles work, and you create this lower pressure. This is equivalent to what's happening at depth — at the bottom you don't muscle anything, the pressure is sucking it up. Same here: pay attention to your rib cage. If your torso muscles work, you can check rotation of intercostals, help with fingertips, lift higher, relax neck, relax tongue. If you want to feel this pull, this vacuum, allow it to fill up your back, allow vocal cords and larynx to stretch down.

「現在做吐氣式伸展。吐完氣後暫停，憋住氣。檢查下方肌群，放鬆它們。輕輕抬起肋廓——軀幹肌肉在工作。憋著氣，抬肋廓，注意壓力如何變化。你會感覺到低壓。如果大肌肉群關掉、胸打得很開，你會感覺到喉、舌頭被往下拉的拉力。正確做的時候能感覺到嗎？能。如果你感覺到那個拉力，就是做對了。你讓呼吸肌出力，創造這個低壓。這就跟深處的狀態一樣——在底部你不用肌肉去『吸』什麼，是壓力把它吸進去的。陸上做也一樣：注意肋廓。當軀幹肌出力時，你可以去檢查肋間肌的轉動、用指尖協助、把上方抬更高、放鬆頸部、放鬆舌頭。想要感覺那個拉力、那個真空感，就讓它把背部填滿、讓聲帶跟喉部被向下拉伸。」

When you want to stop, relax first — shoulders down first, then you'll feel air coming back in. We want to get back to neutral pressure before we start inhaling. If you have low pressure in the lungs and you inhale fast, it'll be unpleasant — you'll have a dry throat. Get back to neutral first, make sure there's no pull, then inhale softly. We want to focus on this nice stretch — and we want to have pull. If it's not too hard, push everything out — full exhale. For full exhale, contract your lower muscles more, compress your chest. Not only flat, but down as well. Then close your lips, close your vocal folds, and let the diaphragm suck down. We are queen suckers, suckers all over.

「想停的時候，先放鬆——先把肩膀放下，然後會感覺到氣自己回來。我們要先回到中性壓力，才開始吸氣。如果肺內是低壓你又快速吸氣，會很不舒服——會口乾。先回到中性，確認沒有拉力，再輕柔吸氣。重點是要有舒服的拉伸感——而且要有拉力。如果不會太難，就把全部氣推光——完整吐氣。完整吐氣時，下方肌肉收得更多、把胸壓扁。不只是壓平，還要往下壓。然後閉嘴、閉聲門，讓橫膈膜把（聲門/喉）往下吸。我們都是 suckers（被吸的人）（笑）。」

Let's do three rounds. Full exhale. If it's too easy, you can do double exhale. After 4–6 second exhale, 5-second pause — double exhale. You'll have an extra portion being pulled out. Some parts of your lungs are closed off, and you'll get an extra exhale. (Three rounds.) Three deeper inhales between. That's where your reserve, your progress is — make it nice. You want to train.

「做三輪。完整吐氣。如果太簡單，做 double exhale。4–6 秒的吐氣，停 5 秒——再做第二次吐氣。你會把另一部分被封閉的氣再排出來，那些原本關起來的肺部空間。（做三輪。）中間穿插三次深吸氣。這裡就是你的進步空間——要做得舒服，這是你在訓練的部分。」

Now let's do a strong stretch with the arms up. Exhale, then arms up — even stronger stretch. Relax neck and shoulders. Before the breath hold finishes, put arms down and emphasize the relaxation. We transition from stretch → stretch of neutral pressure → relaxation, and you feel the difference. So you can open the cage, but try to release tension on larynx, on diaphragm, and relax. Then you continue the breath hold — relax, observe how much easier it becomes. You can do another stretch within the same hold: open it, stretch more, then relax for 10 seconds, 5 seconds, observing.

「現在做手臂上舉的強伸展。吐氣，手臂上舉——更強的拉伸。放鬆頸部、肩膀。憋氣結束之前，把手臂放下、強調放鬆的感覺。我們從『拉伸』→『中性壓力下的拉伸』→『放鬆』，去感受三者的差異。你可以打開肋廓，但試著釋放喉部、橫膈膜的張力。然後繼續憋氣——放鬆，觀察變得多輕鬆。你也可以在同一次憋氣裡做第二輪：打開、伸展更多、然後放鬆 5–10 秒去觀察。」

Remember this. The same thing should happen underwater. If at depth you feel pressure, you're going to expand the cage somehow. If you do this movement — lower chest, intercostals, costal muscles — you should feel nice again. So it's not a fight with pressure. It's not hard at all. With adaptation, with stretching exercises, it's easy. I can't dive deep on the first day, of course. I do some stretching, do a meditation dive at 50% of my best — first day is 50%, then I rest, recover. Second day, easier — 60%. By day three, 80%. Adopted, technique there, position there. I don't feel pressure at all. At depth, you feel some stretch but no fighting. Time flies fast in the deep relaxed state — you think it's 5 seconds but it's 30. If your nervous system is tense, time doesn't fly fast.

