WEBVTT

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This episode is sponsored by Transcend, a veteran

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And if you want to hear more about Transcend

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and their story, listen to episode 808 with the

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founder, Ernie Colling. or go to transcendcompany

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.com. Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast.

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As always, my name is James Gearing, and this

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week it is my absolute honor to welcome on the

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show world champion freediver Alexei Molchanov

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and founder of The Six, Sonia McVeigh. Now, in

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this conversation, we discuss a host of topics,

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from Alexei's exposure to freediving as a child,

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the trauma of losing his mother, the importance

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of cardiovascular training, lung capacity, overcoming

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fear, and the incredible work that Alexi and

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Sonia are doing together to combine their skill

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sets and bring them to the fire service. Now,

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before we get to this incredible conversation,

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as I say every week, please just take a moment,

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go to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe

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to the show, leave feedback, and leave a rating.

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Every single five -star rating truly does elevate

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this podcast, therefore making it easier for

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others to find. And this is a free library of

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well over 1 ,100 episodes now. So all I ask in

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return is that you help share these incredible

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men and women's stories so I can get them to

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every single person on planet Earth who needs

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to hear them. So with that being said, I introduce

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to you... Alexey Molchanov and Sonia McVeigh.

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Enjoy. Well, Sonia and Alexi, I want to start

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by saying welcome back to Sonia and thank you

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so much for coming on for the first time on the

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Behind the Shield podcast, Alexi. Thank you,

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James. All right. Well, very first question for

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both of you. First, Sonia, where on planet Earth

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are we finding you today? I am in Northern California,

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Santa Rosa. And we're recording this at 9 o 'clock

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in the morning, my time. So it's 6 o 'clock with

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you. So I appreciate you getting up so early.

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Alexi, what about you? Where on planet Earth

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are we finding you today? I'm in Sicily, in Italy,

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and getting ready for the World Championships,

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which will be in September. And diving, going

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to have some adventures. Yesterday I was going

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up to the volcano. So training in Italy and enjoying

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the local nature. Now, I know you're not Italian

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originally, so let's start at the very beginning

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of your timeline. I'm going to stay with you

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for a bit, and then as we progress through, we'll

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bring Sonia in. So, Alexei, tell me where you

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were born, and tell me a little bit about your

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family dynamic, what your parents did, how many

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siblings. I was born in Russia, in Volgograd,

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before it was Stalingrad. The city is a relatively

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big city, one million people, on the River Volga,

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and very strong traditions in swimming in the

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city. And I was a swimmer since I was three years

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old. My mom was my coach. She coached me how

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to swim proper styles when I was three, four

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years old. At four, I was already competing.

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And at three years old, actually, before four,

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I was swimming 500 meters backstroke nonstop.

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And it was like my first sort of record when

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I was a kid. And I have a sister as well. She

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was swimming as well with me. She's two years

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older. She's not competing as me right now. She's

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not an athlete, but she's more into architecture

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and design, etc. But my mom trained me for many,

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many years as a swimmer. And when I turned 17,

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she was already doing freediving, breath hold

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diving, and she taught me freediving as well.

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And then we trained together and traveled the

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world together to compete in championships for

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the next 10 years until 2015. Then there was

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an accident. She disappeared in... in Spain,

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close to Ibiza Island, Fermentera Island. So

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this story was, there was a movie about our story

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actually. It was just released last year in December,

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Freediver. It's on Amazon Prime and it's on Apple

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TV. So there's a story of like me training and

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her being my trainer and then competing. And

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then now I'm just continuing. continuing training

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and competing and sharing with the world this

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knowledge about freediving what my mom taught

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me and developing the education system well tell

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me how your mom even got to into the swimming

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world and and talk about the kind of peaks that

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she got to because i know that she's revered

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in russia as a swimmer she was a swimmer and

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also fin swimmer swimming with monofin There's

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two types of swimming and she was very good at

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the top level in these two sports before she

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started freediving and breath hold diving. But

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even when I was a kid and it was not even a thing

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in the 1990s when freediving was not even like

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a sport which was more known. we always did breath

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holds and i remember she was doing breath holds

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and some dives in the pool try to do four laps

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hundred meters hundred meters uh just just because

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she was curious i think there are these types

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of swimmers around the world that uh some some

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hate breath holds and don't like that at all

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and some love breath holds even though they don't

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know about breath hold diving free diving and

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they still do that So she always loved that.

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And we would travel to the sea. When I was five,

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it was our first trip to the sea. And then I

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think that was the moment when I loved this part

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of diving, like these adventures and being out

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in the nature. And she liked this as well. And

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then she did 43 world records when she started

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freediving from 2003 all the way until 2015.

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What was it that got her into swimming originally?

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Were her parents also big swimmers? Not at all.

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No, her mother was a doctor and her father was

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an engineer. I think it just happened so. There

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was a school, a swimming school. She was tested.

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She liked it. And that's it. Sometimes it just

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happens accidentally. I was tested for violin

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when I was four years old, like accidentally,

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when I was going with my mom and my sister to

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the art school. My sister wanted to draw. She

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really enjoyed arts. And there was a school with

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music and also with arts. And I was just with

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them, like hanging around. And then my sister

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was going to the school to see if there was a

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teacher there. Teacher was not there, but there

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was a teacher for violin. And then this teacher

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said, hey, let's go. Let's try violin instead

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of arts. And then she was tested. And I was four

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years old. And she said, OK, let's go. You will

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be tested too. And I got tested for violin. And

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then I played violin for seven years because

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I actually had really good hearing. I could play

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violin really well. So it was just an accident.

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Then I had a choice when I was 11 years old or

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somewhere there if I want to stay in music or

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if I want to proceed and do more swimming. So

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I chose swimming. You mentioned, obviously, all

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the mentorship with your mother. What about your

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father? What was he doing? He was an engineer

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as well, and he was a swimmer, also a high -level

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swimmer in swimming. That's how they met. My

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mom met my father. They both were swimmers. And

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my mom continued. She was a teacher, and she

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taught kids. Her education was in... sports science

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but then my father was an engineer he didn't

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continue this uh career he was working and uh

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he enjoyed all adventures ocean adventures as

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well but my mom was much more into that and i

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think that's why she continued and started uh

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actual sport when she was 40 years old um yeah

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but father father was supporting this but not

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as active in the actual like actual sport as

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you were going through the school ages was this

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something you're already thinking of doing as

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a career or were you dreaming of something else

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at the time i didn't think i would be a free

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diver at all i loved computers i got my first

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computer when i was 10 years old and i loved

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all this like assembling disassembling upgrading

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video cards graphic cards and upgrading like

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anything i could upgrade processors and etc and

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i Then after school, I went to university to

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study software, and I was doing six years of

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software engineering. I got a degree in software

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engineering, and by the time I finished university,

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not school, but when I finished university, I

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was helping my mom already a lot with the school,

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with the Freediving School, with the Freediving

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Federation, non -for -profit organization to

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organize events and competitions for amateurs,

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professionals. kids and also handicapped people

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who have disabilities and then i was doing a

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lot of work there and i realized okay i'm just

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gonna continue with freediving like continuing

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with that as a as work what about when you were

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younger when i think of russian aquatic athletes

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i think of you know an elite performance and

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you know they they do seem to forge a lot of

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high level athletes in you know whether it's

00:11:25.490 --> 00:11:28.590
gymnastics or Olympic weightlifting, so many

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areas. What was the support given to a young

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athlete by the country itself to guide them into

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the high level of sports? As a swimmer, I got

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support. There were sports schools and kids would

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get... to train in this like to be trained in

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the sports schools and it would you know it would

00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:01.320
be no um and it'll be quite inexpensive or almost

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no charge at all it was quite like quite affordable

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for families to to have a kid being a professional

00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:10.299
swimmer so i think that was that there was not

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a lot of sponsorship or anything but it was support

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with access like just teachers be there like

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lanes in the pool being available for athletes

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and for their sports schools. So it was this

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type of support when I was a kid. And then when

00:12:25.230 --> 00:12:28.809
I was 15, 16, there was this boarding school.

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I was finishing the last years of education in

00:12:31.549 --> 00:12:35.090
the boarding school for talented swimmers who

00:12:35.090 --> 00:12:38.669
were on their way to get into Olympic team. So

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then it was staying in this facility, boarding

00:12:41.669 --> 00:12:46.049
school. There was like... food, education, everything,

00:12:46.190 --> 00:12:49.309
training was provided. So that was the support

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until I was 17 years old. And then when I finished

00:12:53.090 --> 00:12:55.889
and went on to become a freediver, and I was

00:12:55.889 --> 00:12:59.529
in university, I was on my own, and my mom was

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running school, I was helping my mom, and we

00:13:01.350 --> 00:13:03.610
just earned money through education, through

00:13:03.610 --> 00:13:08.210
the business, and traveled and did all the preparation,

00:13:08.429 --> 00:13:10.190
all the training in freediving by ourselves.

00:13:11.850 --> 00:13:15.610
So talk to me about the kind of metamorphosis

00:13:15.610 --> 00:13:17.769
of your mother's understanding of freediving.

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Because you've got someone who's a high -level

00:13:19.629 --> 00:13:23.169
swimmer, who's a sports science major as well.

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What were some of the discoveries that she made

00:13:28.389 --> 00:13:31.330
that allowed her to be such a successful freediver

00:13:31.330 --> 00:13:34.149
herself and then her method be passed on to you?

00:13:37.710 --> 00:13:43.289
When she started, it was 2015. Three, four. A

00:13:43.289 --> 00:13:46.809
lot of freedivers were from yoga, and there was

00:13:46.809 --> 00:13:49.250
not a lot of sports science introduced into freediving,

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not a lot of exercises, repetition, load, periodization.

00:13:55.509 --> 00:13:58.289
So training properly as an athlete was not there

00:13:58.289 --> 00:14:00.710
yet. It was a lot of relaxation, which is a very

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important part of breath hold and diving. But

00:14:04.870 --> 00:14:07.610
it was not a lot of teachers who would actually

00:14:07.610 --> 00:14:12.399
train. students to do that as a sport so she

00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:15.960
introduced that methodology even until now a

00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:18.759
lot of education agencies in freediving around

00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:20.820
the world they would take scuba diving approach

00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:24.200
do courses but there is no follow -up there is

00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:26.399
no continuous training and that's what she introduced

00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:29.879
as well there are courses with theory and with

00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:32.440
exams and practice but there is also continuous

00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:36.100
training that she developed as a professional

00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:40.000
in this area And that was something that helped

00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:43.480
her to progress from season to season and win

00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:46.740
in each discipline, like depth or pool, static

00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:50.019
breath hold, dynamic distance to dive as far

00:14:50.019 --> 00:14:54.179
as possible and depth, but also progress, but

00:14:54.179 --> 00:14:58.000
also teach students, teach me. And I was progressing

00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:00.419
then, not only me, there were a lot of students

00:15:00.419 --> 00:15:03.820
who did some high -level results with her method.

00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:07.870
Yeah, I think that was the main... new things

00:15:07.870 --> 00:15:11.289
introduced. So talk to me about, you kind of

00:15:11.289 --> 00:15:14.070
touched on it, all the different areas of competition

00:15:14.070 --> 00:15:21.230
within the free diving world. It's depth and

00:15:21.230 --> 00:15:24.009
it's pool. In depth, we compete as my main discipline.

00:15:24.470 --> 00:15:29.450
We go as deep as possible. And there is a discipline

00:15:29.450 --> 00:15:32.399
which is... outside of competition. Something

00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:35.960
maybe you saw in the movies in the Big Blue from

00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:38.740
Luc Bisson. And that's an old movie. It's like

00:15:38.740 --> 00:15:42.519
a Bible of Freedivers, 1988. And there they dive

00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:47.299
without fins or without actually kicking the

00:15:47.299 --> 00:15:50.059
fins. They have the fins, but they use a weighted

00:15:50.059 --> 00:15:52.659
sled, extra weight to go down and the balloon

00:15:52.659 --> 00:15:55.519
to come back up. So there's no movement. There

00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:58.659
is less energy used. to actually dive and there's

00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:01.059
two disciplines there's one which holds no limits

00:16:01.059 --> 00:16:05.519
just going down and up with no moving uh not

00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:09.299
movement not like wasting any energy at all sitting

00:16:09.299 --> 00:16:13.159
on the sled and now it's even forbidden because

00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:15.779
it's quite dangerous in the movie the guys were

00:16:15.779 --> 00:16:18.899
pushing back in the days 100 meter limit like

00:16:18.899 --> 00:16:23.519
330 feet now The latest record 10 years ago was

00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:27.639
already 13 years ago was 200 attempt to do 250,

00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:31.580
250 meters, which is almost like 800 feet. But

00:16:31.580 --> 00:16:33.379
then there was an accident and Herbert Nisch,

00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:38.480
one of my friends, he got like consequences and

00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:42.940
his dive was not finished according to plan.

00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:45.419
And then there's a whole story about this dive.

00:16:45.539 --> 00:16:48.139
But official record is still 200, I think 14

00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:52.279
meters. uh but there is no like it's forbidden

00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:55.179
because too technical too dangerous there's a

00:16:55.179 --> 00:16:57.000
second discipline which is still in ordinary

00:16:57.000 --> 00:16:58.960
competition it's going down with extra weight

00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:02.879
but swimming up with your own uh power and it

00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:05.539
calls variable weight so my current world record

00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:09.880
here is 156 meters which is 510 feet and it's

00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:12.220
still something like a feet it's like like a

00:17:12.220 --> 00:17:15.359
record no competition too technical still less

00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:17.559
dangerous but too technical and then there was

00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:22.490
uh four disciplines going down and up with your

00:17:22.490 --> 00:17:25.630
own like body without any extra help from the

00:17:25.630 --> 00:17:28.130
machines or an extra weight extra weight going

00:17:28.130 --> 00:17:31.190
down with monofin going down with biphins going

00:17:31.190 --> 00:17:34.410
down swimming breaststroke like no fins at all

00:17:34.410 --> 00:17:38.569
and traditional discipline using the rope so

00:17:38.569 --> 00:17:41.089
you pull on the rope and it's something like

00:17:41.089 --> 00:17:43.849
in old times people would do that to to find

00:17:43.849 --> 00:17:49.099
food to find something to like pearls and when

00:17:49.099 --> 00:17:50.599
there was no fins, et cetera, like thousands

00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:53.880
of years ago. And people were diving to do that

00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:58.819
in the last 8 ,000 years. And they would use

00:17:58.819 --> 00:18:01.299
rope for that. And then there are pool disciplines.

00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:03.440
Hold your breath as long as possible and swim

00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:06.160
in the pool as far as possible with fins, without

00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:09.720
fins, with monofin, one large fin. That's it.

00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:12.640
And there is another one, actually, maybe you

00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.299
heard just recently. It's more like a Guinness

00:18:15.299 --> 00:18:17.259
record. It's not really an athletic record for

00:18:17.259 --> 00:18:21.730
like... part not a part of the sport but uh guys

00:18:21.730 --> 00:18:23.549
do that because it's exciting and it's holding

00:18:23.549 --> 00:18:26.069
your breath with oxygen which can be something

00:18:26.069 --> 00:18:27.809
actually you can relate to like like breathe

00:18:27.809 --> 00:18:31.309
from the tank and it's pure oxygen 100 oxygen

00:18:31.309 --> 00:18:34.490
so five times more compared to normal air we

00:18:34.490 --> 00:18:38.029
have 21 but there these guys would breathe 100

00:18:38.029 --> 00:18:41.109
oxygen and hold their breath for like almost

00:18:41.109 --> 00:18:46.740
forever the hard part there is co2 toxicity carbon

00:18:46.740 --> 00:18:49.680
dioxide is accumulated we can exhale carbon dioxide

00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:53.039
and this is the dangerous part because even like

00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:56.220
recent record where vittimir maricich croatian

00:18:56.220 --> 00:18:59.599
guy like one of our top educators my friend he

00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:03.559
did 29 minutes then he finished it and he wasn't

00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:05.660
hypoxic if you look closely he wasn't like blue

00:19:05.660 --> 00:19:07.980
he wasn't hypoxic but it's really hard because

00:19:07.980 --> 00:19:10.279
of co2 so that's pretty interesting discipline

00:19:11.649 --> 00:19:13.789
I'm glad you went over that last story, especially

00:19:13.789 --> 00:19:15.930
because I remember seeing that recently on social

00:19:15.930 --> 00:19:18.630
media, a man does 29 minute breath hold. And

00:19:18.630 --> 00:19:20.549
I'm like, okay, this is bullshit. There's no

00:19:20.549 --> 00:19:22.730
way. But then when I looked in and I saw that

00:19:22.730 --> 00:19:24.630
it was using the oxygen, I'm like, okay, now

00:19:24.630 --> 00:19:26.970
I understand it a bit more because I mean, what

00:19:26.970 --> 00:19:30.349
is the world record for a simple breath hold,

00:19:30.410 --> 00:19:36.369
no oxygen assistance? It's 1135. It's the record,

00:19:36.430 --> 00:19:39.390
which is, which stands for more than 10 years.

00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:43.480
it is the longest standing record nobody know

00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:45.839
how it was possible it was done like back like

00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:48.440
many many years ago by stephanie suit from france

00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:52.900
and uh there are some talented athletes who are

00:19:52.900 --> 00:19:55.359
getting closer to this time right now and in

00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:57.420
the world championships we see guys do 10 minutes

00:19:57.420 --> 00:20:00.900
10 30 almost getting close to 11 but no one is

00:20:00.900 --> 00:20:05.720
like nobody did close to 11 35 so far what about

00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:08.599
altitude training do do people use that to try

00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:11.960
and um you know advance in this particular sport

00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:18.180
does it make a difference they try i know a lot

00:20:18.180 --> 00:20:21.559
of freedivers me myself i also do some um some

00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:25.000
training and i breathe breathe thin air from

00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.299
the machine i don't really go a lot to the mountains

00:20:27.299 --> 00:20:30.640
yesterday i did i did go to 3 000 meters etna

00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:35.119
uh volcano in italy and uh 3 000 meters it's

00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:37.480
already like it's hard to climb you can feel

00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:44.069
there's not a lot of oxygen But it is an interesting

00:20:44.069 --> 00:20:50.269
method. Logistics makes it harder to implement.

00:20:50.990 --> 00:20:54.049
I know a lot of swimmers or other athletes would

00:20:54.049 --> 00:20:56.529
use that, but it's an interesting method. You

00:20:56.529 --> 00:20:58.049
just have to be careful about recovery. I think

00:20:58.049 --> 00:21:03.710
the only thing which may compromise this preparation

00:21:03.710 --> 00:21:07.960
is recovery. Some of our athletes... tried sleeping

00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:10.000
in a tent with low oxygen, et cetera, and then

00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.700
it would feel under -recovered all the time,

00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:15.640
like feel tired all the time. So one technique

00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:20.380
I liked and I used quite a lot is doing one -hour

00:21:20.380 --> 00:21:23.160
session on the stepper, on the bicycle, where

00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:27.940
you breathe thin air, maybe 10%, 11%, 9 % oxygen,

00:21:28.099 --> 00:21:33.140
and then you recover with normal levels of oxygen

00:21:33.140 --> 00:21:36.009
or even... uh higher levels of oxygen so you

00:21:36.009 --> 00:21:39.950
have this uh like five minute intervals five

00:21:39.950 --> 00:21:42.990
hypoxic five minute hypoxic interval five minute

00:21:42.990 --> 00:21:46.730
hyperoxic or normal oxygen interval that's that's

00:21:46.730 --> 00:21:49.369
really good i think this really gives your body

00:21:49.369 --> 00:21:53.009
this little boost really good for health really

00:21:53.009 --> 00:21:56.390
good for in variety of ways and it's not overwhelming

00:21:56.390 --> 00:21:59.289
you you can recover pretty well after this session

00:22:00.779 --> 00:22:04.140
You mentioned about the rope being used to find

00:22:04.140 --> 00:22:06.759
food, pearls, that kind of thing. When I think

00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:09.660
about freediving in a more traditional role,

00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:13.900
it's that group of Japanese women, female divers

00:22:13.900 --> 00:22:17.559
from a certain island. So talk to me about some

00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:19.940
of the historic use of this before it became

00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:26.259
competition. It was for food. Japanese women

00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:29.650
ama are legendary. and they would sing between

00:22:29.650 --> 00:22:31.730
the dives. That was a pretty cool technique.

