Scuba Diving Breathing techniques ?

[nomro]

We all know controlling the way we breathe (air consumption) is important for diving . And to do so you have to :

1- Remain really calm and control your excitement
2- Reduce motion and fin kicks as much as possible
3- Peak Buoyancy control and using the correct amount of weight
4- Make sure you are correctly and perfectly streamlined
5- Stay in good health by exercising frequently.
6- Last thing is your breathing technique which is the hardest to practice. I have been advised with several techniques (some of them include holding the air inside for a while) to reduce air consumption , but non-of them worked good for me yet. Or maybe they are too hard for me to practice , Based on that I decided to open that thread so we can all share our techniques to help divers to choose what suits them and to do so I need you to share :
a- Your breathing technique
b- How did you practice it and how long did it take to get used to it.
c- How hard was it ?what did you do to overcome any hardship faced?

Thanks
Nomro

 

[TSandM]

I really don't use any "breathing technique". The only thing that is different about my breathing underwater is that I have learned not to allow it to change when I am task-loaded or distracted.

 

[Frosty]

Im not a very experienced diver but I do race motorbikes and the one thing I've found with breathing is to relax,chill,clear the head. --In other words the more you stress over it the worse its gonna be.

 

[cbm32]

In and out works for me :blinking:

 

[Garrobo]

It's not a good idea to "hold it in for a while". This is 'skip-breathing' and causes you to retain carbon dioxide which needs to be exhaled. Probably your bggest issue is that you have only a few dives. You will, as most of us have, use less air as you get more dives in. Personally, I breathe in quite heavily and then exhale through my nose slowly. This doesn't work for everyone since it has a tendency to cause their mask to fog up. It seems that since I clean my mask with spit and have a purge valve in the botom of my mask it doesn't fog.

 

[chironomidkraut]

In and out works for me


that just sounds dirty!!!

 

[Jakestg]

Just relax and get comfortable and you should breathe fine. I usually get into a bad breathing habit when I get excited though, but i'm sure that is common.

 

[Bubble_Boy]

Check out meditation breathing... slow in, slow out

 

[SnorkelLA]

I breathe in slowly and at the point my lungs reach near capacity I exhale very slowly.

I've been doing this since I was certified

 

[Rhone Man]

I used to not think about it much (except to keep breathing slow and steadily), but after reading Steve Lewis's The Six Skills I have been thinking a lot more about breathing techniques for divers. I can't paraphrase it well, but the really short lesson is that good breathing is a skill that can (and should) be taught and learned.