「記住這個。水下也會發生一樣的事。如果在深處感覺到壓力，你會用某種方式擴張肋廓。做這個動作——下胸、肋間肌、costal 肌——就會再次感覺舒服。所以這不是跟壓力對抗。一點都不難。有了適應、有了伸展訓練，就很輕鬆。第一天我當然沒辦法下深。我會做點伸展、做個 50% 自己最佳深度的冥想潛水——第一天 50%，然後休息恢復。第二天比較輕鬆——60%。第三天 80%。已經適應了，技術跟位置都到位。我完全沒感覺到壓力。在深處你會感覺到一些拉伸，但沒有對抗。在那種深度放鬆的狀態下時間過得很快——你以為是 5 秒，其實是 30 秒。如果神經系統緊繃，時間就不會過得快。」

OK, let's start. Five deep inhales, good stroke and stretch of the arms, and awareness of neutral pressure — coming back to neutral and observing the difference from stretch to neutral. Comfortable inhale with good technique — doesn't need to be 100%, can be 80%, 90%, without extra tension in auxiliary muscles. Upper body inhale, chest inhale, but with good technique — upper part more passive. Body scan at the same time: shoulders left? Same as before the dive — tidal breathing in the chair, but awareness is there.

「好，開始。五次深吸氣，配合手臂的伸展，還有對中性壓力的覺察——每次回到中性壓力，觀察伸展跟中性之間的差異。舒服的吸氣 + 好技術——不用 100%，80%、90% 就好，輔助肌肉不要繃。上半身吸氣、胸式吸氣，但用好技術——上方比較被動。同時做 body scan：肩膀放下了嗎？跟下潛前一樣——靜坐潮式呼吸，但帶著覺察。」

Anybody remember how to do recovery? Chest active inhale. We don't have time for hook breath because we do recovery in a vertical position — there's compression, there's pressure. We need more airflow. We don't have time for hook. Exhale is passive because of the pressure — air will go out on its own. It's important to be mindful of the change.

「誰記得怎麼做 recovery breath？主動的胸式吸氣。我們沒時間做 hook breath，因為 recovery 是在垂直姿勢做的——身體有壓縮、有壓力。我們需要更大的空氣流量，沒時間做 hook。吐氣是被動的，因為水壓會自己把氣推出去。重要的是覺察這個轉換的當下。」

Because if you do recovery breath with tension, you don't want this tension in your neck on the surface. If you train your intercostal muscles and you lift your lower ribs and mid-chest — not the upper part — it should feel easier. You feel like the chest is working, but there's no tension. Q: So not breathing up in the top part? Yeah, it should be there, but it's faster. Second thing: the primary drive is from low ribs and mid-chest. The upper part should be moving, but if you focus too much on the upper part, it heads up to your neck and shoulders. So we want to learn this good habit — what the ideal inhale is: the least tension.

「因為如果你 recovery 帶著張力做，你不會想在水面還帶著頸部的張力。如果你訓練肋間肌，靠下肋、中胸抬起來——不是上胸——應該會感覺輕鬆。你會感覺胸在工作，但沒有張力。提問：所以不是用上胸吸氣？對，上胸還是有在動，但比較快、不主導。第二點：主要驅動來自下肋跟中胸。上胸是有在動，但如果你太注重上胸，張力會往上跑到頸部跟肩膀。所以我們要學這個好習慣——理想的吸氣是『最少張力』。」

…lift our shoulders and rib cage, expand our lungs — but it's not effort, it's hard work. So how do we do this with the least amount of unnecessary tension? Yeah, we don't need that. OK, how was the stretch? Did you notice this change between stretch and the usual? Even though you might have some CO2 or urge to breathe — was it an obvious change in how your nervous system feels, from stretch to usual? Stretch to the usual: engagement of the big muscles, neutral position. Was it immediately nicer? Yes. There's a lot of details to track. We'll do two more rounds to memorize it, and I'll do the voiceover. OK, it was easy — extra reps for those who found it easy.

「⋯抬肩膀、抬肋廓、擴張肺——這不是出力，是『硬功夫』。所以我們要怎麼用最少不必要的張力來做？對，多餘的張力不需要。好，那個伸展感覺如何？有沒有注意到伸展前後的神經系統感受不一樣？即使你有點 CO2、有點想呼吸——從『伸展』回到『日常吸氣』的感受變化明顯嗎？伸展 → 日常：啟動大肌肉、中性位置。是不是立刻感覺好很多？是。要追蹤的細節很多。再做兩輪把它記住，我會邊做邊講。好，剛剛覺得簡單的人——再加碼幾次。」

Until the first contraction, if you can't relax, there's tension somewhere. Same applies at depth. If you have a lot of pressure in the trachea, etc — do more breath holds, more breath work. Make sure you have more mobility, relax the tongue better, no tension. Then you'll progress, you'll be nice, you'll have less chance of injuries. If there's tension, the risk of injury goes up. If everything is nice and you enjoy the compression, that's the good thing.

「在第一個 contraction 出現之前，如果你還沒辦法完全放鬆，表示某處有張力。深處也是一樣。如果氣管那邊壓力很大——做更多憋氣、更多呼吸訓練。確保活動度更好、舌頭更放鬆、沒有張力。然後你會進步、會輕鬆、受傷機率變低。有張力，受傷風險就上升。如果一切舒服、能享受被壓縮的感覺，那就對了。」

Technique also affects tension. If you're tired by the way you get down, you have CO2, you have contractions — that's your technique. You need to improve your technique to get down without contractions. Don't push contractions on the way down. Don't push the breath on the way down — sometimes — that's a technique issue. Relax before the dive. Technique-wise, you want to get down with no contractions. Do CO2 tables to increase your CO2 tolerance, because all those movements are not good — they greatly increase the risk of injury.

