How to Prepare for Skydiving – Mentally + Physically

If you promised yourself over New Years’ Eve champagne that this is going to be your year to make the leap, you’re now probably looking for ways how to prepare for skydiving – both mentally and physicially – before the warmer weather hits. And you’re right to start thinking about it now – but luckily, skydiving preparation isn’t neurosurgery. Here’s what to do:

First-Stage Prep

Skydiving preparation isn’t just mental. If you’re carrying the weight of the world on your waistline, you’ll need to make some lifestyle changes too. Like all other responsible dropzones who walk the safety talk, LISC enforces a weight limit. Our weight limit is 225 pounds for height-to-weight proportionate people.

Aside from that, skydiving has a surprisingly short list of dealbreaker medical conditions. To be sure that a skydive is still in the cards, speak to us – and your doctor – about any preexisting conditions that you may have. (You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised with a “yes, you can!”)

Preparing Physically

Think of your skydive as a moderate athletic event, and behave as such. Along those lines: Eat normally, moderately and nutritiously. Arrive hydrated (but don’t drink alcohol, or you won’t be allowed on the plane). When you pack in the morning for your tandem skydiving adventure, make sure to bring along soft drinks and a few healthy snacks.

You wouldn’t wear a dress and sandals to a 5k, so don’t make a similar mistake for your skydive. Wear appropriate clothing and bring along extra (thin, insulating) layers just in case.

It’s always good to bring reading material (and/or games!) just in case there’s a wait. Don’t forget your phone charger.

Preparing Mentally

Preparing mentally for a skydive is a little less straightforward. The intensity of the experience is what makes it great, and if it were easy it wouldn’t be worth it, now would it?

To prepare mentally for your skydive, you’ll need to reframe your relationship to the fear standing in your way. Doing new, challenging things is never easy – but once you’ve done something as amazing as making a skydive, you’ll never be the same again.

That shouldn’t be a surprise; you already know it to be true. Why? Because you’ve gone through this process over and over in your life. You learned to ride a bike when you were probably pretty sure it’d break your legs. You calmly boarded a commercial aircraft when it seemed so huge and unfamiliar and so impossible that it could fly. You drove a car when operating the shifting mechanism felt like piloting an alien spacecraft.

The only cure for novelty is familiarity. Once you’ve taken the “unknown” out of “fear of the unknown” and there’s nothing to be afraid of. The younger version of you was brave enough to do much scarier stuff. You’ll find your courage along the way, just like everyone else, and you will rock your skydive.

Promise.