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The first two steps in getting certified in scuba diving is to make sure that you are a reasonably proficient swimmer and you get medical clearance from your doctor to take up the sport. As for the swimming, you dont have to master every type of stroke. Scuba certification only requires that you are able to swim about 200 yards using any stroke you want and to be able to float or tread on water for about 10 minutes. If you are in good general health and are comfortable in the water, then you should be able to scuba dive without any problems.

There are about 1,900 professional scuba dive centers in North America alone and your local ones should definitely be checked out. Most will run basic certification programs on a regular basis. These centers or shops should be listed in the yellow pages and you can also check with websites of some of the major scuba diving certification agencies such as PADI or NAUI as they will also have listings. Sometimes scuba diving courses are offered at universities too.

Make sure that the course you are interested in taking as well as its instructor are certified with one of the major scuba diving training agencies. This will ensure that you get proper, safe training for both the technical background knowledge and practical skills required for certification as a scuba diver. You also want to end up with an internationally recognized certification card if you want to go scuba diving at various locations around the world.

Some vacation resorts offer resort courses lasting a day or two which offer beginners some very basic training in order to try out scuba diving. These are not certification programs. Full certification programs involve classroom work, exams, practical skills sessions at a pool and usually about four open water dives in the sea (lake or ocean). The duration of the classroom work and pool sessions vary from a very intensive weekend (with advance reading) to once a week over several weeks. The open water dives will usually take two more days. Dive centers located in the tropics also offer basic certification programs that last several days to a week. Although the intensive weekend programs are quite feasible, many feel that basic scuba diving courses spread out over a few weeks will help beginners learn the skills better. Scuba diving does involve new skills and to learn them all during one full weekend may be too much for some people.

As for which scuba diving certification training agency is the best, there isnt any one recognized organization that is better than another. PADI is the most popular in the world but not necessarily better than NAUI or SSI. NAUI course are often more technical in the classroom than those offered by PADI but both will adequately train you to be a scuba diver. The more important factor would be the individual instructor and your own effort during training/studying. In fact, many scuba diving instructors have certifications from several training agencies.

For people living in the more northern regions, there are a few possible routes to take in order to obtain certification. One can travel down south to the tropics and do the entire basic certification course down there in warm weather. However, this will take up a good portion of a vacation since reading, classroom, pool sessions and open water dives all must be done during that time period. A second option is to take the entire course including the open water dives back in home territory. This usually offers beginners the most time since courses can be spread out over a few weeks. However, the water up north is not as warm as in the tropics and the scuba diving could be seasonal. A third option is to take all the classroom and pool sessions back home and then go down south to do the open water dives in warm waters. Many people have taken this route. Your instructor back home will give you a referral letter to bring down to an instructor located down south who will oversee your open water dives. This is a good combination of taking ample time back home to practice the skills in the pool plus getting the classroom work out of the way followed by having nice warm water to dive in for the open water dives. One thing to be aware of if considering this option is to make sure that your travel to the tropics for your open water dives is not too delayed after finishing up with your pool sessions at home. If too much time has elapsed, one could easily forget the skills learned in the pool by the time a vacation comes along.

The underwater world has so much to offer and only a small percentage of the worlds population will ever have the privilege to see it in person rather than on television. Become one of these individuals who will have the honor of exploring the oceans by getting certified in scuba diving.

Clint Leung is a NAUI certified Master and Rescue Scuba Diver. He is also owner of Free Spirit Activewear http://www.FreeSpiritActivewear.com, an online retailer/designer specializing in premium quality scuba diving activewear. Also numerous articles on scuba diving.

I got a question this week from a triathlete struggling to build up mileage on his triathlon bike. This is a common challenge for triathletes. The trick here is to build mileage slowly and consistently. Here are some tips:

Remember to consult your physician before starting any fitness program.

1. Build up mileage slowly. Most triathletes are competitive by nature and they tend to push themselves to the limit. Out of frustration they might try to do a 4-hour bike ride when their longest ride before that is only a couple of hours. This is very risky and counterproductive.