「技術也會影響張力。如果你下潛的方式讓自己累、有 CO2、有 contraction——那是技術問題。要改進技術，做到無 contraction 下潛。不要在下潛時硬撐 contraction，也不要在下潛途中 push 氣——那也是技術問題。下潛前要放鬆。技術上，目標是無 contraction 下潛。做 CO2 tables 來提高 CO2 耐受度，因為那些動作（強撐 contraction、push 氣）對身體不好——會大幅提高受傷風險。」

We can do reverse packing — who knows what reverse packing is? We can do reverse packing — same as packing but in reverse. General stretching. Don't try to push the exhale or breath force too much into contractions, because it's possible to get injury — dry squeeze, lung squeeze, or tracheal squeeze. It's not easy of course, but we had some athletes — competitive athletes — who actually had blood.

「我們可以做 reverse packing——誰知道 reverse packing 是什麼？跟 packing 一樣、但方向相反。一般性的伸展。不要在 contraction 時硬推吐氣或氣力——有可能受傷：dry squeeze、肺擠壓（lung squeeze）或氣管擠壓（tracheal squeeze）。當然不容易發生，但我們確實有過選手——競賽選手——咳出血。」

Five slow comfortable inhales — 80% of full lungs. Inhale, exhale. (Pause.) Stretch — nice stretch. Open your rib cage. Even when you stretch, you can open your chest a bit more. Relax. Feel the difference. (Student: Really felt different the second time.) If on inhale you increase tension, you have extra pressure, you might pass out. With inhale, if you do stretches and tend to overshoot, do steps. With inhale, you want a slower system — give your body more time to adapt to pressure. If your body adapts in 30 seconds, that's much easier than 10 seconds. In 10 seconds you might get dizzy because pressure compresses your blood flow and your heart can't push.

「五次慢的舒服吸氣——80% 滿肺。吸氣、吐氣。（停。）伸展——舒服的伸展。打開肋廓。伸展時也可以再多打開一點胸。放鬆，感覺差異。（學員：第二次真的有差。）吸氣時如果增加張力，會有額外壓力、可能會 pass out。吸氣式伸展容易過頭時，做分段。吸氣時要慢一點——給身體更多時間適應壓力。身體在 30 秒內適應 vs. 10 秒內適應，前者輕鬆很多。10 秒太快，壓力壓血管、心臟推不動 → 會暈。」

More belly, less chest. Slow exhale. Controlled inhale, reduced volume. Slow in, slow out. (One more.) Exhale, hold the breath, stretch. Feel the vacuum, feel the stretch. Alternate between good stretch and relaxation. Stretch and relaxation. Second round was a bit easier here? Overall, if you do inhale exercises and exhale exercises, you'll feel less pressure after each session.

「多用腹部，少用胸部。慢吐氣。控制吸氣、減少吸氣量。慢進、慢出。（再一次。）吐氣、憋住、伸展。感受真空、感受伸展。在『好的伸展』跟『放鬆』之間切換。伸展、放鬆。第二輪是不是輕鬆一點？整體來說，吸氣式伸展跟吐氣式伸展都做，每一次練完都會感覺壓力少一點。」

Third one — let's go a bit longer. (Inhale, exhale.) Then we start the next one — exhale, hold the breath, stretch your diaphragm. So that's how you work with pressure underwater: you put yourself into a low-pressure stretching position, enjoying the stretch, and the dry exercise adopts you to this low-pressure position. You learn how to enjoy it. You warm up, breathe out, and your nervous system becomes more adapted — doesn't react with the urge to breathe too fast. Same underwater: you have compression, you have a low-pressure situation, and you might become tense. That tension would make equalization harder. So you should enjoy the stretch. Warm up, breathe out, and enjoy the stretch.

「第三輪——這次做久一點。（吸、吐。）然後接下一輪——吐氣、憋住、伸展橫膈膜。這就是水下處理壓力的方式：你把自己放進一個低壓伸展的位置，享受伸展感，陸上的練習就是讓你適應這個低壓位置。學會享受它。暖身、吐氣，神經系統就會適應——不會立刻反應出『要趕快呼吸』。水下也是一樣：你有壓縮、有低壓，可能會緊張。緊張就會讓平壓變難。所以要享受伸展。暖身、吐氣，享受拉伸。」

…you'll feel it's hard. It's just a lack of adaptation and exposure to the stretch. The more patient, the more regular stretches we do — they become nice, gentle breath holds. You don't need to push it. Just get more familiar with this.

「⋯你會覺得難。那只是因為還沒適應、暴露不夠。耐心、規律地做小伸展——它們會變成輕鬆舒服的憋氣。不用硬推，只是讓自己越來越熟悉這個感覺。」

Really — allow your diaphragm to stretch, this area to stretch, and your receptors don't react. We have chemoreceptors which react to CO2 and give us the urge to breathe, and we also have mechanoreceptors that react to the stretch.