00:22:32.369 --> 00:22:34.890
They would sing, and actually singing helps for

00:22:34.890 --> 00:22:37.289
recovery because there's resistance, and then

00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:39.710
they would use it to recover better between the

00:22:39.710 --> 00:22:44.410
dives. I don't think we... I don't know if firefighters

00:22:44.410 --> 00:22:49.529
should sing before... I'm not saying that. But

00:22:49.529 --> 00:22:51.769
saying this, I was like, okay, if it helped them

00:22:51.769 --> 00:22:55.230
to recover, I didn't try that, but it's an interesting

00:22:55.230 --> 00:22:58.849
technique. But they were... And doing that, obviously,

00:22:58.890 --> 00:23:00.829
you can purse your lips and, like, exhale with

00:23:00.829 --> 00:23:04.930
resistance as well to do that. But there's a

00:23:04.930 --> 00:23:08.269
lot of tribes around the world in Polynesia,

00:23:08.269 --> 00:23:11.450
in, like, everywhere, actually. Like, just Alma

00:23:11.450 --> 00:23:14.950
women are more well -known, I think, because

00:23:14.950 --> 00:23:17.750
of legends, because of stories. And I think if

00:23:17.750 --> 00:23:21.509
you go any country, you'll find these tribes.

00:23:21.670 --> 00:23:25.869
And even Dubai is an example. In Emirates. pearl

00:23:25.869 --> 00:23:30.309
divers was until 1960s when when they developed

00:23:30.309 --> 00:23:34.170
this artificial pearl production before that

00:23:34.170 --> 00:23:37.829
it was one of the main business for dubai before

00:23:37.829 --> 00:23:39.789
the oil was discovered it was really really important

00:23:39.789 --> 00:23:43.849
so it was food it was pearls it was sponges in

00:23:43.849 --> 00:23:47.920
greece in greece they used the stone And it was

00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.200
a family, like, it was an item that was passed

00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.680
through generations. Scandalopetra is the name.

00:23:54.099 --> 00:23:56.240
And it was a pretty cool stone with some holes.

00:23:56.339 --> 00:23:58.460
They tied the rope. There was a team of two.

00:23:58.619 --> 00:24:03.220
One goes down. One stays in the boat. And there

00:24:03.220 --> 00:24:05.539
are some signals on the rope. And as soon as

00:24:05.539 --> 00:24:07.559
there is, like, a diver on the bottom finishes,

00:24:07.779 --> 00:24:10.660
he pulls the rope a few times. And the guy on

00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:13.779
the top, he will... pull the guy up to the boat,

00:24:13.880 --> 00:24:16.079
back to the boat. So it was almost like no limits,

00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:18.859
going up with weight, going down with extra weight,

00:24:18.940 --> 00:24:22.960
and up with the help of another person. And they

00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:27.160
collected sponges. That was the story. And they

00:24:27.160 --> 00:24:29.380
still have some traditional competitions in Greece,

00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:31.859
Skandalopetra competition in the name of the

00:24:31.859 --> 00:24:36.980
stone. They used as well the skill for some applied

00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:40.359
activities and for military activities as well

00:24:40.359 --> 00:24:46.069
to set up, traps in the bay to cut cut the chains

00:24:46.069 --> 00:24:48.990
etc so it was like used there was some special

00:24:48.990 --> 00:24:52.710
uh like military divers which would learn that

00:24:52.710 --> 00:24:56.349
and it would do some something to to protect

00:24:56.349 --> 00:25:00.910
the bay or to even uh like yeah just make sure

00:25:00.910 --> 00:25:03.049
that the the ships will be like if the storm

00:25:03.049 --> 00:25:04.829
is coming there are some stories in greece as

00:25:04.829 --> 00:25:07.410
well from ancient times when these divers would

00:25:07.410 --> 00:25:10.109
go and cut the chains and then ships get smashed

00:25:10.109 --> 00:25:12.630
because of the storm, etc. So there was a lot

00:25:12.630 --> 00:25:15.849
of stories like that. Amazing. Sonia, just to

00:25:15.849 --> 00:25:17.549
bring you in for a second, what's your opinion

00:25:17.549 --> 00:25:20.809
of using karaoke during rehab between sessions

00:25:20.809 --> 00:25:23.849
of the fire? Huge, huge fan. Actually, it's on

00:25:23.849 --> 00:25:28.589
my waiver for all firefighters. I can tell you,

00:25:28.589 --> 00:25:31.289
we used to pipe music through. through the truck

00:25:31.289 --> 00:25:33.329
when we were on the way to call sometimes. And

00:25:33.329 --> 00:25:35.309
that ended up being as karaoke sessions, but

00:25:35.309 --> 00:25:37.609
who knows, maybe that helps our oxygen consumption

00:25:37.609 --> 00:25:42.329
when we got there. So firstly, I want to talk

00:25:42.329 --> 00:25:43.990
about the safety side as well. And, you know,

00:25:44.009 --> 00:25:45.930
the dangers of free diving just before we do

00:25:45.930 --> 00:25:48.069
those. So people kind of understand, you know,

00:25:48.089 --> 00:25:50.670
the level that you're at now, I know you're a

00:25:50.670 --> 00:25:52.769
very humble person, but talk to me about some

00:25:52.769 --> 00:25:55.809
of the, the accolades and world records that

00:25:55.809 --> 00:26:01.839
you hold at the moment. I have two current world

00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:05.559
records. In all these years, I did about 39 world

00:26:05.559 --> 00:26:07.500
records, including a few Guinness world records.

00:26:08.119 --> 00:26:11.720
And my deepest so far is variable weight, extra

00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:14.680
weight. So I'm pulled down with this machine,

00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:18.940
the sled, and it is 510 feet, 156 meters. And

00:26:18.940 --> 00:26:21.680
I swim back up with monofin. Then the pure discipline

00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:24.059
where you just don't have any help and you swim

00:26:24.059 --> 00:26:27.980
down and up with fins, my current record is 136

00:26:27.980 --> 00:26:32.200
meters. which is roughly 450 feet. And it's going

00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:34.140
down with monofin, one large fin, and going back

00:26:34.140 --> 00:26:38.000
to the surface. I held bifin record, traditional

00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:41.019
two fins record, until the last month. Then one

00:26:41.019 --> 00:26:46.680
of my French friends got it away from me. And

00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:49.660
it was 125 meters. Now it's 126 meters with him.

00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:53.579
So I got to take it back in the next month or

00:26:53.579 --> 00:26:56.380
so. But I'm cool with that because he's one of

00:26:56.380 --> 00:26:58.240
our athletes. He's our ambassador. He uses our

00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:00.500
gear, our fins, carbon fins to do that. So I'm

00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:07.299
fine as far as the family in the team. And there

00:27:07.299 --> 00:27:09.720
is another record that I'm aiming for, which

00:27:09.720 --> 00:27:12.460
I don't have yet, is a no fins, like breaststroke.

00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:15.960
So breaststroke is really hard, like a lot of

00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:20.900
physical. uh exertion it's really hard hypoxia

00:27:20.900 --> 00:27:24.039
is strong it's not as deep 100 to current record

00:27:24.039 --> 00:27:26.200
is 103 meters but that's what i'm aiming for

00:27:26.200 --> 00:27:31.799
this year but anyway it's another goal then guinness

00:27:31.799 --> 00:27:33.940
trackers roaring the cold water so i like diving

00:27:33.940 --> 00:27:36.920
under ice and currently i have the deepest dive

00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:41.220
to 90 meters which is roughly 280 i think 270

00:27:41.220 --> 00:27:45.740
plus 280 feet maybe even more a little bit 290

00:27:45.740 --> 00:27:49.980
and it's under ice it's not as hard as it sounds

00:27:49.980 --> 00:27:52.680
like it is it's actually cool so i highly recommend

00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:55.579
if you like if you never tried ice diving it's

00:27:55.579 --> 00:27:59.000
very like beautiful to be under ice so this is

00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:01.160
another guinness record in all these years but

00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:06.710
the main is depth Do you notice the impact of

00:28:06.710 --> 00:28:09.609
the cold on your performance or your ability

00:28:09.609 --> 00:28:11.910
to hold the breath, knowing that it does kind

00:28:11.910 --> 00:28:14.269
of help lower the body temperature a little bit?

00:28:16.750 --> 00:28:21.970
It doesn't help. No, it's harder. If the water

00:28:21.970 --> 00:28:26.329
is too hot and you just can't relax in this water

00:28:26.329 --> 00:28:28.769
because it's just too hot, then of course it's

00:28:28.769 --> 00:28:34.490
hard. Your heart is not slowing down. and uh

00:28:34.490 --> 00:28:36.809
you just feel overwhelmed with this heat but

00:28:36.809 --> 00:28:39.109
it's only in i think so far i had these situations

00:28:39.109 --> 00:28:42.809
in philippines in indonesia sometime like i think

00:28:42.809 --> 00:28:44.369
in the hottest time of the year it's too hot

00:28:44.369 --> 00:28:47.230
but in general if the water is similar to what

00:28:47.230 --> 00:28:50.789
we have in the pool in a swimming pool then it's

00:28:50.789 --> 00:28:52.789
enough like it doesn't need to be any colder

00:28:52.789 --> 00:28:55.970
it's already triggers some of our receptors and

00:28:55.970 --> 00:28:59.390
signals that okay we can with our heart rate

00:28:59.390 --> 00:29:02.089
will slow down if we start holding the breath

00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:06.619
If it's a little bit colder, like in the lake,

00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:09.599
also great. It helps. Like a bit cooler water

00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:12.480
will trigger the reaction to be stronger. If

00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:16.119
it's ice cold, that's too much. Like for this

00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:20.039
water, we need to have thick wetsuits. It's pretty

00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:23.680
like thick rubber. And it's more weight, more

00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:26.980
gear, more effort. So you just lose energy. Even

00:29:26.980 --> 00:29:29.319
if it's a thick -weather suit, you get cold in

00:29:29.319 --> 00:29:32.420
20 -30 minutes. So you just lose energy and that

00:29:32.420 --> 00:29:34.180
makes it harder. So there is a balance. It's

00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:37.779
better to be warmer than colder. Well, you mentioned

00:29:37.779 --> 00:29:39.359
about losing your mother. Did you say it was

00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:42.519
Ibiza that you lost her? It's next to Ibiza.

00:29:42.579 --> 00:29:46.019
It's Fermentera. It's a small island next to

00:29:46.019 --> 00:29:48.980
Ibiza, yes. So talk to me about that. I mean,

00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:51.880
again, this is obviously a profession where,

00:29:51.900 --> 00:29:54.759
you know, you train so diligently, you take so

00:29:54.759 --> 00:29:57.359
many precautions and you work your way up to

00:29:57.359 --> 00:30:00.980
that point. But in the world of, you know, freediving,

00:30:01.059 --> 00:30:03.559
the world of base jumping and skydiving, obviously

00:30:03.559 --> 00:30:06.299
you are, you know, skirting that line as well.

00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:09.160
you know when you reflect you know what what

00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:11.359
was the issue there and then talk to me about

00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:13.119
that because this is obviously you know your

00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:15.960
beloved mother that was your mentor in this sport

00:30:15.960 --> 00:30:18.059
as well and then you know she was taken from

00:30:18.059 --> 00:30:23.680
you yeah like you said it's it's um it's nature

00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:29.519
and uh freediving in general is very safe sport

00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:33.329
and i'll just start from like let me just describe

00:30:33.329 --> 00:30:35.869
the difference between the diving in competitions

00:30:35.869 --> 00:30:39.490
and just diving in open sea. And competitions

00:30:39.490 --> 00:30:42.390
is one of the safest places to freedive and risk

00:30:42.390 --> 00:30:44.309
and test your limits because there's like a whole

00:30:44.309 --> 00:30:47.349
team. Medics are there and a lot of safety divers

00:30:47.349 --> 00:30:49.789
are there. They just, like the team of 20, 30

00:30:49.789 --> 00:30:51.509
people just pay attention to your dive and ready

00:30:51.509 --> 00:30:54.490
to rescue you any moment. The most dangerous

00:30:54.490 --> 00:30:56.849
part of freediving is when you're out there in

00:30:56.849 --> 00:31:00.009
the sea and there's no experienced freedivers

00:31:00.009 --> 00:31:03.160
around you. And then if you are not aware of

00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:05.380
the situation, changed environment, maybe there

00:31:05.380 --> 00:31:07.200
was a current. That's what happened with my mom.

00:31:07.299 --> 00:31:13.240
She was in a new environment, and it was not

00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:16.119
trading. It wasn't like a deep trading. It was

00:31:16.119 --> 00:31:18.279
time with some of her friends, which were not

00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:21.619
experienced, beginners. I was in another country,

00:31:21.660 --> 00:31:23.420
unfortunately. If I would be there, of course,

00:31:23.420 --> 00:31:25.740
I would be supporting and providing the safety.

00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:29.960
But I was in another country. The story was that

00:31:29.960 --> 00:31:33.039
they started diving when it was roughly 100 feet,

00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:36.759
the depth, like 30 meters each. And then they

00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:39.420
drifted, so the boat, the anchoring didn't help,

00:31:39.559 --> 00:31:41.380
so they slowly drifted somewhere a little bit

00:31:41.380 --> 00:31:45.380
deeper. It was 70 meters, 200, like 20, 30 feet

00:31:45.380 --> 00:31:50.480
deep there. And then my mom probably dove deeper

00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:52.500
than she was supposed to, and there were some

00:31:52.500 --> 00:31:55.700
currents, and she was preparing very intentionally

00:31:55.700 --> 00:31:58.059
for this dive. because it wasn't supposed to

00:31:58.059 --> 00:32:01.559
be too deep. And then it's just a few, probably

00:32:01.559 --> 00:32:03.119
like not even a few, like three, four things

00:32:03.119 --> 00:32:06.200
combined lead to the tragedy, right? It's always

00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:09.559
like several things combined. But they never

00:32:09.559 --> 00:32:12.299
found the body, so it was not impossible to actually

00:32:12.299 --> 00:32:14.559
even look at the computer to understand the profile.

00:32:15.720 --> 00:32:19.220
that's that's their theory right and around the

00:32:19.220 --> 00:32:22.000
world we have we have um incidents like this

00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:25.259
with spare fishers so the guys who dive alone

00:32:25.259 --> 00:32:27.680
or have no partner that that's one of the most

00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:31.059
dangerous part and if you have a partner if you

00:32:31.059 --> 00:32:33.599
communicate with the partner properly you're

00:32:33.599 --> 00:32:36.700
informed and the level allows for support like

00:32:36.700 --> 00:32:38.660
one is down one is on the surface and he can

00:32:39.480 --> 00:32:42.039
like go down and actually bring the second person

00:32:42.039 --> 00:32:44.339
up if there is help needed if there's a blackout

00:32:44.339 --> 00:32:47.759
or hypoxia then this is like the way to do this

00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:50.700
and it is safe so then after this accident it

00:32:50.700 --> 00:32:53.900
was just like another accident which highlighted

00:32:53.900 --> 00:32:59.160
these rules and it was like some of some of their

00:32:59.160 --> 00:33:02.700
dives that i was doing before or some of their

00:33:02.700 --> 00:33:04.920
community members did before i stopped doing

00:33:04.920 --> 00:33:09.279
and then i don't do anything deep or like relatively

00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:14.240
deep without proper proper team around you're

00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:17.740
only 17 then how were you able to to start processing

00:33:17.740 --> 00:33:19.880
that grief because as you know you mentioned

00:33:19.880 --> 00:33:21.619
it's not just your mother this is someone who's

00:33:21.619 --> 00:33:25.140
obviously been your mentor this whole way yeah

00:33:25.140 --> 00:33:28.420
it was 17 when i started i this happened about

00:33:28.420 --> 00:33:36.359
15 i was not i was already 28 It was 11, 10,

00:33:36.400 --> 00:33:39.480
10, yeah. So I wasn't as young. Of course, if

00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:41.119
I would be 17, it would be much harder. But I

00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:44.259
was 28. It wasn't easy, of course. It was a big,

00:33:44.359 --> 00:33:52.920
big strategy. And I decided I will continue developing

00:33:52.920 --> 00:33:57.720
her legacy, her education system, and I will

00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:02.799
train. And I went to train like a week later.

00:34:03.640 --> 00:34:05.859
after that and i started freediving and i started

00:34:05.859 --> 00:34:08.219
practicing and i think that helped me a lot i

00:34:08.219 --> 00:34:09.840
felt like through the practice through the breath

00:34:09.840 --> 00:34:12.300
holds through like being in the water being in

00:34:12.300 --> 00:34:16.119
the ocean i just do what i love and it didn't

00:34:16.119 --> 00:34:19.119
result in me being scared of the ocean or being

00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:24.340
scared of this environment i think i think it

00:34:24.340 --> 00:34:28.019
was a right thing to do because if if there was

00:34:28.019 --> 00:34:30.320
a thing that we did together like i can imagine

00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:34.420
that It could be a chance that I would be sort

00:34:34.420 --> 00:34:38.360
of like really hurt and angry at the ocean or

00:34:38.360 --> 00:34:43.320
the water, like losing my mom there. But I understood

00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:46.780
the reason. So I was thinking about the reason,

00:34:46.860 --> 00:34:49.119
understanding why it happened. There was no experienced

00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:52.219
team nearby. So I was analyzing that and then

00:34:52.219 --> 00:34:54.480
understanding what I will change in my approach.

00:34:54.760 --> 00:35:02.880
And then it wasn't just some overall. like resentment

00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:07.599
or overall like uh non -specific anger or something

00:35:07.599 --> 00:35:11.460
it was i it was a very specific things that i

00:35:11.460 --> 00:35:14.320
know happened probably happened and resulted

00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:18.219
in this incident and then okay i i thought about

00:35:18.219 --> 00:35:23.880
it and i didn't allow this emotions and then

00:35:23.880 --> 00:35:28.099
this to affect me loving the ocean or loving

00:35:28.099 --> 00:35:31.179
freediving and what i do and i went back and

00:35:31.179 --> 00:35:32.900
one month later i was competing in the world

00:35:32.900 --> 00:35:35.840
championship and i think it was a like a way

00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:39.260
for me to like to just get back to the to work

00:35:39.260 --> 00:35:43.539
and getting back to work helped a lot i've had

00:35:43.539 --> 00:35:46.079
a few people on the show i think don and prime

00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:48.199
from deep end fitness are definitely you know

00:35:48.199 --> 00:35:50.960
one of the conversations um but i've talked about

00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:53.940
how healing whether it's been diving, might even

00:35:53.940 --> 00:35:56.840
just be surfing, but certainly immersion in the

00:35:56.840 --> 00:35:59.920
water has helped them even on their kind of emotional

00:35:59.920 --> 00:36:02.000
or mental health journey. Like there's this feeling

00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:04.239
of kind of peace when they're underneath. Whether

00:36:04.239 --> 00:36:06.039
it's your journey or whether it's people that

00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:09.420
you've trained, talk to me about the healing

00:36:09.420 --> 00:36:12.059
element of this sport from a mental health or

00:36:12.059 --> 00:36:23.590
emotional point of view. breath hold and and

00:36:23.590 --> 00:36:27.050
being in the water is very relaxing for us i

00:36:27.050 --> 00:36:29.989
think in general so even starting uh from the

00:36:29.989 --> 00:36:32.570
land right before we go into breath hold and

00:36:32.570 --> 00:36:35.809
dives when we see the sea water when we see any

00:36:35.809 --> 00:36:39.929
body of water the river the ocean just observing

00:36:39.929 --> 00:36:42.530
that already helps us to relax i think that it's

00:36:42.530 --> 00:36:47.420
just it's something that uh that works right

00:36:47.420 --> 00:36:51.900
away so we like to see the water we like to see

00:36:51.900 --> 00:36:56.039
fire as well it's actually good there's there's

00:36:56.039 --> 00:36:58.739
three things people say we can look like we look

00:36:58.739 --> 00:37:00.820
at it definitely right it's it's people work

00:37:00.820 --> 00:37:04.199
the fire and they're in the water so they say

00:37:04.199 --> 00:37:11.159
so anyway it's a water is is is uh i love i love

00:37:11.639 --> 00:37:14.099
seeing the ocean i love seeing water like i can

00:37:14.099 --> 00:37:17.199
see it from my window here and uh that's first

00:37:17.199 --> 00:37:20.820
step but then when you go in the water if there's

00:37:20.820 --> 00:37:23.780
no fear a lot of people have fear and they had

00:37:23.780 --> 00:37:25.760
negative experiences when they were kids like

00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:29.619
drowning experiences parents pushing them as

00:37:29.619 --> 00:37:32.260
well parents just like teaching them how to swim

00:37:32.260 --> 00:37:35.480
without being careful without being like without

00:37:35.480 --> 00:37:37.380
understanding what are the steps how to be a

00:37:37.380 --> 00:37:39.960
good teacher and then they have fear they have

00:37:39.960 --> 00:37:42.449
tension in their body then They need someone

00:37:42.449 --> 00:37:45.469
to rewrite this memory and teach them how to

00:37:45.469 --> 00:37:48.989
do full inhale and not to have tension. And then

00:37:48.989 --> 00:37:50.650
they would enjoy being in the water as well.

