The Frenzel Technique

Part 1: The basics and benefits of the Frenzel technique

For many freedivers equalizing is the limiting factor when diving for depth. Some run into
problems immediately after leaving the surface, others at a certain depth. This is felt as a
growing pain in the ears, which should be taken as a signal to abort the dive.

The Valsalva technique is the most common equalization method, and for most it permits dives
to reasonable depths. The strength of this technique is the ease of its execution: almost anyone
can learn to pinch the nose shut and blow against it. However, the Valsalva technique is a very
inefficient method of equalizing. It requires a surprising amount of muscular effort,
and it becomes rapidly more difficult as depth increases. In this series ofarticles we cover the
physiological basis and exercises that can be used to learn the more efficient Frenzel
equalization technique. In each article we focus on one type of exercise, and suggest
"homework" which will prepare the reader for the next part.

Many divers do fairly well with the Valsalva technique, but for some even a few meters is too
much when diving head down. The Frenzel technique requires more advanced muscle control
and coordination than Valsalva, but usually the results make all the practice worthwhile.

The biggest difficulty with the Frenzel technique is that it requires independent control of the
soft palate and the epiglottis. A good comparison is moving the eyebrows: it is hard to raise one
eyebrow without raising the other. In addition to controlling the epiglottis and soft palate,
successful execution of the Frenzel technique requires co-operation of the tongue and cheeks.
All this can take quite a while to master, but with practice it will
become a natural part of diving.

The basic idea of the Frenzel technique is very simple. If the volume of a closed airspace is
mechanically reduced, the pressure inside the airspace will increase. If there is a hole in the
wall of the airspace, air will flow through the hole until the pressure is the same on both sides of

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The Frenzel Technique

the wall. This is the principle behind equalizing the pressure in the middle ear. In the Frenzel
technique the closed airspace is the mouth. When the epiglottis, soft palate and mouth are
closed (see attached picture), and the volume is reduced by for example squeezing the cheeks,
the pressure will increase until air escapes, most likely via the mouth accompanied by some
funny noises. Unlike with Valsalva, the diaphragm and lungs do not need to work at all, in fact
Frenzel will work even if the lungs are completely empty. This is why the Frenzel technique is
very useful on dives deeper than 25 meters when getting air from the lungs can be very difficult.
Another advantage is that the pressure generated with this technique is much higher than with
Valsalva, which enables even people with "tight ears" to equalize.

However, the aim is not to direct air out through the mouth. Air should flow into the middle ear
through the eustachian tubes. The openings to the eustachian tubes are in the nasal cavity.
The movement of air between the mouth cavity and the nasal cavity is controlled by the soft
palate, which should be opened while keeping the epiglottis closed
(otherwise air would flow back into the lungs). This is maybe the
most difficult part of learning the technique. The nose must also be
pinched closed to prevent air from escaping that way.

To summarize:

  

- The mouth is closed and full of air

- The epiglottis is closed

- The nostrils are pinched shut

- The soft palate is in the neutral position

As the pressure is increased by squeezing the cheeks (actually thetongue should also be used,
but we will get back to this later) air will try to enter the lungs, but the epiglottis will prevent this.
Air will try to escape through the mouth, but it will be stopped by the closed lips. Air will try to
find its way out through the nose, but since the nose is pinched shut it will have to find the only
other way, which is to enter the eustachian tubes and equalize the pressure in the middle ears.

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The Frenzel Technique

The following pictures illustrate the differences between the two techniques. Note that with the
Valsalva technique air comes from the lungs, and with the Frenzel technique air comes from
the mouth cavity. Because of the smaller volume of the mouth cavity, the same (or greater)
pressure can be created with much less movement and work.

The Valsalva technique

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The Frenzel Technique

The Frenzel technique

The keys to success are the soft palate and the epiglottis. In the next part we will focus on
controlling the soft palate, which is not as difficult as it sounds. We already need to control it in
order to make certain sounds in our speech.

