Breathing.....and that's a good thing !!

[RICHinNC]

I was just curious if anyone has similar experience.

I am a very...and I mean very....shallow breather on land. In fact, if I get really deep into something on tv, I have caught myself totally forgetting to breath. Yep I know it is an auto body thing....I guess sometimes my body forgets that. Heck, I had eye surgery once and quit breathing twice on the table. Scared the heck out of the surgery team as they had never had anyone quit breathing during just simple eye surgery.

Anyway, I have always heard one should take deep and consistant breaths under water. To do that, I must
concentrate and I really think it makes me use more air than normal....or than I should.

I think the way regs operate though also contribute to taking in more air than I normally would top side.

I have wondered if a full face mask would be better....but I sold my soul for something else long ago and cant afford one.

Was just wondering....any other shallow breathers out there?
What are your experiences?

 

[jagfish]

Interesting...
I am actually the total opposite. Form lots of breath training in other aspects of my life, I have eleoved into a really deep breather. This causes me to have what I think are rather pronounced swings in boyancy on each breath, if I inflate and deflate to where I would feel comfortable on land. So I often need modulate to keep the volume changes down.

I might guess that you can keep your finer boyancy rather easily controlled with naturally shallow breaths.

JAG

 

[FreeFloat]

I would call myself a relatively shallow breather as well. I know what you mean about not breathing during eye surgery - although I haven't had eye surgery (yet), I do that regularly in the dentist's chair.

However for me I started becoming way more aware of my breathing when I took up freediving. The best/most efficient way for a freediver to breathe is from the diaphragm - very deep slow controlled breaths. This has required a LOT of concentration for me. After intensive training at first my diaphragm would actually ache a bit - since in daily life I was so accustomed to taking tiny shallow breaths.

On scuba I find that I really don't need to pay that much attention to my breathing. When I first started out, remembering (like you state) that scuba divers are supposed to take slow deep breaths, I did just that with rather predictable buoyancy "issues" as a result. When I started paying attention to things other than my breathing - such as when I was winding up the marker flag reel, or hanging upside down to look at something - I find that it settles rather neatly into what's "natural" for me. I find it's also true that most regulators are so efficient at delivering air thsat even my "tiny" breath causes plenty of air to be released in each breath.

There are two bonuses to this: buoyancy and (for me anyway) SAC rate. I can hover within 1 - 2 inches of any point I please - and while my air consumption is not phenomenal, on dives when I can remember to leave my power inflator alone it's more than adequate.

 

[simbrooks]

When i was first instructed on this i did as they suggested, slow deep breaths, and my air consumption is pretty large as i have large lungs. I have since started to experiment both underwater and above and realise that i was taking lllooooooooonnnnnnnnnggggggggggg dddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppppp breaths, essentially there are long deep breaths and there are long deep breaths, there are also short rapid breaths and normal breathing on the surface is between. I am really trying to force myself to stop breathing constantly (ie as soon as i have breathed out i breathe in again immeadiately) and start breathing normally, with a second or two gap from exhale to inhale - that is taking concentration for me! But doing it has not given me headaches, and my air consumption is going down as slowly too - this is all good and hopefully getting better!

I can quite easily control my buoyancy with breathing after many hours of actual practice dives as well as real dives - so that is less of an issue - although the slightly shorter than super long and deep breaths has helped that as well.

 

[crpntr133]

I am in the same boat. When I go to the doctor I have to inhale quickly and long so they can hear what is going on in my lungs.
When I did my pool time for OW training, I found myself getting very light headed and struggling to breath with the reg in my mouth. I had to "train" myself to breath a bit deeper and exhale longer. Every once in a while when I am under I have to exhale deep and "clean out the lungs". If I don't I get back into the dizzy spells.
One thing that it has helped is with my bouyancy. My past two db have been heavy breathers and tend to go up and down while I stay level and even. I just have to remember that when I "clean out the lungs" that I might end up going down a bit further.
The only thing that I considered a problem is the dizziness. But I have gotten away from this so I remember just in case but don't normally have to deal with it.