00:37:50.710 --> 00:37:53.730
As soon as you understand breathing, as soon

00:37:53.730 --> 00:37:56.010
as you understand what it takes to do full inhale,

00:37:56.289 --> 00:38:00.170
and then if you have full inhale, you float.

00:38:00.449 --> 00:38:03.550
You can just trust your buoyancy. You can be

00:38:03.550 --> 00:38:05.750
on the surface of the water. There is no... fear

00:38:05.750 --> 00:38:08.449
that you're going to be sinking or like we sink

00:38:08.449 --> 00:38:10.829
if we exhale if we think we don't have full hail

00:38:10.829 --> 00:38:14.269
and there's a panic attack or there's fear it's

00:38:14.269 --> 00:38:17.050
really hard to do full inhale there's like breathing

00:38:17.050 --> 00:38:20.469
is super super important to enjoy the water as

00:38:20.469 --> 00:38:22.409
soon as you can do that you are in the water

00:38:22.409 --> 00:38:24.989
and you float and you can relax and it's neutral

00:38:24.989 --> 00:38:27.909
you're you're you're like in the space you you

00:38:27.909 --> 00:38:32.110
can relax so well that you can't really do the

00:38:32.110 --> 00:38:35.519
same type of relaxation on the surface And then

00:38:35.519 --> 00:38:38.139
when you're underwater and you hold your breath,

00:38:38.280 --> 00:38:41.940
there is a pressure element. You're pressed from,

00:38:42.099 --> 00:38:44.519
like, it depends on the depth, but you're just

00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:49.559
compressed. And we learn how to give up, how

00:38:49.559 --> 00:38:52.940
not to resist to the pressure. If there is a

00:38:52.940 --> 00:38:56.480
resistance, it's almost impossible to dive anywhere.

00:38:56.679 --> 00:38:59.739
Like, if there's tension, our lungs will be rigid

00:38:59.739 --> 00:39:02.889
and we'll be just... trying to resist the pressure,

00:39:02.929 --> 00:39:05.750
which is impossible. We can't resist laws of

00:39:05.750 --> 00:39:08.010
physics, right? If laws of physics tells us we

00:39:08.010 --> 00:39:10.789
have to be compressed two times at 10 meters,

00:39:10.969 --> 00:39:14.210
33 feet, then there is no way around it. We should

00:39:14.210 --> 00:39:16.429
be compressed. And if we resist and we have some

00:39:16.429 --> 00:39:19.650
tension, it just makes everything harder. So

00:39:19.650 --> 00:39:21.550
we need to learn how to trust our body, learn

00:39:21.550 --> 00:39:26.050
how to trust environment, nature. There is some

00:39:26.050 --> 00:39:30.710
theory, so we study, we read some. uh like manuals

00:39:30.710 --> 00:39:32.269
to understand that as well then we experience

00:39:32.269 --> 00:39:34.989
this and we learn how to trust that this process

00:39:34.989 --> 00:39:40.070
and this experience theory plus experience have

00:39:40.070 --> 00:39:42.289
this healing effect where we connect with our

00:39:42.289 --> 00:39:45.369
body much much better this connection feeling

00:39:45.369 --> 00:39:48.150
our body this is i think which what misses a

00:39:48.150 --> 00:39:52.789
lot in our modern modern days it's like people

00:39:52.789 --> 00:39:56.219
don't really feel their body or don't go deep

00:39:56.219 --> 00:39:58.000
into your body and understand relaxation what

00:39:58.000 --> 00:40:00.480
it means to give up what it means to trust our

00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:04.619
body and allow it to save the oxygen and just

00:40:04.619 --> 00:40:08.820
provide oxygen to the brain and and redistribute

00:40:08.820 --> 00:40:11.219
the blood flow make the blood flow more intense

00:40:11.219 --> 00:40:13.579
in the brain and lungs and the heart and then

00:40:13.579 --> 00:40:16.139
your arms and legs will be conserving oxygen

00:40:16.139 --> 00:40:20.000
by not using this oxygen too much so this is

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:21.760
the process that you just learn how to trust

00:40:21.760 --> 00:40:25.090
and learn how to relax and feel the tension in

00:40:25.090 --> 00:40:26.949
the neck in the shoulders you just learn how

00:40:26.949 --> 00:40:30.289
to get rid of all the tension before the dive

00:40:30.289 --> 00:40:34.269
during the dive i think and then there is another

00:40:34.269 --> 00:40:37.090
element which is just fear being far away from

00:40:37.090 --> 00:40:41.650
the surface being far away from oxygen and there

00:40:41.650 --> 00:40:44.900
you need to understand your resources better

00:40:44.900 --> 00:40:46.860
and understand, okay, even though I'm far from

00:40:46.860 --> 00:40:49.760
the surface, I know my body, I know my resources,

00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:52.659
I know my inhale, and even though I'm there,

00:40:52.820 --> 00:40:54.920
I can get back to the surface because I know

00:40:54.920 --> 00:41:00.219
my abilities. So this is also a very powerful

00:41:00.219 --> 00:41:04.510
part of this practice. I think that's the perfect

00:41:04.510 --> 00:41:07.789
place to bring Sonia in now as the student initially,

00:41:07.909 --> 00:41:10.670
and then we'll progress to how this applies to

00:41:10.670 --> 00:41:13.789
a lot of the first responders listening. So Sonia,

00:41:13.789 --> 00:41:16.449
from your perspective, what was it that even

00:41:16.449 --> 00:41:18.690
interested you in the world of freediving? And

00:41:18.690 --> 00:41:21.010
then talk to me about your experiences as a student

00:41:21.010 --> 00:41:24.809
under Alexi. Yeah. Well, to be honest, because

00:41:24.809 --> 00:41:28.409
I have to be, I fell in love with a diver. So

00:41:28.409 --> 00:41:31.650
I'm now engaged as of a couple of months ago.

00:41:32.090 --> 00:41:35.809
Congratulations. Yeah. So Stephen Hood is his

00:41:35.809 --> 00:41:41.369
name. He is he was a spear fisherman and abalone

00:41:41.369 --> 00:41:44.769
diver. Part of Alexi's program does something

00:41:44.769 --> 00:41:48.050
called deep week. And I explain it like bougie

00:41:48.050 --> 00:41:51.510
why camp for divers. So this man invited me to

00:41:51.510 --> 00:41:54.409
something called deep week to dive in Mexico

00:41:54.409 --> 00:41:57.760
in the caves. And I had. Never put on a wetsuit.

00:41:57.780 --> 00:42:00.460
I'd never put on a snorkel. I he took me out

00:42:00.460 --> 00:42:04.039
to the ocean one time before we went and I thought

00:42:04.039 --> 00:42:07.900
I was going to die. So, I mean, really, I was

00:42:07.900 --> 00:42:10.300
I was following a man around that I had fallen

00:42:10.300 --> 00:42:15.000
in love with. And the really I was learning the

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:18.880
basics of how how where Alexi was saying, like,

00:42:18.900 --> 00:42:22.469
you know, don't die when you do this. As soon

00:42:22.469 --> 00:42:25.030
as I sat and was able to sit with, these are

00:42:25.030 --> 00:42:27.110
some of the best instructors in the world that

00:42:27.110 --> 00:42:30.349
Molchanov's employees and started hearing about

00:42:30.349 --> 00:42:33.070
the science. Obviously, sports science is a passion

00:42:33.070 --> 00:42:36.889
of mine. I was intrigued just by that. And then

00:42:36.889 --> 00:42:39.889
the second I got in the water, it's really the

00:42:39.889 --> 00:42:42.210
first sport in my life that I couldn't muscle

00:42:42.210 --> 00:42:45.550
my way through. And you're faced with your own

00:42:45.550 --> 00:42:48.289
nervous system in a manner that I had never experienced.

00:42:49.230 --> 00:42:51.590
In my life with first responders, there's a lot

00:42:51.590 --> 00:42:53.889
of traumatic exposure for me in my listening

00:42:53.889 --> 00:42:57.130
as a chaplain. just through work, frankly, through

00:42:57.130 --> 00:43:00.949
my childhood. And I'm also competitive. So there's

00:43:00.949 --> 00:43:02.530
something called a breathe up where you're just

00:43:02.530 --> 00:43:04.889
floating on the top of the water before you dive

00:43:04.889 --> 00:43:09.409
down. And I could like feel my panic and feel

00:43:09.409 --> 00:43:12.349
myself vibrating and feel my nervous system,

00:43:12.429 --> 00:43:15.590
you know, fighting. It's not an area where you

00:43:15.590 --> 00:43:19.610
can have control unless you relax. And really

00:43:19.610 --> 00:43:24.269
the moment that I. was able to understand the

00:43:24.269 --> 00:43:29.510
science because I'm a nerd and also confront

00:43:29.510 --> 00:43:33.150
myself with needing to calm down and monitor

00:43:33.150 --> 00:43:37.210
my breath. I was able to, this is not deep forward,

00:43:37.230 --> 00:43:39.590
Lexi, but for a new person within three days,

00:43:39.630 --> 00:43:44.989
get to just about a hundred feet down. And yeah,

00:43:45.449 --> 00:43:46.949
everyone's, how did you do that? So there was

00:43:46.949 --> 00:43:49.809
a science part for me, but also really it's the

00:43:49.809 --> 00:43:55.260
first time in my life that a sport held me. And,

00:43:55.400 --> 00:43:57.699
you know, I've gotten a lot of therapy, done

00:43:57.699 --> 00:44:00.300
a lot of trauma work, and I've been asked my

00:44:00.300 --> 00:44:03.179
whole life, where's a safe space? And I've never

00:44:03.179 --> 00:44:05.539
been able to come up with one. You know, at home

00:44:05.539 --> 00:44:08.659
wasn't one, a relationship, it is now, but it

00:44:08.659 --> 00:44:11.719
was really sketch for me. But the feeling of

00:44:11.719 --> 00:44:14.679
being held by the water, even now when I'm going

00:44:14.679 --> 00:44:17.780
through traumatic events, I can take my body

00:44:17.780 --> 00:44:21.019
right there mentally, and it changed my life.

00:44:21.440 --> 00:44:26.480
So I had a very profound experience, probably

00:44:26.480 --> 00:44:28.760
one of the most profound for sure in sports that

00:44:28.760 --> 00:44:30.760
I've had in my life. And it's had a profound

00:44:30.760 --> 00:44:33.699
impact on my nervous system and my health for

00:44:33.699 --> 00:44:36.780
sure. Give the people listening that haven't

00:44:36.780 --> 00:44:39.199
heard your first episode just a brief overview

00:44:39.199 --> 00:44:41.320
of what you're doing now with the first responders.

00:44:42.500 --> 00:44:47.699
Yeah, so I founded and own The Six. We do sports

00:44:47.699 --> 00:44:50.699
recovery. Really the heart of The Six is prevention.

00:44:50.900 --> 00:44:54.039
So we're dealing with how to move well, how to

00:44:54.039 --> 00:44:57.320
prevent injury. 4850 is the code we use for workers'

00:44:57.420 --> 00:45:01.559
comp. By the end of this year, we'll be upwards

00:45:01.559 --> 00:45:04.980
of 1 ,000 hours of first responder service, which

00:45:04.980 --> 00:45:08.260
includes physical therapy, behavioral therapy,

00:45:08.380 --> 00:45:14.380
and sports medicine per month. so amazing well

00:45:14.380 --> 00:45:16.900
alexi back to you for a second prior to meeting

00:45:16.900 --> 00:45:20.420
sonia had you been approached by you know the

00:45:20.420 --> 00:45:22.820
lifeguarding world the the firefighting world

00:45:22.820 --> 00:45:24.980
any of these professions that you know we're

00:45:24.980 --> 00:45:26.579
going to learn obviously can definitely benefit

00:45:26.579 --> 00:45:32.420
from your training um firefighters it was first

00:45:32.420 --> 00:45:37.940
time uh with sonia it was it was uh in in february

00:45:37.940 --> 00:45:41.239
i think going on to this uh when there was there

00:45:41.239 --> 00:45:46.480
was uh just recent but we did a lot of applied

00:45:46.480 --> 00:45:49.679
uh free diving we call it applied free diving

00:45:49.679 --> 00:45:51.139
for a variety of activities it can be applied

00:45:51.139 --> 00:45:54.340
to a lot of different things but if you think

00:45:54.340 --> 00:45:57.619
about like special services we did many years

00:45:57.619 --> 00:46:02.559
ago when i was um 2005 i was still a teenager

00:46:02.559 --> 00:46:05.619
and all the way until 2015 when my mom was professor

00:46:05.619 --> 00:46:10.440
in university A lot of different departments

00:46:10.440 --> 00:46:13.659
would come to university in Moscow to do the

00:46:13.659 --> 00:46:16.380
breathwork, to dive, to learn about this. How

00:46:16.380 --> 00:46:22.460
can they be focused and move efficiently underwater

00:46:22.460 --> 00:46:26.559
if scuba tank malfunctions or something happens,

00:46:26.800 --> 00:46:28.880
right? And it was different departments, special

00:46:28.880 --> 00:46:33.340
forces, and they would go to, it was Department

00:46:33.340 --> 00:46:37.110
of Extreme Sports. Then unfortunately, after

00:46:37.110 --> 00:46:42.590
2016, 17, it was closed because their dean of

00:46:42.590 --> 00:46:44.969
university was also changed and then there was

00:46:44.969 --> 00:46:47.429
less support. So it was through like when my

00:46:47.429 --> 00:46:50.210
mom was a professor there, then we'd have a lot,

00:46:50.250 --> 00:46:52.409
a lot of students. They would come and they would

00:46:52.409 --> 00:46:54.429
be from special forces who would study that.

00:46:56.230 --> 00:46:58.489
Interesting. Well, you mentioned February. So

00:46:58.489 --> 00:47:00.690
let's go back to Sonia again then. So talk me

00:47:00.690 --> 00:47:03.789
through, you know, you've now been immersed in

00:47:03.789 --> 00:47:06.940
this free diving world. What was that kind of

00:47:06.940 --> 00:47:09.539
aha moment that made you realize that this was

00:47:09.539 --> 00:47:13.019
also something that my profession needed? Yeah,

00:47:13.039 --> 00:47:17.179
I think that one of the largest struggles about

00:47:17.179 --> 00:47:21.900
my job and working so heavily with the fire service

00:47:21.900 --> 00:47:26.400
is that we have all these. huge needs. And the

00:47:26.400 --> 00:47:29.940
first one, obviously, that comes to mind is cardiac

00:47:29.940 --> 00:47:34.139
health, oxygen resiliency, CO2 tolerances are

00:47:34.139 --> 00:47:38.400
three, but they're sort of married. And in my

00:47:38.400 --> 00:47:41.960
world, the aha was that there was a sport that

00:47:41.960 --> 00:47:45.199
answered all of that. And I hadn't come across

00:47:45.199 --> 00:47:52.260
that before. The side effects being better sleep

00:47:52.260 --> 00:47:56.260
hygiene, addressing nervous system disorder,

00:47:56.539 --> 00:48:00.139
things like that. I really knew right away that

00:48:00.139 --> 00:48:03.860
I had stumbled into something that was the perfect

00:48:03.860 --> 00:48:07.679
training space. I can't think of in 20 years

00:48:07.679 --> 00:48:11.360
anything that will match this. I think it's brilliant.

00:48:11.619 --> 00:48:17.519
The other thing is, quite frankly, Alexi is...

00:48:17.849 --> 00:48:21.050
Brilliant. And so while I was expecting before

00:48:21.050 --> 00:48:24.289
I met him to meet, you know, a pro and I had

00:48:24.289 --> 00:48:27.789
ideas about who pros were. He explained the science

00:48:27.789 --> 00:48:31.389
in a way that blew my mind that I wanted the

00:48:31.389 --> 00:48:37.210
fire service to have. So there it really it really,

00:48:37.269 --> 00:48:39.670
really felt like magic with all the science to

00:48:39.670 --> 00:48:43.530
back it up. And that that really was the moment

00:48:43.530 --> 00:48:47.030
I actually when we first started talking, this

00:48:47.030 --> 00:48:50.179
is a. This is funny. I was we were in these vans

00:48:50.179 --> 00:48:53.260
in the middle of the jungle. And I do manual

00:48:53.260 --> 00:48:55.360
therapy as a profession. That's how I started.

00:48:55.480 --> 00:48:58.300
And now, you know, I write coursing for sports.

00:49:00.139 --> 00:49:01.880
Equalization is a huge deal, right? How do you

00:49:01.880 --> 00:49:04.059
dive and how do you take care of your ears? And

00:49:04.059 --> 00:49:08.300
I was performing manual therapy on one of Alexi's

00:49:08.300 --> 00:49:09.980
partners that I didn't know is one of the top

00:49:09.980 --> 00:49:11.800
divers in the world in a van in the middle of

00:49:11.800 --> 00:49:15.619
the jungle. And he was able to perform. um, much

00:49:15.619 --> 00:49:19.139
better dealt with his issue. And then he, I was

00:49:19.139 --> 00:49:21.300
doing a pallet adjustment and I, he, he did the

00:49:21.300 --> 00:49:23.880
same thing to a friend of his, um, and called

00:49:23.880 --> 00:49:25.760
and said, what the heck did you just do? Who

00:49:25.760 --> 00:49:29.940
are you? And, um, we really got to have this

00:49:29.940 --> 00:49:32.099
amazing conversation. And so, you know, initially

00:49:32.099 --> 00:49:33.940
we were talking about manual therapy and adding

00:49:33.940 --> 00:49:36.599
kinesiology. Alexi talked about that being a

00:49:36.599 --> 00:49:38.739
special part of what Mulchanovs does that's different

00:49:38.739 --> 00:49:40.619
is really come from a sports perspective and

00:49:40.619 --> 00:49:44.599
bring that to diving. Um, and then, Because I'm

00:49:44.599 --> 00:49:47.940
me, I said, hey, what do we think about firefighters?

00:49:48.179 --> 00:49:50.539
And I'll let Alexi talk more about that. It was

00:49:50.539 --> 00:49:53.880
pretty cool. Alexi, if you want to add on to

00:49:53.880 --> 00:49:56.599
that. So when you heard that, what was your response?

00:50:00.900 --> 00:50:04.059
Initially, like Sonia said, we started with manual

00:50:04.059 --> 00:50:09.000
part. I already knew how active is Sonia and

00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:12.860
how many ideas she has. We started working together

00:50:12.860 --> 00:50:20.039
in this area. And then I think the breath hold

00:50:20.039 --> 00:50:24.260
and breath work part. uh was was mentioned when

00:50:24.260 --> 00:50:27.599
there were fires in the lane february and i think

00:50:27.599 --> 00:50:29.980
sony you already knew that i'm working a lot

00:50:29.980 --> 00:50:33.239
on this program we talked a lot more about it

00:50:33.239 --> 00:50:35.719
later but i think i shared with you that i work

00:50:35.719 --> 00:50:39.179
on the breath work for people even outside of

00:50:39.179 --> 00:50:42.239
freediving breath work is a big part how we develop

00:50:42.239 --> 00:50:45.539
our lungs and learn how to deal with co2 and

00:50:45.539 --> 00:50:49.679
hypoxia uh when we prepare for our dives but

00:50:49.679 --> 00:50:52.420
then i i see how beneficial is it for anyone

00:50:52.420 --> 00:50:57.840
and um even like in my example of working with

00:50:57.840 --> 00:51:01.659
this divers before right even the guys who have

00:51:01.659 --> 00:51:07.070
oxygen reserves they dive while breathing, but

00:51:07.070 --> 00:51:10.869
they still came to me, my mom, to study breath

00:51:10.869 --> 00:51:13.349
holes and breath work to be more efficient. So

00:51:13.349 --> 00:51:16.010
I knew since 20 years ago that it was really

00:51:16.010 --> 00:51:23.289
useful for a variety of services. And then now

00:51:23.289 --> 00:51:26.090
we created this program, which is online and

00:51:26.090 --> 00:51:29.429
available to anyone. And not specifically, it

00:51:29.429 --> 00:51:31.050
wasn't a specific firefighters program before.

