Air consumption improvement

[raskous]

Hey divers

I've been getting a few issues with air consumption, ever since i started.
Sure it's normal to use 200 bars in a few minutes when you first start, but even now after 20+ dives i still find myself consuming more than people around me.

Usually it's something like 50 bar more than other OW divers.

Now sure, i might be less experienced, i might be bigger than most of them, but i've seen people (like divemasters) coming back with 175 bars when i had 20 left ... and they were way bigger than me.

I've asked my divemasters, and the only thing they told me was that it comes with experience... sure I improved a bit since then, but it's still pretty bad, and getting frustrating to have to surface earlier than others...

The only thing i've managed to improve so far is to make as few movements as possible, i basically put my hands together on my belly, and try to never move them, sometimes it also helps to close my eyes and do as if i was sleeping, it tends to slow my breathing down.

So i guess my question is:
Could you guys give me any tips from your all mighty experiences, to improve my air consumption?

Any advice you guys can provide would be really helpful

Thanks

 

[String]

First thing, get your weighting correct. A vast majority of new divers are overweighted whether they admit it or not.

Then get your buoyancy sorted. This can only be done by diving. A lot.

Then the gas consumption will take care of itself.

There is no other way. It just involves diving.

 

[knotical]

What makes us breathe more? Carbon dioxide.

How do we get rid of carbon dioxide? Exhale.

Complete exhalations can be a big help in quickly reducing gas consumption.

 

[Guba]

The SB forums are full of similar threads, so anything I relate will be simple repeats. I also have to say that my SAC rate isn't anything to brag about...it's right at "average". However, there are a few things you can do to make improvements, in addition to what String suggested (fine tuning your weighting and diving for more experience). Some of these include...
1. make sure your rig is pared down and streamlined as much as possible. Tuck in danglies (you've already started by keeping your arms in), and avoid hanging anything to your profile that might create drag.
2. Work on your trim. Many divers work too hard by moving through the water in a head's up/feet down posture and consequently use quite a bit of energy (and air) using their fins to maintain depth and an inefficient form.
3. Now the hard part...size has an effect, but it's not as important as SHAPE. I'm not talking hydrology here...it's fitness. If you currently have a regular program of cardio exercise, then you're ahead of the game. If you don't, you might want to adopt one. Regular exercise will tend to make the lungs and circulatory system more efficient, and that will help stretch your air.
4. RELAX. I think you've discovered that one already, but I'm willing to bet that even as you enter the water, you're tense and worrying about running low on air before your buddies. Just that little bit of stress alone can actually make you consume air FASTER than normal. Calm down and don't worry about it. Enjoy yourself and make the most of your time underwater. I think that once you stop swelling on it so much and you gain experience, you'll find that your air consumption improves naturally.
5. I don't know where you're talking about diving, but try to dive warm. I don't know how this affects others, but I find that if I dive cold I use more air. (I assume that I'm expending energy to generate heat, and that requires O2.) Wear enough wetsuit to keep you warm, and use a hood and gloves when appropriate.
6. Practice proper breathing. I'm no expert, but there are those here on the board that can describe breathing exercises that will maximize oxygen extraction efficiency without causing CO2 headaches or other more dangerous problems.

And realize that it may be that you use need more air than others. Some of that is dictacted by physiology. I have a friend that has an absolutely phenomenal SAC rate (I accuse him of being photosynthetic underwater...it seems he GENERATES air as he goes along), so I'm never going to be able to match his rate no matter what I do. I just have to live with that. However, the goal is to do as well as possible, and if you can do that you'll be fine. When all else fails, you could always get a bigger tank!
Have fun underwater and good luck. Let us know in a few months how it's going!

 

[Crowley]

When I was a beginner I asked my instructor what the secret to better air consumption was and she laughed and said: "breath less"!

So - yes - buoyancy and weighting are important but once that is fixed, you need to control your breathing. I generally teach a "5 seconds in, five seconds out" breathing technique which is not actually the best, but works well for beginners.

The breathing reflex is triggered by an accumulation of carbon dioxide in the body, so one of the most important things is to make sure that this gas is eliminated correctly. If you breathe heavily, you will end up re-breathing the same dead air which causes a CO2 build up which makes your brain think you need to breathe more.

The trachea is not smooth, so rapid breathing creates turbulence in the airway which decreases the efficiency of your exhalation. The key is taught in basic open water courses - long and slow breathing. The harder you breathe, the less efficient your CO2 elimination, and you breathe more heavily. The slower you breathe, the less your body needs to breathe, and if you can manage 5 seconds in, 5 seconds out then you have one breath cycle every ten seconds, six cycles per minute, 3 litres of air(ish) per breath, 2,400 litres of air in a 12 litre tank. Of course this varies with depth, but do the math.

when I first learned to dive I was the guy coming up first every time. It worked for me as a beginner and it has worked well for hundreds of my students. Slowly slowly is the key. Air is like a fine wine to be sipped, not a beer to be chugged!!

Hope that helps,

C.

 

[String]

Id also add physical fitness is a minor thing when compared to other factors. Granted if you're a beached whale that gets out of breath climbing some steps it will be high but the difference between an average person and an athlete is tiny if measurable at all. I can think of plenty of chain smoking overweight instructors whose air consumption is similar to people that do endurance sports for fun.

 

[Misa]

Raskous: i`ve had the same problem before i reached my 75 dives. Something happened there ( i guess it was GUE Fundamentals course )and i`ve improved my trim, buoyancy and confidence in water. Then i`ve started to see a little difference and now at around 125 dives even with a video camera in my hand i still have a better SAC then most of my friends. It matters how you move trough the water (drag wont help your sac), it matters how much energy u use to do things, etc. The less u use your body underwater, the better it will be.

My worst air consumption ever was 10 bar (12L tank) / min @ 3 ata for 10 minutes while my friends used only 30-50 bar max in 10 minutes. Just relax, enjoy the dive, improve your trim and buoyancy, weight yourself correctly and around 100 dives you`ll have a different sac.

 

[String]

10 x 12 = 120 litres used a minute. Divide that by 3 and its 40 litres a minute. Which is an absolutely massive SAC rate.


Or do you mean 10 bar in 10 minutes which is 1 bar per minute. Which works out at 12/3 = 4 litres per minute which is physically impossible for a still alive metabolising human!

Its not difficult to work out SAC rates.

Bar used x tank size = litres used

litres used divided by time = litres per minute

Then divide by ATA to get a surface rate. An average rate is going to be 15-20 or so.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Air consumption worries are very common with relatively new divers. Heck, when I was new my dive buddies used to tease me by saying they could see the sides of my tank cavitating when I breathed.

So how did I solve the problem?

I went diving ... a lot.

The advice above is valid ... weight yourself properly, work on developing good trim, breathe slowly and deeply, and swim slowly ... but above all else, give your body a chance to get completely comfortable with being underwater. Diving skills are a matter of training your body what to do, and giving it a chance to develop "muscle memory" when it comes to knowing what proper diving skills feel like.

That comes with practice ... and most divers start with concerns about why they were using more air than their more experienced dive buddies.

Go diving ... it gets better ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[gcbryan]

Go diving a lot as everyone has mentioned and this is really "the" answer. You figure out the other things as you are diving a lot.

It should also be pointed out (which you already realize) that body size generally plays a large role so if you are 6' tall don't compare yourself to someone who is 5'4". It's not a fair comparison.

The improvements are also not necessarily linear. There are big improvements early on but they continue to quite a while although smaller in nature.