 

[diver_paula]

Shallow breather here as well. & that's despite years and years of choir and playing the oboe where I had perfect deep breathing.

For the first few years of diving I would get headaches after a majority of dives. When I realized it was from not breathing deeply enough I starting working on my breathing. It took concentration for awhile but changing your underwater breathing habits can be done. Deep and slow has worked wonders for me.

Paula

 

[Seadeuce]

Hope you guys don't mind a few comments from an old hand ...

The trigger for breathing is in the brain - you get the urge to do so when the bi-product of your metabolism, carbon dioxide (CO2) reaches a certain level. If you "forget to breathe" it's because your CO2 is either non-existant, which is doubtful, or at a level that induces your brain to start to close down.

Okay, so you knew all that.

When you dive and breathe rapidly, your body is still producing CO2, but you aren't getting rid of it. It therefore builds up, and if you are at depth the partial pressure (check Dalton's Law) of that gas may begin to close down your brain.

When you dive and breathe deeply, you are flushing your system of CO2 when you fully exhale. Nothing wrong with that, only the trigger to breathe has been dininished. Again, due to partial pressure - this time of oxygen - at depth it will be high enough to ensure your brain "stays awake", but as you ascend the partial pressure will fall. You could then become Hypoxic (a lack of oxygen) and pass out within 15ft of the surface. This is usually applicable to freedivers, and is called Shallow Water Blackout. To avoid same, never hyperventilate.

When you dive and breathe shallow, not to be confused with rapid breathing, your body will retain CO2 but every now and then you will take one long breath, and exhale accordingly. This type of breathing is quite common, and flushes the system of CO2, but allows it to build up to higher than average levels before flushing.

If you surface with a headache, this is often a sign that you have too much CO2 in your system. Try and do a full exhalation every six breaths or so, and see if it makes a difference.

Do NOT skip-breathe! To try and conserve air by this artificial means is foolhardy in the extreme.

The books say to breathe normally. What it forgets to mention is that "normal" for you may be "abnormal" for me. There is no magic formula to decrease SAC by breath control. It just takes a lot of diving to reach that level of comfort and relaxation underwater, which in consequence will save you air.

I would give the following tip to RichinNC:
If you are seeking to control your breathing while diving, use your ears!
Yes. You have no trouble hearing yourself inhale underwater now do you? Think about it. When you inhale, it should sound something like "Hee-haa-hee-huu" or the like.
Well, your goal is just to repeat your sound pattern, when breathing comfortably, and you will find it will become more regular with time. Then you won't forget to breathe, because your aural sense is keeping you alert.

Whenever I deep-dive I use the above method. Works for me. You won't see that mentioned in any diving book.

Hope you will benefit from the above. If you try it and find it helpful - after a few dives of course - let me know.

Cheers,

Seadeuce

 

[RICHinNC]

Interesting......
When I said concentrate...I didnt mean it from the stand point of it interferes with the dive or anything....I meant that I am aware that I am not breathing under like I do on top.

I would love to try a full face mask but my sinuses would prevent that i think. Usually... yes isnt this a fun topic....I have to take off my mask and blow out nose a couple of times each dive. Good thing mask clearing isnt a problem for me.

Just thought I would check and see if anyone else had a similar situation. I will give that a try there Seadeuce

One thing I do sometimes that drives my db nuts is hum. Love my music... but that is a whole new thread.

 

[rcohn]

I tend to breathe fairly shallowly when on land. In the water I've trained myself to breathe deeply and slowly. If I find myself slipping into a shallower breathing pattern, CO2 headaches will often start, so shallow breathing for me while diving is not an option.

Ralph

 

[Mako Mark]

seadeuce hit the nail on the head:

Listen to your breathing (fast or slow) and use that as a reminder to spped it up (in your case) or slow it down in others.