00:51:31.510 --> 00:51:33.670
But then in February, I reached out and said,

00:51:33.750 --> 00:51:37.400
hey, let's go. do breathwork with firefighters

00:51:37.400 --> 00:51:41.059
who was on active duty in la and we went and

00:51:41.059 --> 00:51:44.159
i loved how it worked and it was really good

00:51:44.159 --> 00:51:47.280
feedback from team sony can add on top of that

00:51:47.280 --> 00:51:50.420
and then after that we were we're doing another

00:51:50.420 --> 00:51:55.059
event in san francisco and then we just kept

00:51:55.059 --> 00:51:58.760
building the program after that so i think it

00:51:58.760 --> 00:52:00.940
was thanks to sonia thanks to sonia and being

00:52:00.940 --> 00:52:05.480
being in very close to this uh to this uh to

00:52:05.480 --> 00:52:08.980
to you and just understanding the needs uh very

00:52:08.980 --> 00:52:13.059
specific needs yeah we said james um he's he's

00:52:13.059 --> 00:52:16.579
talking about those those huge la fires um unfortunately

00:52:16.579 --> 00:52:20.099
this year um a fire captain that i was really

00:52:20.099 --> 00:52:23.000
close with uh you know worked many many weeks

00:52:23.000 --> 00:52:25.159
in a row walked himself into an ambulance at

00:52:25.159 --> 00:52:28.619
43 and passed away his name was kyle heard uh

00:52:28.619 --> 00:52:32.690
from a department that i'm very close with. It

00:52:32.690 --> 00:52:36.570
was a cardiac event. This is a department that

00:52:36.570 --> 00:52:39.610
I'd been volunteering for, spending time learning

00:52:39.610 --> 00:52:44.409
fire for many, many years. I was also the chaplain

00:52:44.409 --> 00:52:48.010
that got asked. I got a call from his superior,

00:52:48.110 --> 00:52:50.590
and they said, hey, we can't do the notification

00:52:50.590 --> 00:52:54.269
for his young sons. They were three and nine

00:52:54.269 --> 00:52:56.289
at the time. Will you come? And I actually didn't

00:52:56.289 --> 00:52:58.349
know where I was going. I was in my shop. I heard

00:52:58.349 --> 00:53:00.579
a firefighter was down, which happens unfortunately,

00:53:00.719 --> 00:53:03.659
often in my line of work. Not this close, though.

00:53:04.340 --> 00:53:07.619
Kyle was, if I get emotional, I apologize. Kyle

00:53:07.619 --> 00:53:11.619
was a close friend. And it was around the time

00:53:11.619 --> 00:53:14.320
that I had been diving and experienced diving.

00:53:15.400 --> 00:53:18.599
And, you know, for me, there's, I had written

00:53:18.599 --> 00:53:21.159
this post like two days before about how poor

00:53:21.159 --> 00:53:25.019
fire health was and how little, you know, local

00:53:25.019 --> 00:53:31.440
economies were doing anything. And Yeah, it happened.

00:53:31.659 --> 00:53:37.300
And what I knew was that Kyle's particular department,

00:53:37.519 --> 00:53:40.260
they talked about the six at his funeral and

00:53:40.260 --> 00:53:42.800
how much we had been in there. And I have had

00:53:42.800 --> 00:53:45.559
to fight for every moment that I've been in a

00:53:45.559 --> 00:53:47.480
department trying to create change. And Kyle

00:53:47.480 --> 00:53:49.440
was a champion for that. I mean, this guy was

00:53:49.440 --> 00:53:53.579
like fit. He just got exhausted. And the what

00:53:53.579 --> 00:53:57.889
I knew was that if we trained. you know, oxygen

00:53:57.889 --> 00:54:02.230
resiliency and cardiac health that we could avoid

00:54:02.230 --> 00:54:07.030
this. And, um, it drove me to like, how do, how

00:54:07.030 --> 00:54:10.110
do I get to like the Alexei Molchanov? It seemed

00:54:10.110 --> 00:54:12.650
impossible. And what I thought was impossible

00:54:12.650 --> 00:54:15.909
wasn't, he actually came to that department first

00:54:15.909 --> 00:54:18.809
and, um, we were able to put him in a firebox.

00:54:18.909 --> 00:54:20.250
We were able to suit him up. They were able to

00:54:20.250 --> 00:54:22.329
watch him use no oxygen while he's running laps

00:54:22.329 --> 00:54:27.699
around the building. Um, and it was, Quite moving.

00:54:27.800 --> 00:54:32.739
And then I called again going on strike service

00:54:32.739 --> 00:54:36.579
in L .A. And he flew down and did a training

00:54:36.579 --> 00:54:41.139
like right on site. And it was absolutely remarkable.

00:54:41.500 --> 00:54:43.679
It was absolutely remarkable and absolutely touching.

00:54:44.340 --> 00:54:47.099
This is really personal for me. And watching

00:54:47.099 --> 00:54:51.119
him dive in and give his time was was pretty

00:54:51.119 --> 00:54:54.360
moving. So I've always said that I'm after the

00:54:54.360 --> 00:55:00.199
very best. He's sitting right here. Well, firstly,

00:55:00.280 --> 00:55:02.420
I mean, that's heartbreaking. And like you said,

00:55:02.460 --> 00:55:05.000
it happens all the time. I want to hit one more

00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:07.260
area and then we're going to dive into performance,

00:55:07.460 --> 00:55:09.860
dive into longevity because he's all tied together.

00:55:10.079 --> 00:55:13.440
But Alexi, just before we do, you're operating

00:55:13.440 --> 00:55:17.920
at this absolute pinnacle in your sport. My profession

00:55:17.920 --> 00:55:20.760
are being worked into the ground, especially,

00:55:20.900 --> 00:55:25.440
for example, LA. There was a LAFD. A figure came

00:55:25.440 --> 00:55:27.280
out a couple of months ago that their overtime

00:55:27.280 --> 00:55:30.480
budget for the last three years was $1 billion.

00:55:31.719 --> 00:55:34.539
So that you think about how many extra man hours

00:55:34.539 --> 00:55:37.219
are being worked over and above a 56 hour work

00:55:37.219 --> 00:55:40.380
week. A big issue that we have is complete, you

00:55:40.380 --> 00:55:43.539
know, sleep deprivation under recovery. So just

00:55:43.539 --> 00:55:45.579
before we dive into, you know, breath work and

00:55:45.579 --> 00:55:47.019
all the positive things that you're bringing,

00:55:47.179 --> 00:55:49.539
talk to me about the importance of sleep and

00:55:49.539 --> 00:55:54.670
recovery in your sport specifically. Yeah, that's

00:55:54.670 --> 00:56:01.050
one of the main elements in being an athlete

00:56:01.050 --> 00:56:04.550
or anything, in being ready for anything in life.

00:56:05.150 --> 00:56:07.070
Of course, for me, when I'm getting ready for

00:56:07.070 --> 00:56:10.909
the record, I pay a lot of attention because

00:56:10.909 --> 00:56:14.829
I know if I don't... i'll i'll have consequences

00:56:14.829 --> 00:56:17.409
when i'm free diving at the competitions i will

00:56:17.409 --> 00:56:20.130
i will i will lose i won't be able to win so

00:56:20.130 --> 00:56:22.250
i know exactly what it will cost me if i don't

00:56:22.250 --> 00:56:26.469
sleep enough or if i don't eat properly i think

00:56:26.469 --> 00:56:28.750
in life it's just harder to see that because

00:56:28.750 --> 00:56:30.690
we don't have this like i do have this event

00:56:31.199 --> 00:56:33.599
and the world championship and the day i need

00:56:33.599 --> 00:56:36.099
to perform like exact day and perform in life

00:56:36.099 --> 00:56:37.780
we don't have these days it's like it's sort

00:56:37.780 --> 00:56:39.480
of the whole life and especially with services

00:56:39.480 --> 00:56:41.440
like it's every day you have to perform right

00:56:41.440 --> 00:56:43.539
or like it's a marathon you need to perform the

00:56:43.539 --> 00:56:47.119
whole year and being able to recover but because

00:56:47.119 --> 00:56:50.000
it's just not exact day we don't pay so much

00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:53.659
attention to ourselves to our own health there's

00:56:53.659 --> 00:56:55.159
an interesting fact actually i heard recently

00:56:55.159 --> 00:56:59.159
that when doctors prescribe medicine to our pets

00:56:59.159 --> 00:57:03.090
to the dogs and the cats We follow this, or what

00:57:03.090 --> 00:57:06.090
they say to us, exactly as they say, and we take

00:57:06.090 --> 00:57:09.630
care of our pets really well. We never take care

00:57:09.630 --> 00:57:11.710
of ourselves really well. When doctors tell us

00:57:11.710 --> 00:57:15.829
what to do and give us medication, the percentage

00:57:15.829 --> 00:57:18.150
of people who follow this is really, really low.

00:57:18.269 --> 00:57:21.309
So it just tells us how bad are we with just

00:57:21.309 --> 00:57:23.449
being attentive to ourselves and taking care

00:57:23.449 --> 00:57:26.730
of ourselves. In sports, they're just there.

00:57:28.139 --> 00:57:31.639
The effect is immediate. I see that. And I think

00:57:31.639 --> 00:57:33.780
that this is something to think about. We will

00:57:33.780 --> 00:57:35.920
see that, but it might be too late and we might

00:57:35.920 --> 00:57:41.780
just collapse or have a heart attack or something

00:57:41.780 --> 00:57:43.579
if we don't pay attention to our own health.

00:57:44.280 --> 00:57:46.900
So for me, sleep is number one priority, of course.

00:57:48.300 --> 00:57:51.480
like i'm working on little details how to make

00:57:51.480 --> 00:57:54.199
my sleep better quality and it's different details

00:57:54.199 --> 00:57:57.159
for different people we there's all the tools

00:57:57.159 --> 00:58:03.119
to improve the sleep um but in general like being

00:58:03.119 --> 00:58:05.599
able to relax fast and being able to not to keep

00:58:05.599 --> 00:58:07.800
the tension into the night is really really important

00:58:07.800 --> 00:58:11.460
and there are all the other nuances and usage

00:58:11.460 --> 00:58:13.639
of their social media usage of the phone etc

00:58:13.639 --> 00:58:17.579
but sleep number one priority proper exercises,

00:58:17.800 --> 00:58:23.400
not only free diving. I use cardio. I run a little

00:58:23.400 --> 00:58:25.820
bit. I don't do this to become a really good

00:58:25.820 --> 00:58:29.139
runner because I'm not a good runner, but I use

00:58:29.139 --> 00:58:33.289
this to have basic... health and to train my

00:58:33.289 --> 00:58:36.050
heart. So I do cardio for the heart. When I hold

00:58:36.050 --> 00:58:38.670
my breath, my heart rate is really slow. It goes

00:58:38.670 --> 00:58:40.750
down to less than 30 beats per minute. When I

00:58:40.750 --> 00:58:43.650
sleep, it's 36, 38. So it's really low heart

00:58:43.650 --> 00:58:48.269
rate. And my main sport, it's all very slow heart

00:58:48.269 --> 00:58:50.690
rate. When I do my dives, it's slow. So I do

00:58:50.690 --> 00:58:54.170
the cardio to train my heart at 130, 140, 150

00:58:54.170 --> 00:58:57.349
beats per minute just as a way to balance it

00:58:57.349 --> 00:59:01.969
out and to train my heart. uh i do strength for

00:59:01.969 --> 00:59:05.449
overall like overall strength uh so this part

00:59:05.449 --> 00:59:09.170
is really important activity fitness maintaining

00:59:09.170 --> 00:59:10.989
the fitness level and not just strength like

00:59:10.989 --> 00:59:14.650
if you just do strength push like do the push

00:59:14.650 --> 00:59:17.590
the barbell squats and deadlifts is not enough

00:59:17.590 --> 00:59:19.530
right it should be more complex it should be

00:59:19.530 --> 00:59:23.090
more applied to life so strength basic strength

00:59:23.090 --> 00:59:24.949
is important but also endurance but also mobility

00:59:24.949 --> 00:59:29.900
and nutrition So three elements. Then it's sleep,

00:59:30.099 --> 00:59:34.980
strength, overall fitness, and nutrition. Nutrition

00:59:34.980 --> 00:59:37.739
is hydration. It's enough protein. It's enough

00:59:37.739 --> 00:59:41.280
fibers. Making sure it's enough calories. If

00:59:41.280 --> 00:59:44.079
there's a lot of training, sometimes under -eating

00:59:44.079 --> 00:59:46.579
is a problem. Not having enough calories. Having

00:59:46.579 --> 00:59:49.699
too many calories is a problem because then it's

00:59:49.699 --> 00:59:51.559
really hard for our body. As soon as we have

00:59:51.559 --> 00:59:57.570
extra calories, just our body struggles. carry

00:59:57.570 --> 01:00:00.670
this extra weight, et cetera, et cetera. So those

01:00:00.670 --> 01:00:04.590
three big areas. Well, I want to break down these

01:00:04.590 --> 01:00:06.849
pillars. The first one, and like I said, being

01:00:06.849 --> 01:00:09.690
very mindful of the fact that my profession is

01:00:09.690 --> 01:00:11.869
being worked into the ground at the moment, their

01:00:11.869 --> 01:00:15.289
ability to find time to exercise, even have motivation

01:00:15.289 --> 01:00:18.130
to exercise is greatly diminished at the moment.

01:00:18.210 --> 01:00:20.510
And what's exciting is in Florida, and I know

01:00:20.510 --> 01:00:23.139
we're going to get you guys here soon. There

01:00:23.139 --> 01:00:25.139
finally is kind of a revolution where they're

01:00:25.139 --> 01:00:27.019
pushing for a healthy work week. And what's going

01:00:27.019 --> 01:00:29.420
to be beautiful about that is alongside that,

01:00:29.519 --> 01:00:31.539
we're going to be able to start putting in fitness

01:00:31.539 --> 01:00:33.500
standards for the profession. Because when I

01:00:33.500 --> 01:00:36.119
talk to ocean lifeguards, the concept of not

01:00:36.119 --> 01:00:40.239
having annual or, you know, every twice a year,

01:00:40.320 --> 01:00:42.920
you know, testing is insane to them. You know,

01:00:42.940 --> 01:00:45.940
I was a lifeguard for a long time, kind of alongside

01:00:45.940 --> 01:00:48.739
the fire service as well. So let's talk about

01:00:48.739 --> 01:00:52.309
cardiovascular fitness first. In a profession

01:00:52.309 --> 01:00:56.110
where the only air available to us during a fire

01:00:56.110 --> 01:00:59.630
is strapped on a tank to our back, or if I'm

01:00:59.630 --> 01:01:02.670
doing as I was on a station with a boat, if I

01:01:02.670 --> 01:01:05.730
am having to dive down to pull someone out of

01:01:05.730 --> 01:01:08.269
a car or, you know, someone that fell off a boat.

01:01:08.389 --> 01:01:11.050
Again, the only air available to me at that point

01:01:11.050 --> 01:01:14.250
is, you know, in my lungs at that point. What

01:01:14.250 --> 01:01:17.869
is the importance of cardiovascular? fitness

01:01:17.869 --> 01:01:20.630
in the ability to be efficient with that limited

01:01:20.630 --> 01:01:30.070
supply of air it's it's very important to first

01:01:30.070 --> 01:01:32.210
of all assess how much air you have if you dive

01:01:32.210 --> 01:01:37.289
with one breath we want to go into economy mode

01:01:37.289 --> 01:01:41.570
as soon as possible and it's if being rescuing

01:01:41.570 --> 01:01:46.360
someone from underwater You want to use your

01:01:46.360 --> 01:01:51.360
energy as little as possible, still while moving

01:01:51.360 --> 01:01:54.039
and rescuing the person, etc. So having a good

01:01:54.039 --> 01:01:56.579
technique is one of the important elements. You

01:01:56.579 --> 01:02:00.039
want to be very efficient with your energy and

01:02:00.039 --> 01:02:03.000
that will save oxygen. Because as soon as you

01:02:03.000 --> 01:02:05.900
start moving with less efficiency, just kick

01:02:05.900 --> 01:02:10.019
too hard, move too chaotic and use a lot of energy,

01:02:10.199 --> 01:02:13.619
it's not only oxygen that will... waste it's

01:02:13.619 --> 01:02:16.380
also will produce a lot of carbon dioxide and

01:02:16.380 --> 01:02:18.079
it will give us this burning desire to breathe

01:02:18.079 --> 01:02:20.440
this burning desire to breathe comes from co2

01:02:20.440 --> 01:02:23.980
affecting our nervous system our receptors and

01:02:23.980 --> 01:02:25.539
then it will make us tense and then it will make

01:02:25.539 --> 01:02:27.340
us less efficient and we will not be able to

01:02:27.340 --> 01:02:30.539
help underwater so it's moving efficiently not

01:02:30.539 --> 01:02:33.039
too slow not too fast like just enough for the

01:02:33.039 --> 01:02:38.260
task and produce less co2 and then if we do that

01:02:38.260 --> 01:02:41.260
it will allow our body to adapt if we use our

01:02:41.260 --> 01:02:44.260
resources too fast Our body is not able to adapt

01:02:44.260 --> 01:02:48.039
to these changes fast enough. If we use our resources

01:02:48.039 --> 01:02:52.119
as smart as possible, then our body will adapt

01:02:52.119 --> 01:02:54.559
and it will give us extra seconds to deal with

01:02:54.559 --> 01:02:59.179
the situation. When I think about any sort of

01:02:59.179 --> 01:03:01.119
high -stress task like that, obviously one of

01:03:01.119 --> 01:03:04.139
your enemies is also between your ears. So talk

01:03:04.139 --> 01:03:07.260
to me again about the importance of the calm

01:03:07.260 --> 01:03:14.420
mind to be efficient physically. You will have

01:03:14.420 --> 01:03:20.519
a calm mind. It's hard to be calm when you don't

01:03:20.519 --> 01:03:23.960
have this foundation and skills. It starts with

01:03:23.960 --> 01:03:25.760
exercises. When we have efficient technique,

01:03:26.019 --> 01:03:29.420
that's one. If we have efficient technique, we

01:03:29.420 --> 01:03:32.539
know we can use our energy efficiently, use our

01:03:32.539 --> 01:03:35.480
oxygen efficiently. We have bigger lungs because

01:03:35.480 --> 01:03:37.860
of cardiovascular health as well. If we train

01:03:37.860 --> 01:03:41.590
not only specific things, but also... general

01:03:41.590 --> 01:03:45.050
endurance, we run, we swim. Cardiovascular health

01:03:45.050 --> 01:03:47.469
is super important because we have usually bigger

01:03:47.469 --> 01:03:50.869
lungs. If we do breath work, we do stretches,

01:03:50.969 --> 01:03:53.110
that'll give us bigger lung volume. But also

01:03:53.110 --> 01:03:56.710
if in general we do running and swimming, swimming

01:03:56.710 --> 01:04:00.989
helps a lot because of breathing and swimming

01:04:00.989 --> 01:04:03.780
usually with inhale, swimmers would... swim like

01:04:03.780 --> 01:04:06.940
most of the time while being on inhale and there's

01:04:06.940 --> 01:04:08.679
a lot of movement in the shoulder blade area

01:04:08.679 --> 01:04:11.219
so that grows like it makes your lungs really

01:04:11.219 --> 01:04:14.900
big uh so all these elements all this foundation

01:04:14.900 --> 01:04:20.119
will help to be calm will help to uh to just

01:04:20.119 --> 01:04:22.659
trust your own body's abilities like it's if

01:04:22.659 --> 01:04:24.300
your body is not ready if you don't have a technique

01:04:24.300 --> 01:04:27.960
you don't have the lung developed lungs it's

01:04:27.960 --> 01:04:31.300
hard to stay calm it helps of course like understanding

01:04:31.300 --> 01:04:34.099
the calm understanding how to do this in theory

01:04:34.099 --> 01:04:36.099
helps a little bit but you might not be able

01:04:36.099 --> 01:04:39.579
to to maintain it in extreme situations to be

01:04:39.579 --> 01:04:41.340
able to maintain it it should be practiced it

01:04:41.340 --> 01:04:45.219
should be something you do regularly you do foundational

01:04:45.219 --> 01:04:48.760
activities cardiovascular activities you improve

01:04:48.760 --> 01:04:51.039
your technique imitate the technique that will

01:04:51.039 --> 01:04:53.159
need will be needed in this specific situation

01:04:53.159 --> 01:04:57.420
and then you trust your body abilities and this

01:04:57.420 --> 01:04:59.400
will come economy because you know you can do

01:04:59.400 --> 01:05:03.159
this and you trained this many many times this

01:05:03.159 --> 01:05:06.000
is what's crazy when i reflect back to oh my

01:05:06.000 --> 01:05:10.639
goodness 22 years ago when i went to fire academy

01:05:10.639 --> 01:05:14.059
the only time we really talked about breath they

01:05:14.059 --> 01:05:17.079
use the term skip breathing so when you do get

01:05:17.079 --> 01:05:19.099
trapped in a fire and you're trying to prolong

01:05:19.099 --> 01:05:21.400
your tank before you know someone comes and gets

01:05:21.400 --> 01:05:23.989
you you can I've used this technique and you

01:05:23.989 --> 01:05:25.670
can use it, you know, like if I'm climbing stairs

01:05:25.670 --> 01:05:27.929
on the way to a fire, I would try and use that

01:05:27.929 --> 01:05:30.889
to be efficient so that then I have more of my

01:05:30.889 --> 01:05:33.730
tank left for the high exertion elements. But

01:05:33.730 --> 01:05:36.130
that's about it. That's about the only time I

01:05:36.130 --> 01:05:38.349
ever really got exposed to anything about the

01:05:38.349 --> 01:05:40.630
breath. And just to circle around, like I said,

01:05:40.670 --> 01:05:43.809
if I go into a fire, what they call IDLH, the

01:05:43.809 --> 01:05:46.550
only air I have access to on the entire planet

01:05:46.550 --> 01:05:50.530
is that tank strapped to my back. The fitness

01:05:50.530 --> 01:05:54.289
levels, the rest and recovery, the state of mind,

01:05:54.409 --> 01:05:57.210
the breath work, the lung capacity, all these

01:05:57.210 --> 01:06:00.789
should be front and center. But as I alluded

01:06:00.789 --> 01:06:03.289
to, a lot of our profession have been kind of

01:06:03.289 --> 01:06:05.630
just treading water because they're just worked

01:06:05.630 --> 01:06:08.309
into the ground and performance really isn't

01:06:08.309 --> 01:06:12.070
a conversation. As Sonia told that tragic story,

01:06:12.250 --> 01:06:15.150
it's just trying to stop us dying less is really.