Part 2: The soft palate

The soft palate is a small muscle which directs air from the palate to the nasal cavity. When
breathing through the nose, the soft palate is always open, allowing air to flow from the nose to
the trachea. When breathing through the mouth it is usually closed subconsciously (upper
position). The following picture should clarify this:

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The Frenzel Technique

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Exhaling through the nose

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The Frenzel Technique

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6 / 22
The Frenzel Technique

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Part 3: Controlling the epiglottis

The epiglottis is an airtight flap composed of cartilage and mucous membranes. Its purpose is
to close the trachea and larynx. Normally you hold your breath by closing the epiglottis after you
have filled your lungs. You can verify this by holding your breath with your mouth open, with
some positive pressure in your lungs.

The epiglottis is used when making the k-sound. Try to breathe out evenly and say k. The
airflow will be interrupted for a moment every time you make the sound. Concentrate and try to
"hold" the k-sound. The airflow should stop completely. It sounds simple, and it is! As we have
stated before, the difficult part is controlling the soft palate and the epiglottis separately,
combined with playing around with the tongue.

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The Frenzel Technique

Another good exercise is to take some water in your mouth and tilt your head backwards. If the
water doesn't flow down your throat, your epiglottis is closed. You can try to open the epiglottis
very carefully, but the water could go down your trachea so be careful and use a very small
amount of water!

The K- and G-sounds are good exercises for learning the movements of the epiglottis. The
downside is that when making these sounds, you momentarily close the soft palate too. Hum
with your mouth open and try to stop the humming with your epiglottis. Once you get the hang
of this, repeat with an exhale only (no humming). Concentrate on stopping the airflow in your
throat only

You can repeat the exercise with an inhale. Trying both inhale and exhale will give you an
even better idea of the movements of the epiglottis. Again, keep in mind how ridiculous the
exercises will sound to an outsider, and make sure the house is empty and the doors are locked
before practicing!

Now you know the basic elements of the Frenzel technique. In the next part we will learn to
control the epiglottis and the soft palate simultaneously.

Part 4: Controlling the soft palate and the epiglottis independently

What makes this week's excersise especially tough is that it is very hard to confirm if you're
doing it right. You may think you've nailed it, but still, when the time comes, you will
unconciously open your epiglottis and not even notice.

People often claim they use the Frenzel, but they are in fact still bringing the air from their
lungs. A lot of people believe that as long as you have some motion in the tongue/throat, that's
a Frenzel. It is not a Frenzel until your epiglottis stays closed!

Ok, let's start. Keep your mouth open and alternate your breathing from mouth to nose, as we
showed in the second part. Once that's second nature, switch to just cutting the air with your

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The Frenzel Technique

epiglottis. This time, don't think of "k" or "ng", as both of those utilize also the soft palate and
you want to control ONLY the epiglottis for now. Focus on feeling that you're NOT moving the
soft palate. If you have done everything right this far, you should already be familliar enough
with it so you can clearly tell. Keep your mouth open so you'll know if you "cheat".

Next, fill your lungs completely and hold your breath with your mouth open (thus you'll have to
have the epiglottis closed). If you know how to pack, pack slightly. Some overpressure in your
lungs helps you concentrate on keeping the epiglottis closed, or at least you'll know if it opens
(air immediately escapes).
While holding your breath and holding your mouth open, start to move the soft palate up and
down. If you're done all the excercises we've described so far, you should be able to know what
it feels like when it moves. Be careful not to mix it with moving the tongue, it is quite easy. If it
helps, go stand in front of a mirror. With our mouth open, you should be able to see if you're
moving your tongue or not. If by doing this you are make some sort of audiable vocal sounds
(other than a kind of clicking), air is leaking and you're doing it wrong.

Here's a fun excercise that will ultimately confirm if everything is in place like it should. You'll
need a balloon or some other device that can supply a slow stream of air (but not too much!).
Don't use a full balloon, since the pressure may be engouh to rupture the eardrums. Blow the
balloon half full or so and place it on your mouth, sealing it with our lips. Concentrate of keeping
the epiglottis closed and soft palate neutral. Open your lips enough to let the air in.

-If your mouth is filled with air and it stays there, your epiglottis is closed (good) and soft palate
is down (bad)

-If the air goes to your lungs, epiglottis is open (bad) and soft palate down (bad)

-If air shoots out of your nose, you epiglottis is closed (good) and the soft palate is neutral
(good). This is what you want to get the Frenzel going.

