Breathing control - please help

[lovescorals]

Hi all,
I'm posting right from my hotel room in Curacao. Arrived here last Thursday afternoon.
I did my OW exactly a year ago, and managed to dive here in one refresher class and two boat dives.
My air consumption is high. Dive master said I should breathe less and move more effortlessly. Easy said then done, although I did better in the second boat dive.
I need better details regarding how to breath slower. Should I hold longer between inhaling and exhaling? Should I breath shallower? If I need to exhale deeply for buoyancy control the deep inhale follows automatically. So what to do?
I want to stay in with the rest of the group as long as possible.
Posting live from the Marriott in Curacao.

Mike

 

[MyDiveLog]

Breathe in on a 5-count and out on an 8- or 10-count ... try it above water for awhile to see what works best for you. Focus on "breathing from your belly" ... literally, put a hand on your belly and feel it moving in and out as you slow breathe.

DO NOT 'shallow breathe,' since a large part of the air you'd be breathing would have already been metabolized (i.e. breathed in at 21% O2 and exhaled at 16% O2).

While it's fine to have a slight pause at the end of the cycle, DO NOT hold your breath (for obvious reasons) or try to 'skip breathe' (hold your breath for long periods of time). Try holding your breath on the surface ... notice how you instinctively close off your airway at the back of your throat? That's exactly what you are trying to avoid. Now try the 5-count in, 8-count out again, with a slight pause before and after the exhalation. Notice how that 'closing at the back of the throat' doesn't happen? That's the difference between holding your breath and pausing.

Other ways to improve air consumption:
- Other than testing your inflator valve, orally inflate your BC prior to a boat dive.
- Make sure weighting is correct ... if you are over-weighted you will add & subtract more air to your BC underwater, wasting air. You should have to add little or no air at depth.
- Make sure your trim in the water is ok (ask a buddy, since it's very hard to tell yourself if you are level in the water). If you are 'head up' or 'feet up' you effectively function as an 'underwater sail,' burning more fuel to fight against water resistance when you dive. If you are overweifghted, this will likely be the case, especially if you are using a weight belt; the weights pull down at your hips while your BC 'lifts' above that point, bringing your head up when it's inflated.
- GO SLOW ... too many divers, especially if they are not in good physical shape, race underwater, burning through their air. Besides, the trick is to go slow and the fish will come to you. Chase them and they'll outswim you every time.

Good luck!

Phil

 

[eponym]

Hi all, I'm posting right from my hotel room in Curacao. Arrived here last Thursday afternoon.

Well, in spite of that I'll offer a couple of tips from a rainy day in Oregon.

My air consumption is high. Dive master said I should breathe less and move more effortlessly.

I won't speak directly to breathing rate, as I think it can take away from the enjoyment of your diving. And if you're slightly out of breath you're a candidate for reacting poorly to a surprise (stress).

Know that your breathing will ease as you gain comfort in the water. Here are a few pointers:

Make sure you're wearing enough exposure protection to avoid being chilled. And see that it's not too tight, which makes you work harder.

Adjust your weights and tank position to get horizontal in the water, so you can move forward with the least possible resistance. Also streamline your gear--even a dangling instrument console creates drag.

Try to move, gesture, and conduct yourself generally as if you were in exaggerated slow motion--remember that water is hundreds of times more dense than air.

Take advantage of currents whenever possible. Learn how to avoid them when they oppose you.

Adopt a relaxed frame of mind. Do this before you enter the water. Be calm. Take your time. Remember that breathing rates vary across divers, and the heavy breathers will improve as they continue to dive.

Fin on,
Bryan

 

[Afraid_of_Fish]

Hi all,
I'm posting right from my hotel room in Curacao. Arrived here last Thursday afternoon.
I did my OW exactly a year ago, and managed to dive here in one refresher class and two boat dives.
My air consumption is high. Dive master said I should breathe less and move more effortlessly. Easy said then done, although I did better in the second boat dive.
I need better details regarding how to breath slower. Should I hold longer between inhaling and exhaling? Should I breath shallower? If I need to exhale deeply for buoyancy control the deep inhale follows automatically. So what to do?
I want to stay in with the rest of the group as long as possible.
Posting live from the Marriott in Curacao.

Mike

If it's been awhile since you've been diving (which I assume it has been because you said you took a refresher course) you're probably just nervous without realizing it, and therefore breathing faster. If you did better on the second dive, it most likely means you're getting more comfortable in the water.

Good luck.

<33 Jess

 

[Mako Mark]

some good advice here already,

Here is what I can add.

LISTEN to your breathing and instead of trying to slow your breathing down, try to slow EVERYTHING down. Streamline and trim are crucial for reducing your need for a high respiriation rate too.

Apart from that, dont sweat it too much, as long as you have enough air to do your dive and come up safe, don fret if you use more than others.

 

[hardhat]

Don't worry about your air consumption, it'll go down the more you dive. As your comfort level increases in the water, you'll use less air. Trim your gear so you aren't to bulky in the water, don't wear to much weight and once your bouyancy control improves you'll find that everything falls into place. Just don't start playing around with your breathing pattern, that's just asking for trouble. And above all start diving on a regular basis or else when you go away diving on vacation don't worry about how much air you breath, it's not a compitition.

 

[Rick Inman]

Hi all,
I'm posting right from my hotel room in Curacao. ...Posting live from the Marriott in Curacao.

Mike

Mike,
It's your lucky day! Just email me a ticket and I'll be right out to help you in person!!

 

[Xanthro]

As a noivce, I'll add my two cents worth.

I've noticed on boat dives, that my breathing was very heavy at the start of the dive, I'd use up way too much air getting in the water, and getting to the bottom.

I think for new divers, the boat itself is part of the problem. You have on a heavy wetsuit, weights, tank, then you walk to the gate, you don't want to slow others down, so you are in a hurry. Your body responds by increasing breathing rate and oxygen use. Even after you jump into the water, you might still be breathing hard.

I really concentrated on this during my last boat dive. I made sure I put my fins on quickly, but never allowed myself to feel rushed. Then the moment I hit the water, I used the snorkel, eventhough I was going to descend right by the stern of the boat. I simply breathed at the surface for a few moments, allowing my breath to naturally decrease. I took a last breath, put the reg in my mouth, exhaled and sank.

It was a great dive. I was under for 65 minutes, max depth 39 feet, average 20 feet and still had 800 psi when I surfaced. I also made sure I never felt rushed under the water. If I found a spot that was to my liking, I'd stay there and just hover. It allowed me to practice skills, and I saw far more fish than on any other dive. If you are working a reef, there is no need to ever feel in a hurry, the reef isn't going anywhere.

Watch your breath when on the boat and at the gate, if you are like me, you're starting to burn to much oxygen before you even get into the water, but simply addressing the issue helps greatly.

Good luck on your next dives, and tell us all about them.

Xanthro

 

[Gary D.]

There is a style you can practice that will dramatically reduce air consumption. The more you practice it the better you will do. Even to the point of out doing other divers which have been diving longer that haven't tried practicing this process.

Check into the Xaler style of diving. Trust me, it works. I've used it for a lot of years and so has my wife.

Gary D.

 

[scubablue67]

One way to increase your bottom time is to get weighted properly. If you find yourself adjusting bouyancy thru your BCD frequently, you're wasting tons of air that you could be breathing instead. Also if you're not moving thru the water in a horizontal postion you create drag and use more air. Air consumption improves as a result of better overall diving skills and comfort in the water.