Being a Cyclist and Scuba Diver problem

[Dan G]

I've been training for a cross-country cycling tour for years (it'll never happen; I can't get my wife to get on a bike). Anyway, to point is, I ride four days a week. As a new diver, I've not experienced a change in finning styles but that may have to do with what swimming training I've had. For one reason or another I'm capable of "reprogramming" my brain from one activity to another.

As for the breathing, what others have said about being new and needing experience is probably the case. Aside from the cycling, I spend a lot of time lifting weights and participating in high-intensity interval training, so I know my cardiovascular is primed, yet I still suck down more air than I'd like. One of my biggest problems is that, with all my land-based training, I find myself filling my lungs to capacity before emptying them as far as they'll go. (Talk about a buoyancy issue. Yo-yo city.)

I found that this course helped. It walks you through some breathing exercises as well as some guided meditation you can incorporate into your yoga practice. It's still a work in progress for me, but I can already see an improvement.

+1 on this. While not everyone who rides has had this experience, which is clear by this thread, some of us have. I needed to drop the habit that I think came from yoga and riding to fill my lungs and empty them with each breath. Once I was able to manage that, my buoyancy and air consumption improved greatly. What it took was for me to be told by an instructor that my breathing underwater should basically be the same as my breathing above water.

All the other advice about relaxing and using less effort is spot on, too. But none of that happened for me before I adjusted my breathing first. Good luck!

 

[306dive306]

Hello everyone my name is Kurt I’m pretty mutch a standard Recreational diver with 50 to 60 dives who is in the process of trying to take the recreational deep dive and rescue classes in a couple of weeks. I am slowly improving my abilities as a diver, but my biggest problem is I’m also cyclist. This means that my legs are used to moving in a steam engine piston type fashion while my lungs breath in a lot to keep the air pumping in to my legs I’ve tried to force my self to breath slower and deeper as well as try various kicks that I see other people do, my body is physically resisting it, I have problems slowing down my breath and problems stopping my legs from moving in a frog kick formation and every time I take my concentration off kicking and breathing for one second, my body reverts back to its cycling steam locomotive chugga, chugga chugga chugga Choo Choo mode and I’m almost always the first person out of air back to the dive boat. Has anybody else had this problem and if so what can can I do to fix it?

 

[306dive306]

Being a cyclist, runner, rower, soccer player, or triathlete is not detrimental to scuba diving. Any form/mode of exercise that increases aerobic capacity and muscular endurance is, in fact, beneficial to scuba diving.

What the OP needs is to behave properly under water and that comes with proper repetition (just like anything else in life). That’s it.

Best of luck

 

[TuckerIdaho]

Cycling isn't the issue. Runners when they actually start REALLY training have this issue. They need to learn to slow down. Too many think they're running "easy" pace when in reality, while it feels easy, they're well into tempo pace and running way way too fast on their easy days.

Slow your roll, its not cycling, its you.

 

[BlueTrin]

For me it was using an AI computer displaying the SAC that helped me the most, I could try different breathing techniques and the change in SAC in real time.

Like you I breathe naturally a lot when not limited … now, I try to sip the air a bit like through a straw to breathe slower when relaxed …

 

[scubadada]

So, I am a 67 year old diver. I'm sure being fit is helpful for your RMV. I have done aerobic exercise 5-6 days per week for my entire adult life. However, I believe the breathing pattern is important. It is essentially the opposite of land breathing. A slow deep inspiration, a brief pause with open glottis and then a slow exhale with an immediate reinspiration. This probably maximizes the time for gas exchange. I take about 4 breaths per min. My average RMV over the last 1,570 dives is 0.36 cu ft/min.

 

[RayfromTX]

I'm a cyclist. My breathing pattern has evolved over time without actually mentally thinking about it but also always physically minimizing it. I have noticed that over time the length of my breathing cycles has slowed way down. When diving relaxed and not hunting or working, my breathing rate is twice per minute rather than the 5 times per minute that it used to be. I breathe in rather fully for about 2 seconds and then slowly bubble it out over the next 27-29 seconds. It is very meditative. If I'm at 40 meters and I start to feel any apprehension that is unwarranted, that is a sign of CO2 retention and I slightly increase my breathing rate for awhile and the apprehension clears in under a minute. I can then go back to my normal breathing pattern. My air consumption is down to the .35 cuft per minute range. I am 60 years old. I think my fitness from cycling contributes to my ability to process CO2 and O2 but I am also gifted with a VO2 max of 62.

 

[TMHeimer]

Not a bicyclist here. My only thought was to practice kicking with your legs absolutely straight out for the "flutter" (regular as I call it) kick. Maybe by holding onto the edge of a swimming pool without scuba gear on. This is the way you kick for the fastest speed on scuba. I only use it on rare occasions. Maybe then you could bend your knees a bit without tumbling back into the "bicycle" kick?
Too fast breathing? I don't know what to do there. Maybe mimicking breathing from the regulator while on land?

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I cannot add much to the others, but one thing that came to mind was ankle flexibility. If you’ve never been swimming/diving over a long time, you may not have a lot of ankle flexibility. See whether you can point your toes so that they are in the same angle as your shin. If you can, then the fins will work properly in a flutter kick. If you cannot, that may be why you get into the bicycle kick; the frog kick then may be the better style of kicking.

Best wishes, and happy diving.

SeaRat

PS, I also am a bicyclist, but that doesn’t affect or play into my diving. I’ve been bicycling since I was a small kid, but also diving since I was 14 in 1959. I used to bicycle to my swim team practices in Salem, Oregon in the early 1960s.

 

[Doctor Rig]

Based on my mountain biking and diving experience, I’d say the two sports have little in common. Mountain biking is a great workout for your legs and lungs. As the biker gets better he/she is able to bike faster or climb stepper hills and handle higher aerobic loads. On the flip side, as a diver gains more experience the diver will use less energy and increase his/her air exchange efficiency. Diving alone won’t get you in shape, but being in shape should help your diving.

I understand your challenge of overcoming the challenges you’ve mentioned. Riding a bike and managing a high strength and aerobic is part of fun.... diving is different.

This is what I’ve learned and what I’m still working on. I swim lots pool laps using a snorkel, about 1-1/4 hours, three+ times per week. I work on a long stroke flutter kick while keeping the fin totally submerged and a frog kick with the breast stroke with a good glide between stokes, much like a free-diver would use. The free-diver breast stroke is fun to learn but has little to do with scuba diving. However, learning to glide between kicks is an important energy saver and great for diving, (unlike anything you’d do biking). FYI: If my (diving) trim isn’t good, then I’m not able to glide very well. Good feedback to have!

While swimming laps, I have to constantly monitor my breathing and force myself to develop good diving breathing techniques, that others have mentioned. My training objective is to make good diving breathing technique second nature when I am breathing from my snorkel AND my regulator. For me, it’s still a work I progress, but it is helping. My ability to focus on breathing while swimming is much much easier for me than trying to do it while scuba diving.

For what it’s worth..... have fun with it!!

P.S. I just started practicing back-finning at the pool at the end of my swim. Another good skill to have and my pool practice is working for me.