My book, ‘Longer and Deeper: cross training for freediving and spearfishing’, is nearly ready. I’m very excited to finally share a sample with you.

I’m also very proud that Aolin Wang, the national record holder of China has written a foreword for Longer and Deeper. Aolin prepares for his dives almost exclusively with cross training.

“Jaap’s book contains everything you need to know about training for freediving when you live away from the sea” – Aolin Wang

Why cross training?

I started freediving in 2013 in Vancouver Canada. The water in Vancouver is around 20 degrees at its warmest during summer. At 10 m depth it is about 6 degrees year-round. The conditions here simply do not allow for a lot of diving.

Cross training is training different disciplines to become better at your main discipline. For example, using running sprints or weightlifting to train for freediving and spearfishing is cross training. Unfortunately, apart from doing the classic CO2 and O2 tables I was unsure of how to train.

At this time I was working on my PhD in geology. At university I was in a perfect place to delve more into the science of freediving. I researched the science of marine mammals, breath holds, and freediving with as much enthusiasm as I had for my main research topic.

I designed exercises and workouts that should work in theory and I tested them over the past 2 years. The tests were personal and aren’t scientific proof that the exercises work for everyone, but in theory they should work for you too.

Longer and Deeper sample

Have a look at the table of contents and the introduction with the link below. If you like what you see, enter your e-mail address for an early bird discount below. Don’t worry, I’ll only e-mail you with book updates and the discount.

Click here to download a book sample.