01:06:15.759 --> 01:06:17.840
The strength and conditioning, nutrition, all

01:06:17.840 --> 01:06:19.239
these, when you really look at it, they're just

01:06:19.239 --> 01:06:22.420
trying to minimize the deaths. Whereas I feel

01:06:22.420 --> 01:06:26.659
like as we move through this kind of health revolution

01:06:26.659 --> 01:06:28.840
that's starting here in Florida, now we're going

01:06:28.840 --> 01:06:30.719
to be able to put performance front and center,

01:06:30.800 --> 01:06:33.920
which is then going to create health and longevity

01:06:33.920 --> 01:06:37.289
as well. So, with that being said, I'll throw

01:06:37.289 --> 01:06:39.570
it back to Sonia for a second. You obviously,

01:06:39.750 --> 01:06:41.849
you know, I've got this background in so many

01:06:41.849 --> 01:06:44.590
holistic areas, including breathwork. What is

01:06:44.590 --> 01:06:47.389
it about Alexi's method that really made you

01:06:47.389 --> 01:06:51.070
realize this was so applicable? You know, if

01:06:51.070 --> 01:06:53.440
we just talk about being human. for a minute,

01:06:53.539 --> 01:06:56.039
which every first responder is, it's natural

01:06:56.039 --> 01:06:59.739
when you're faced with a crisis to go into hyperventilation.

01:06:59.960 --> 01:07:04.880
And really the most popular breathwork that I've

01:07:04.880 --> 01:07:07.880
encountered with people that are pursuing their

01:07:07.880 --> 01:07:11.019
health in this space is Wim Hof, which is more

01:07:11.019 --> 01:07:15.699
hyperventilation. So when we listen to Alexi's

01:07:15.699 --> 01:07:19.929
protocols about training for the dive uh if you're

01:07:19.929 --> 01:07:22.030
listening the way that i am i'm listening for

01:07:22.030 --> 01:07:25.369
how do we confront uh your nervous system when

01:07:25.369 --> 01:07:27.690
you're going into a panic space which is natural

01:07:27.690 --> 01:07:30.289
right i don't think that when james goes into

01:07:30.289 --> 01:07:32.710
a fire you're like aware you know that you're

01:07:32.710 --> 01:07:35.550
going to start having short breath that really

01:07:35.550 --> 01:07:37.750
puts you into a disadvantage in terms of that

01:07:37.750 --> 01:07:41.150
cot buildup as alexi was talking about and it's

01:07:41.150 --> 01:07:44.070
not to your greatest advantage so Every time

01:07:44.070 --> 01:07:46.409
I was listening to Alexi, it was exactly what

01:07:46.409 --> 01:07:50.429
I wanted to listen for, which was how do we,

01:07:50.469 --> 01:07:53.730
in a roundabout way, package up a practice that

01:07:53.730 --> 01:07:56.469
addresses, well, I'm human. What is my body naturally

01:07:56.469 --> 01:07:59.570
going to do? And can you, in fact, train yourself

01:07:59.570 --> 01:08:02.690
the same way you train to play piano or the same

01:08:02.690 --> 01:08:06.230
way you train to play football to the second

01:08:06.230 --> 01:08:08.730
that your body starts resisting pressure or resisting

01:08:08.730 --> 01:08:11.670
trauma? Can you recognize it? And change the

01:08:11.670 --> 01:08:13.369
narrative. You know, will your body automatically

01:08:13.369 --> 01:08:15.570
start to get into a breath space where you're

01:08:15.570 --> 01:08:18.170
calm? You only use the amount of energy necessary

01:08:18.170 --> 01:08:21.750
to do your task and you come out for the win.

01:08:21.970 --> 01:08:26.130
So that's again, I can't think of a better method

01:08:26.130 --> 01:08:29.569
for the fire service. Obviously, there's a lot

01:08:29.569 --> 01:08:31.789
of implication in terms of water rescue space,

01:08:32.050 --> 01:08:34.189
but that's exactly what we need to be doing.

01:08:35.289 --> 01:08:38.430
you know, cardiac health and oxygen efficiency

01:08:38.430 --> 01:08:41.609
are not the same thing. They're quote unquote

01:08:41.609 --> 01:08:44.350
married, but they're not the same. And I've heard

01:08:44.350 --> 01:08:46.470
a lot about cardiac health in the fire service.

01:08:46.609 --> 01:08:49.689
I haven't heard that the second it was Alexi

01:08:49.689 --> 01:08:52.109
used the term oxygen resiliency. And I was like,

01:08:52.170 --> 01:08:55.590
ah, that's it. It was like a eureka for me as

01:08:55.590 --> 01:09:01.100
he was sharing about his methodology. Well, Lexi,

01:09:01.159 --> 01:09:03.380
let's get you to expand on that then. Talk to

01:09:03.380 --> 01:09:06.659
me about the principles of your breathwork, your

01:09:06.659 --> 01:09:10.399
training, and then let's expand on areas like

01:09:10.399 --> 01:09:19.420
oxygen resiliency. So with breathwork for applied

01:09:19.420 --> 01:09:23.079
activities, not for feed areas, it's also something

01:09:23.079 --> 01:09:25.220
we use for our dives in preparation. But let's

01:09:25.220 --> 01:09:27.859
talk about how it can be used for anyone and

01:09:27.859 --> 01:09:34.000
for special. uh also for tasks like in firefighting

01:09:34.000 --> 01:09:35.979
what we discussed with sonia when we were building

01:09:35.979 --> 01:09:38.659
the program the first element which is very obvious

01:09:38.659 --> 01:09:43.699
is training your lungs making sure you can breathe

01:09:43.699 --> 01:09:47.819
more with less effort you have your you develop

01:09:47.819 --> 01:09:51.340
your lung size and you can inhale exhale ventilate

01:09:51.340 --> 01:09:55.239
faster and get more oxygen faster when you need

01:09:55.239 --> 01:10:00.510
when uh for uh variety of situations where you

01:10:00.510 --> 01:10:04.470
have a lot of effort and if there is no technique

01:10:04.470 --> 01:10:07.390
behind it it was some extra tension when we start

01:10:07.390 --> 01:10:10.529
breathing full long size we have tension in the

01:10:10.529 --> 01:10:13.289
neck tension in the shoulders that just makes

01:10:13.289 --> 01:10:15.569
breathing less efficient so working on the efficiency

01:10:15.569 --> 01:10:20.029
lung volume and efficiency and to do that we

01:10:20.029 --> 01:10:23.069
stretch we make our breathing muscles more strong

01:10:23.069 --> 01:10:26.930
but also more flexible as well and understand

01:10:26.930 --> 01:10:30.390
different parts of our lungs. How could we breathe

01:10:30.390 --> 01:10:32.670
with lower parts of our lungs? How do we breathe

01:10:32.670 --> 01:10:34.630
with good technique with upper parts of our lungs,

01:10:34.689 --> 01:10:39.609
et cetera? So all the sediments. Their next really

01:10:39.609 --> 01:10:42.729
important part, even before oxygen, is dealing

01:10:42.729 --> 01:10:45.810
with CO2 with urge to breathe. And how can we

01:10:45.810 --> 01:10:50.300
stay calm? How can we rewire? change our reaction

01:10:50.300 --> 01:10:53.420
to stress co2 and urge to breathe is really really

01:10:53.420 --> 01:10:55.520
stressful and it's one of the most stressful

01:10:55.520 --> 01:10:58.680
things in life in general like their reaction

01:10:58.680 --> 01:11:03.560
to co2 is naturally stress our heart rate rises

01:11:03.560 --> 01:11:06.420
and we have tension somewhere in our breathing

01:11:06.420 --> 01:11:10.119
muscles And when we focus on this exercise, we

01:11:10.119 --> 01:11:13.340
do something, we can sit still, or we do something

01:11:13.340 --> 01:11:17.880
like squats or any activity while holding our

01:11:17.880 --> 01:11:21.680
breath. And if we learn how to not react, we

01:11:21.680 --> 01:11:23.779
feel the urge to breathe, but we pay attention

01:11:23.779 --> 01:11:26.060
to our breathing muscles, to our neck and shoulders,

01:11:26.220 --> 01:11:30.279
and we relax attentively. And even though we

01:11:30.279 --> 01:11:34.319
do have the urge to breathe, we relax. teach

01:11:34.319 --> 01:11:37.439
our body to be less reactive to this stress so

01:11:37.439 --> 01:11:40.119
we can maintain calm in the stressful situations

01:11:40.119 --> 01:11:44.140
and as well prolong the breath hold as well be

01:11:44.140 --> 01:11:46.539
able to use more oxygen from our lungs because

01:11:46.539 --> 01:11:51.340
if we don't react our body will adapt and our

01:11:51.340 --> 01:11:53.539
adaptation abilities are insane like we just

01:11:53.539 --> 01:11:56.100
don't know about our patient abilities it's basically

01:11:56.100 --> 01:12:00.279
just getting to know what we are able what we're

01:12:00.279 --> 01:12:02.859
able to do we don't know and we never tried and

01:12:02.859 --> 01:12:06.659
if we train this skill we will be able to hold

01:12:06.659 --> 01:12:09.460
our breath like twice longer without being in

01:12:09.460 --> 01:12:12.680
danger so there's those elements like lungs co2

01:12:12.680 --> 01:12:16.420
tolerance and oxygen efficiency and being less

01:12:16.420 --> 01:12:18.560
reactive and not panicking when we just feel

01:12:18.560 --> 01:12:22.149
the urge to breathe What are you seeing as far

01:12:22.149 --> 01:12:25.189
as the mobility that's restricting breath? Because

01:12:25.189 --> 01:12:27.810
I know, for example, a lot of device using now,

01:12:27.930 --> 01:12:32.350
a lot of sitting at laptops is causing anatomical

01:12:32.350 --> 01:12:35.430
changes, which the thoracic mobility, for example,

01:12:35.550 --> 01:12:37.970
is diminished. So what are some of the challenges

01:12:37.970 --> 01:12:41.289
to this in your average person as far as 2025

01:12:41.289 --> 01:12:46.750
society? So I didn't really want to analyze.

01:12:47.770 --> 01:12:52.670
Start with your experience. So before we really

01:12:52.670 --> 01:12:54.970
dove into the fire service work with Melchinov,

01:12:54.970 --> 01:12:56.590
this is what we were talking about because I

01:12:56.590 --> 01:13:00.430
wasn't seeing a lot of... uh research about their

01:13:00.430 --> 01:13:02.890
about this where you were marrying the two um

01:13:02.890 --> 01:13:06.409
you know the the second that you have uh thoracic

01:13:06.409 --> 01:13:08.529
we call it kyphosis so that lean forward which

01:13:08.529 --> 01:13:11.489
is driving which is computer time which is phones

01:13:11.489 --> 01:13:14.470
uh you're you know collapsing at the diaphragm

01:13:14.470 --> 01:13:16.409
you're collapsing at the atlas and you're losing

01:13:16.409 --> 01:13:20.090
you know between 20 and 30 percent uh of your

01:13:20.090 --> 01:13:23.130
oxygen like the inhale is just not there so posture

01:13:23.130 --> 01:13:26.640
by itself is a huge deal Jaw tense is a huge

01:13:26.640 --> 01:13:29.239
deal in terms of equalizing and breath hold.

01:13:30.039 --> 01:13:33.539
It has everything to do with it. When you're

01:13:33.539 --> 01:13:38.180
looking at a population that has to have gear

01:13:38.180 --> 01:13:41.180
on, we're talking about full SBCAs with poor

01:13:41.180 --> 01:13:44.420
posture, your oxygen capacity can cut to even

01:13:44.420 --> 01:13:47.239
more. So we're talking about already you're going

01:13:47.239 --> 01:13:52.199
into a fire or a medical aid or a rescue 30,

01:13:52.420 --> 01:13:56.359
40 percent in deficit. Let's imagine we don't

01:13:56.359 --> 01:14:00.420
have sleep hygiene, nutrition, or mobility. So

01:14:00.420 --> 01:14:05.359
it's a huge problem. It's a huge civilian problem.

01:14:05.760 --> 01:14:09.239
But for people that need to be in gear, so there's

01:14:09.239 --> 01:14:14.180
added compression on top of posture, it's frightening,

01:14:14.340 --> 01:14:17.279
in my opinion. And it answers a lot of the why

01:14:17.279 --> 01:14:19.779
behind what's happening to our firefighters.

01:14:21.600 --> 01:14:25.479
yeah yeah to support that like if from all the

01:14:25.479 --> 01:14:29.039
three areas biomechanics the portion etc biochemistry

01:14:29.039 --> 01:14:33.340
co2 tolerance and uh control for our nervous

01:14:33.340 --> 01:14:37.039
system the third one so biomechanics is a really

01:14:37.039 --> 01:14:42.399
important start and uh when we do full inhale

01:14:42.399 --> 01:14:45.380
and we learn how to move while we hold our breath

01:14:45.380 --> 01:14:50.010
there are exercises where we do we uh expand

01:14:50.010 --> 01:14:53.850
our lungs we we do rotations we do arm swings

01:14:53.850 --> 01:14:57.029
arms rotations etc just learn how to move while

01:14:57.029 --> 01:15:00.130
on full inhale it helps a lot helps a lot posture

01:15:00.130 --> 01:15:04.649
as well uh because our rib cage it's all connected

01:15:04.649 --> 01:15:07.829
to our spine so if we inhale and we get this

01:15:07.829 --> 01:15:10.470
little last little percent ten percent of inhale

01:15:10.470 --> 01:15:15.659
which we usually never do we feel how our lungs

01:15:15.659 --> 01:15:17.880
the backside of the lungs work the best that's

01:15:17.880 --> 01:15:19.819
usually something like if you try inhaling now

01:15:19.819 --> 01:15:22.279
or anyone who listens like try to inhale you

01:15:22.279 --> 01:15:23.899
usually inhale just with the front part of your

01:15:23.899 --> 01:15:26.300
lungs and maybe like in the movies try to lift

01:15:26.300 --> 01:15:28.180
your chest but not with the belly not with a

01:15:28.180 --> 01:15:31.140
lower part of the lungs abdominal area so it's

01:15:31.140 --> 01:15:33.479
paying attention to the lower part of the lungs

01:15:34.470 --> 01:15:36.710
then upper part, of course, is the next step,

01:15:36.770 --> 01:15:38.310
but also paying a lot of attention to the back.

01:15:38.470 --> 01:15:43.109
Can you feel the expansion of your lungs, of

01:15:43.109 --> 01:15:45.850
the ribcage, with the inhale, starting from the

01:15:45.850 --> 01:15:50.329
low back, going all the way up to the spacing

01:15:50.329 --> 01:15:52.569
between the shoulder blades? And when we start

01:15:52.569 --> 01:15:55.369
exercising and breathing deeply and paying a

01:15:55.369 --> 01:15:58.569
lot of attention to our back, then it increases

01:15:58.569 --> 01:16:01.050
mobility and our posture is better. We have more

01:16:01.050 --> 01:16:04.390
freedom of movement. Right. Mobility, intra -abdominal

01:16:04.390 --> 01:16:06.329
pressure. If you don't get full inhales, really,

01:16:06.430 --> 01:16:09.430
you know, we have two diaphragms. We have the,

01:16:09.430 --> 01:16:12.949
I call it the bottom diaphragm. In firefighter

01:16:12.949 --> 01:16:15.310
terms, the top and the bottom. They need to come

01:16:15.310 --> 01:16:17.069
towards and away from each other in order to

01:16:17.069 --> 01:16:20.510
give you proper stability. When you consider

01:16:20.510 --> 01:16:24.010
what Alexi was talking about, just being human,

01:16:24.069 --> 01:16:26.029
right? We're only using really the small percentage

01:16:26.029 --> 01:16:30.090
of our lungs. Typically, the lumbar and the sacral

01:16:30.090 --> 01:16:32.399
spine. Really don't have a lot of support at

01:16:32.399 --> 01:16:35.460
all. And again, if we look at where our firefighters

01:16:35.460 --> 01:16:38.020
going out, the soft tissue injury is huge. Sports

01:16:38.020 --> 01:16:39.960
injury is huge. I don't know why it's not talked

01:16:39.960 --> 01:16:44.880
about more. It's actually like the most injury

01:16:44.880 --> 01:16:49.199
is in that space. Really without breath, especially

01:16:49.199 --> 01:16:53.989
before. an athlete that depends on it we don't

01:16:53.989 --> 01:16:56.989
have the stability just via breath um in our

01:16:56.989 --> 01:16:59.210
in our spine so which is called intra -abdominal

01:16:59.210 --> 01:17:01.550
pressure so i mean i could talk about we could

01:17:01.550 --> 01:17:07.460
learn about this for three hours Well, you made

01:17:07.460 --> 01:17:09.920
the comment about being under load. One of the

01:17:09.920 --> 01:17:12.699
examples I've used, the very last place I worked

01:17:12.699 --> 01:17:15.319
next to me, and this was a place that didn't

01:17:15.319 --> 01:17:17.720
really see fire. Usually it protected a theme

01:17:17.720 --> 01:17:20.979
park. It was very well protected as far as sprinklers

01:17:20.979 --> 01:17:23.260
and extinguishers, et cetera. But next to the

01:17:23.260 --> 01:17:28.880
station was a 30 -story hotel tower. And so if

01:17:28.880 --> 01:17:31.960
we were to put on the right amount of gear to

01:17:31.960 --> 01:17:34.569
go and fight, a fire, you know, one of the top

01:17:34.569 --> 01:17:37.270
floors that ended up being a hundred pounds of

01:17:37.270 --> 01:17:40.270
gear. So bunker gear, you know, extra hose, some

01:17:40.270 --> 01:17:43.189
extra bottles to breathe from and a tool. So

01:17:43.189 --> 01:17:45.869
nothing excessive, just a normal strip for high

01:17:45.869 --> 01:17:49.069
rise strip, we call it. And then you ascend 30

01:17:49.069 --> 01:17:52.449
flights of stairs and then you go to work. So

01:17:52.449 --> 01:17:55.609
again, in a profession that has so much load

01:17:55.609 --> 01:17:57.649
and obviously the special forces, special operators

01:17:57.649 --> 01:17:59.670
would be another example of this. And then law

01:17:59.670 --> 01:18:03.050
enforcement talk to me about. the importance

01:18:03.050 --> 01:18:05.729
of some of this training to simply be able to

01:18:05.729 --> 01:18:09.750
oxygenate the body when there's so much working

01:18:09.750 --> 01:18:13.640
against the expansion of the breath. Yeah, well,

01:18:13.699 --> 01:18:15.739
you really have to train both. So, I mean, in

01:18:15.739 --> 01:18:18.640
the programming that Alexi and I wrote together,

01:18:18.779 --> 01:18:22.300
I took all the demand of the fire service. I

01:18:22.300 --> 01:18:26.199
call it really rotational load is super important,

01:18:26.359 --> 01:18:29.819
meaning can you load my left side and stay heavy

01:18:29.819 --> 01:18:34.640
on the right and vice versa. A lot of people

01:18:34.640 --> 01:18:38.390
that work out in this program, I call it. row

01:18:38.390 --> 01:18:40.489
workouts which is a little bit of a silly term

01:18:40.489 --> 01:18:43.189
but it's really these square bilateral movements

01:18:43.189 --> 01:18:45.729
that don't help you do things like run up a step

01:18:45.729 --> 01:18:47.670
right you're not going to probably carry the

01:18:47.670 --> 01:18:50.630
hose perfectly so that each side is equally loaded

01:18:50.630 --> 01:18:53.149
so You'll see in our training program, there's

01:18:53.149 --> 01:18:55.489
a lot of rotation and a lot of movement. And

01:18:55.489 --> 01:18:58.210
then the breath practice is married right alongside

01:18:58.210 --> 01:19:00.649
it. So you have to perform both at the same time.

