Skip Breathing -I didn't mean it!

[Neda]

So, I'd always been told I had good air consumption.

I always jokingly tell people, 'oh that's cause I hold my breath'


Last time I told someone that they replied with 'oh you skip breathe' I had no clue what they were talking about! So, next chance I got I checked on line (kinda how I found scubaboard!) and I find out it's a bad thing.

The problem is, that's how I breathe naturally. The next dive I went on I tried to breathe in and out continually and ended up getting out of breath, and tired, and started getting confused with breathing (yes, I know it's simple in and out but it got confusing!).

Is skip breathing what I think it is? breathe in, pause a second, breathe out, pause a second ect? Can I retrain my breathing?

And is it really that bad?

Sorry if it's a rather dumb question *hides*

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Skip breathing is breath in.... hold..... hold.... hold.... breath out. A brief pause is not skip breathing. Skip breathing is a forced pause, not a natural pause.

Most people have a natural brief "pause" (a second or two) at the start and end of each breath, and the airway remains open (try it, you'll see what I mean).

Breath like you do when you're relaxing on the surface, just before falling asleep (or when you first wake up from a deep sleep). Slow, steady, in, out, don't worry so much about it

Just don't "hold" your breath with a closed airway, and don't force a too-slow breathing rate, this just causes more problems.

Breath deeply, full inhale and full exhale. You should be breathing a good bit deeper than you would on the surface.

The way I breath when swimming slowly is a slow count to 5 while inhaling (full, deep, slow inhale), pause for a couple seconds, then count to 5 exhaling (full exhale), pause, and repeat as needed

Best wishes.

 

[PvtStash]

Is skip breathing what I think it is? breathe in, pause a second, breathe out, pause a second ect?

you gotta pause Much longer than a second to be considered "skipping" a breath... when your skip-breathing you are intentionally trying to breath as little as possible to extend your Bottom Time, to the point of actually holding your breath (20? 30? seconds) as opposed to breathing "normally".

It IS bad... worst case potentially fatal... when you breath that way you often don't take full breaths and more importantly dont Exhale fully, thus you tend to Retain CO2... this is bad, you can find yourself with a Killer headache upon leaving the water at the end of your dive, OR if it builds Too much I believe you could be a candidate for Shallow Water Blackout... passing out underwater = Bad.

Thats my understanding of it from jus' hanging around the boards here... I'm sure if I"ve gotten it wrong there will be Helpful corrections...

 

[don Francisco]

There's a material difference between the natural dwell in a relaxed breathing rhythm, and an intentional delay between breaths (skip-breathing). Likewise pausing slightly between breaths with your airway open isn't "holding" your breath either.

Women generally have lower air consumption then men for the simple reason that their bodies have lower metabolism, and therefore consume less oxygen. Go back to your old system of allowing your bodies regulatory system to control your breath rate, and enjoy your natural advantage.

 

[TSandM]

I think you'll find that any time you try to control your breathing consciously, it becomes uncomfortable. Breathing is something we're meant to do without thinking about it, and when you make deliberate changes in your breathing pattern, it often feels unnatural.

The deep, slow inhale and exhale pattern with a slight pause at each end is an efficient way to ventilate the lungs. But you do have to be careful that you aren't extending the pause too much. Research has shown that some divers are pretty tolerant to elevated CO2 levels (in other words, they don't get the same anxiety and need to breathe more that other people do). If you are getting headaches after diving, you may be one of those people. (I am, which is how I know this.) If you don't get an elevated pulse rate while diving, or a headache afterwards, then it's unlikely your pause is much too long.

 

[Neda]

Ok thanks all !
I guess I misunderstood what I had found on skip breathing (no one seemed to want to fully explain it!), my pause is 2, maybe 3 seconds max.

LeadTurn, my breathing pattern is usually in for 8 out for 8, slightly shorter underwater due to wetsuit restrictions.

