Breathing techniques for large but fit prople

[IWantToBeAFish]

Hey all. After 130 dives doing my DM over the last two months I'm now feeling super comfortable in the water, happy with stress and emergency situations while guiding, good with intros, finding stuff, currents, night, low viz etc etc.

Most of the time I have spent thinking about these things but have actually worked very little on my breathing technique. I consider my air consumption quite high for a dive professional, SAC with a typical alu-80 is about the 1.2 - 1.3 region. I have thankfully never had to end the dive due to my air but have surfaced with less than 20 bar on a few occasions

I'm a big guy, 6 ft 1, 190 pounds but in very good shape, running daily, don't smoke etc. I've got big lungs and nothing I can do about that and always breathe to fully fill them. I find it very hard to inhale less than all the way. As a result I need about 3kg even with only a rash vest because I can be so positive on my inhale.

My breathing style is currently inhale for 1 - 2 seconds, exhale for 7 - 8. I'd love to get your advice given my build on what steps to take next to improve. Most instructors I work with surface with close to 80 - 100 bar even on long dives, and smoke like chimneys of course, it would be nice to be closer to this and less worried about my customers out-lasting me

Really appreciate thoughts, advice, comments etc.

 

[spectrum]

Get in the water but only gear up to skin dive, mask, fins, snorkel, fins, exposure protection and weights as desired. Do some regular skin diving and include some power swims where you breath though that snorkel like a freight train. That will tone your diaphragm and train you to pull deep like never before. Do that every few days for a week and you will have a style that works for you.

Your lung volume may promote porpoising and to some extent accept it. Also look at your timing. be sure to exhale just before you rise and vice-versa on exhaling. When you really need to be spot on then micromanage your lung volume for pin point buoyancy control.

More here.

In the end you will be what you will be and may need to accept something other than your vision of the ideal. Get a bigger cylinder and relax.

Pete

 

[bpotkin]

My instructor had me following hand gestures to simply relax and slow down the breathing process. I made huge improvements after only private lesson.

 

[japan-diver]

Your breathing pattern should be more even. If you are in shape 4-5 breaths per minute should be about what you are taking on a average non-working dive. So a 12 -15 second cycle per breath. Your inhalation speed and exhalation speed should match. A nice slow inhale of 6-7 seconds natural pause 6-7 sec exhale, natural pause repeat...

 

[Scott L]

Your breathing pattern should be more even. If you are in shape 4-5 breaths per minute should be about what you are taking on a average non-working dive. So a 12 -15 second cycle per breath. Your inhalation speed and exhalation speed should match. A nice slow inhale of 6-7 seconds natural pause 6-7 sec exhale, natural pause repeat...

+1. Such a short inhalation would also cause an unwanted ascent. A second or two of no breathing, but an open airway would assist as well...

 

[formula1mb@aol.com]

One thing to consider is that you don't always need to be inhaling and exhaling. When you breath naturally, you inhale for maybe 2-3 seconds----pause for a second or two----exhale for 2-3 seconds and then you stay relaxed for maybe 5 seconds until you get the urge to breathe again. However during the pause after exhaling, you're relaxed and airway is open and you're not holding your breath----I think sometimes people get an unnatural breathing pattern with the whole fear of 'never hold your breath'. However there's a difference between 'holding your breath' and just being relaxed before the need to inhale.

By thinking you're always inhaling or exhaling, it can create an unnatural breathing pattern that's not natural and therefore not efficient. Just a thought.

 

[IWantToBeAFish]

Thanks to all for the advice, really helpful stuff there! I'll definitely start the skin diving drills and start focusing more on my inhale as well - probably the bit I find hardest, I really struggle to do it slowly. Perhaps I need to start playing with reg adjustments - the problem with using shop gear and not my own :-s

 

[spectrum]

Thanks to all for the advice, really helpful stuff there! I'll definitely start the skin diving drills and start focusing more on my inhale as well - probably the bit I find hardest, I really struggle to do it slowly. Perhaps I need to start playing with reg adjustments - the problem with using shop gear and not my own :-s

Don't over think it.

When you power swim on a snorkel you will soon find that you must breathe deeply in order to get what you need. You can only breathe that deeply so fast. As you get dialed in to the deep breathing it will naturally slow. If I remember right when I was doing it in a 25m pool I was at like 7 breaths/length which felt deliberately slow but comfortable.

If the regulator is in good working order leave it alone.

Pete

 

[danvolker]

Hey all. After 130 dives doing my DM over the last two months I'm now feeling super comfortable in the water, happy with stress and emergency situations while guiding, good with intros, finding stuff, currents, night, low viz etc etc.

Most of the time I have spent thinking about these things but have actually worked very little on my breathing technique. I consider my air consumption quite high for a dive professional, SAC with a typical alu-80 is about the 1.2 - 1.3 region. I have thankfully never had to end the dive due to my air but have surfaced with less than 20 bar on a few occasions

I'm a big guy, 6 ft 1, 190 pounds but in very good shape, running daily, don't smoke etc. I've got big lungs and nothing I can do about that and always breathe to fully fill them. I find it very hard to inhale less than all the way. As a result I need about 3kg even with only a rash vest because I can be so positive on my inhale.

My breathing style is currently inhale for 1 - 2 seconds, exhale for 7 - 8. I'd love to get your advice given my build on what steps to take next to improve. Most instructors I work with surface with close to 80 - 100 bar even on long dives, and smoke like chimneys of course, it would be nice to be closer to this and less worried about my customers out-lasting me

Really appreciate thoughts, advice, comments etc.

When you sleep, you don't fill your lungs with absolute full breaths. This comes from very low heart rate and relaxation.
See about playing with some bio feedback with a heart monitor in fresh water ( salt water tends to ruin the way the chest band picks up the signal).

I think when you pull your heart rate down to 70, you will be comfortable with lungs that are not full....and with slow exhales, and some pause between--but don't start the bad habbit of "skip breathing" ( long pause between breaths), as this can push up your CO2 levels and be bad in deep water.

 

[DaleC]

Your breathing pattern should be more even. If you are in shape 4-5 breaths per minute should be about what you are taking on a average non-working dive. So a 12 -15 second cycle per breath. Your inhalation speed and exhalation speed should match. A nice slow inhale of 6-7 seconds natural pause 6-7 sec exhale, natural pause repeat...

Sorry, I call BS. If I see someone with a resp rate of 4rpm I'm getting worried. If they say their name is Chuck Norris I might relax.Telling a new diver this is a goal that is reasonable is unrealistic and dangerous as it will only lead to skip breathing. I challenge anyone to sit in a chair, relaxed and maintain a 4rpm rate for any amount of time.

OP, if you are relaxed your sac is your sac - don't obsess. Over time it may reduce but in the mean time just get an appropriate sized cylinder and log dives.