「真的——讓橫膈膜去伸展、讓這個區域去伸展，感受器就不會反應。我們有 chemoreceptor（化學感受器）對 CO2 起反應，給我們呼吸欲望；也有 mechanoreceptor（機械感受器）對拉伸起反應。規律拉伸就是在訓練這兩個感受器的耐受度。」

Student: When I exhale fully, compress, and then stretch up — my brain interprets it as inhale. Is that because I feel air going into my lungs? Alexey: Could be the muscle association — it's associated with inhale. If you close your mouth and vocal cords, with no inhale, and you feel the stretch, the pressure is low and you feel the stretch — that's it. It shouldn't be merged with the inhale, especially in the first 10–30 seconds. Student: Sorry — it was the first time I felt that. I thought you took a breath because you can't make the position. It's unusual. Yeah, it's unusual.

「學員：當我完全吐氣、壓縮、然後往上伸展——我大腦會把它解讀成在吸氣。是因為我『感覺氣進到肺裡』嗎？Alexey：可能是肌肉聯想——這個動作跟吸氣有關聯。但如果你閉嘴、閉聲門，根本沒有吸氣，又能感覺到拉伸——那是低壓伸展的感覺，就對了。前 10–30 秒不應該跟吸氣混淆。學員：抱歉，這是我第一次有這個感覺。我以為你是因為做不到那個姿勢才偷吸氣，所以很意外。對，那是不太尋常的感覺。」

Full exhale. Hold the breath, and let's go. Move it out.

「完整吐氣。憋住氣，開始。把它推出去。」

OK, let's do change of pressure — a little harder exercise. The anaconda. Change of pressure from stretch. Without arm down, exhale. 2 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds stretch. Then inhale half lung volume. That's the safe way to do this exercise — not get dizzy. Get there slowly. We do the anaconda first, then half-volume. Then upper body inhale, lower chest. We try this movement — air portion up, down, up, down. Think about it as an air bubble — a few cycles. Then top up: only after 20–30 seconds, top up all the way to full lungs. Then with full lungs, push that bubble up and down again. Same movement — just feels different at half lungs vs. full lungs.

「好，做壓力變化練習——比較難的。Anaconda。從拉伸開始的壓力變化。手不要拉繩，吐氣。停 2 秒、5 秒、10 秒做拉伸。然後吸入『半肺』空氣。這是安全做法——不會暈。慢慢進入。先做 anaconda，再到半肺。胸式吸氣，下胸。然後做這個動作——空氣上下、上下移動。想像是個氣泡——幾個循環。然後 top-up：等 20–30 秒後，再把氣補到全肺。全肺狀態下，再次把氣泡上下移動。一樣的動作——只是半肺跟全肺感覺不一樣。」

Inhale, low chest, and we'll do the same thing — we'll try to do this movement of the air portion, up and down, up and down. Think about it as an air bubble, maybe, a few times, and then we pop up. Only after 20 seconds or so, 30 seconds, we pop up all the way to the end. Inhale, and then with the full lungs, we'll push that from down. So that'll be this movement. So it's pretty much the same movement — it'll just feel different with the empty lungs, with half-full lungs, with full lungs. And it's a good warm-up — you can do this before the dive, you can do this in the morning. It's another exercise which is pretty good. Warm-up, fast. So it'll get you the change of pressure — you relax, you push it up from down.

「吸氣，下胸，做一樣的事——把這團氣上下、上下移動。把它想成一個氣泡，做幾個循環，然後再 pop up。等過了大約 20 秒、30 秒，才一路 pop up 到底。吸氣，全肺狀態下，再把氣從下面推上去。就是這個動作。基本上是同樣的動作——只是空肺、半肺、全肺感覺不一樣。這是個好暖身——下潛前可以做，早上可以做。是另一個不錯的練習，快速暖身。它會帶你進入壓力變化的狀態——放鬆，從下面把它推上去。」

You can do this before the dive, in the morning — it's another good exercise. Get used to the change of pressure: relax, push it up and down, so you can relax with full lungs too. It's a good stretch to dive on. Pull up, pull up, pull up — then push down, push down, push down. OK, let's do five breathing cycles. Long breath hold — 30, 40, maybe 50 seconds — with movement, you'll have a good urge to breathe. Five cycles: inhale, exhale; come back; hold the breath; cycles of stretch and relaxation. Breathe up, breathe down, breathe up, down.

「可以下潛前做、早上做——這是另一個好練習。讓身體習慣壓力變化：放鬆、把氣推上推下，這樣全肺狀態下也能放鬆。對下潛來說是個好的伸展暖身。往上拉、往上拉、往上拉——然後往下推、往下推、往下推。好，做五個呼吸循環。長憋氣——30、40、或許 50 秒——配合上下移動，會有明顯的呼吸欲望。五個循環：吸、吐；回來；憋住；做伸展與放鬆的循環。氣往上、往下、往上、往下。」

It's a weird feeling — "I don't want to breathe, I don't want to exhale." It's a dynamic exercise. If you do this before diving, you work on a different stretch, you work on positive pressure as well in one go. A few cycles of this before going in the water — you're pretty warmed up. OK, second round. Take it slower, do the build-up so you feel comfortable. If you need more steps, do more steps. It can be 0%, 30%, 60%, 90%. You can do more steps.

