About us
Andrea Zuccari: the second deepest freediver in the world -185 mt. No Limits
Freediving Instructor/trainer; specialized in Equalization/ Breathing techniques.
Owner of Freediving World Apnea Center – Sharm el Sheikh – Egypt
Alice Cattaneo: Freediver, Photographer, Diving Instructor, Personal Trainer
Co-Owner of Freediving World Apnea Center – Sharm el Sheikh – Egypt
Andrea Zuccari’s wife
CEO of BCS Protocol
In 2011 they travelled to India to take an advanced Pranayama course in order to perfect their knowledge of breathing techniques. From that trip the book “Viaggio in India alla scoperta del Pranayama” was born.
In subsequent years they began to travel the world providing equalization and breathing techniques courses, as well as BCS Protocol training.
In 2017 Andrea was training to attempt his Italian record in No Limits. We started to make some research to increase his lungs’ volume, when we finally met Alessandro Rinaldi, a yoga instructor who introduced us to the use of this tool called backbending bench. We immediately realized that it was the right direction to take, and Alice started taking some lessons.
The backbending bench is a tool created by Iyengar, the founder of the aptly named Iyengar Yoga and one of the most famous yoga masters.
Andrea started to use it to prepare for his record.
Using the bridge month after month, we started to realize its huge potentiality not only for freedivers but for all kinds of athletes and also for people with posture problems.
Alice started to collaborate with physiotherapists, osteopaths and yoga instructors, and after three years of work and experience on hundreds of people, we gave life to the BCS Protocol, which includes how to breathe in a proper way, how to increase your breathing abilities and your lungs’ volume, as well as full body stretching and posture correction techniques.
RESULTS:
When Andrea Zuccari started his training for the record attempt, we started a training protocol that involved constantly monitoring his vital capacities. We conducted five spirometry tests every morning to assess maximum normal inspiration, five tests to assess max inspiration with packing, as well as one hour of BCS Protocol and a new round of testing afterwards.
After six months of training, his vital capacity increased by 1.5 liters, or 25% of his vital capacity. The vital capacity plus packing increased by two liters. Of course we are talking about a very hard and constant training for a world record, but the results have been huge!
Benefit for Athletes:
Freedivers: After only two or three lessons, people begin to feel the difference in the water, they feel much more relaxed and like they can store more air in their bodies.
Everyone from high level athletes to recreational freedivers felt the benefits and the increase in performance, and kept training with the bridge.
Each person should be considered on a case-by-case basis, as everyone has different characteristics, temperaments and goals, and that’s why is not enough to lay on the bridge and breathe in order to achieve maximum breathing capacity and the best benefits.
Athletes: cyclists, football players, runners and all other athletes.
By increasing your total lung volume, you will increase the tidal volume, which will in turn improve the gas exchange and consequently your performance.
Benefits for Postural problems:
There is one section of the BCS Protocol that is particularly useful for people with postural problems, who spend most of their day driving a car, in front of a pc, or staring at their phones, and who end up getting used to the wrong posture of shoulders and back that soon becomes their regular body position.
This will also benefit very tall people that have to lean forward to look at other people and women with big breasts that hunch their shoulders in order to hide themselves or to balance out the weight of their breasts. The “bridge” is very helpful in all of these situations.