01:19:01.109 --> 01:19:04.090
And I'm not shy about saying I think it's necessary,

01:19:04.289 --> 01:19:06.109
right? I'm like, no, you signed up to do this

01:19:06.109 --> 01:19:09.289
job. It's hard. There's parts in the video, see,

01:19:09.369 --> 01:19:12.329
where even Alexei Melchinov is like, whoo, because

01:19:12.329 --> 01:19:15.189
we're performing dynamic movement and then some

01:19:15.189 --> 01:19:18.220
static movement with drive -through. Often that's

01:19:18.220 --> 01:19:20.739
demanding that you stay strong on either one

01:19:20.739 --> 01:19:23.420
side of your body or where you're loaded a particular

01:19:23.420 --> 01:19:26.699
spot and have to hold everywhere else. And I

01:19:26.699 --> 01:19:30.920
just think it's necessary. Again, you know, to

01:19:30.920 --> 01:19:33.720
drive home, it's not just cardiac training. It's

01:19:33.720 --> 01:19:37.239
it's that CO2 tolerance, oxygen, resilience and

01:19:37.239 --> 01:19:41.079
fitness. That is, you know, 20 years of me working

01:19:41.079 --> 01:19:43.819
with firefighters, understanding what's necessary

01:19:43.819 --> 01:19:49.489
in order to have a long career. Alexi, when you

01:19:49.489 --> 01:19:51.310
put on the gear and were put through some of

01:19:51.310 --> 01:19:54.069
these evolutions, what were some of the aha moments

01:19:54.069 --> 01:20:01.289
that you had? I think weight -wise, I felt the

01:20:01.289 --> 01:20:04.470
weight. So just pulling, like carrying gear around

01:20:04.470 --> 01:20:08.569
wasn't easy and climbing later wasn't easy. So

01:20:08.569 --> 01:20:11.970
I realized, okay, you have to have fitness, basic

01:20:11.970 --> 01:20:14.069
fitness to do that, not to feel that. I think

01:20:14.069 --> 01:20:18.659
there's like this... moment where you you can

01:20:18.659 --> 01:20:21.739
have such level of fitness where you can do all

01:20:21.739 --> 01:20:24.699
these things and be almost like almost you want

01:20:24.699 --> 01:20:27.220
not to feel that you want to be so trained so

01:20:27.220 --> 01:20:31.640
there is no effort and i i realized that it There

01:20:31.640 --> 01:20:34.000
is a weight, yes, but I'm in general pretty fit.

01:20:35.680 --> 01:20:39.880
I squat a lot. I have big legs to squat. So I

01:20:39.880 --> 01:20:42.020
was able to do that. I'm like, okay, there is

01:20:42.020 --> 01:20:44.319
weight, but actually I can do and I can learn

01:20:44.319 --> 01:20:47.279
how to do this without being exhausted or being

01:20:47.279 --> 01:20:50.079
out of breath. So I like this part to start with.

01:20:50.340 --> 01:20:53.380
Then the second part was being in the building,

01:20:53.579 --> 01:20:58.489
in the burning building. initially it was just

01:20:58.489 --> 01:21:01.189
natural reaction me being there first time and

01:21:01.189 --> 01:21:03.949
like almost like thinking okay do i have enough

01:21:03.949 --> 01:21:07.430
seal in my in my suit do i have it's actually

01:21:07.430 --> 01:21:11.529
dangerous i feel that sort of like a panic not

01:21:11.529 --> 01:21:14.050
real penny because i had team nearby just next

01:21:14.050 --> 01:21:15.649
to me and i thought they probably know what they

01:21:15.649 --> 01:21:20.149
do so i'll be safe but uh but i was like okay

01:21:20.149 --> 01:21:23.489
did they really make properly is there a good

01:21:23.489 --> 01:21:28.689
seal so a bit of panic i felt that and then five

01:21:28.689 --> 01:21:30.890
minutes later ten minutes later i was able to

01:21:30.890 --> 01:21:34.229
calm down understand how how can i use oxygen

01:21:34.229 --> 01:21:38.869
less and i've been told the stories about situations

01:21:38.869 --> 01:21:42.159
when firefighters are are in the building like

01:21:42.159 --> 01:21:45.359
caught somewhere and can't get out and they need

01:21:45.359 --> 01:21:47.619
to wait for for someone to save them like cut

01:21:47.619 --> 01:21:50.479
the wall and for them to save them and maybe

01:21:50.479 --> 01:21:52.779
it's done quickly maybe it's not and then i was

01:21:52.779 --> 01:21:56.300
sitting there and thinking okay how can we teach

01:21:56.300 --> 01:22:00.199
firefighters to consume oxygen as well as possible

01:22:00.199 --> 01:22:03.119
do very very shallow belly breathing it takes

01:22:03.119 --> 01:22:06.640
a bit of practice to get used to it like shallow

01:22:06.640 --> 01:22:09.479
breathing is if you overall train and you can

01:22:09.850 --> 01:22:13.930
deal with carbon dioxide better and you can stay

01:22:13.930 --> 01:22:16.890
calm, you can make your breathing much, much

01:22:16.890 --> 01:22:19.729
shallower, like half of what you usually would

01:22:19.729 --> 01:22:23.069
breathe. So those thoughts were coming to my

01:22:23.069 --> 01:22:27.989
mind. And I think overall, it was just also an

01:22:27.989 --> 01:22:30.189
surreal experience. Like being in a building

01:22:30.189 --> 01:22:33.149
in my life, I never had this experience surrounded

01:22:33.149 --> 01:22:35.939
by smoke. there's a fire in front of me there's

01:22:35.939 --> 01:22:38.079
smoke and just you don't have this opportunity

01:22:38.079 --> 01:22:41.380
i was i think i was very excited to experience

01:22:41.380 --> 01:22:43.859
this being there and understanding i can survive

01:22:43.859 --> 01:22:47.100
i have this oxygen it's been like almost somewhere

01:22:47.100 --> 01:22:54.600
you know like in somewhere uh felt like out of

01:22:54.600 --> 01:22:57.239
other world experience you know it's space but

01:22:57.239 --> 01:23:00.039
something completely not belonging in everyday

01:23:00.039 --> 01:23:02.920
life I mean, it parallels what you talked about

01:23:02.920 --> 01:23:04.979
when you're, you know, 100 plus meters under

01:23:04.979 --> 01:23:07.760
the ocean. You know, all you can do is trust

01:23:07.760 --> 01:23:10.460
your training and trust your equipment. And it's

01:23:10.460 --> 01:23:12.260
the same with us. You know, when we go deep into

01:23:12.260 --> 01:23:14.220
a fire, I mean, if we actually took a step back

01:23:14.220 --> 01:23:15.840
and thought about it, it's terrifying. But you

01:23:15.840 --> 01:23:18.439
don't. You've been conditioned to that. One of

01:23:18.439 --> 01:23:20.359
the things that I found in my career, because

01:23:20.359 --> 01:23:22.420
I worked in Florida and I worked in Southern

01:23:22.420 --> 01:23:25.619
California. So from England, not used to extreme

01:23:25.619 --> 01:23:27.479
heat. And then I go and work in some of the hottest

01:23:27.479 --> 01:23:29.899
places in America. So whether you're actually

01:23:29.899 --> 01:23:32.819
in a fire itself or you're simply just working

01:23:32.819 --> 01:23:34.739
in gear, like I said, climbing those stairs,

01:23:34.979 --> 01:23:40.579
the heat is another big barrier for me. So when

01:23:40.579 --> 01:23:43.479
you said earlier about the warm water in the

01:23:43.479 --> 01:23:45.800
Philippines starting to diminish your performance

01:23:45.800 --> 01:23:48.180
a little bit. That's one of the things that I've

01:23:48.180 --> 01:23:50.460
found. Yes, you're under load, but also our gear

01:23:50.460 --> 01:23:53.479
is designed to stop heat from coming in, but

01:23:53.479 --> 01:23:56.239
sadly it also stops heat from leaving us as well.

01:23:58.659 --> 01:24:04.579
Yeah, and overheating is a problem, like I mentioned

01:24:04.579 --> 01:24:09.119
in freediving, yes, but there I can imagine that

01:24:09.119 --> 01:24:12.140
being tense and just having extra tension in

01:24:12.140 --> 01:24:15.779
your body will be something that will increase.

01:24:16.969 --> 01:24:21.789
And if you need to control your body temperature

01:24:21.789 --> 01:24:25.250
and it's hot around, you want to be as relaxed

01:24:25.250 --> 01:24:27.090
as possible. As little muscles as possible need

01:24:27.090 --> 01:24:29.949
to be tense because that will increase their

01:24:29.949 --> 01:24:32.270
body temperature. So general body awareness,

01:24:32.590 --> 01:24:37.210
relaxation will be useful in this moment. When

01:24:37.210 --> 01:24:39.489
we hold our breath, when we do exercises while

01:24:39.489 --> 01:24:42.890
holding breath, we learn how to relax all the

01:24:42.890 --> 01:24:44.529
muscles that are not engaged in the activity.

01:24:45.479 --> 01:24:47.840
Because that's essential. As little muscle, if

01:24:47.840 --> 01:24:50.859
we engage as little as possible, we will use

01:24:50.859 --> 01:24:53.479
less energy, produce less carbon dioxide, use

01:24:53.479 --> 01:24:56.800
less oxygen. And this awareness and just being

01:24:56.800 --> 01:24:59.399
attentive to this and being used to this as a

01:24:59.399 --> 01:25:02.199
technique, like at any moment, how can I be more

01:25:02.199 --> 01:25:04.760
efficient? How can I use less energy? Then you

01:25:04.760 --> 01:25:09.539
will be able to then be cooler as well if you're

01:25:09.539 --> 01:25:12.640
in this situation. I want to hit one more area

01:25:12.640 --> 01:25:14.960
and then go to the course and what you guys are

01:25:14.960 --> 01:25:16.979
planning to do as far as in -person seminars.

01:25:18.100 --> 01:25:20.840
One of the things that I observed in my own career,

01:25:20.960 --> 01:25:24.039
and I did CrossFit for quite a long time, was

01:25:24.039 --> 01:25:28.199
if I didn't train regularly and if I didn't periodically,

01:25:28.479 --> 01:25:32.939
sensibly put myself through redline workouts

01:25:32.939 --> 01:25:38.319
on occasion, it would then... create doubt in

01:25:38.319 --> 01:25:40.420
my mind that I couldn't perform at that higher

01:25:40.420 --> 01:25:42.800
level. I couldn't perform in that gear with that

01:25:42.800 --> 01:25:46.960
heat. So talk to me about the importance, if

01:25:46.960 --> 01:25:50.640
any, of regular training, of these deep dives

01:25:50.640 --> 01:25:54.159
to keep topping off that confidence in your own

01:25:54.159 --> 01:25:57.020
ability. Because I think it's so important in

01:25:57.020 --> 01:25:59.020
areas where there is complacency. And like I

01:25:59.020 --> 01:26:01.140
said, sometimes it's purely because these men

01:26:01.140 --> 01:26:04.399
and women are so overworked. They don't have

01:26:04.399 --> 01:26:06.960
the ability to train, but I've seen training

01:26:06.960 --> 01:26:10.100
levels dropped and box checking start to come

01:26:10.100 --> 01:26:13.560
in. And it scares me because I think men and

01:26:13.560 --> 01:26:18.060
women that haven't been put to the extreme on

01:26:18.060 --> 01:26:20.600
occasions, you know, if you're not being tested

01:26:20.600 --> 01:26:22.720
on a training ground, then what's going to happen

01:26:22.720 --> 01:26:27.979
in real life when you suffer an emergency? That's

01:26:27.979 --> 01:26:34.630
a really good point. still recover so there is

01:26:34.630 --> 01:26:37.850
a balance between training and not over training

01:26:37.850 --> 01:26:40.069
then we go back to the recovery topic but it's

01:26:40.069 --> 01:26:42.289
absolutely true you need to train you need to

01:26:42.289 --> 01:26:44.869
practice it's you don't need to do this every

01:26:44.869 --> 01:26:47.970
day like push your limits every day but it's

01:26:47.970 --> 01:26:51.069
a really big part like you learn technique first

01:26:51.069 --> 01:26:52.770
of all you learn how to be more efficient of

01:26:52.770 --> 01:26:56.409
course you gain strength you gain you gain some

01:26:58.669 --> 01:27:02.289
skills that are essential but psychologically

01:27:02.289 --> 01:27:06.229
you also you can be more calm because you are

01:27:06.229 --> 01:27:08.529
you believe in your own abilities so trusting

01:27:08.529 --> 01:27:10.430
your body abilities understanding that you're

01:27:10.430 --> 01:27:12.829
ready is a big part of it and having doubts and

01:27:12.829 --> 01:27:16.789
fear that i'll not be ready is a huge problem

01:27:16.789 --> 01:27:18.529
because if you even if you're ready sometimes

01:27:18.529 --> 01:27:21.569
we are ready like and that's a problem in sports

01:27:21.569 --> 01:27:24.750
like for me like i'm ready but i had doubts and

01:27:24.750 --> 01:27:26.310
like okay i need to train a bit more a little

01:27:26.310 --> 01:27:27.930
bit more and then it's over training so there's

01:27:27.930 --> 01:27:31.810
it's two -edged sword but of course the basic

01:27:31.810 --> 01:27:34.989
work should be there you need to do that and

01:27:34.989 --> 01:27:37.810
then you'll have this mental like stamina you

01:27:37.810 --> 01:27:41.270
know you did it and you need to trust your training

01:27:41.270 --> 01:27:43.729
and then you go and do this and there's no doubts

01:27:43.729 --> 01:27:49.960
no fear you will be so much more calm during

01:27:49.960 --> 01:27:52.960
this event. And then you learn. Every time you

01:27:52.960 --> 01:27:55.979
go, you actually need to be analyzing how did

01:27:55.979 --> 01:27:59.100
it feel. The moment of reflection is very important.

01:27:59.220 --> 01:28:00.779
After you finish your training, after I finish

01:28:00.779 --> 01:28:04.199
my dive, when everything stops in the evening

01:28:04.199 --> 01:28:07.920
or immediately after, you think, okay, what was

01:28:07.920 --> 01:28:11.140
the hardest part? Was it my muscles were tired?

01:28:11.399 --> 01:28:15.279
Do I lack strength in my legs? Was I short of

01:28:15.279 --> 01:28:19.420
breath? Was it CO2 tolerance? What was hard?

01:28:19.619 --> 01:28:21.439
And then when you understand more specifically

01:28:21.439 --> 01:28:24.020
what was hard, then you lean into these exercises

01:28:24.020 --> 01:28:29.159
more and you practice them more. So you can assign

01:28:29.159 --> 01:28:31.359
more time to this specific exercise. And then

01:28:31.359 --> 01:28:33.420
in a shorter period of time, you will trust the

01:28:33.420 --> 01:28:35.380
abilities more because you just devoted this

01:28:35.380 --> 01:28:38.859
time. And then there were some... In my career,

01:28:38.939 --> 01:28:41.800
I had a lot of cases when I had a lot of reasons

01:28:41.800 --> 01:28:43.810
to doubt my abilities. There was like... at a

01:28:43.810 --> 01:28:47.770
moment when i injured my lungs and i was bleeding

01:28:47.770 --> 01:28:50.069
for five hours after the dive i did like 128

01:28:50.069 --> 01:28:54.869
meter dive in pre -competition and i got dizzy

01:28:54.869 --> 01:28:57.649
at the bottom i had vertigo i didn't know where

01:28:57.649 --> 01:28:59.569
to go so when by the time i reached the surface

01:28:59.569 --> 01:29:03.329
because of a lot of extra effort i injured my

01:29:03.329 --> 01:29:07.630
lungs and then the question was okay can i be

01:29:07.630 --> 01:29:09.500
ready for the world championship in a week It

01:29:09.500 --> 01:29:11.840
was like the diet I was preparing was in one

01:29:11.840 --> 01:29:13.800
week and I was breathing for five hours. Like

01:29:13.800 --> 01:29:15.699
in the evening, I would just lean over the toilet

01:29:15.699 --> 01:29:17.439
and spit and I still have blood in my lungs.

01:29:18.119 --> 01:29:19.859
And then I was trying to recover, like breathing

01:29:19.859 --> 01:29:22.739
oxygen every day and doing breath work, like

01:29:22.739 --> 01:29:23.960
a little bit of stretching, a lot of sleep, a

01:29:23.960 --> 01:29:26.539
lot of rest. And then I had to build this confidence

01:29:26.539 --> 01:29:30.220
in a week and this with micro steps, like recovering.

01:29:31.100 --> 01:29:33.539
testing my lungs, diving shallow to 20 meters

01:29:33.539 --> 01:29:35.500
and understanding, okay, I can deal with this

01:29:35.500 --> 01:29:38.119
next day 40, next day 60. I understand that my

01:29:38.119 --> 01:29:41.460
body just have, I never tested my body ability

01:29:41.460 --> 01:29:44.439
to recover as fast. And then I tested it and

01:29:44.439 --> 01:29:46.359
I was able to recover really fast and I built

01:29:46.359 --> 01:29:49.399
this confidence fast with these specific elements.

01:29:50.279 --> 01:29:53.600
It's thanks to this reflection. I did certain,

01:29:53.779 --> 01:29:56.260
I did the dive. I thought, what can I do to recover

01:29:56.260 --> 01:29:58.920
as fast as possible? And I did some homework.

01:30:00.149 --> 01:30:02.890
exercises, et cetera, try it again. Things are

01:30:02.890 --> 01:30:04.789
better. My lungs are better. I'm recovered, right?

01:30:04.850 --> 01:30:09.010
So this is part of the process, like always continuing

01:30:09.010 --> 01:30:11.550
training, always continuing recovering and being

01:30:11.550 --> 01:30:15.930
more aware and attentive. You just reminded me

01:30:15.930 --> 01:30:18.050
of something. During COVID, it's funny, my dad

01:30:18.050 --> 01:30:19.609
was even talking about this. He was a veterinary

01:30:19.609 --> 01:30:21.930
surgeon for a long time and he was talking about

01:30:21.930 --> 01:30:25.279
respiratory training. and the ability to clear

01:30:25.279 --> 01:30:27.039
the lungs of anything, whether it's, you know,

01:30:27.039 --> 01:30:29.460
the end of pneumonia, whatever it is. And that's

01:30:29.460 --> 01:30:31.939
what was, you know, an issue in COVID specifically

01:30:31.939 --> 01:30:34.300
was simply people were dying because they weren't

01:30:34.300 --> 01:30:36.699
able, they didn't have the underlying, you know,

01:30:36.739 --> 01:30:38.239
fitness to begin with, and then they weren't

01:30:38.239 --> 01:30:41.060
able to get rid of the gunk that was on their

01:30:41.060 --> 01:30:43.699
lungs. You mentioned before we hit record about

01:30:43.699 --> 01:30:45.920
going to visit this volcano where you are at

01:30:45.920 --> 01:30:48.600
the moment, and then the dust and debris and

01:30:48.600 --> 01:30:51.689
using... breath work to to kind of you know move

01:30:51.689 --> 01:30:54.550
things out of the lungs so talk to me about that

01:30:54.550 --> 01:30:55.729
and if you i don't know if you want to reflect

01:30:55.729 --> 01:30:58.810
on covid or or you know respiratory diseases

01:30:58.810 --> 01:31:04.829
but when you have a fit respiratory system what

01:31:04.829 --> 01:31:07.829
is the ability to actually clean the lungs as

01:31:07.829 --> 01:31:09.970
far as anything that's actually in them specifically

01:31:09.970 --> 01:31:17.199
like this volcanic dust or or covid yep um And

01:31:17.199 --> 01:31:20.619
what helped, actually going back to COVID, I

01:31:20.619 --> 01:31:23.539
got COVID and I had to compete two weeks later

01:31:23.539 --> 01:31:29.779
after COVID. And I had a lot of stuff stuck in

01:31:29.779 --> 01:31:33.279
my chest. And I was actually, I realized that

01:31:33.279 --> 01:31:36.760
if I have a bit of vibration, like I exhale and

01:31:36.760 --> 01:31:39.300
I resist and I hum, like have a humming sound

01:31:39.300 --> 01:31:43.319
and feel the vibration in my lungs. More like

01:31:43.319 --> 01:31:45.359
traditional things like that help me to cough

01:31:45.359 --> 01:31:48.100
things out, cough things and clear my lungs faster.

