Preparing for a Skydive: Physical and Mental Fitness Tips

Skydiving can be an extremely exciting, yet intimidating, adventure. We’ve got to say, it is perfectly natural to feel nervous about skydiving especially if it’s your first jump. We don’t know about you, but we think it’s safe to say that most people aren’t flying in mid-air on a frequent basis. You’re going to experience something you’ve never felt before! Which is why it’s important to prepare your body and brain for skydiving.

Skydiving preparation starts with reading up on any tips and tricks to help make the transition from ground to sky a smooth one. So, if you’ve made it here, congratulations! You’re on the right track to get the most out of your big day and improve your overall skydiving experience.

Preparing for a Skydive

Skydiving is a full mind, body, and soul experience that can engage all of your senses and strike something deep in your core in the best way possible. Preparing for skydiving isn’t just a pep talk or a hype song (although, they do help), it’s much more than that – almost like a form of meditation to get your body and mind in the right place.

How to Physically Prepare for Skydiving

Skydiving is technically a sport and requires a bit of athleticism – it can be a great workout! In freefall, you will be taught to fly your body in the “arch position.” How do you arch in freefall? The arch is basically bending your body in a banana shape: belly to the ground, hips forward, chin up, toes to the sky, and head nice and tall. It’s a seemingly simple movement, but again, we aren’t normally placing our bodies in this position so it may seem a bit awkward at first. But with the right amount of practice, it will get easier overtime.

Whether you’re looking to prepare for a first skydive, get in some skydiving practice, or just looking to improve your skydiving arch, this comprehensive guide of skydiving arch exercises should help your body stay ready for freefall.

1. The Superman

The superman pose is the closest thing to the skydiving arch pose that you can get! To do the superman pose, you will start by lying down on your stomach with your arms and legs on the floor. It’s best to lie on either a yoga mat or rug to prevent any pain on the boney parts of your hips. Slowly extend your arms straight out in front of you and your legs behind you. Squeeze your core muscles and stabilize your torso while lifting your arms, upper chest, and legs off of the ground simultaneously. Hold this position for a few moments before gently lowering your arms and legs back down to the ground. Repeat this movement 8 to 10 times to perform one full set. 

This pose is a low-impact movement that can help reduce pain, provide spinal support, and improve strength in your core, glutes, and back muscles! Core strength is important especially for tandem students when it comes time to lift your legs for landing.

2. Hip & Glute Stretches

Your hip flexors and glutes are important when it comes to performing your arch position. Start by lying on your back on your yoga mat. Bend your knees with your feet flat on the floor. Cross your legs over in a “figure four”, resting your ankle on your thigh. Grab through your bottom leg and pull towards your chest, hold for a few moments. You should feel a stretch in your hips and/or glutes. Repeat on the other side!

3. Shoulder Mobility

On a skydive, your arms will naturally be pushed up into the air, opening up your chest. The goal is to keep your arms at a 90 degree angle and hands at eye level for better freefall control and stability. Having good shoulder strength and range of motion is important to prevent injury and to handle the 120 mph winds pushing against your shoulders. Any shoulder external rotation exercise is great for strengthening these muscles. 

The cuban rotation is a perfect workout for shoulder external rotation. You will need two small dumbbells to perform this exercise. Begin by either standing or sitting up nice and tall on a bench or box. Grab your dumbbells and raise them up parallel to your head with your arms at a 90 degree angle (elbows out). Slowly lower the dumbbells by rotating your hands downward, maintaining that 90 degree position. Gently return to the starting position. Repeat.

How to Mentally Prepare for Skydiving

Some people may say that skydiving is more of a mental game than a physical one. The challenge of fighting your natural fight-or-flight response while knowingly preparing to jump out of a perfectly good airplane is quite bizarre to say the least! However, the amazing confidence boost, sense of empowerment, and mind-blowing adrenaline rush is absolutely worth it.

1. Embrace the Fear

As the day approaches and while on your skydiving journey around the dropzone, remember to embrace the fear. Fear of jumping out of an airplane is a natural response. Instead of fighting that feeling, we urge you to embrace it and feel it all the way through. This is how you reap all of the awesome benefits of skydiving including the famous adrenaline rush!

2. Practice Mindfulness

It’s easy to get wrapped up in your head on the day of your skydive with all of the unknowns and what-ifs – which is why it’s best to stay focused in the moment and appreciate it for what it is. All we have is now! Focus on what needs to happen in the moment, one step at a time. Breathe in the experience! Listen to the sound of the airplane, smell the jet fuel, look at all of the colorful canopies opening around you, and notice the happy faces of skydivers returning from the skies.

3. Visualize the Experience

One of the best techniques used by professionals to mentally prepare for anything is to visualize yourself doing it beforehand. Watch skydiving videos and pre/post-jump interviews, and put yourself in their shoes. Imagine the experience, witness how it makes you feel, and picture yourself having a successful skydive. This gets the mind and body ready to take on any emotions or potential reactions that may come up in the moment. Then when the real thing happens, you are already … ready!

And just like with any other sport or physical activity, it’s best to feel your best when taking on skydiving! This means plenty of rest, hydration, food for fuel, and being totally sober (save the celebratory drinks for after the jump). Cheers!

Now that you know how to prepare for skydiving, it’s time to book your adventure! Blue skies.