This picture should clarify things (sorry the first is in finnish, I'll fix this later, but for now it helps
to know that "ilmapallo" is finnish for "balloon"):

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The Frenzel Technique

Balloon air from mouth to nose

Frenzel

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The Frenzel Technique

As you can see, air can flow from mouth to nose only, if the soft palate and epiglottis are in the
same position as in the Frenzel.

As a bonus excercise, you might try to equalize with the balloon. If air is shooting from your
nose, just pinch your nose and it should go to your ears. Just be very careful not to use too
much pressure in the balloon so you don't rupture your ears! Go easy...This is also a good way
to learn to control the eustachian tube openings, but we'll talk more about that later.

Next week we'll try to equalize with our cheeks. You can propably already guess how this is
going to work, so if this weeks excercises feel too easy, you can maybe experiment with it
already. Basically, we'll be replacing the balloon with your cheeks...Until then!

Part 5: Combining what we have learned - equalizing with your cheeks

If you've mastered the excercises this far, the hardest part should be behind us. All there is left
now is combining what you have learned into a whole technique. In a pure Frenzel, you will be
using your tongue as a piston to give the technique an extra boost, and it is possible to create
such a pressure that you can burst your eardrums out if you want to. But we'll take it one step at
a time. Introducing the tongue adds one more level of complication and we want to be sure
you're ready for that before we go there.

For a lot of people, learing the Frenzel stops at frustration of trying to get the tongue work as a
piston and all to much focus is put on that. In fact, if you ask someone "what is the Frenzel",
they'll propably answer "a technique in which you use your tongue to push air to your ears". To
most, Frenzel=tongue. But in fact it's just one part of it and not even the most important one. 
I've found out that for most, it is easier to first learn to equalize with just your cheeks. It involves
all the same movements in the soft palate and epiglottis as a Frenzel, but you don't need to
worry about your tongue. So this way you can verify that these parts of the technique are right,
before moving on to add another layer of complexity.

What you should be able to do first is this:

-Suck your mouth full of air (cheeks bulging) and close it

-Now (epiglottis closed) squeeze your cheeks. Air should escape trought your lips (good) or
nose (even better).

-Try the same on empty lungs, just to verify the air isn't coming from your lungs.
It's again very easy to cheat. Often you'll just open your epiglottis unconciously and let same air

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The Frenzel Technique

out, and think it came from your cheeks. So pay attention. Try also with packed lungs (you will
feel when the epiglottis opens).

If the air escaped through your nose, try to move your soft palate in the neutral position while
you do this. Repeat until you can make the air come through your nose. If it helps, try the
balloon trick from last week every once in a while to find the right movement.

What you should be hearing is a short "psst" sound as the air escapes and your cheeks pull
back in. A long "hisssssss" means air is coming from your lungs (or you have very, very large
cheeks). If this is the case, you're doing something wrong.

Well, unless you haven't understood a single thing I've written, you propably already guessed
what comes next. That's right, do abosutely the same movement, but block your nose by
pinching it shut. Air should now go to your ears. For some people it's hard to verify on dry land if
the air went in there successfully, but here's one tip you could try. Grab your nose and swallow.
If your ears work like mine, they should become blocked. Now try to equalization. You should
hear a short crackling sound and feel immediate relief.

If air does not go to your ears, but you feel clear pressure in your nasal cavity, don't worry.
You're doing everything right, but you're one of those unlucky ones, who need some work out
on the eustachian tubes as well. Well get to that later...

If you can get equalization to work, then practise it on both empty and full lungs. If that goes ok,
then inverted (for example dangling your upper body form your bed etc). Then in the water feet
first, vertical, inverted and finally inverted with empty lungs. If you can master all of these, you'll
have no problems learing the final steps with the tongue...

