How to be good on air?

[Red Sea Shadow]

You can find the answer in the latest issue of X-RAY mag, particularly on page 79-80

Download a free copy at X-Ray International Dive Magazine | Front Page but if you want a text-only version (without the Bedouin and camels photo!), here you go:

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[FONT=&quot]How to be good on air[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]By: [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Asser Salama[/FONT][FONT=&quot] (TDI [/FONT][FONT=&quot]/ SDI / CMAS Instructor[/FONT][FONT=&quot]) [/FONT]​

What accounts for huge differences in air consumption? Even divers with fairly similar size and experience have different consumption rates, which couldn't be attributed only to differences in fatigue or stress levels.

Since different people have different lung volumes, different metabolisms and different genes, the point here is that there is no ideal air consumption rate. In other words, you shouldn't be ashamed of using more air than your buddy.

So let's forget all about gauge competitions. Large air reserves are useful only when they translate into longer, safer or more enjoyable dives. But if all you're after is bragging rights to having more air left over at the end of the dive, maybe you're missing the point behind diving in the first place.

Having a lot of air by the end of the dive is not the ultimate proof of diving excellence that we sometimes make it. However, improving your air consumption often leads to longer (and may be deeper) dives. Here are some tips to help lower your consumption rate:

Master buoyancy control​

Stop moving underwater; just freeze. If you start to sink, then you are not neutrally buoyant. This is because your BCD is not adequately inflated. Believe it or not, adjusting your buoyancy by using the BCD is far less air-consuming than adjusting your depth level in the water column by finning and / or hand movements.

Achieve horizontal trim​

Normally a diver using a bit more-than-needed weight in a conventional BCD won’t be able to achieve a horizontal trim. The weight around the waist pulls down, while the air cells in the BCD pulls up at the chest area. Compensation for poor trim takes effort, which translates into more air consumption.

Minimize the “hole in the water” made by your body. The less water you have to shove aside, the less energy and air you have to consume. One way is to reduce the amount of weight you carry because extra weight needs extra BCD inflation to lift it. A more inflated BCD pushes aside more water. Another way to shove aside less water is to trim your body in a horizontal position so that your legs are following through the hole made by your shoulders and not enlarging it. Many divers do, in fact, swim with their heads up and fins down.

Wings and integrated weight pockets help achieve a good trim, but you can still get the right trim and weight while using a conventional BCD.

Get fitter​

The fitter you are, the quicker your heart returns to the normal rate after exercise. If you have to swim a long distance to reach a dive site, or carry your kit a long way, you will start the dive at elevated breathing and heart rates. Actually some virgin dive sites like Ras Abu Galoum north of Dahab, Red Sea, Egypt, require a 90 minutes camel ride! After a period of exercise, a fitter person returns to the normal breathing pattern faster than a less fit one.

Practice finning​

Do lots of slow lengths instead of few rapid ones. This will help the right muscles develop. Try and do as many lengths underwater as you can, and take into consideration that underwater finning is not the same as surface finning. There are plenty of underwater kicks to choose from. However, the majority of divers use either the frog kick or the flutter kick. An excellent piece of advice is to use the “modified” flutter and / or frog kicks. The “modified” version involves bending the knees 90 degrees and doing smaller, slower lengths.

Breathe deeply​

It's somewhat against basic logic. Why does breathing deeply make a limited air supply last longer?

Some divers think that breathing from the top half of their lungs is a mean of saving air. They take short, shallow breaths but unfortunately they end up wasting air instead of saving it. Actually what they’re doing is influencing more carbon dioxide build-up. And believe it or not, it's the need to blow out excess carbon dioxide not the lack of oxygen that urges you take the next breath.

Short, shallow breaths leave your lungs filled with excess carbon dioxide. As this carbon dioxide urgently needs to get out, you're obliged to take another breath although you don’t need the oxygen yet.