「這是個怪感覺——『我不想呼吸、我不想吐氣』。這是個動態練習。下潛前做，可以在同一個過程裡訓練不同的伸展、也訓練正壓力。下水前做幾個循環，就算暖身完成。好，第二輪。放慢一點，做建構式進階，讓自己舒服。如果需要更多階段，就多做幾階。可以是 0%、30%、60%、90%。也可以拉更多階段。」

That's where the pressure comes from. You want to control the abdominal muscle. And then top up all the way. No breathing, no breathing. Hold your breath. And work with a higher pressure. If you're a little dizzy, do it a little slower and longer. And maybe if somebody is dizzy, don't do 100%, do 80%. With more practice — maybe after one week, two weeks of practice — you will feel that you're adapted. But in the beginning, with too much pressure, you feel that you're not adapted to the pressure: don't do 100%. So you can do full exhale, like zero, 40, 80. The goal will be zero, 50, 100.

「壓力是從這裡來的。你要控制腹肌。然後 top up，一路補到滿。不要呼吸、不要呼吸。憋住氣。在更高的壓力下工作。如果有點暈，做慢一點、長一點。如果有人會暈，不要做 100%，做 80% 就好。練習一兩週後，你會感覺自己適應了。但一開始壓力太大、還沒適應的時候，不要做 100%。可以做完整吐氣，分段 0、40、80。目標再進階到 0、50、100。」

Then purse your lips — not to unintentionally ventilate because you want to breathe. I saw you starting to breathe — don't do that, you need to keep self-control. If you purse your lips and when you add the portion, really give a small portion — not allowing yourself to do that unintentionally. Small portion and continue. OK, five breathing cycles, let's go. (Inhale, exhale.) If you feel warmed up, you'll need two inhales. If you keep tight breathing, only 30%, less — exhale.

「然後抿嘴——避免無意識換氣，因為身體會想呼吸。我剛剛看到你開始呼吸了——不要這樣，要保持自制。抿嘴後，加氣（top-up）的時候，真的給自己一小口——不要讓自己不小心換掉一大口。一小口，繼續。好，五個呼吸循環，開始。（吸、吐。）如果你已經暖開了，可能需要兩次吸氣。如果保持緊湊呼吸，只有 30% 或更少——吐氣。」

Now it's longer. So maybe two top-ups, or three top-ups. Control the portion. Small top-up, and we continue.

「這次長一點。可以做兩次或三次 top-up。控制每口的量。小口的 top-up，繼續。」

Q: I'm still conditioned to do the anaconda — to keep your diaphragm sort of open. But here it's more about air bubbles moving up and down. Alexey: Yeah, you're not keeping your diaphragm static. Since we want the anaconda to work at the same time, it will work — you don't keep the diaphragm in one position. You move the air bubble up, and the air bubble down. (Group does another round.) Make it even longer. Cool, that's pretty good.

「提問：我還是習慣做 anaconda 的方式，把橫膈膜保持打開。但這個練習是讓氣泡上下移動。Alexey：對，這個練習不需要把橫膈膜固定在某個位置。anaconda 跟它可以同時運作——你不是把橫膈膜定住，是讓氣泡上下移動。（再做一輪。）這次更長一點。好，做得不錯。」

Receive the air bubble going up and down, up and down. Top-up small portions, no relief breath. Work on range of motion: diaphragm. Then we put it together into one exercise where we work on stretch, extension. Make sure your rib cage is more mobile. We need overall mobility. We build it with different exercises — minimum being side stretches, opening, closing, combined with breathing, and gentle stretches. You can do more — bridges, lying on a barrel and breathing, etc. But the bare minimum is sides, front, back, working the shoulder blade area. Four directions: 1, 2, 3, 4 — roll the blades. That's already a good base for the streamline position and good awareness of the breath out, so you can control unconscious tension. And then diaphragm, and abdominal muscles.

「讓氣泡上下、上下移動。Top-up 一小口，不要 relief breath（中間放氣）。練的是橫膈膜活動範圍。然後把這些整合成一個練習，同時做 stretch + extension。確保肋廓更靈活。我們需要整體的活動度，靠不同練習慢慢累積——最低限度就是側彎、開合、配合呼吸、加上輕度伸展。可以做更多——橋式、躺在器械上邊呼吸等等。但最低限度就是『前、後、左、右』四方向，加上肩胛區。四個方向：1、2、3、4——肩胛旋轉。這就是 streamline 姿勢的基礎，對吐氣的覺察也夠用，能控制不必要的張力。然後是橫膈膜跟腹肌。」

That's the breath program for the day. Your homework: repeat regularly, in a nice way — not like we did now for over an hour. You can do all the exercises in 10 minutes, 15 minutes — just warm up. Or do more positions, half an hour. But if you do it 10–15 minutes, you can do it every day. The goal is not to make it intense, but to adapt the nervous system so it feels nice and easy. Empty lungs is easy, full lungs is easy — that's the idea.

「以上就是今天的呼吸計畫。回家作業：規律地做、舒服地做——不像今天我們做了一個多小時那樣。整套練習其實 10–15 分鐘就能做完——當作暖身。或者做更多姿勢、半小時也可以。但如果是 10–15 分鐘，你可以天天做。目標不是強度，而是讓神經系統適應，覺得自然舒服。空肺輕鬆、滿肺輕鬆——就是這個目標。」

Q: Do you think there's a limit for men in freediving? Personally — do you feel there's a limit for you? Alexey: I just think it's something to challenge me a little. I don't want to be really close to the edge. Some guys go around there early on, but no one is competing, so there's not much point in pushing deeper. I need competition. But I think 145+ is possible. If in five years there's a competition where the top is 150, I can't do it now this year, but in five years it's over (achievable).

