Skip Breathing

[The Chairman]

There is skip breathing and then there is getting into the "zone".

I am not fit... not by any stretch of the imagination. However, I am very, very relaxed in the water and not much hassels me. Consequently, my sac is low... I would even say way too high.

No, I don't consciously skip breathe and I have no problem breathing fast when the environment dictates it. Every now and then I realise that I have a slight headache, and then I will consciously breathe more.

So I agree you shouldn't do it, but some people need less air than others, depending mostly on attitude, fitness, and environmental conditions.

 

[J1M1]

I dont think anyone mentioned breathing excercises to lower your rmv and to stop skip breathing. Sit in bed at night and practice lowering your breathing rate, imagine yourself diving. It works. People have claimed to drop from a 1.0 to a .6 or .5 by using this technique. I run 2-3 times a week now and my breathing rate has changed a little but not alot since the cardio started. The breathing excercises helped more..

 

[redacted]

I dont think anyone mentioned breathing excercises to lower your rmv and to stop skip breathing. Sit in bed at night and practice lowering your breathing rate, imagine yourself diving. .

Sit in bed!
SIT IN BED!!

Why would you want to sit in bed and practice diving when you can do it at WORK?

Works for me.

 

[Talon]

I don't get too hung up on the term skip breathing. Do I do it??? Maybe... But it is just my natural breathing pattern underwater. I tend to take slow deep breaths underwater, then slowly release. From time to time, I may even stutter the exhale (i.e., little out, hold, little more out). I mainly just pay attention to what my body wants. I'm not TRYING to hold my breath. Only exceptions are these: first, every now and then I make sure to forceable FULLY exhale all the air in my lungs. Mainly just to clear out all the CO2. I also change my natural breathing pattern as I get more shallow. Having your lungs nearly full at 120 feet and going up a few feet is COMPLETLY different then doing that at 10-15 feet. Matter of fact, one of the early challanges I had when I started scuba was staying stable at my 15 foot safety stop. I keep floating to the surface with each breath. I've had to learn to breath more shallow and faster.

 

[hypermount]

Another way to decrease air consumption is learn to smoke cigarette if you're a non-smoker .

 

[hypermount]

Kidding of course hehe. I know it's bad for your health but what amazed me most was that an overwhelming majority of divers I know smokes.

 

[scubadiverjunkie]

I think maybe the term "skip Breathing" is misleading. There is a way to "hold your breath" that would be considered not dangerous. Only if you understand it should you do it. You can inhale - hold with the throat open (you will get a better exchange of oxygen) - exhale. In the holding of breath, you want to hold it with the chest - DO NOT relax the chest and close he throat - MOST IMPORTANT is to KEEP THE THROAT OPEN so in any case of ascension, expanding air can and will release through the throat. You can practice this type of breathing until it is second nature under water and you will see signifigant improvement combined with being comfortable diving. It helped me improve my bottom times immensely. Again - I stress the fact that you should only do this if you completely understand the technique.

 

[The Chairman]

You can practice this type of breathing until it is second nature under water

There is an additional danger to this type of skip breathing. While you may (or may not) escape baurotrama, you will increase the amount of CO2 in your blood and this will inhibit normal cell respiration as well as give you a wicked headache.

Just breathe like your life depends on it... it does.

 

[scubadiverjunkie]

In correction NetDoc - the pause while your lungs are full of air allows more time for gas exchange, so you can take in more oxygen and dump more carbon dioxide with each breath. It only takes a pause of a few seconds after each inhale to make a signifiganr improvemnet in your breathing efficiency. Now its very close to the NO-NO taught in diving, there is a difference here in the fact that you DO NOT hold your breath with a closed throat risking embolism - IT IS SAFE however to hold your lung expansion with the chest muscles instead and keeping the throat open. Instructors do not teach this method because they do not want the students to become confused and close their throats. Many experienced divers adopt this method of breathing overtime anyhow. You will need to breathe less and will get more cycles out of your cyclinder. **Some of this was quoted directly from a publication**

 

[The Chairman]

The tension of CO2 expiring from your blood is very slight... not much of a differential.

The "pause" tends to eliminate turbulance from around the alveoli reducing the tension even more. The lower the tension, the more inefficient the gas exchange. Its a law of diminishing returns. Remember, CO2 triggers the breathing response. When you are "gasping for air" you are really trying to get rid of that CO2.

We haven't even touched on how your cells respirate. When an athlete runs, he doesn't seem to need to breathe near as much as I do. Why is this? Has he trained his lungs? Somewhat. I believe that you will find that he has trained his vascular system even more. Cellular metabolism/respiration improves signifigantly with aerobic excersize. This is a REAL benefit!

Since there is such a "fine line" between "pausing" and "holding your breath", I preach to not even try. You will get more bottom time by slowing down and by cardio excersize (especially swimming) than by trying to modify your breathing. It's a huge ocean, and there is no way you are going to see it all in one dive, so take it slow. The best divers expend very little effort to swim and to explore. They are calm and efficient at what they do. That will reduce your need to breathe far more naturally than trying to adjust the way you breathe.

I do train my students to breathe a bit more slowly and deeply than they do on land. This is straight from the NAUI book and helps to flush out that residual CO2 that will build up if you breathe shallowly. NEVER do I ever suggest to pause or to hold their breath... In fact, my rule #1: Don't stop breathing.

But hey, if you feel it works for you, then fine. I just don't recommend it.

BTW, I am not a medical doctor, and niether do I play one on TV. I am an scuba instructor and would be open to change my understanding of this process if one of our real docs decides to chime in. The day I stop learning is the day I will step away from ScubaBoard.