TSandM, I do often have headaches after diving, after some reading on here I'm thinking I need to lengthen my ascent and give myself more time on the rope, should air allow. I'm never conscious of holding my breath at depth.

 

[emoreira]

My instructor told me to exhale 4 times the time I take to inhale, completelly empting my lungs. No matter if the inhale is long. This will give a lot of fresh air to your lungs and preserves tank. A short and deep inhale and a long and soft exhale. continuously.

Some times you need to inhale and keep to gain flotability or to completely exhale to touch the bottom to take a picture.
The problem keeping your breath is to reduce depth (going to the surface) with air under preasure in your lungs. This can cause a phneumothorax.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Ok thanks all !
I guess I misunderstood what I had found on skip breathing (no one seemed to want to fully explain it!), my pause is 2, maybe 3 seconds max.

LeadTurn, my breathing pattern is usually in for 8 out for 8, slightly shorter underwater due to wetsuit restrictions.

TSandM, I do often have headaches after diving, after some reading on here I'm thinking I need to lengthen my ascent and give myself more time on the rope, should air allow. I'm never conscious of holding my breath at depth.

Another cause of headaches that is easy to overlook is your mask. Many newer divers have the strap too tight thinking that a tight-fitting mask is necessary for a good seal (it is not), and after a hour underwater it will cause a headache (you'd get the same headache wearing the mask for an hour on the surface... :shocked2: ... which actually is a way to test: the mask should be totally comfortable to wear for prolonged periods, and not feel like it is about to squeeze you eyeballs out ).

One other thing that caught my attention in your post was your comment regarding your breathing: "slightly shorter underwater due to wetsuit restrictions". Is your wetsuit is so snug that you can't take or normal full breath, or did I misunderstand? A properly-sized suit needs to be snug, but should not restrict breathing. Sorry if I've misunderstood what you meant.

Best wishes!

 

[Neda]

Hmm I think you may have a point with my mask, I'm the one on the boat with extra deep mask marks for about 3 hours after a dive. I think somehow I'm breathing in through my nose as well as through my mouth. I didn't think it was possible but...ok don't laugh... I had my mask and snorkel in the bathtub the other day... and I noticed that even though I was breathing through the snorkel, the mask kept getting tighter and tighter even though I would exhale through my nose on occasion.

Snug wetsuits.
Hmm. yeah it's a tight fit, takes a few good shakes by my dive buddy to get me fully in the pants (this is with my skin on) and if it's not all the way up I can't really kick. Breathing is possible but I do feel a little puffed once everything is on and I'm strapped in for the fun. My old BCD used to severely restrict breathing to the point my ribs would be sore and bruised feeling after a day on the boat. I had assumed that the breathing restrictions was just the BCD, but it does seem the wetsuit is partially to blame.

Btw, Love the dave barry quote!

emoreira, 4X1 that'd just get confusing to me *lol* but I do understand the point, fully empty, use all the air you can from the breath you take.

 

[rx7diver]

Many of my early dives ended with headaches, often excruciating headaches. Felt like the kind of headaches one gets from dehydration. So, I would drink a lot of water and clear juices starting several days before a dive outing, and I would use the "dark pee litmus test" to ensure that I was well hydrated. (Thankfully, that was before I started diving dry!) Didn't seem to help much. I knew about skip breathing and the headaches and more serious problems doing this could cause—we learned about this in my initial open water course—and I knew I definitely wasn't doing this. Anyway, I eventually concluded that the headaches were my price of admission for being able to scuba dive.

A few years later when I was learning to extended range dive, the headaches became even more common, and much more excruciating, as bottom times and depths increased. My tech instructor said, simply, "You need to breath more." What do you mean? I breath whenever my body tells me to. "Force yourself to breath more." I did. My enviable SAC rate became less enviable. But no more headaches! Absolutely no more headaches!

I suspect now that I am a "CO2 retainer" and that my tech instructor's simple instructions probably saved my life.

FWIW.

Dive Safely