I think I might be skip breathing

[johnsona1503]

Not real sure what skip breathing is. But I think I might be doing it. From my first open water dive I was always the one consuming the least amount of air. I do breath at the top of my lungs when I want to rise and the at the bottom when descending, actually not having much air in lungs at all. I am not young but in good shape and slim. I have been paying close attention to be sure I'm not holding my breath waiting just a second before exhaling and inhaling. When ending a dive, I swim up and I am very conscious of breathing

So tell me what is skip breathing?

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Most folks have a natural "pause" at either end of the breathing cycle. Inhale--->slight pause--->Exhale---->slight pause.

This is normal.

Skip breathing is a deliberate, longer-than-natural pause; in other words, it is deliberate breath-holding.

Folks who skip breath are generally doing it to try get more bottom time by reducing air consumption. All it usually accomplishes is increased CO2 loading.

The proper goal is relaxed, full, deep, slow breathing. Fill the lungs completely, empty them completely (as possible). Sort of like the way you breath when sleeping.

It is normal to using breathing control to fine tune buoyancy. You can keep your lungs more full or more empty during the breathing cycle to add or subtract a couple pounds of buoyancy when needed.

But actual breath-holding, with a closed airway versus a controlled pause with an open airway is a problem.

Best wishes.

 

[TSandM]

As Leadturn said, skip breathing is deliberately lengthening the pause at end inhalation and/or end exhalation, with the intent to stretch one's gas supply.

It is documented that some divers tolerate elevated carbon dioxide levels. If you are one of those people, it's easy to fall into a breathing pattern with a long pause. If you find you are tending to get headaches, or sometimes feeling short of breath while you are diving, these are signs that your breathing pattern is faulty.

However, it is possible that you are simply relaxed and using an efficient pattern. Although little in scuba has come easily to me, my gas consumption was low from the start. (Of course, I've also learned I'm a CO2 retainer and tend to skip breathe, so I have to pay attention to making sure I breathe ENOUGH sometimes!)

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Beginner divers have a tendency to alter their breathing pattern too much in an attempt to compensate for suboptimal buoyancy control. Sure you can do it, but why not just add/subtract air to/from your BCD? There may also be other issues at play. Are you properly weighted? How good is your horizontal trim? Are your kicks propelling you forward (in a plane parallel to a flat bottom) or are they moving you up in the water column slightly? This can be caused by head-up/feet-down trim combined with a flutter kick. If you correct this, then you won't have to compensate by altering your breathing at all.

Stop trying to breathe off the top or the bottom of your lungs. During the descent, if you are properly weighted (negatively buoyant by the weight of your gas is how I weight myself), you should be able to breathe normally and descend at a very easy, controlled rate. Equalizing your ears can make it difficult to breathe normally, but do the best you can. Add air to your BCD in frequent small bursts to avoid becoming a dirt dart. During the ascent, focus on being neutrally buoyant while taking normal breaths. This will keep you relaxed. Vent gas from your BCD in frequent small bursts. See if you can stop at every 10 ft. mark and hover there while using your normal breathing pattern.

While at depth, once again focus on maintaining neutral buoyancy while breathing "normally." Try using the frog kick more. It has a glide phase that should give you some feedback regarding your buoyancy in-between kicks.

I realize that your question was about skip-breathing...and I've discussed everything else: proper weighting, good trim, neutral buoyancy, being relaxed, etc. Guess what? It's all related.

Hope you find this advice helpful. Have a great time out there...

 

[SDiverJim]

We were taught as a training technique to count to 5 on inhale and exhale. The count would be 5 breaths up and 5 breaths down. It did help me learn better breathing. Sadly I thought this was skip breathing so I learned something new.

 

[JKPAO]

I believe you should breath at your normal rate. Tanks come in different sizes to accomadate diff rates.

To the OP's ? A measured pause at the top of inhale or at the bottom exhale....
See you topside

 

[Basscat]

I think the advice of a "full deep inhale" or "fill the lungs completely" is not the best in all cases. I am a big guy, and a trumpet player, and I took that advice.... and had buoyancy and air hog troubles.... I already breathe deep! I am learning to sip what I need, probably along the lines of "breathe normally", and am improving in both. Adjust as needed for buoyancy.