This morning I received an email about a Facebook post on the page for The Crossfit Games.
“EMOM as long as you can: 25 yard underwater swim. Ben Smith comfortably got 10 rounds—a PR from a previous 7 rounds.” —Jay Vera, CrossFit video producer
Facebook: VIDEO LINK
Twitter: LINK TO TWEET
In this video you will see a young man hyperventilate and swim an underwater lap. Athletes are encouraged to do several of these exercises in a row with no rest in between, to build stamina. There is no warning of SWB or any safety concerns.
What is the problem?
As most trained freedivers know. A build up of CO2 in the lungs is what triggers your brain to give you the urge to breath.
Having lungs full of oxygen doesn’t hurt right? But as that oxygen (O2) is metabolized into CO2 you start to feel the urge to breath.
Here is where hyperventilation comes in. When you hyperventilate you purge a residual amount of CO2 in your lungs that is normal to have. When you purge that CO2 you will not feel the urge to breath because as you use up the oxygen the CO2 levels don’t get high enough to trigger your natural urge to breath.
The result is you pass out gently into the long sleep without warning.
Your brain basically shuts down.
You’re body will try to reset once.
It will do one last gasp for air.
You will be face down in the water.
You will swallow water.
You will drown.
You will die with people a few feet from you.
And as they slowly realize you are not moving.
Your brain would have been oxygen deprived and dying. Four minutes without oxygen is all it takes to be brain dead.
I realize this is a very graphic descriptions. These are the cold hard facts.
Can it be done safely?
Yes, become educated about Shallow Water Blackouts by visiting ShallowWaterBlackoutPrevention.org
AND take a freediving safety class so you and your fellow Crossfitters can safety each other properly and keep kicking ass.
I need your help!
If you have family and friends who participate in Crossfit please contact them immediately and warn them of the dangers.
Secondly, please use any platform you have to make people aware that Crossfit is wrong for endorsing this type of training and the consequences will be deadly.
Forward, retweet, repost, instagram, pin, this post wherever you can. You can comment on their Facebook Post, or @reply them on twitter @CrossFitGames.
As a sponsor for The CrossFit Games @Reebok should also be contacted.
You could be saving someone’s life right now.
Crossfit has made a tremendous mistake that will cost athletes their lives.
Please speak out TODAY!