Do a lot of repetitions so it becomes second nature. A word of warning about empty lung
training in the pool though. Go slow and don't push too hard if it feels uncomfortable. An empty
lung dive to 4 meters will shirnk your lungs to the equivalent of a 50m+ deep dive, in a matter of
seconds. It is easy to injure your self. Also NEVER do empty lung dives without a partner. This
of course goes for all diving, but it is especially risky with empty lungs. You will not feel the
"limit" approaching the same way as with full lungs, so be CAREFUL!. Use a ladder or steps to
control your descent. With empty lungs you will be very negatively buoyant and will sink like a
stone.

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The Frenzel Technique

Practising with empty lungs is great training for a number of reasons. First, it is easy to verify if
you're doing everything right. If you have really exhaled all your air, it is physiologically
impossible to get the air from anywhere except your mouth. If you open your epiglottis, air will
be immediately "sucked" to your lungs, and you can't equalize. It's also a great way to train for
those deep full inhale dives, when your lung volume starts to approach your residual volume.
You'll have just as much air to equalize with then...

To be specific, the technique in which you fill your mouth beforehand and dive with a closed
epiglottis, using only the air in your mouth to equalize is known as the "Frenzel-Fattah"-variation
of Frenzel, or the "mouthfill technique". But don't be too concerded with the terminology, it is still
a great way to train both techniques and it can be thought of the "generalization" of Frenzel. In
other words, a traditional Frenzel is a mouthfill, where you just fill your mouth right before you
do it, using air from your lungs...

Part 6: Using the tongue as a piston

Usually the first thing people will tell you when you ask them "what is the Frenzel technique", is
that "you use your tongue to equalize". While this is true, it is in fact perhaps the easiest part of
of the technique. People trying to learn the Frenzel get wrapped up with their tongue and don't
realize, that they are in fact using their tongue just like they should. But why the fail is because
of the epiglottis or soft palate being in the wrong position (I keep repeating this, but only
because it is so very very true, and a couple of you propably still don't believe it). There's only
one big "trick" to know about the tongue as a piston. Considering the simplicity of the maneuver,
I'm going to spend relatively much of your time explaining this, but I just want to make
absolutely sure that there is no way anyone could not understand why and what is required.

The big secret is what Eric Fattah refers to as "the tongue block" in his document. You have to
position your tongue up against your front teeth/palate so, that no air can escape past your
tongue and to the front of your mouth. Why?

I like to use the  bicycle pump as an example a lot (not only related to diving...Oh, never mind),
so consider one for a second. In the picture below, you will see a very rough schematic of how
this wonderful device works. There is a hollow tube that has a hole in the end, and a piston that
is sealed air tight. Once you push the piston, you decrease the volume of air in the tube, thus

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The Frenzel Technique

increasing the perssure (p1). Once p1 is greater than that of the outside (p2) of the pump (that
would be the tire), air will flow from the nozzle to the lower pressure to equalize the two
pressures.

If the piston is too small in diameter, if it leaks air, all it does is move air from the front of the
pump to the back of the pump: as the volume in the front decreases, the volume in the back
increases and the air will flow there to equalize the negative pressure that creates. This is
illustrated in the upper of the 2  images.

Now I hear you asking what does this have to do with your mouth? Well the exact same
principle applies to your mouth. You already know that the tongue is your "piston". You can
move it about in your mouth and nothing special will happen...Why? Because your piston leaks,
it is not air tight. As you raise your tongue the air volume above it decreases. But at the same
time, the air volume under the tongue and in the front of your mouth increases and the air just
flows there. You must seal that part off. So you raise your tongue to the roof of your mouth to
seal the front of your mouth from the back airtight. As you then raise the back of the tongue, the
airspace decreases, pressure increases and tries to equalize to an outside pressure that is
lower. If your nose is pinched, this will be your ears. This is now completely understood?

14 / 22
The Frenzel Technique

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Part 7: Controlling the eustachian tubes

Most of you who have been following these instructions from the beginning have by now
managed to move air into the middle ear. For many divers the problems are over. The Frenzel
technique has been mastered, and the sun is shining. Full of youthful enthusiasm you jump in
the lake, dive to 10 meters, until you feel pain in your ears. What happened?

