How much should you be able to lift, to scuba dive?

Question

Im thin and i cant really lift a lot(i can bench around 70 pounds) . and i was told you have to be able to lift alot because the gear is heavy

Answer 1

Many people, woman and children, cannot bench 70 lbs, and yet they dive.  Yes, the gear that you wear will be heavy once you add on the weights and tanks.  If you can bench 70 lbs, then i guarantee that you can carry the weight of the gear easily.  What matters is that you have good stamina.  When you do your open water lessons, be prepared to do laps.    

Not all instructors actually require that you do laps.  The most important physical attribute in diving is stamina.  Another quality is being calm.  These are the attributes that makes dives fun.  The reason being is that once you are under water, having good stamina and being calm allows you to use up air better.  This, as a result allows you to dive longer.  If you lack good stamina, then you could suck up so much air that your dive will be shorten.  

Answer 2

This is a very common question when people are looking at getting into the sport of scuba diving.

The total weight of the equipment that I wear in caribbean diving is about 72 pounds.  This is including the scuba cylinder, Buoyancy compensator jacket, regulator, wetsuit, 12 pounds of weight, mask, fins, snorkel, and scuba booties.  This sounds like a lot of weight all together but you are not putting it all on in one movement.  The heaviest piece that you may have to lift at one time would be the Scuba cylinder and the buoyancy compensator jacket that it gets attached to.  

A common size scuba cylinder weighs about 32 pounds empty and 35 pounds full.  The jacket that I use weighs about 7 pounds and the regulator weight about 4 pounds which means  I only have to lift 46 pounds at any one time.

The nice thing is that I only have to lift it high enough for the person that I am diving with to hold it so that I can slip into the jacket.  The jacket is designed with ergonomics in mind.  It distributes the weight of the cylinder like a like a good camping backpack so you don't feel like you have 46 pounds hanging on your back.

On boats you usually slip into the jacket while sitting on a bench so the only lifting done is by standing up.

This is done just prior to making  your entry into the water.  Once you are in the water you don't feel the weight thanks to Archimedes Principle regarding buoyancy (see the second link for buoyancy).

The heaviest point of lifting would be when I have to put all my stuff in my equipment bag to take to and from the boat.  I guess that's why my equipment bag has wheels.

If there is a Scuba diving store near where you live, go there and ask if you could try a cylinder, regulator and jacket to get a feel of the weight.

Answer 3

I am accustomed to give long answers; but this one is easy.

Scuba is based on the buddy system. Scuba tanks and other gear are heavy for some to carry, especially if you require a lot of weight for buoyancy. However, there are techniques for wearing, entering the water (where the weight is less significant), and carrying gear with and without your buddy.

Your instructor will make certain that you are as comfortable as possible and provide you with meeting your needs and teach you the techniques.

Many of my former Scuba students could not lift 60-pounds and did great. If I would have to place a number it would be 40-pounds as the minimum; simply because there is nothing in typical scuba diving weighing more than that weight.

Your fine from that perspective ~ enjoy

Answer 4

you don't have to be a bodybuilder or anything for diving... i don't lift weights at all and still managed to carry the gear up a big set of stairs out of the quarry in a discover scuba class. the equipment is completely weightless when you are underwater, and besides the equipment is on ur back so arm strength doesn't really matter