「提問：男子自由潛水有極限嗎？對你個人——你覺得有極限嗎？Alexey：我覺得這是個能挑戰我自己的事。我不想太貼近極限。有些人很早就到那邊，但沒人在比，所以再下深沒什麼意思。我需要比賽。但我覺得 145m+ 是可能的。如果五年後有比賽 top 是 150m，我今年做不到，但五年後可以。」

Q: Is it about the number, or about competition? Alexey: Competition for sure. The number is not so much. It's a nice number, but it should also be strategic. If I do something, it has to be well-built — has to support a story, has to have good production, etc. I wouldn't just do a record because I want it. I don't really need extra records. I already have 40+, so the records are far from what they used to be. If I do this, what does it do for the sport? Even though we organize events, I don't compete in them — I use that time to get my technique back. I need my mouthfill of 105m, my equalization. So my equalization is my thing. It's still there. I'm sharpening my peak — always going for the strongest point. No rush. It's nice, it's a challenge — I'm not a natural for "no-fins" diving. I always wanted to be a no-fins specialist. If your feet are good for monofin, they're not good for no-fins. Different predisposition. The best no-fins divers are great with that, but not great with monofin. Their ankle isn't soft enough. My ankle is very soft — good for monofin. For no-fins I have to relearn. Efficiency is average. Hard, but interesting.

「提問：是數字本身、還是比賽？Alexey：絕對是比賽。數字本身沒那麼重要。是個漂亮的數字，但也要 strategic。我做一件事，必須做得完整——要有故事、要有 production。我不會為了破紀錄而破紀錄。我不需要再多紀錄了。我已經有 40 多項世界紀錄，現在的紀錄離以前差很多。如果我去做，這對運動有什麼貢獻？我們辦比賽，但我自己不下去比——我會利用那段時間練回我的技術。我需要 105m 的 mouthfill、需要平壓。平壓是我的專長，一直都在。我在打磨我的高峰——永遠針對最強的點。不急。挑戰本身很好——我不是 no-fins（不戴蛙鞋）天生好手。我一直想當 no-fins 專家。但 monofin（單蹼）腳好的人，no-fins 通常不行。生理條件不一樣。最好的 no-fins 選手單蹼通常普通，腳踝不夠軟。我腳踝很軟——適合單蹼。No-fins 要重新學，效率普通。很難，但有趣。」

Q: Are you preparing in a special way for competition? How long? Alexey: Preparation is always there. There's no point in the year where I'm not doing anything. Maybe 1–2 weeks per year I'm not in optimization mode. Always: base period, specialized period, pre-competition, competition, post-competition recovery. More base preparation here, more specialized exercises (arms, legs, cardio) there. Then less exercises and more drills, more peak. Pre-competition is "do it all" — more drills, hitting the peak. I do it myself, but I also have coaches on my team who design it for me, send me training routines, I follow them. Even though I know what to do, I like having someone else write it for me. It's possible to tell that person "I'm done." I delegate the training operation to a coach, because I have a lot of other responsibilities — it's not my full focus as an athlete.

「提問：你比賽前會做特別準備嗎？多久？Alexey：準備一直都在。一年中沒有任何時段我什麼都不做。大概一年只有 1–2 週不在 optimization mode。永遠是：基礎期 → 專項期 → 賽前期 → 比賽期 → 賽後恢復期。基礎期多基礎準備，專項期更多專項練習（手、腿、cardio）。然後減少訓練量、增加技術 drill、推高峰。賽前期是『全做』——更多 drill，推到高峰。我自己會安排，但我的教練團也會幫我設計課表、寄訓練給我，我就跟著做。即使我自己知道該做什麼，我喜歡有人幫我寫——這樣可以跟那個人說『我做完了』。我把訓練的執行委託給教練，因為我有其他很多事要處理——當運動員不是我唯一的重心。」

Q: Same coaches for years? Alexey: About 12.5 years. There was a period when I wasn't training with a coach, and at some point — it's just easier, more motivation when someone is waiting for your reply: "How was the training?" That interaction is important. Training by yourself, you can do it for some time, but it becomes less reliable. You can go crazy-driven, or rely on it less. Some people can do it themselves, but if you see better results with a coach, that's a strong signal. You adapt — coaching is their job, you focus on execution.

「提問：同樣的教練很久了？Alexey：大約 12.5 年。有一段時間我沒跟教練訓練，後來覺得——有人等你回報『今天訓練如何？』動力會強很多。這個互動很重要。自己訓練短期可以，久了會不可靠。要不就會 over-driven，要不就會鬆懈。有些人能完全靠自己，但如果跟教練的成果比較好，那就是訊號。你要學著適應——教練的工作是設計，你專心執行。」

Q: Where's your favorite training place? Alexey: No favorite — I have a top ten. Great places, great communities. I care less about conditions, more about the school, the community. I like coming here. We always put together an enthusiastic, good-energy group. I like Bali — it's a big center in the world. Even if conditions aren't amazing, you get more diving time. Southeast Asia: Philippines has good spots, but a bit hot for my taste — I don't like diving in 31°C water. Here it's a bit cooler now. Thailand has some women teaching there but not much depth. Main world locations: Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean, North/South Europe, Korea. For someone in Europe, Red Sea and Mediterranean. Red Sea is the hub now — Saudi Arabia. Some spots in China, but challenging timing. Mediterranean in summer — narrow window but cool. Spots in Greece, Italy, France. I like France. Great community there, friends competing since 2005. Then Caribbean: Mexico, Sonora, Pacific side, La Paz. There are competitions in some places, schools in others. Atlantic side: schools in cenotes — great shots. I like cenotes a lot. Then Honduras, Jamaica, Bahamas. Miami too — sharks. Kelp forest in San Diego, Pacific side — cool spots. So that's the map. As a freediver, you pretty much travel around the world.