If you overtrain like this you are likely to injure yourself, which can take you out of the game for weeks. Even if you manage to finish it without injury, your body will take a long time to recover from the workout and you may lose a lot of the benefit you might have gained from the long ride. Instead you want to build up slowly over time, adding maybe 25 to 50 percent to your base long ride (based on time in the saddle not mileage) every couple of weeks (see my sample plan to do this below).

2. Take time to recover and adapt. The goal is to slowly build up the length of your longest training ride while building in time to recover. Get to a plateau, ride there for a week and then try to extend it (see the sample program below).

3. A beginner can build effectively riding just 2 to 3 times per week. You don't have to build your endurance by riding 3 or 4 hours every time you get on your bike. Instead focus on one long ride each week (time not miles). Your ultimate goal should be to ride for as long as you think your complete race will take you to finish. Your other rides during the week don't need to be as long, but you might want to add some strength or technique training to these rides (like hills or cadence work).

4. Sample triathlon training plan Let's say that your goal is to finish an olympic distance triathlon in around 3 hours. "Leg time" for this race is 2.5 hrs or more. Building your bike to 2.5 to 3 hours will help build the endurance needed for this event. Let's make your goal to do a long ride of around 3 hours about a month before your race. Today you can easily do two one hour rides per week. How do you get to your goal?

By the way, you don't have to be able to do a 3 hour ride to finish your first olympic distance race, but it is a good goal. As you advance you might try to increase the number of miles you finish during your long ride (see tip 6 for more on this). Here is an example of a basic plan to get you to your goal:

Building Bike - Time goals for your one long ride per week. Other workouts for the week would be based on your personal level of fitness.

a. Week One: Ride = 1.5 Hours
b. Week Two: Ride = 1 Hour
c. Week Three: Ride = 2 Hours

At this point you've doubled your long ride. Do you need more time to recover? If so then start over at Week Two and then do Week Three again. If you recover better then move on to Week four. Do the same thing after each week that you build mileage - if it takes more than a couple of days to recover go back to the next lowest recovery week and start from there.

d. Week four: Ride = 1.5 Hours
e. Week Five: Ride = 2 Hours
f. Week Six: Ride = 1.5 Hours
g. Week Seven: Ride = 2.5 Hours
h. Week Eight: Ride = 2 Hours
i. Week Nine: Ride = 3 Hours

Note: All rides should be ridden fresh with no hard workouts at least the day before and the day after. The pace should be in a comfortable easy pace (you should be able to talk or have a conversation while you are riding during the majority of your ride). learn to "spin" or use your easier gears to prolong your muscle endurance.

You did it! At this point your long ride is now 3 hours and you have made a great improvement in your endurance. Next you will want to start working on other things like speed, terrain, etc.

5. Make sure that you are eating and drinking during these rides. If you are hungry or thirsty you waited to long to eat or drink. Right now you are asking your body to do things it hasn't done before, you will need the calories. Eventually you will get more efficient and may not need to eat as much.

6. Time, Mileage or Heart-rate? Eventually all three of these measures will be important. When I start training someone we focus first on time at a comfortable pace. Next we add a heart-rate monitor to the mix and shoot for time within heart-rate zones. Finally we start working on the number of miles covered, heart-rate, and time. I suggest you start the same way.

If this sounds too over-planned, simplify it. Last winter I started training for a spring Century ride and my workout plan was just to add an hour to my long ride every 3 weeks until I got to 6 hours (although remember that I was starting from a pretty strong base and I didn't train much in the other disciplines, I did hit the weight room 1 time per week, and the Yoga mat a couple times a week). The key is to do what works for you. Use this plan to adapt something for yourself or for you to present to your coach.

Triathlon Coach Janet Wilson is a USAT certified triathlon coach and ACE certified personal trainer. Janet is an accomplished and nationally-ranked amateur triathlete and she coaches triathletes of all skill levels, from a triathlon beginner to Hawaii Ironman qualifiers. To learn more about triathlon training plans, triathlon bike tips, coaching programs or just great tips on how to stay in shape visit her website at http://www.coach-janet.com