01:31:48.520 --> 01:31:52.739
But just feeling my lungs better, understanding

01:31:52.739 --> 01:31:56.020
the volume, understanding their ability to inhale

01:31:56.020 --> 01:31:59.640
deeper, ability to exhale with more force. I

01:31:59.640 --> 01:32:03.300
think that this training, the basic fitness,

01:32:03.420 --> 01:32:06.520
the lung fitness, I helped a lot. I felt how

01:32:06.520 --> 01:32:08.420
my lungs are functioning and what helps and what

01:32:08.420 --> 01:32:11.619
not. and then i was like like humming and coughing

01:32:11.619 --> 01:32:13.819
out everything was what is there faster of course

01:32:13.819 --> 01:32:16.739
i was taking medications etc but just mechanically

01:32:16.739 --> 01:32:20.020
clear my lungs better helped then and i competed

01:32:20.020 --> 01:32:22.600
two weeks later and i was fine i did i did good

01:32:22.600 --> 01:32:25.939
performance uh and yesterday i was climbing and

01:32:25.939 --> 01:32:28.539
i was i was worried if i'll be able to dive today

01:32:28.539 --> 01:32:30.880
just before the podcast i did 125 meter dive

01:32:30.880 --> 01:32:34.939
um and i was thinking okay like will will this

01:32:34.939 --> 01:32:40.239
dust from volcano will be like will do sort of

01:32:40.239 --> 01:32:43.060
harm on performance. And I did some forceful

01:32:43.060 --> 01:32:46.460
exhales, deep inhales, empty lung breath holds

01:32:46.460 --> 01:32:48.619
to increase the blood flow to my lungs. When

01:32:48.619 --> 01:32:50.000
you hold your breath for a little bit of time,

01:32:50.140 --> 01:32:53.279
a series of short breath holds, the blood flow

01:32:53.279 --> 01:32:55.439
increases. And there's an increase of blood flow,

01:32:55.600 --> 01:32:58.060
being able to breathe deeper. I think all these

01:32:58.060 --> 01:33:02.100
like help to clear my lungs better. When I think

01:33:02.100 --> 01:33:04.420
about the group that you work with in the LA

01:33:04.420 --> 01:33:07.500
fires, we're not wearing SCBAs in wildland fires.

01:33:07.699 --> 01:33:10.020
And even though, sadly, there are still some

01:33:10.020 --> 01:33:11.520
horrendous things that are burning in there,

01:33:11.619 --> 01:33:15.840
even if it's just the brush or the woods, there's

01:33:15.840 --> 01:33:18.800
still that kind of choking smoke. And I can see

01:33:18.800 --> 01:33:21.380
how this would be a great tool, especially for

01:33:21.380 --> 01:33:23.460
the wildland community, just to kind of offload

01:33:23.460 --> 01:33:25.439
some of that irritant that they've been breathing

01:33:25.439 --> 01:33:29.729
in for days and days and days. yeah how to clear

01:33:29.729 --> 01:33:33.229
lungs agree yeah well sonia let's go back to

01:33:33.229 --> 01:33:36.590
you then so you mentioned about um doing some

01:33:36.590 --> 01:33:40.050
training in california what is the goal now as

01:33:40.050 --> 01:33:43.189
far as bringing alexi and his work to the firefighting

01:33:43.189 --> 01:33:48.170
population yeah i mean i'm i'm a dreamer so i'm

01:33:48.170 --> 01:33:51.909
like let's let's create a a national and a global

01:33:51.909 --> 01:33:57.859
um repair of a broken system. You know, my team

01:33:57.859 --> 01:34:01.640
goes out and runs clinic like in firehouses.

01:34:01.680 --> 01:34:04.779
And, you know, I realized that we have to have

01:34:04.779 --> 01:34:08.619
training that's accessible on a mobile platform,

01:34:08.800 --> 01:34:12.659
which Alexi has, which I have now. I want to

01:34:12.659 --> 01:34:15.880
get the practice of this in the hands of as many

01:34:15.880 --> 01:34:19.140
firefighters as we can. You know, obviously there

01:34:19.140 --> 01:34:22.159
are applications, like you said, for various

01:34:22.159 --> 01:34:25.680
first responder groups. But with this one right

01:34:25.680 --> 01:34:30.060
now, there's a method to my madness. You know,

01:34:30.060 --> 01:34:33.079
I think that if we can get access to pools, that's

01:34:33.079 --> 01:34:37.079
really fast to do breathwork training and to

01:34:37.079 --> 01:34:40.880
work on this collaboration that we did. Budgets

01:34:40.880 --> 01:34:45.100
are getting cut. um at least where i am um so

01:34:45.100 --> 01:34:47.319
it's you know i've been feeling like it's two

01:34:47.319 --> 01:34:49.340
steps forward one step back two steps forward

01:34:49.340 --> 01:34:52.140
one step back uh breath work travels really well

01:34:52.140 --> 01:34:55.340
and you don't need a lot of equipment so um this

01:34:55.340 --> 01:34:57.220
is you know my response the deeper and deeper

01:34:57.220 --> 01:35:00.399
i get in is going okay um how can we do something

01:35:00.399 --> 01:35:02.600
that's accessible how can we do something that's

01:35:02.600 --> 01:35:06.100
affordable how can we give them the best um i

01:35:06.100 --> 01:35:09.659
i would like to see this breath practice be a

01:35:09.659 --> 01:35:12.659
mandated part of training for every firefighter,

01:35:12.659 --> 01:35:16.319
frankly, and the breath practice alongside the

01:35:16.319 --> 01:35:19.920
cardiac and the strength health. We have to put

01:35:19.920 --> 01:35:23.239
prevention in play. We just have to. And that's

01:35:23.239 --> 01:35:26.899
what I'm after. So it's accessibility. And then,

01:35:26.920 --> 01:35:30.939
you know, anybody that works in this industry,

01:35:31.180 --> 01:35:34.100
we just it's about not quitting, frankly, and

01:35:34.100 --> 01:35:36.439
going again and going again. And then, you know,

01:35:36.439 --> 01:35:38.680
I've watched you do it, James. It's like. walking

01:35:38.680 --> 01:35:41.420
through tragedy after tragedy after tragedy and

01:35:41.420 --> 01:35:46.939
showing up. For me, being able to bring Alexi

01:35:46.939 --> 01:35:50.800
as a game changer because he's, you know, of

01:35:50.800 --> 01:35:53.720
the best in the world at what he does. And the

01:35:53.720 --> 01:35:58.100
collaboration of this allows voice in a firehouse

01:35:58.100 --> 01:36:00.359
with 20 years of experience and allows voice

01:36:00.359 --> 01:36:02.939
globally with fitness because of who Alexi is

01:36:02.939 --> 01:36:05.500
and what he spent his time doing, which is being

01:36:05.500 --> 01:36:09.939
the best. When you talk about the budgets being

01:36:09.939 --> 01:36:12.060
cut, I just want to put this in quickly. As we're

01:36:12.060 --> 01:36:15.420
seeing this revolution in Florida, what is happening

01:36:15.420 --> 01:36:19.020
is this profession in itself is a beautiful calling.

01:36:19.119 --> 01:36:21.300
It really is. And a lot of us are doing the fire

01:36:21.300 --> 01:36:26.659
and the EMS combined. And by not addressing the

01:36:26.659 --> 01:36:29.319
things that were broken, for example, the work

01:36:29.319 --> 01:36:33.380
week, that has then... that compounded the retention

01:36:33.380 --> 01:36:36.000
and recruitment crisis, we have ended up with

01:36:36.000 --> 01:36:38.699
vacancies all over the place. I forget, someone

01:36:38.699 --> 01:36:41.739
told me, I think LAPD, for example, is something

01:36:41.739 --> 01:36:45.000
like 25 % understaffed. So that means that the

01:36:45.000 --> 01:36:47.180
rest of those men and women are having to work

01:36:47.180 --> 01:36:49.359
all those extra days. And now young people are

01:36:49.359 --> 01:36:52.880
looking, let's go back to fire, 56 hours a week,

01:36:52.979 --> 01:36:56.260
80 hours a week with one overtime, not to mention

01:36:56.260 --> 01:36:58.239
the fires and all these other things that come

01:36:58.239 --> 01:37:01.210
through and create so much more. And that comes

01:37:01.210 --> 01:37:03.390
at a cost. There's a financial cost to that.

01:37:03.550 --> 01:37:06.189
The departments here that have announced or even

01:37:06.189 --> 01:37:11.210
transitioned to already, the 24 -72, young people

01:37:11.210 --> 01:37:12.529
are looking at that going, well, that sounds

01:37:12.529 --> 01:37:15.029
really healthy. And now they have no overtime

01:37:15.029 --> 01:37:18.050
spots available. And they've saved millions and

01:37:18.050 --> 01:37:21.550
millions of dollars. That then is available to

01:37:21.550 --> 01:37:23.829
start investing in programs like this. And now

01:37:23.829 --> 01:37:25.729
you're doubling down on the health and wellness

01:37:25.729 --> 01:37:28.210
of your first responders, which saves. hand over

01:37:28.210 --> 01:37:31.170
fist on workman's comp claims and medical retirements

01:37:31.170 --> 01:37:35.149
and lawsuits because we make mistakes. So the

01:37:35.149 --> 01:37:37.310
money is there. And this is a really important

01:37:37.310 --> 01:37:39.750
message. The money is already there. But as Desmond

01:37:39.750 --> 01:37:42.850
Tutu said, we spend so much time pulling bodies

01:37:42.850 --> 01:37:45.189
out of the river, we forget to go upstream to

01:37:45.189 --> 01:37:46.850
find out why they're falling in in the first

01:37:46.850 --> 01:37:49.569
place. And that's exactly it. We don't need more

01:37:49.569 --> 01:37:52.210
money. We don't need more tax money. We need

01:37:52.210 --> 01:37:54.550
to obviously, you know, front load that. So that

01:37:54.550 --> 01:37:57.729
might require one budget year of more. But the

01:37:57.729 --> 01:38:00.210
money is just being wasted by breaking first

01:38:00.210 --> 01:38:02.750
responders and its initiatives like yours and

01:38:02.750 --> 01:38:05.069
some of the other ones I've had on the show that

01:38:05.069 --> 01:38:07.869
are then going to amplify not only health, but

01:38:07.869 --> 01:38:10.590
performance to make sure that that first responder

01:38:10.590 --> 01:38:13.670
can make it 30 floors up and get to your child

01:38:13.670 --> 01:38:17.689
before they die. Yeah, absolutely. It's I mean,

01:38:17.689 --> 01:38:20.250
I can't tell you how many times I've sat in.

01:38:20.800 --> 01:38:23.520
And talked about that from the perspective of

01:38:23.520 --> 01:38:26.460
why it's exactly that, like we're spending millions

01:38:26.460 --> 01:38:28.460
and millions of dollars on workers comp when

01:38:28.460 --> 01:38:30.739
most of these programs are a fraction of that.

01:38:31.220 --> 01:38:34.819
So there's really a narrative change. You know,

01:38:34.819 --> 01:38:36.619
I can say I haven't been the most patient when

01:38:36.619 --> 01:38:40.420
I'm sitting in front of HRs and councils telling

01:38:40.420 --> 01:38:42.079
that story, because I don't think it's that,

01:38:42.199 --> 01:38:44.680
you know, the science isn't me being smart. It's

01:38:44.680 --> 01:38:48.199
just it's just the reality. And, you know, I

01:38:48.199 --> 01:38:51.029
can tell you that I've done work for. Six dollars

01:38:51.029 --> 01:38:53.890
a head. And I can tell you, I mean, my my shop

01:38:53.890 --> 01:38:58.630
is is well into the six plus figures with scaling

01:38:58.630 --> 01:39:02.050
service just to be able to get in there. You

01:39:02.050 --> 01:39:05.689
know, my new narrative has become wildly successful

01:39:05.689 --> 01:39:08.550
and prove it regardless of where the politics

01:39:08.550 --> 01:39:11.289
lie. You're absolutely right. Money's totally

01:39:11.289 --> 01:39:13.210
there. You know, getting getting the changeover

01:39:13.210 --> 01:39:18.630
for one season. We're definitely ready for. Or

01:39:18.630 --> 01:39:21.770
we just compete. And I'm sitting here with Alexi,

01:39:21.770 --> 01:39:24.449
so I think we're doing pretty good. You know,

01:39:24.449 --> 01:39:28.109
it takes people with heart like him to care about

01:39:28.109 --> 01:39:32.390
this task and to be equipped for it. And I know

01:39:32.390 --> 01:39:34.670
that we are. I'm really excited about this season.

01:39:34.750 --> 01:39:37.909
I'm really happy that I didn't give up. And,

01:39:38.010 --> 01:39:40.090
you know, like the other people that you have

01:39:40.090 --> 01:39:44.479
on these programs, it's pretty special. i'm definitely

01:39:44.479 --> 01:39:47.560
ready to take the the world on for for my community

01:39:47.560 --> 01:39:51.300
for sure well alexi i know you mentioned that

01:39:51.300 --> 01:39:53.479
you've done some programs in california i know

01:39:53.479 --> 01:39:55.060
we're trying to get you over here to florida

01:39:55.060 --> 01:39:58.300
now um for people listening what would that seminar

01:39:58.300 --> 01:40:00.539
that workshop look like if you came in person

01:40:00.539 --> 01:40:06.279
we spent some time covering some basics in theory

01:40:06.279 --> 01:40:10.819
so explain a basic idea behind urge to breathe

01:40:10.819 --> 01:40:16.329
co2 hypoxia And this knowledge already helps

01:40:16.329 --> 01:40:18.789
because there is a lot of myths and illusion

01:40:18.789 --> 01:40:23.590
that prevents us from performing properly. So

01:40:23.590 --> 01:40:25.949
there is a bit of theory, not too much. Most

01:40:25.949 --> 01:40:30.529
of their class will be on us doing practice,

01:40:30.729 --> 01:40:33.029
doing breath work, focusing on biomechanics,

01:40:33.090 --> 01:40:36.250
like how to breathe better, focusing on changes

01:40:36.250 --> 01:40:38.250
in our body, biochemistry, what happens when

01:40:38.250 --> 01:40:41.770
we... accumulate more co2 when we don't breathe

01:40:41.770 --> 01:40:46.430
out and when we when we spend our resources energy

01:40:46.430 --> 01:40:51.529
and oxygen as well so that and we do this element

01:40:51.529 --> 01:40:53.569
by element so there'll be exercises where we

01:40:53.569 --> 01:40:56.770
do just breathing without breath holes then we

01:40:56.770 --> 01:40:58.770
do breath holes then we combine them with exercises

01:40:58.770 --> 01:41:01.270
which sona mentioned where we do some specific

01:41:01.270 --> 01:41:05.189
exercises so there are the steps and in san francisco

01:41:05.189 --> 01:41:08.239
it took us like up to three hours to go through

01:41:08.239 --> 01:41:13.539
the class. And it was two groups, three hours

01:41:13.539 --> 01:41:17.619
each, so it was a full day event. That's what

01:41:17.619 --> 01:41:19.560
we plan to do in Florida as well. And depending

01:41:19.560 --> 01:41:23.760
on the facility and availability of maybe the

01:41:23.760 --> 01:41:26.119
pool is there or some additional elements are

01:41:26.119 --> 01:41:27.739
there, we can make it longer. But it's usually

01:41:27.739 --> 01:41:30.979
a one -day event, like several hours event. And

01:41:30.979 --> 01:41:33.039
for people listening that want to look at the

01:41:33.039 --> 01:41:35.479
online platform, talk to me about the overview

01:41:35.479 --> 01:41:37.199
of what they'll find there as far as training.

01:41:39.239 --> 01:41:43.199
On the platform, we recorded classes with different

01:41:43.199 --> 01:41:47.100
intensities. And there is an exercise for the

01:41:47.100 --> 01:41:49.619
very beginners, very simple version of exercise.

01:41:50.000 --> 01:41:52.859
There is the same exercise with longer breath

01:41:52.859 --> 01:41:56.890
hold duration. And we guide people. from the

01:41:56.890 --> 01:41:59.149
very entry level all the way to like expert level

01:41:59.149 --> 01:42:02.449
and then it can take them a month to do the whole

01:42:02.449 --> 01:42:04.109
program maybe it'll take them a couple of months

01:42:04.109 --> 01:42:05.989
to go from the easier level to the hard level

01:42:05.989 --> 01:42:11.229
uh but there is a list of videos they they switched

01:42:11.229 --> 01:42:14.729
on on their computers or their the phones and

01:42:14.729 --> 01:42:19.199
they just follow follow me there is a count seconds,

01:42:19.359 --> 01:42:22.600
inhale, breath hold, exhale, breath hold. I show

01:42:22.600 --> 01:42:26.279
the positions and then it's very easy. Just follow

01:42:26.279 --> 01:42:30.520
me for each class and session and there is no

01:42:30.520 --> 01:42:33.399
need to think about anything else. Just follow

01:42:33.399 --> 01:42:36.859
my instruction from the screen and listen to

01:42:36.859 --> 01:42:39.760
some theory, listen to some additional information

01:42:39.760 --> 01:42:43.500
in the class. That's the idea and that's the

01:42:43.500 --> 01:42:45.920
starting point. After the program is finished,

01:42:46.760 --> 01:42:49.500
We will be also looking to provide continuous

01:42:49.500 --> 01:42:51.640
training as well. So when people understand all

01:42:51.640 --> 01:42:54.859
the exercises, they learn technique, they can

01:42:54.859 --> 01:42:58.659
make it even harder and we'll be guided by our

01:42:58.659 --> 01:43:02.939
community of trainers. That's our next step after

01:43:02.939 --> 01:43:06.220
they finish the course. I'm totally taking a

01:43:06.220 --> 01:43:07.979
tangent here, but I meant to ask you earlier.

01:43:08.500 --> 01:43:10.939
Like I said, I was a lifeguard and I've worked

01:43:10.939 --> 01:43:12.739
with people of all kind of shapes and sizes.

01:43:15.470 --> 01:43:18.529
seem to be an absolute stone when it comes to

01:43:18.529 --> 01:43:21.069
buoyancy. Like if I hold my breath, I can kind

01:43:21.069 --> 01:43:24.029
of stay above the water, but my legs will sink

01:43:24.029 --> 01:43:26.470
immediately. I had friends that I did lifeguarding

01:43:26.470 --> 01:43:28.609
with that were a little overweight that would

01:43:28.609 --> 01:43:32.409
float effortlessly on the water. So talk to me

01:43:32.409 --> 01:43:35.670
about buoyancy. Has everyone got the same level

01:43:35.670 --> 01:43:39.770
of buoyancy or does, oh my goodness, what's the

01:43:39.770 --> 01:43:41.489
word I'm looking for? Body composition factor

01:43:41.489 --> 01:43:47.090
into it. Body composition factors definitely

01:43:47.090 --> 01:43:52.270
change the buoyancy. We all can float. It's only

01:43:52.270 --> 01:43:54.550
a few people I saw that are negatively buoyant.

01:43:54.869 --> 01:44:00.029
If there's no fat at all, they're just all muscles,

01:44:00.210 --> 01:44:02.970
bodybuilders. Bodybuilders would be very heavy,

01:44:03.069 --> 01:44:06.069
but it's quite rare. Still, if you train your

01:44:06.069 --> 01:44:09.449
lungs and you can inhale deeper, you will float.

01:44:11.210 --> 01:44:15.350
But then if we learn how to deal with our buoyancy,

01:44:15.550 --> 01:44:17.909
then we can still move efficiently in the water.

01:44:18.390 --> 01:44:24.090
And we just need to know how much energy it will

01:44:24.090 --> 01:44:26.149
take us to go back to the surface. If we're negatively

01:44:26.149 --> 01:44:28.310
buoyant, it will take more energy to get back.