「提問：你最愛的訓練地點是哪？Alexey：沒有最愛——有 Top 10。好的地方、好的社群。我比較不在意條件，比較在意學校、社群。我喜歡來這（Bali）。我們總是能聚集一群熱情、能量好的學員。Bali 我喜歡——是世界上一個大的中心。即使條件不是最好，下潛時間多。東南亞：菲律賓有不錯的點，但對我太熱——我不喜歡 31°C 的水。這裡（Tulamben）現在涼一點了。泰國有些女教練，但深度不夠。世界主要場：東南亞、地中海、北/南歐、韓國。對歐洲人來說，紅海跟地中海。紅海現在是 hub——沙烏地阿拉伯。中國有些點，但時機難。地中海夏天——窗口窄但很棒。希臘、義大利、法國各有點。我喜歡法國。社群很棒，2005 開始就有朋友在那邊比賽。加勒比海：墨西哥、Sonora、太平洋側、La Paz。有些地方有比賽，有些有學校。大西洋側：cenotes（地下水洞）裡的學校——拍出來的畫面超棒。我超愛 cenotes。然後 Honduras、Jamaica、Bahamas。Miami 也有——鯊魚。聖地牙哥太平洋側的海帶森林——很酷。這就是地圖。當自由潛水員基本上就是環遊世界。」

Q: You dive both fresh water and salt water. How different is that? Alexey: Cenotes are fresh, lakes are fresh, ice diving (like with my friend Maly Marsh) is fresh. We have ice conditions — 91 meters there, deeper than the ice. Fresh water is different. You adapt your gear. In ideal warm-water conditions, salt water is nicer and easier. With even a 1.5–2mm wet suit, I'm still negatively buoyant in salt water — without any weights. So if I put on a 1.5mm to feel a bit warmer, I can still feel heavy at 100m, more effort to come up than with salt water. So salt water is a "balanced effort" — fresh water is two-fold faster going down, two-fold more effort coming up. Salt water: more effort on the first part (10m or so), then it's easy to come up. Small difference — depends on body. I have more muscle, less fat — I can't really compensate with my voice (laughs)... anyway, with 5mm it'd be too much, I might float, and pressure compresses 5mm at depth so I'd lose buoyancy anyway. So I just play with the gear.

「提問：淡水跟鹹水有什麼差別？Alexey：Cenotes 是淡水、湖是淡水、冰下潛水（跟我朋友 Maly Marsh 一起做的）也是淡水。我們有冰下潛 91m 的條件，比冰層還深。淡水確實不同。你會調整裝備。理想的溫水條件下，鹹水比較舒服好潛。即使穿 1.5–2mm 防寒衣，我在鹹水裡仍是負浮力——不需要配重。如果穿 1.5mm 想暖一點，到 100m 還是會覺得很重，回程比鹹水費力。所以鹹水是『平衡的費力』——淡水是『下沉快兩倍，回程多兩倍力』。鹹水則是前段（10m 以內）費力，之後回程容易。差別不大，看身體。我肌肉多脂肪少（笑）⋯穿 5mm 太多，可能會浮，但深度下 5mm 會被壓縮，我又會失去浮力。所以就是調整裝備。」

Q: I'm curious about coaching at your level — where you're doing things nobody else has done. How does that conversation work? Alexey: It's a conversation. I discuss goals, focus areas. But basically, the coaches I have are very high-level — swimming coaches, team coaches in swimming. There's overlap of student-coaches and peer-coaches. The knowledge of all the main tables, like our breath-hold tables, is well-controlled. They have enough knowledge to design programs for me.

「提問：對你這個程度的人來說，教練怎麼指導已經超越他們經驗的人？Alexey：是一個對話。我討論目標、聚焦的方向。但基本上我的教練都是高水平的——游泳教練、團隊（泳隊）教練。有 student-coach 跟 peer-coach 的重疊。所有主要的訓練表（像我們的憋氣表）都很成熟。他們的知識足以幫我設計課表。」

Sheila: Hi Alexey, I'm Sheila — got connected with Dina when I was training in Amed. Like her, I'm an autoimmune fighter. I just want to know — freediving is already an extreme sport. What's your perspective on people with autoimmune disorders? Their future in the sport? Special exercises you'd recommend?

「Sheila：嗨 Alexey，我是 Sheila——之前在 Amed 訓練時認識了 Dina。跟她一樣，我也是自體免疫病的戰士。我想問——自由潛水本身就是極限運動。你怎麼看自體免疫的人在這個運動裡？我們的未來？你會推薦什麼特別的訓練？」

Alexey: Dina has more direct experience than I do. In general, freediving and breath work are really healthy. When you do breath work, it helps your nervous system, helps with stress. When you dive, I think it's not worth pushing it to your limits in an autoimmune situation — but if you dive with nice, gentle adaptation, breath work and diving become a healthy activity. You treat it as something that improves your health through awareness, nervous-system management. That I can support — without doing the extreme part. You still need to do all the other things: nutrition, sleep, the medical side, which I'm not the expert on. The breath part will help you be less anxious, more aware of breathing muscles. I think it's excellent for health. So: breath work, yes. Pushing limits in extreme freediving — be careful. Even in pool, water meditation, water static — water adds an extra level of complexity (pressure), and an extra level of challenge as you move (CO2 buildup, urge to breathe — a stress factor). So you train your nervous system to be more resistant to stress — which is good for anyone, also good for many other diseases. If you're less stressed, maybe you'll also stay better on track with nutrition and lifestyle.