Equalizing head down is something completely different from equalizing head up on dry land.
There are many reasons for this, but the two most important reasons are:

1. Air tends to rise upwards under water, so as you dive head down, it will move to the lower
part of the lungs, towards the diaphragm. As depth increases, it will be more and more difficult
to get air out of your lungs.
2. Gravity pulls down on the soft tissues in the mouth and throat, and for some people this will
cause blockage and tightness of the eustachian tubes.

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The Frenzel Technique

Another reason could be an incorrect diving position. When diving head down, beginners often
look downwards, in the same direction that they are moving (this also applies to dynamic
apnea). In the correct position the head is straight, eyes towards the rope. Alternatively the diver
can look towards the surface, with the chin touching the chest. This position is not only much
more relaxed, but it also helps open up some of the airspaces in the mouth and throat, making
equalization easier.

Some divers turn horizontal or head-up during the dive to make it easier to get air out of the
lungs. These somersaults could increase your maximum depth temporarily, but they are also
very time consuming and physically exhausting. If you have problems with equalization, we
recommend the following steps:

1. Equalizing head-up on dry land. If this does not work, it is pointless

to move on to the next step, because that will not work either.

2. Equalizing head-down on dry land. You can do this by hanging your head
down from your bed, or by standing up and reaching for you toes by
bending at the waist.

3. Equalizing head-up underwater. A good way to practice this is to hang a

heavy weight from a buoy, and slowly pull yourself down the rope, feet first
(free immersion feet first).

4. Free immersion head-down. As you pull yourself down, you can control your
speed and stop if you have any problems.

5. Free immersion with a passive exhale. Equalizing gets more difficult when
you take down less air. You do not need to dive to 30 meters to experience
these problems, 4-5 meters is enough if you exhale before the dive.

6. A normal constant weight dive.

 

Let's move on to the important stuff. The function of the eustachian tubes is to let air into the
middle ear. Normally we do no actively control the openings to the eustachian tubes, but we do
open them every time we yawn or swallow. This lets fresh air into the middle ear, and helps us
to avoid infections. The good news is that it is possible to learn to control them actively,and that

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unless you suffer from chronic ear infections, there is most likely nothing wrong with your
eustachian tubes even if you are having trouble with equalization. The problem is usually lack
of control, and this can be overcome by training.

Keep in mind that even though all of the exercises we have presented so far require a lot of
practice, the exercises that we will present now may need months of training. Actually, an entire
series of articles should be written about these exercises alone, but we are too lazy to do that :)

Your first task is to learn to yawn voluntarily. It is difficult to describe how to do this, but the
next time you yawn, try to feel what is happening and try to repeat it. Concentrate on the
"climax" of the yawn, which is the optimal position for this exercise. As you yawn, you should
hear a slight crackle in your ears, which means that the openings to the eustachian tubes have
opened. You may be able to achieve the same crackle by swallowing. If this happens, try to feel
what is moving when you hear the crackle, and try to isolate the movement. Finally, try to repeat
the crackle without swallowing or yawning, for example by pushing your jawbone forwards and
lifting up the cartilage in your throat (this could be described as swallowing or yawning
"half-way", the same movement can be used to make the Frenzel technique more effective). Try
to feel the cartilage in approximately the same spot where the adams apple is visible in men.
You should clearly feel some movement.

You can also try this exercise: say "aaaaa" continuously, and at the same time try to repeat the
crackle in your ears. If the openings to your eustachian tubes open up, you should hear your
own voice very loud, as if someone is shouting inside your head (which you are actually doing
yourself :). When you relax your tubes, the sound should return to normal. A word of warning:
learning to really control this consciously could take even a month of DAILY training. Don't give
up if you cannot get this to work after one hour.

One more exercise. Inhale with your mouth closed, as full as you can. Let a little bit of air out
(0.5-1l) and inhale again. Keep breathing like this (i.e. breathing with your lungs full). Breathe 10

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times, then rest for one minute. Repeat this 5 times in the morning and in the evening. The idea
of this exercise is that when you breathe with full lungs, you probably use the muscles in your
throat in the same way as when yawning. Additionally, you will also train your breathing muscles
(the small muscles between your ribs). Remember to listen to the crackle in your ears. The
crackle means that your tubes open up. With this  exercise, some can get to the stage where
the tubes stay open by themselves for a while.

