Air Hog

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Do yoga breathing exercises....then apply on your next dive...you should see a difference! :zen:
 
I had pretty much resigned myself to being an air hog but then just decided- so be it- when I am low on air , I end my dives. I had spent too much of my mental energy while diving worry about it. Then my air consumption improved on its own. I think that removing the anxiety and concern I had about my air and deciding to "just breathe" led to much better air consumption. That and the increased experience too.
 
My experience level is 14 fresh water dives and 7 saltwater dives (deepest of which was 120Ft). Though limited experience I feel extremely comfortable under water. I am 5'11'', 225 LBS, out of shape, and a chain smoker. I dive a steel 120. Problem is people of similar size but more experience are using AL80 still have 12 to 15 hundred pounds left, while have to go below 500 pounds on the same dive profile. Is this a purely physical problem to be solved by heathier lifestyle or are there drills or something I can use to reduce my air consumption?

I got my Son certified at 12. I figured he shouldn't follow the route that I took and do over 100 dives before being certified. For the next year he always would burn more air than anyone else. When he turned 13, we planned a dive trip to the Carribbean. Since my dive instructor must have gills because he'll routinely use twin 30s for three dives, I figured he should be the guy I turned to to help my Son.

He spent about an hour in the class with him, two hours in the pool and two OW dives where the ONLY thing they worked on was air consumption and EVERYTHING related to air consumption.

Fast forward a month and we're coming out of the beautiful water in Cozumel after our first dive. When queried on air pressure, I see my Son's face filled with immense pride. He's typically very quiet, but I'm sure everyone on board heard him loudly call out 1700psi. He had more air left than the instructor, the DM and 200 more PSI than Dad.

If a 13 year old can do it, so can an adult. Just find the dude with gills and LISTEN to them.
 
I have big lung capacity from alot of exercise and training( mountain climbing), and have just resigned myself to the fact I'm an air hog. Sometimes its just the way it is.
 
Jeff, big lungs don't have anything to do with gas consumption, other than as a reflection of a larger human being altogether (which means more metabolism going on). For a given amount of energy consumption, a given amount of CO2 will be produced, which mandates a certain volume of gas going through the lungs. If you reduce your energy consumption, you WILL reduce your gas needs. It doesn't matter how big your chest is.
 
True, but when you are trained for big deep breaths to get air at higher altitudes, you consume unnecessary air underwater with those big deep breaths(and waste much of it expelled/unused). When I can manage to force myself out of that habit, my air consumption goes down, but its not natural for me, as I'm involved in too many aerobic activities.
 
Oh, I agree that one's breathing PATTERN has a great deal to do with efficiency . . . but lung size has no impact on it.
 

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