01:44:28.470 --> 01:44:30.409
If we're positively buoyant, it will be more

01:44:30.409 --> 01:44:33.550
energy to go down. So there is a way where we

01:44:33.550 --> 01:44:35.750
see all sorts of divers around the world, like

01:44:35.750 --> 01:44:40.189
skinny, heavy, bigger divers, a bit more buoyant.

01:44:40.750 --> 01:44:43.550
uh but managing to dive super super deep so just

01:44:43.550 --> 01:44:46.829
adjusting technique and dealing with it we there's

01:44:46.829 --> 01:44:49.350
definitely no restriction with any body type

01:44:49.350 --> 01:44:51.949
you can you can move efficiently in the water

01:44:51.949 --> 01:44:56.590
and mastery buoyancy beautiful yeah like i said

01:44:56.590 --> 01:44:58.710
if i exhale i go straight to the bottom when

01:44:58.710 --> 01:45:00.670
i've done diving in the past and they've given

01:45:00.670 --> 01:45:03.050
people several weights on the belt i usually

01:45:03.050 --> 01:45:06.010
had like one so there's definitely an element

01:45:06.010 --> 01:45:09.119
of negative buoyancy i think Yeah, I do the same.

01:45:09.140 --> 01:45:10.579
If I exhale, I'll go straight to the bottom.

01:45:10.640 --> 01:45:14.359
I'm pretty heavy. But if I inhale full lungs,

01:45:14.520 --> 01:45:18.260
then I'll be pretty buoyant. Beautiful. Well,

01:45:18.380 --> 01:45:21.720
for people listening, let's start with your online

01:45:21.720 --> 01:45:23.899
platform and let's expand as well. If people

01:45:23.899 --> 01:45:26.260
want to get into the sport of free diving specifically,

01:45:26.600 --> 01:45:28.739
talk about all the resources that are available

01:45:28.739 --> 01:45:36.060
there. so after like we talked a little bit about

01:45:36.060 --> 01:45:38.119
the firefighter program it's a program online

01:45:38.119 --> 01:45:40.960
with the elements of practice elements of theory

01:45:40.960 --> 01:45:46.319
with their very specific sizes there is a more

01:45:46.319 --> 01:45:48.760
generic course a breathwork course that is for

01:45:48.760 --> 01:45:51.500
people who want to learn about breathwork and

01:45:51.500 --> 01:45:54.399
not necessarily about freediving just yet and

01:45:54.399 --> 01:45:59.130
there is even like more Static breath holds and

01:45:59.130 --> 01:46:01.710
more exercises that will be less specific for

01:46:01.710 --> 01:46:05.369
firefighters. A lot of exercises sitting while

01:46:05.369 --> 01:46:08.250
we sit, like working with tables, breath holds,

01:46:08.510 --> 01:46:11.869
box breathing tables. Also additional mobility

01:46:11.869 --> 01:46:15.369
exercises and also additional elements of theory,

01:46:15.529 --> 01:46:19.590
understanding theory behind that even more. And

01:46:19.590 --> 01:46:22.329
the next step after dry breath holds and breath

01:46:22.329 --> 01:46:27.619
work will be trying it in the water. if you manage

01:46:27.619 --> 01:46:30.479
to hold your breath for a minute or two minutes

01:46:30.479 --> 01:46:32.699
even like pretty much every beginner can hold

01:46:32.699 --> 01:46:34.460
their breath for three minutes if you practice

01:46:34.460 --> 01:46:36.520
a little bit if you understand your abilities

01:46:36.520 --> 01:46:39.220
three minutes is not a fantastic number we can

01:46:39.220 --> 01:46:41.960
see that people do three minutes four and five

01:46:41.960 --> 01:46:44.359
sometimes some somebody who is doing five minutes

01:46:44.359 --> 01:46:47.399
in a matter of month for somebody it will take

01:46:47.399 --> 01:46:49.619
maybe a few months three months but five minutes

01:46:49.619 --> 01:46:53.800
is not something unreachable Then you go in the

01:46:53.800 --> 01:46:55.239
water and you try to hold your breath in the

01:46:55.239 --> 01:46:59.479
water, try to do some dynamic swims, how to move

01:46:59.479 --> 01:47:01.579
efficiently, how to kick fins, how to swim without

01:47:01.579 --> 01:47:05.300
fins. And then the next step will be trying depth

01:47:05.300 --> 01:47:08.239
diving, and that's how to be calm, how to deal

01:47:08.239 --> 01:47:12.479
with pressure. And that's the hardest element,

01:47:12.619 --> 01:47:16.420
but it's very, very rewarding. And on the same

01:47:16.420 --> 01:47:19.479
platform, besides the firefighting, There is

01:47:19.479 --> 01:47:22.020
Bradford program, and there is a map with all

01:47:22.020 --> 01:47:24.260
our schools around the world, all our instructors

01:47:24.260 --> 01:47:26.859
around the world, where you just travel. You

01:47:26.859 --> 01:47:28.579
can't do freediving alone. It's very dangerous.

01:47:28.800 --> 01:47:31.399
We talked about it earlier. But where you can

01:47:31.399 --> 01:47:35.779
travel, and you can get physical interaction

01:47:35.779 --> 01:47:39.319
and class with one of our instructors. Currently,

01:47:39.319 --> 01:47:41.399
we have 2 ,000 instructors around the world,

01:47:41.439 --> 01:47:44.300
and we work on growing the number so people can

01:47:44.300 --> 01:47:45.979
train in more and more cities around the world.

01:47:46.560 --> 01:47:50.420
It's both pools and open water. Beautiful. And

01:47:50.420 --> 01:47:52.699
for people listening, where can they find the

01:47:52.699 --> 01:47:54.659
website? And then also, what about you on social

01:47:54.659 --> 01:47:59.739
media? Me, it's Alexey Molchanov. It's the same

01:47:59.739 --> 01:48:04.939
Instagram. And the company is Molchanovs. It's

01:48:04.939 --> 01:48:08.039
plural. It was founded by me and my mom. That's

01:48:08.039 --> 01:48:11.380
why it's S in the end. So Molchanovs. And the

01:48:11.380 --> 01:48:14.420
logo, if you look at my logo, it's on my T -shirt.

01:48:16.230 --> 01:48:19.289
Two tails, whale tails, and it's a bigger M,

01:48:19.369 --> 01:48:21.630
and it's also two Ms. Basically, it's my mom

01:48:21.630 --> 01:48:24.430
and me. That was a story behind the logo, so

01:48:24.430 --> 01:48:28.069
M and M. And that's smallshows .com website.

01:48:29.529 --> 01:48:31.949
There is a part devoted to gear because we produce

01:48:31.949 --> 01:48:34.109
gear for the beginners and professionals as well,

01:48:34.109 --> 01:48:36.590
but there is a community platform and educational

01:48:36.590 --> 01:48:39.869
part of the website as well. So look there, and

01:48:39.869 --> 01:48:41.930
there is a map that will help you to find the

01:48:41.930 --> 01:48:45.359
best teacher. Beautiful. Now, we lost Sonia for

01:48:45.359 --> 01:48:47.279
a second, so I'm hoping we'll get her back. But

01:48:47.279 --> 01:48:50.159
in her place, if people listening want to bring

01:48:50.159 --> 01:48:53.140
you to their department and teach their firefighters,

01:48:53.460 --> 01:48:59.680
where are the best places to do that? Reaching

01:48:59.680 --> 01:49:03.560
to Sonia, Sonia is great with organizing events.

01:49:03.659 --> 01:49:09.189
She knows. a lot a lot more about firefighting

01:49:09.189 --> 01:49:11.390
and firefighters because she just works in this

01:49:11.390 --> 01:49:14.890
area every day when i get messages on social

01:49:14.890 --> 01:49:17.329
media like dming me is great way to reach out

01:49:17.329 --> 01:49:19.649
and i will get the message my team will get the

01:49:19.649 --> 01:49:21.890
message we'll work with the message so social

01:49:21.890 --> 01:49:25.149
media dms and that'll be probably the easiest

01:49:25.149 --> 01:49:28.270
start beautiful i'm going to throw some closing

01:49:28.270 --> 01:49:30.329
questions at you quickly and see if we get sonja

01:49:30.329 --> 01:49:32.750
back in the meantime The first one I love to

01:49:32.750 --> 01:49:35.350
ask, is there a book or are there books that

01:49:35.350 --> 01:49:37.710
you love to recommend? It can be related to our

01:49:37.710 --> 01:49:43.170
discussion today or completely unrelated. There

01:49:43.170 --> 01:49:47.789
are some freediving books and there is Book Breath

01:49:47.789 --> 01:49:50.250
by James Nestor. It's a book which was written

01:49:50.250 --> 01:49:55.210
some years ago. It was written in early years

01:49:55.210 --> 01:49:57.689
of freediving. So there are some elements that

01:49:57.689 --> 01:50:02.210
already evolved. uh some elements where he described

01:50:02.210 --> 01:50:05.430
freediving but it was in early like 2010 around

01:50:05.430 --> 01:50:08.350
these dates but in general it's great book to

01:50:08.350 --> 01:50:12.329
read it it has good ideas about breathing the

01:50:12.329 --> 01:50:16.350
importance of breathing of course um it's a not

01:50:16.350 --> 01:50:18.750
scientific book but it's very good read as well

01:50:18.750 --> 01:50:22.489
right so i think some some elements are already

01:50:22.489 --> 01:50:24.729
like a little bit different nowadays like more

01:50:24.729 --> 01:50:27.770
and more studies are there but it's a great read

01:50:28.539 --> 01:50:33.579
um there is um there is a book about some champions

01:50:33.579 --> 01:50:35.699
free divers that i can recommend if you're interested

01:50:35.699 --> 01:50:39.520
in about free diving there is a very big book

01:50:39.520 --> 01:50:42.340
from herbert niche the guy who suffered this

01:50:42.340 --> 01:50:48.399
incident i mentioned trying to do 250 meter dive

01:50:48.399 --> 01:50:51.199
800 feet dive with any discipline there's no

01:50:51.199 --> 01:50:57.710
limits and that's book by herbert niche and It's

01:50:57.710 --> 01:51:02.289
the quest of... It's a longer name, but it's

01:51:02.289 --> 01:51:06.109
Herbert Nitsch and a dive to 250 meters. I will

01:51:06.109 --> 01:51:08.350
send exact names so we can maybe post it later.

01:51:10.109 --> 01:51:16.890
This is the book. Other than that, as for general

01:51:16.890 --> 01:51:19.819
books, I loved... Principles by Ray Dalio. I

01:51:19.819 --> 01:51:21.300
think it's one of the books that is not specific

01:51:21.300 --> 01:51:23.520
to sports, but just in life, I think this was

01:51:23.520 --> 01:51:26.220
very, very good read. I read it a few times.

01:51:26.619 --> 01:51:30.739
So very applicable to life and to be focused,

01:51:30.920 --> 01:51:33.119
to understand what is strong at, what is not

01:51:33.119 --> 01:51:36.380
strong at. So this is another one I would recommend.

01:51:37.140 --> 01:51:39.380
Brilliant. And what about films and documentaries?

01:51:42.579 --> 01:51:45.439
Well, historical, like one of the earliest movie

01:51:45.439 --> 01:51:49.430
about freediving, Big Blue. by Luc Besson. I

01:51:49.430 --> 01:51:52.029
think it's still a very beautiful picture. Even

01:51:52.029 --> 01:51:54.789
many, many years later, it's an amazing story.

01:51:55.590 --> 01:51:58.189
I love this movie. I watched it many, many times.

01:51:59.069 --> 01:52:02.789
And The Freediver, the recent documentary, I

01:52:02.789 --> 01:52:05.670
think this is one that tells the story about

01:52:05.670 --> 01:52:08.560
the sport really, really well. And it's really

01:52:08.560 --> 01:52:10.920
beautiful done. Director did an amazing job and

01:52:10.920 --> 01:52:14.859
the crew operators. And it follows one of my

01:52:14.859 --> 01:52:16.920
latest seasons where I tended to break five world

01:52:16.920 --> 01:52:19.479
records. And it tells a story about my mom. And

01:52:19.479 --> 01:52:21.399
there is interaction with sperm whales, with

01:52:21.399 --> 01:52:23.359
the wildlife. So it's one of their, I think,

01:52:23.359 --> 01:52:25.819
really, really beautiful movie about freediving,

01:52:25.939 --> 01:52:29.659
The Freediver. Beautiful. Well, the next question,

01:52:29.720 --> 01:52:31.479
is there a person that you'd recommend to come

01:52:31.479 --> 01:52:35.060
on this podcast as a guest? to speak to the first

01:52:35.060 --> 01:52:37.260
responders, military and associated professions

01:52:37.260 --> 01:52:45.960
of the world? It's a good question. If I would

01:52:45.960 --> 01:52:49.159
think about our team, our scientists and doctors,

01:52:49.380 --> 01:52:58.140
we have very experienced medics, which... make

01:52:58.140 --> 01:53:00.420
sure we are safe during the competition and i

01:53:00.420 --> 01:53:03.260
could think of i think in u .s in florida actually

01:53:03.260 --> 01:53:07.460
in tampa there is juani valdivia who is new resurgent

01:53:07.460 --> 01:53:09.920
and he's a freediver he's national record holder

01:53:09.920 --> 01:53:15.840
and he understands uh trauma very very well what

01:53:15.840 --> 01:53:18.119
happens in freediving so he can and he's a doctor

01:53:18.119 --> 01:53:20.680
in general neurosurgeon so he can i think he

01:53:20.680 --> 01:53:25.079
can do like do a lot of parallels how can how

01:53:25.079 --> 01:53:27.399
can we what can we do to recover after traumas

01:53:27.399 --> 01:53:31.020
and talk about lungs a lot that'll be one person

01:53:31.020 --> 01:53:33.819
which who's right next to you Yeah, absolutely.

01:53:34.079 --> 01:53:36.720
Brilliant. Well, thank you. Well, the last question

01:53:36.720 --> 01:53:38.779
before we then go to Sonia, make sure we know

01:53:38.779 --> 01:53:40.720
where to find her because we've got her back

01:53:40.720 --> 01:53:43.640
now. What do you do to decompress? Which sounds

01:53:43.640 --> 01:53:45.560
like a strange question since we've been talking

01:53:45.560 --> 01:53:47.859
about that the whole two hours. But are there

01:53:47.859 --> 01:53:50.880
any other areas that you use to decompress these

01:53:50.880 --> 01:53:57.140
days? Well, I like to... I have a lot of action

01:53:57.140 --> 01:53:59.979
in my life. I don't take specifically like a

01:53:59.979 --> 01:54:03.579
full week off or a full... like days of myself

01:54:03.579 --> 01:54:07.439
i think what i i'm really good at and i'm training

01:54:07.439 --> 01:54:12.020
a lot i do a lot of things i work i train but

01:54:12.020 --> 01:54:16.500
i introduce i recover really well so i'm making

01:54:16.500 --> 01:54:20.340
sure my sleep is good i do power naps so if i

01:54:20.340 --> 01:54:22.199
have half an hour i will sleep in the middle

01:54:22.199 --> 01:54:24.399
of the day i'll do that and then i don't really

01:54:24.399 --> 01:54:26.699
find myself in the need of like the compression

01:54:26.699 --> 01:54:31.310
or like uh like i need a week off i i never do

01:54:31.310 --> 01:54:36.010
so i i i have a lot of different i i do switch

01:54:36.010 --> 01:54:38.109
activities sometimes it can be competition season

01:54:38.109 --> 01:54:40.770
i focus on deep dive and then i switch it's a

01:54:40.770 --> 01:54:43.649
pool season and then i have a season where it's

01:54:43.649 --> 01:54:46.930
more work related and i work a lot so i i didn't

01:54:46.930 --> 01:54:50.390
i'm just i think just maybe me been training

01:54:50.390 --> 01:54:52.130
for my whole life since i was three years old

01:54:52.130 --> 01:54:54.069
but i don't like to rest i cannot rest i can't

01:54:54.069 --> 01:54:57.750
just be somewhere and like rest i love What I

01:54:57.750 --> 01:55:01.689
love is I love to go to saunas and hot tubs.

01:55:01.850 --> 01:55:04.930
I love that. So if I have some time to go with

01:55:04.930 --> 01:55:07.930
friends, I would go and spend three, four hours.

01:55:08.289 --> 01:55:12.130
Cold plunge, hot tub and saunas, I will do that

01:55:12.130 --> 01:55:15.630
for sure. Brilliant. Well, Sonia, just going

01:55:15.630 --> 01:55:18.189
back over to you. For people listening, firstly,

01:55:18.310 --> 01:55:20.930
where can they find you and the six? And then

01:55:20.930 --> 01:55:23.289
we were also talking about if firefighters or

01:55:23.289 --> 01:55:24.970
fire departments are listening, how can they

01:55:24.970 --> 01:55:29.159
bring the two of you to their area? Yeah. So

01:55:29.159 --> 01:55:39.000
my website is www .the6 .us. So you can find

01:55:39.000 --> 01:55:41.859
me there. We're physically located in Santa Rosa,

01:55:41.899 --> 01:55:45.000
California, although we travel quite a bit. We're

01:55:45.000 --> 01:55:49.520
up for driving and flying. So all over our state

01:55:49.520 --> 01:55:54.779
is pretty easy. In terms of this. program. It's

01:55:54.779 --> 01:55:57.739
very mobile. So the heart of what we're after

01:55:57.739 --> 01:56:01.539
in terms of departments wanting to work with

01:56:01.539 --> 01:56:05.600
us is that it's a collaboration and that we are

01:56:05.600 --> 01:56:09.060
able to bring seminar and courses to different

01:56:09.060 --> 01:56:12.920
departments. Those hopefully will be live. Alexi

01:56:12.920 --> 01:56:16.399
and I can bop around pretty easily and fly. And

01:56:16.399 --> 01:56:19.300
then continuing ed and certification will be

01:56:19.300 --> 01:56:23.659
on Alexi's website. He has an app coming out

01:56:23.659 --> 01:56:27.300
called Move. It'll be on that app as well as

01:56:27.300 --> 01:56:30.140
his main site. There will be hyperlinks where

01:56:30.140 --> 01:56:33.800
you can explore breathwork more on the Molchanov

01:56:33.800 --> 01:56:37.859
side and where you can explore the prevention

01:56:37.859 --> 01:56:42.380
and sports and behavioral side on my side. This

01:56:42.380 --> 01:56:44.460
is definitely collaborative. I realize I keep

01:56:44.460 --> 01:56:47.600
saying that, but I think that both is imperative.

01:56:48.560 --> 01:56:52.260
In terms of a department trying to locate us,

01:56:52.319 --> 01:56:55.460
either of our websites will work. Emailing is

01:56:55.460 --> 01:56:58.140
great. If you're in the state of California,

01:56:58.279 --> 01:57:00.380
I think every single firefighter has my cell

01:57:00.380 --> 01:57:04.380
phone number. That might be a little overwhelming,

01:57:04.460 --> 01:57:09.640
but an email is just great. We do do a ton of

01:57:09.640 --> 01:57:11.520
workers' comp. I get asked that a lot. I know

01:57:11.520 --> 01:57:14.520
that's the first thing. Do you take it? Yes,

01:57:14.539 --> 01:57:16.699
we do. I'd love to become workers' comp at some

01:57:16.699 --> 01:57:18.640
point someday and just revamp that whole system.

01:57:18.800 --> 01:57:23.239
So that is a huge part. And then we also will

01:57:23.239 --> 01:57:26.460
contract with departments and cities, bringing

01:57:26.460 --> 01:57:31.149
this collaborative work to them. Well, I want

01:57:31.149 --> 01:57:33.609
to thank you both for such an amazing conversation.

01:57:33.829 --> 01:57:37.029
We've been through so many different areas. Alexi,

01:57:37.029 --> 01:57:39.310
thank you, not only for what you're doing for

01:57:39.310 --> 01:57:42.069
our population now, but also for the storytelling

01:57:42.069 --> 01:57:45.770
and your vulnerability in this as well. The application

01:57:45.770 --> 01:57:48.989
of this is just so obvious to me, not only, like

01:57:48.989 --> 01:57:50.869
I said, on the health and wellness side, but

01:57:50.869 --> 01:57:52.590
also on the performance side, which is what we

01:57:52.590 --> 01:57:55.250
should ultimately be talking about in this profession.

01:57:55.449 --> 01:57:58.369
So I want to thank you both for being so generous

01:57:58.369 --> 01:58:00.489
with your time and coming on the Behind the Shield

01:58:00.489 --> 01:58:03.289
podcast today. Thank you. That was great. Thank

01:58:03.289 --> 01:58:05.250
you, James. Thank you very much. Great questions.

01:58:05.869 --> 01:58:07.909
Loved to be here.