The good thing about these exercises is that they are not visible to an outsider, so you can
practice when walking in the street, on the bus, at work etc...

Once you are able to open your eustachian tubes at will, the next stage is to keep them open
constantly for a while, 5 seconds is a good start. The "aaaaa"-exercise is a good aid in doing
this, because you can use it to tell if your tubes are open or not.

Controlling the eustachian tubes may help you with the Frenzel technique, but as a bonus you
might learn to equalize without using your hands at all! For some, just opening the tubes is
enough, others perform a so-called "soft Frenzel" (which is basically doing the Frenzel without
pinching the nose, using the pressure of the mask).

One more piece of advice about the eustachian tubes. When diving, or even when practicing
on land, it is quite easy to get spit or mucus in the eustachian tubes. For this reason, you
shouldn't do these exercises lying on your back. In open water it is important to make sure you
don't get mucus in your tubes, because otherwise your dives will be over for that day and your
ears will feel blocked. To prevent this, you should blow your nose and then inhale through your
nose after every dive (just go
ahead and empty your nostrils, there are worse things than a bit of snotin the water).

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We could probably write a whole book about this subject, but if you have any questions or
suggestions, use the forums and we can continue the discussion there.

The last part of this series of articles will be published next week. In the last part we will
discuss a more advanced version of the Frenzel, the so-called Frenzel-Fattah technique (also
known as the mouthfill technique).

Part 8: Frenzel-Fattah aka the mouthfill technique

The methods we have described in the first seven articles should be enough for most divers for
the rest of their lives. When done correctly, the Frenzel technique, combined with proper
relaxation, a good diving position and diaphragm control makes it entirely possible to dive
beyond 50 meters. Even a passable Frenzel should take you to 30 meters. The rest is just lack
of practice. In this last part we present the so-called mouthfill method, which is a more
advanced version of the Frenzel technique.But first, we recommend that you learn the first
seven parts properly. The method presented in this part is "good to know", so that you cancome
back to it when your dive depths require it. There are very few divers in the world who really
need this method, and with these divers we are talking of depths of well beyond 60 meters.

The effectiveness and genius of the mouthfill method is based on the fact that the deeper you
dive, the slower the relative effect of pressure will increase. For example, if you dive from the
surface to 10 meters, the pressure will double (1 bar -> 2 bar). If you dive downwards from 50
meters, 60 more meters are needed to double the pressure (6 bar -> 12 bar). Usually
the equalizing limit is surprisingly precise. There is a certain depth, lets say 35 meters, after
which the lungs are simply so compressed that it is impossible to get air out from them.

Let's assume that a diver can dive to four meters without equalizing. This means that her/his
ears can withstand a 40 % increase in pressure, before she/he must either equalize or abort the
dive. If the same diver can equalize for the last time at 22.5 meters, in theory she/he could dive
to 35 meters before the negative pressure in the middle ear would end the dive (the
assumptions we have made here are very optimistic to make the calculations easier. We don't
recommend that anyone dive from 22.5 meters to 35 meters without equalizing!)

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If the diver fills her/his mouth immediately after the last equalization (while he/she can still get
air out of his lungs), so that she/he can equalize at 35 meters for one last time, the theoretical
maximum depth will extend to 43 meters (35m = 4.5 bar => 4.5 + 0.4*4.5(40%) = 5.3 => 43m).
The extra air does not appear magically out of nowhere. Instead, the point is to move it to the
mouth while it is still possible to move it out of the lungs. The air in the mouth can then be used
to equalize many more times, but the mouth can not be filled again after this. Think of it this
way: with the basic Frenzel technique, you move a small bubble of air from your lungs to your
mouth, and then you push it into your middle ear.With the mouthfill method you move one huge
bubble into your mouth, which can then be used for several equalizations. This allows the diver
to bemuch more relaxed during the deep part of the dive, because getting air out of the lungs
with the diaphragm is VERY exhausting and far fromrelaxing. With the mouthfill you can enjoy
the freefall with your diaphragm relaxed.

