Dialing in Skills

[Red_October]

Wow thanks for the awesome write ups and reading recommendations everyone! You've given me a lot to think about the next time I go out and I may get some equipment this summer to practice in the pool, I hope to someday get to the point where it's de rigeur, so I might just go for the BP/W out of the gate. The amount of modularity makes trying to buy a set up pretty confusing though, going to have to do some more reading. Looks like there are a number of dive shops near me in Indy so there must be somewhere I can work on open water too, even if I am deeply landlocked.

Regarding DIR/GUE/etc, I am new to this world so I could be totally wrong, but I have been reading as much as I can. I was under the impression that the fitness requirements require minimal drinking and no smoking. While I do not drink if I know I will be diving the next day and I do not smoke daily, I am in college and frankly drink pretty heavily. I also bum smokes from people not infrequently during a night out. I've read some things which have led me to believe that is antithetical to the holistic lifestyle cultivated by the DIR crowd, but as I said I am new, and that could have been from 15 years ago (when I gather things were a bit more intense).

 

[TMHeimer]

For breathing:

It is often abstract to interpret "breath normally" because most of us don't regularly/consistantly breath through our mouth above water especially in a relaxed state.

The info imparted on new divers is often "don't hold your breath" and the manual(s) briefly discuss the dangers of skip breathing.

Based on the above the new diver has a tendency to inhale and exhale constantly in fear of "holding their breath" or "skip breathing".

I offer that when we breath on land there, particularly in a relaxed (non-exertion) state, there is a natural pause between our inhalations and exhalations, this natural pause should be present when breathing off a regulator, with the caveat that you should be more aware of it when ascending and perhaps stop ascending or slow the ascent during that phase of the breathing cycle. This pause is not the same as "holding ones breath" as the air should be able to pass freely if it expands, where as when holding one's breath one is actively retaining the air and it has no place to go which is very risky.

Breathe as necessary....just because you took a breath in or exhaled does not mean you have to take the reverse action right away...your lungs do not always need to be full or empty, in a state of one end of the cycle or the other. Just like when you are sitting at a computer you can breath in and your body will process the gas and eventually your CO2 level will rise enough to stimulate a "natural" exhalation...of course if your lungs are full be aware if you are rising or falling in the water column, but it is generally ok to have the gas in your lungs allowing your body to utilize it...the same is true with exhalation...there is still residual air/O2 in your lungs so there may be a natural pause at the end of an exhalation as well.

These natural pauses are one key way that our SAC rates improve.

So what is the difference between these natural pauses and skip breathing?...

....Skip breathing is the intentional avoidance of exhaling in an effort to try and maximize ones air/gas supply. The problem with this is that the primary driver for breathing is typically not the need for air/O2 but to evacuate CO2. When one "skip breathes" they cause the body to build up CO2 which can lead to problems such as hyperventilation, shallow water blackout, or lung over expansion injuries as skip breathing is often accompanied by breath holding.

Unless swimming into a current, or purposely working underwater (i.e. salvage work, hunting/spear fishing, etc.), it is often considered a best practice to try and maintain a relaxed state. Get lost in the breathing cycle and just enjoy being underwater. Be more aware of the pause between inhalation-exhalation and exhalation-inhalation the closer you get to the surface.

The biggest impact on your ability to use the gas in your cylinder more efficiently will be time spent underwater. The more time you spend in the water and the more experience you gain the more relaxed and confident you will tend to be and therefore your breathing will naturally slow down and your cylinder should last longer.

Hope this helps.

-Z

Very good explanations of normal on land breathing and how uw breathing should be pretty much the same. Airway always open-- I THINK it is almost always open when breathing on land, unless you consciously close it off, such as doing so in skip breathing.

 

[happy-diver]

As far as breathing goes - 7 seconds in, 1 second transition, 7 seconds out = 4 breaths a minute for any standard diving situation = great SAC rate. Don't sweat if you take 5 or 6 sometimes, or more if working harder. The key is to START inhaling slowly, i.e., not inhaling too quickly to crack the 2nd stage open. A good and well tuned reg make a big difference in achieving a natural and controlled slow inhale.

What are you man, an airship, either that or you're not transferring enough litres

and If you're getting this stuff from a book, bin it

or is your paragraph supposed to mean

"Breathe as normally as is possible underwater with whichever reg you have in your mouth
but best not even to think about your breathing, and avoid using rubbish poorly tuned regs."

My solution to perceived air issues was to buy a bigger tank

 

[PullYourselfTogetherMan]

Wow thanks for the awesome write ups and reading recommendations everyone! You've given me a lot to think about the next time I go out and I may get some equipment this summer to practice in the pool, I hope to someday get to the point where it's de rigeur, so I might just go for the BP/W out of the gate. The amount of modularity makes trying to buy a set up pretty confusing though, going to have to do some more reading. Looks like there are a number of dive shops near me in Indy so there must be somewhere I can work on open water too, even if I am deeply landlocked.

