Breathing Control

[divebelly]

Does anyone out there have any tips for me on getting my breathing under control. I seem to be going through a tank about twice as fast as the people I dive with. I think a big reason is that I think about it the whole time that I am down. Should I try not to concentrate so much on my breathing or is that a dangerous thought?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I use up air faster than most of the people diving with me too, but we are diving about 45 minutes and it's time to come up anyway so I don't worry about it. There is a lot of talk (threads and such) about coming up with this amount of air or that amount of air...like it's some contest or something. I feel like what's the big deal, not like you are going to get cash back for un-used air in your tank... but I'm not mocking those who seem concerned about it.

If you use up air before others... is it a problem? Are the others upset that you have used up your air and a dive has to end? Do you feel ok while diving? Sorry for all the questions. I use more air when I first enter the water (nerves I think) and I've been trying to remind myself to just relax. I'm with a great buddy, I am aware of my surroundings, and I'm going to have a blast on the dive!

I'm not sure any of that helped you, but I do think you asked a great question.

 

[scubadobadoo]

Welcome to the board and welcome to one of the biggest complaints of new divers. You should absolutely be concentrating on breathing. SLow down, relax, and chill out. This will all come naturally with more dives so just relax and get more dives in. In another 100 dives you will hardly ever remember being a scuba tank hoover.

One other reason people go through air rapidly is that they are either big football player types or very out of shape. If you are the hulk, more experience will help but many large folks get bigger tanks. Of course, the solution to the out of shape issue is simple (theoretically anyway).

When I first started diving I was all of the above (A mess and out of shape). Now I have many more dives and weigh a lot less. My air consumption is far less than what it was. Having a smaller air consumption rate is great because one of the biggest reasons people burn air is because they are afraid of running out... SO if you know you use less air you will use less air. It's a cyclical process.

Welcome again and happy diving!

 

[hudson]

Logged Dives: 0 - 24

That's why. It'll improve on its own, don't worry.

Otherwise, the #1 improvement to air consumption rates is getting into a horizontal trim. This will eliminate constant upward finning and save a lot of energy. Next step would be balancing your rig in such a way that you can hover motionless without any finning, sculling and rotation, but this too will take time since it's also to do with being comfortable in water.

So ignore your breathing and work on your trim. FYI, the generally accepted correct way to breath is slow, deep in and deep out (more to do with avoiding CO2 retention than reducing consumption) but at this stage it'll cause you buoyancy problems, so don't worry about it either.

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

Don't worry about it too much - the best solution is also the most enjoyable: dive more.

You will find as you get more dives under your belt your consumption will drop.

Some tips:

Get your weight perfect - most new divers are overweighted. This leads to bad trim and struggle underwater. You should be neutral at 5 meters with an empty bc, relaxed breathing and a near empty tank: go out and try it.

Once weighted correctly work on getting a nice horizontal trim: you will move through the water a lot easier and use a lot less air.

Once you have trim worked out kick slowly and keep your hands by your side.

If its an issue then ask to borrow a larger tank while you practise.

Cheers,
Rohan.

 

[ucfdiver]

Are you fighting your bouyancy the whole dive? How is your overall fitness level? Comfort level in the water? All of these things are common reasons for higher SAC rates.

With between 0 and 24 dives, I personally think you should just not worry about it, have fun, and carry a bigger tank!

 

[TSandM]

HERE is a post I wrote about this issue. What it boils down to is that most of the things that contribute to high gas consumption for new divers have really nothing to do with breathing mechanics, and a lot more to do with inefficiency in the water. There are several tips there for improving efficiency, but some of it does come with more time diving.

 

[bill-da-ho]

Does anyone out there have any tips for me on getting my breathing under control. I seem to be going through a tank about twice as fast as the people I dive with. I think a big reason is that I think about it the whole time that I am down. Should I try not to concentrate so much on my breathing or is that a dangerous thought?

I'll tell you what happened to me, I recently went to 44 feet, first time that deep, anyhow, for whatever reason I was short of breath, dont know if it was the swim over or what, but I was basically panting in my regulator, anyhow, I remembered someone on scuba board saying to breath in and count to five, hold it for a second then let it out slowly, anway, I dont know for sure this is the exact quote for what they said, but its what I did, and it got my breathing under control in real short order. Try it, it seemed to work for me, and I would imagine it would help you on goin thru so much air, also, I see you dont have a lot of dives, maybe you just havent gotten comfy underwater yet, once we got to feeling more comfortable, we started using alot less air. good luck,,

 

[8thElementDiver]

I have some brochures left over from the Northwest Dive Fest that talk about how yoga can improve your scuba diving--improving your breathing rate and breath control is one of the points it discusses.

If anyone is interested, email me your mailing address and I'll mail it to you for free.

 

[cavediver08]

With comfort, technique, and experience better SAC rates will come. I think the majority of people tend to be gas hogs when they first start. After you have been diving for a little bit you will be able to concentrate on your breathing and keep it in a slow deep inhalation/exhalation rhythm and get better. Lots of unnecessary movement and overcompensating your buoyancy device and having to drain will also use up a bunch of air.

-Tony