The effectiveness of the mouthfill depends on many factors, but with proper technique and by
utilizing the entire volume of the mouth (with practice), a diver can equalize to 10 meters with a
single mouthfill on the surface. This means that after the pressure has doubled, the diver can
still equalize for the last time. If the diver fills her/his mouth for the last time at 30 meters (a
realistic depth), she/he can dive to 70 meters (where the pressure has doubled) and still be able
to equalize. In principle the diver could dive to 40 % more pressure by "stretching" the
eardrums, which would mean a 102 meter dive.

All this is of course strictly theoretical, so these numbers should not be taken too seriously. But
keep in mind that Eric Fattah, the inventor and undisputed expert of the technique has said that
he can dive to 22 meters from the surface with a single mouthfill, and that he can fill his mouth
one last time at 37 meters (head down). From this you can calculate that with one mouthfill he
can dive to approximately three times the pressure. So from 37 meters (4,7 bar) he could dive
to 15,1 (4,7*3,2) bar, which means 141 meters. Impressive numbers, especially when you
consider the fact that he says that if he does a somersault when fillingthe mouth, or if he dives
head up, he can fill his mouth much deeper.

In theory this sound terrific. But is it useful to the average diver? Here is a simple guideline. If
your maximum depth is for instance 35 meters and limited by equalization, try this:

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-Set the alarm in your dive computer to beep 10-15 meters before your limit,
for example 25 meters

-When you hear the alarm, fill your mouth with air

-If you do everything right, you should still have air in your mouth at
35 meters, which you can use to equalize

-Pass the barrier at 35 meters and swim safely back to the surface

So how can you practice this technique? In the winter empty lung dives to the bottom of the
pool with a single mouthfill at the surface are a good training tool. You can get to the bottom of a
4 meter pool quite easily like this, but be careful and proceed slowly to prevent lung injuries!
Another good exercise is to dive to the bottom with a passive exhale or "almost empty" lungs,
and try to fill your mouth on the bottom.

In the summertime it is very good training to do lots of easy and relaxed dives to 10-15 meters
less than your maximum depth, and try to fill your mouth before turning at the bottom. And of
course actually doing deep dives is the best kind of training there is.

I asked our equalizing expert, Teppo Kallio, for his views on the subject. The following should
be taken seriously, this man has worked long and hard to learn the different equalizing
techniques and in the beginning he could hardly equalize at all (for some all this is natural, but
these are the words of a man who was "hopeless" in equalization):

I practiced this last summer. I trained in a 5 meter pool, with a noseclip, going down feet first. I
emptied my lungs on the surface, but left my mouth full of air. The descent should be very slow,
it would be good to have a rope that you can use to control your descent speed. I equalized
every 0.3 meters. This was difficult in the beginning, because with this method I can only get a
very small amount of air in my ears at once. Once I got this to work, I did the same head down.
When this worked, I did the same with a mask. I had problems with the mask leaking as my
cheeks moved. Also, I did not equalize the mask. If I equalize the mask with the Frenzel-Fattah
method, I will lose the air in my mouth too quickly when I open my nostrils.

I got rid of the mask problems when I switched from using a cressi minima to a sphera. With
the sphera, I don't equalize the mask after I have switched to the Frenzel-Fattah. In open water

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I switch to this equalizing method at about 30-35 meters. The rest of the dive becomes very
relaxed, because I do not need to kick or strain my breathing muscles anymore. I equalize with
my tongue 2-3 times per second during the rest of the dive.

According to Eric Fattah's document, with the Frenzel method you can push air into your ears
with too much force. This can happen, if you can keep your eustachian tubes properly open all
the time. My tubes seem to close as soon as I don't equalize. This is why I need to "pump" with
my tongue very frequently.

This is the last of our articles. If you find something wrong with my numbers and calculations,
let me know and I will fix it. I hope these articles have been useful for someone. We managed to
complete them just before open water-season, so now you should have the proper tools to start
your CW-training (no, the timing wasn't incidental). It has been a pleasure to write these articles.
I am still open to new ideas about this subject, or suggestions for new topics.

Now go out and start training!

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