Regarding DIR/GUE/etc, I am new to this world so I could be totally wrong, but I have been reading as much as I can. I was under the impression that the fitness requirements require minimal drinking and no smoking. While I do not drink if I know I will be diving the next day and I do not smoke daily, I am in college and frankly drink pretty heavily. I also bum smokes from people not infrequently during a night out. I've read some things which have led me to believe that is antithetical to the holistic lifestyle cultivated by the DIR crowd, but as I said I am new, and that could have been from 15 years ago (when I gather things were a bit more intense).

Fair enough but, to be fair, its dangerous to dive as a smoker. Its true that DIR is more of a diving lifestyle but it has the potential to make you such a better and safer diver that the pros vastly outweigh the cons. You talk about wanting to improve on trim and buoyancy, positioning in the water column, proper breath control, proper gear configurations, etc... I can't help but think that all of your issues would be addressed and then some if you gave GUE Fundamentals a shot.

Here is some very light reading, as per your request:

The Impacts of Smoking on Diving

Alert Diver | Mastering Neutral Buoyancy and Trim

 

[Zef]

Evaluate the information that is given to you/you come across. Adopt what makes sense to you and fits your objectives. There are some great ideas put forth by GUE and DIR and their proponents...but one does not have to adopt their mentality towards everything diving to become/be a good diver.

-Z

 

[Red_October]

I have tremendous respect for what the GUE guys have been able to accomplish and the consistency with which everyone says they produce high level divers. That being said, I'm not about to start performing surgery on my lifestyle to satisfy the standards of a particular certification agency in a sport in which I've been involved for about three months. If someone doesn't feel comfortable diving with me because I smoke a few cigarettes on the weekends, I totally understand and respect their decision. In the words of our illustrious chairman, I say "dive and let dive".

 

[seeker242]

Just lie and tell them you don’t smoke any cigarettes so you can take the class if you want. You don’t need to change your whole lifestyle just to learn good buoyancy and trim.

 

[Griffo]

Regarding DIR/GUE/etc, I am new to this world so I could be totally wrong, but I have been reading as much as I can. I was under the impression that the fitness requirements require minimal drinking and no smoking. While I do not drink if I know I will be diving the next day and I do not smoke daily, I am in college and frankly drink pretty heavily.

You're reading too much into it. GUE divers are not a cult of tee-totaling vegan fitness freaks. Sure, if you want to do deep overhead C2 level dives, or do a 120m trimix CCR dive on a wreck with them, then yes they are going to have serious concerns about your fitness if they know you puff away on the cancer sticks. Because team diving.

But to do Fundies? Nope. IJust say you don't smoke, do the course, and learn the skills. You don't have to commit to the system for life, but I know of no other structured agency training class that focuses on those skills. There are plenty of other instructors out there who can also teach them, but with Fundies you are guaranteed to get them from any instructor certified to run the course.

But i'm not here to try to convince you to do fundies. As I said earlier, find an instructor who looks good in the water - someone who is able to be completely still, can demonstrate all the kicks, shows good trim etc. If you can't find one, then Fundies is an option because guaranteed the instructor will be able to do it and teach you the basics.

 

[PullYourselfTogetherMan]

You're reading too much into it. GUE divers are not a cult of tee-totaling vegan fitness freaks. Sure, if you want to do deep overhead C2 level dives, or do a 120m trimix CCR dive on a wreck with them, then yes they are going to have serious concerns about your fitness if they know you puff away on the cancer sticks. Because team diving.

But to do Fundies? Nope. IJust say you don't smoke, do the course, and learn the skills. You don't have to commit to the system for life, but I know of no other structured agency training class that focuses on those skills. There are plenty of other instructors out there who can also teach them, but with Fundies you are guaranteed to get them from any instructor certified to run the course.

But i'm not here to try to convince you to do fundies. As I said earlier, find an instructor who looks good in the water - someone who is able to be completely still, can demonstrate all the kicks, shows good trim etc. If you can't find one, then Fundies is an option because guaranteed the instructor will be able to do it and teach you the basics.

I really couldn't have said it any better.

 

[Katie L]

I just finished Rescue and probably won't take any more courses for a while. I like a measurable challenge so I'm also looking for some ideas to hone my skills. I think it might be fun to come up with some buoyancy drills/challenges with a dive buddy to do at the beginning or end of a dive. Anyone have any fun ones they use with students? I saw that the local quarry has PVC rectangles suspended by the training platforms for this kind of thing. I would love to push myself to really master precise finning and buoyancy control. I'm decent but every once in a while still catch myself "correcting" with my hands, or not quite getting the back finning right.