「Alexey：Dina 比我有更直接的經驗。整體來說，自由潛水跟呼吸練習都是很健康的。做呼吸練習時，它幫助神經系統、幫助處理壓力。下潛部分，我覺得自體免疫狀態下不該推極限——但如果是輕鬆、漸進地適應地潛，呼吸練習跟潛水會變成健康活動。把它當成『透過覺察、神經系統管理來促進健康』的一件事。這部分我可以支持——但不要做極限的部分。你還是需要做其他事：營養、睡眠、醫療面，這些我不是專家。呼吸的部分會幫你減少焦慮、對呼吸肌更有覺察。我覺得對健康是極好的。所以：呼吸練習，做。極限自由潛水，要小心。即使是泳池、水中冥想、水中靜態憋氣——水多了一層複雜度（壓力），加上動態時（CO2 累積、呼吸欲望這個壓力源）又多一層挑戰。所以你訓練神經系統對壓力的抗性——這對任何人都好，對很多疾病也好。少一點壓力，可能也會幫你更好地維持飲食跟生活方式。」

Q: Compared to decades ago, technique is different. For yourself — any changes you'd want for each discipline, beyond equalization and apnea skills? Alexey: Every year there's more focus on technique — and that's correct. The way you do your stroke is directly related to performance. Less tension, less energy use — you need technique. Technique keeps getting better. 20 years ago freediving had more focus on relaxation and less on technique. Each year, technique becomes more important. Top athletes need to move more. They need to break through with relaxation skills and technical skills. For me, I do exercises every year — small movements per discipline. Not much has changed for me in the last few years. From the very first years I had good technique because of swimming background. Some fine-tuning. Gear: fins became softer. More ankle movement, less body push. More relaxation in the body, more precise control of the blade with feet and ankles. Less hips and body, more in the ankles. Very individual — depends on body type, arm length, hip mobility. If someone comes from synchronized swimming or breaststroke, they have a great foundation. So general answer: more technique awareness, and that's good. If you want to be a better freediver, spend time on swimming skills.

「提問：跟幾十年前比，技術不一樣了。你自己——除了平壓跟憋氣以外，每個項目你會想做什麼改變或練什麼新 drill？Alexey：每年都越來越強調技術——這是對的。你的划水方式直接決定表現。要少張力、少耗能——就靠技術。技術一直在進步。20 年前自由潛水比較強調放鬆，比較不強調技術；每年技術變得更重要。頂尖選手要動得更多。他們需要在『放鬆技巧』跟『技術技巧』兩邊都突破。對我自己，每年都做練習——每個項目都會有小的調整。最近幾年我的技術沒什麼變動。從最早期我就有不錯的技術，因為以前游泳背景。只是 fine-tuning。裝備上：蛙鞋變軟了。更多踝部動作、身體少推。身體更放鬆、更精準地用腳跟踝控制蹼。少用腰跟身體，多用踝。很個人化——看身體類型、臂長、髖部活動度。如果是從韻律泳或蛙泳轉過來的，基礎很好。所以總結：技術意識更強，這是好事。如果想成為更好的自由潛水員，花時間練游泳技巧。」

Q: Is there anything you're still confused about, or want to investigate more? Alexey: Safety. There are some areas like the DCS problem — the kind of incidents at the boundary, where some people have DCI cases. Less so because of nitrogen-saturating tissues, more because of bubble escape somewhere — bubbles that get into brain circulation. So traumas with deep dives, positive dives — there are some accidents. That's the area that needs more study right now: pressure, DCI, decompression cage — cerebral arterial bubble escape. Some guys had no apparent issues but still got bubble escape — that's something that can happen at depth, or with injuries / squeezes etc. Maybe a squeeze and through the squeeze a bubble escapes. So this area needs more study.

「提問：你還有什麼覺得困惑、想深入研究的領域？Alexey：安全。有些區域——像 DCS（減壓症）的問題——邊界附近的事故，有些人會出現 DCI（減壓病）。比較不是因為氮氣飽和組織，比較是因為氣泡從某處逃逸——進到腦循環。所以深潛、正壓潛水會有些事故。這是現在最需要研究的：壓力、DCI、cerebral arterial bubble escape（腦動脈氣泡栓塞）。有些選手看起來沒事但還是出現氣泡逃逸——這在深處、或受傷／squeeze 後可能發生。可能因為一次 squeeze，氣泡就趁機從那邊跑出來。這個領域需要更多研究。」

OK guys, now — thank you to all of you for the experiences. Thank you! Before we do individual pictures, let's do my group picture in the world of fame. Let's do a group picture all together, and then…

「好，大家——感謝各位給我這些經驗。謝謝！在個別合照之前，先來個團體照——『世界名人堂』的合照。先大合照，再來其他⋯」