How to conserve air???

[onefastpony]

Just finished my first two open water check out dives today and man did I suck a lot of air. I am a big guy, that might have a little to do with it but I am in shape. I'm 5'11 weigh 337, work out at the gym and quit smoking (one month). What are some good techniques to use to train yourself to be more efficient with your air supply. Thank you.

 

[walke121]

Dive often. The more you dive the less air you will use. I use 5 sec inhale, 5 sec exhale.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

We all used a lot of air during OW training. Improving air consumption takes practice. No other way around it. Relax. Work towards getting in good cardiovascular shape.

I'm not sure whether your weight is a typo. If it's accurate, then discuss with your doctor or a nutritionist about losing some weight. It would be very rare for someone to be "in shape" and have a BMI of 47.

Congrats on quitting smoking. Take the edge off the nicotine urges by working out...and diving!

Good luck with everything...

 

[pmombour200]

Every few minutes , think about your breathing. Think slow relaxing breathes. Just like walke121, inhale slow, exhale slow. And remember, don't hold your breath.

 

[The Kraken]

Relax.

Breathe deeply and slowly. Exhale completely.

Be streamlined . . . nothing dangling or no excessive things attached to your B/C that you really don't need.

Be properly weighted.

Make sure your horizontal trim is good.

Don't use your arms and hands to propel yourself.

Let your fins do their work. Get the maximum glide from each kick . . . let the fins finish their cycles.

Do things slowly.

Safe dives . . . . . . . .
. . . safer ascents ! ! !

the K

 

[Rainer]

Experience (just keep diving) leads to comfort, which will lead to decreased breathing rates.
Horizontal trim helps.
Moving around slowly helps tons.
A balanced rig (i.e. not being over-weighted) helps.
Streamlining gear helps.
Getting in shape really helps.

 

[onefastpony]

Yes, the weight is right. I do have a little bit of a gut but that is it. In a 5x full wetsuit i sink. of course that is without bcd and tank and other stuff, just the wetsuit.
So, just practice and breath slower?

 

[onefastpony]

let me rephrase the sinking part. I guess i would say that I am neutrally buyant. I sink to about two feet under.

 

[fisheater]

I found it VERY helpful to practice long, slow breathing techniques on land.

Rather than expanding your chest to inhale, push out your diaphram. You can do this very slowly and it will fill your lung bottoms to get the most efficient oxygenation. When your lungs are full, pause a moment (WITHOUT CLOSING YOUR GLOTIS) and then slowly and fully exhale. You're trying to get the maximum amount of oxygen from your breath into your blood and then expell the maximum amount of carbon dioxide.

You'll find a beneficial side effect of this breathing technique is relaxation. Relaxation from slow breathing, leads to - you guessed it - slow breathing. It also means that you'll have more fun and have longer, safer divers, to boot.

Practice this at your desk, while watching TV or while driving.

Then, go out and dive some more!!

 

[burna]

Just finished my first two open water check out dives today and man did I suck a lot of air. I am a big guy, that might have a little to do with it but I am in shape. I'm 5'11 weigh 337, work out at the gym and quit smoking (one month). What are some good techniques to use to train yourself to be more efficient with your air supply. Thank you.

HEY!! Congrats on giving up the lung busters. 6 years for me, believe me it gets easier, just don't quit quitting!

Everyone uses heaps of air when they first start, it's normal.

I'm not an experienced diver, but here are my tips that worked for me going from nooby diver to not quite so nooby diver

Just relax when you're down there, sometimes it might take a minute or two for you to settle down when you first start your descent, just allow yourself to settle in and avoid any strenuous activity on the surface like swimming to the shot line.

For most of the dive I tend to take deep slow breaths with a slight pause (not holding breath!) both on inhale and exhale except when ascending where I take shallower breaths with no pause in between.

Really important, if your diving with more experienced divers who don't know you don't be afraid to tell them you can be a bit heavy on air. That way they can plan ahead and help to have you ready to surface when your low and maybe they can continue their dive.