Do not skip breathe​

On the other hand, don't exaggerate the slow, deep breaths to the point of hyperventilation, which can lead to fainting due to suppressing the urge to breathe. The best breathing pattern is to take slow, deep inhales followed by slow, complete exhales. Do not play with your breathing pattern. Breathe normally and don’t hold your breath. It is worth noting that in some circumstances when perfectly-neutral buoyancy is ultimately important, for instance when you're hovering over some fragile corals for a photo, this best breathing pattern may disturb your buoyancy. You'll have to change it for a short while and take shorter, quicker breaths.

Check your gear​

Check your equipment for air leaks. Often, you can't see the leaks yourself. A little bubbling from your tank’s O-ring or your BCD inflator can sum up to several bars / PSIs over an hour's dive. A free-flowing octopus occasionally dumps air a lot faster. Detune it if you can, and mount it with the mouthpiece facing down. Don't detune your primary regulator though. Detuning your primary regulator leads to increasing your breathing work. This increase leads to an elevated carbon dioxide production rate, which leads to accelerating your breathing rate and eventually translates into wasting more air.
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[MXGratefulDiver]

A good list ... if I can add a couple of comments ...

Weighting
You touched on this well, but underweighting is as bad for you as overweighting. Too much lead causes you to have to overinflate your BCD to achieve neutral buoyancy, and leads to greater shifts in buoyancy as you change depths. Too little weight means that as your tank empties and becomes more buoyant, you will increasingly have to struggle to stay down, resulting in more work and harder breathing.

Swimming Speed
Swimming is a lot like driving a car ... speeding up actually reduces your "miles per gallon". Finding a moderate pace helps you maintain a relaxed rythm and keeps your muscles and heart rate working at maximum efficiency. Swimming faster will get you there quicker, but will cause you to use your air much more quickly.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

True. Thanks Bob.

Actually this is a revised version. The original version -which I wrote like 4 years ago- included the swimming part, with some details on finning styles (which one is faster, which one requires more effort, when to use what, etc...)

 

[JoeSpirit]

That's great information from both Red Sea Shadow and Grateful Diver.

I recently read some information from one doctor who states that you know your heart is healthy when it recovers by at least 30 beats a minute from actual exercise rate. The better shape your heart is in the faster your breathing slows after exertion.

And when you're exerting yourself, causing accelerated breathing, you use air faster.

 

[captndale]

Learn to breathe. Take a class in Yoga, meditation, tai chi or any martial art.

 

[Louie]

Thanks Asser, it's a really useful article on what is a really pressing topic for many new and not-so-new divers.

Very often, I've had students asking me if there was the ONE THING they could do to instantly improve their air consumption. And every time, I've had to stress that there was NO magic bullet or an instant solution but like many things, it's a process involving many things (skills, experience and technique all combined).

Keep up the good work!

 

[Mikums]

Learn to breathe. Take a class in Yoga, meditation, tai chi or any martial art.

I've been meaning to do this for a while and now I have a new motivation.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Learn to breathe. Take a class in Yoga, meditation, tai chi or any martial art.

I've tried Pranayama before, and I've found that applying some breathing patterns while wearing a wet suit is not as easy.

 

[fjpatrum]

Thanks Asser, it's a really useful article on what is a really pressing topic for many new and not-so-new divers.

Very often, I've had students asking me if there was the ONE THING they could do to instantly improve their air consumption. And every time, I've had to stress that there was NO magic bullet or an instant solution but like many things, it's a process involving many things (skills, experience and technique all combined).

Keep up the good work!

As a newb I'd have to say you can give them ONE thing to improve their air consumption. That should be "slow down". Slowing down you may miss something, but more likely you'll see more than you would going faster and you'll be able to do so longer.


PS: why is this under the advanced category rather than basic? Seems like the newbies like me or those who are still "basic" can benefit from this information a lot.

 

[kanonfodr]

Many thanks for the information, Asser, Bob, and others. Also, one more important nugget o' wisdom: GO DIVING!!! You can do all the breathing exercises, have perfect trim, and still murder tanks. Your body just needs to adjust to the aquatic environment, and it does that by getting more exposure to it .

Peace,
Greg