Experience Number Thirteen
I had progressed to be able to drop from a higher altitude. I packed my shoot with the help of my girlfriend, checked the gear, suited up, and got on the plane for another jump. I had some allergies that were kicking in so I was not in the best health but it was not going to stop me from another spectacular experience.
The ride up tends to be a time of reflection for me and I thought about all of the things I had done in my life. The types of things that would cross my mind were not the mundane and inconsequential; rather they are the things that are meaningful. I tend to make amends with anything that I may have regretted and simultaneously let go of anything that is yet undone. As we increase in altitude, I live more and more in the moment enjoying the coolness of the air, the turbulence, as well as the sound of the aircraft. The instructor went over what to look for in terms of spotting the landing zone and commented that I would be doing some spotting of my own very soon. Although the training is slow in some regards it is also quite a bit to take in, which is why I think that the instruction progresses so slowly yet at a clear and steady pace.
I climbed out onto the wheel again holding the supporting bar of the wing and prepared to jump. As the instructor gave me the go ahead to jump a giant smile crossed my face as I was about to enter the world of nature once again. I let go and had a nice exit and held my heading well as I continued toward the earth. I needed to bring my knees back a bit and arch more during free fall, which is something I would work on for my next jump. My body is not really used to the arch position and I found it rather difficult to maintain a really good position. I checked the altimeter and enjoyed every second of the freefall. I deployed as instructed and the shoot opened without a hitch. I was on my own. I had decided to no longer use the radio for instruction on flying the canopy back to the ground so it was all in my hands.
For some reason, my landing pattern became a bit erratic. Instead of performing s-turns and approaching the landing pad as I had done before I ended up coming in too high and essentially circled the drop zone in a wide spiral pattern, which is not recommended nor was it taught to me. When I finally got close enough to the ground I flared a bit early and consequentially came down a bit hard and bruised left heel a little. It was no big deal and I considered it a minor issue that just comes with the sport. Things to work on from this jump: flying the canopy, executing a better landing pattern, and improve my flare timing. I felt great and could not wait to go skydiving once again.
Thanks for writing, I really enjoyed reading your latest post. I think you should post more often, you obviously have natural ability for blogging!
Hi Greg,
Just wanted to get back to you on your comment regarding warming up for skydiving. I’ve been reading through some of your posts and it’s fascinating everything I don’t know about the sport.
As I learn more, I can offer you some insights on how to condition yourself for it. Obviously I don’t skydive. But the benefit of my training is that I can tell you exactly how the body needs to work in a given situation…that includes a freefall from thousands of feet up.
From what I gather so far, it seems that skidiving requires much in the way of static holds. To me that means you need to contract your muscles isometrically (i.e. you hold a position for a long time against gravity and wind force). That being the case, your workouts would involve lots of isometrics, especially in the back muscles.
Let me know if this sounds about right. As I learn more, I can give you some more specific tips on how to workout and warmup for your dives.
Son,
Thank you for the response. It sounds to me like your advice is absolutely on the right track. I apologize for not getting back to you sooner.
I was a triathlete for a number of years and I found that warming-up before a race is very different from warming-up before skydiving. I also hung around exercise physiologists during that time and they always had great advice about training. When flying on my belly, which can be practiced on the ground, I found it initially difficult to hold the position. This is somewhat of an isometric exercise but it was about the only one that was recommended at the facilities. It feels very different on the ground then it does in the air.
I tried doing somewhat of a cross between a hand stand and back bend against a wall for sometime. I would do this several times and it seemed to warm-up my upper torso and stretch my stomach and hips before a jump. The position would probably be frowned upon by many health professionals due to potential stress on the spine, but it was the best thing I could think of to do.
It is interesting that you mentioned static holds as they are somewhat static positions with rather quick adjustments best performed if relaxed. There is a saying I have heard many skydivers say which is, “Doing nothing is an active motion.” I found this to be absolutely true since attempting to make no adjustments in one’s position during a skydive has active and immediate consequences. It just adds to the fun.
Although I agree the isometric exercises are good way to go, how does one improve the more subtle motions involved in the continual adjustment during a jump? Perhaps this is not something that can be simulated on the ground without a wind tunnel. Lastly, do you have any specific isometric exercises you can recommend that would assist in the dives?