What to do about air consumption?

[RDRINK25]

I am a certified Padi Master Diver not that means anything I have 10 specialty including Rescue, deep , peek boyancy, and many others. I am now hitting my 200 dive this week and I still have a problem with my air. I always get the biggest tank I can if I could run Dbls I would and I am always the first one up. A little back ground on my health is that I am a 36 yr male that works out regularly and runs 3 miles 3 times a week. I do have a slight case of asthma and been cleared to dive by my DR in dive medicine per DAN. When I am underewater I feel as soon as breathe in I need to exhale and repeat. I would love to extend my air consumption and if there is anything that my help as far as techniques I would love to hear them. Is there anything I can practice at home? Thx for any help in advance!

 

[knotical]

You might try focusing on somewhat deeper exhalations, thus purging more CO2.

 

[Griffo]

I'm no expert but i'd suggest maybe doing some swimming in place of the running. When I first decide to do a tri-athlon, I thought i'd be able to jump in the pool and bang out the distance without much effort. I was sadly mistaken, as I couldn't control my breathing. Running allows you to get away with breathing shallow and rapid - which asthmatics are prone to do anyway apparently. Swimming forces you to learn a habbit of a more controlled breathing style.
I also know people who claim yoga really helped with their SAC.

 

[Herb-alaska]

I am a certified Padi Master Diver not that means anything I have 10 specialty including Rescue, deep , peek boyancy, and many others. I am now hitting my 200 dive this week and I still have a problem with my air. I always get the biggest tank I can if I could run Dbls I would and I am always the first one up. A little back ground on my health is that I am a 36 yr male that works out regularly and runs 3 miles 3 times a week. I do have a slight case of asthma and been cleared to dive by my DR in dive medicine per DAN. When I am underewater I feel as soon as breathe in I need to exhale and repeat. I would love to extend my air consumption and if there is anything that my help as far as techniques I would love to hear them. Is there anything I can practice at home? Thx for any help in advance!

I second the yoga for the relaxation and then just relax while you are under water don't try to think about it but just chill and mentally slow your breathing rate/ Remember no skip breathing deep in slow deep out. Make sure that you are not over weighted which will use BC air and extra work to stay neutral

 

[swimmer_spe]

I am a certified Padi Master Diver not that means anything I have 10 specialty including Rescue, deep , peek boyancy, and many others. I am now hitting my 200 dive this week and I still have a problem with my air. I always get the biggest tank I can if I could run Dbls I would and I am always the first one up. A little back ground on my health is that I am a 36 yr male that works out regularly and runs 3 miles 3 times a week. I do have a slight case of asthma and been cleared to dive by my DR in dive medicine per DAN. When I am underewater I feel as soon as breathe in I need to exhale and repeat. I would love to extend my air consumption and if there is anything that my help as far as techniques I would love to hear them. Is there anything I can practice at home? Thx for any help in advance!

One problem I notice with experienced divers is they rush. They rush to the dive site. They rush to get their gear set up. They rush to get to the water. They rush to get into the water. Then, their air usage is about the same as mine; I have under 50 dives.

I find that if I take my time, and slow the f--- down getting into the water, and when in the water, I give myself time for me to not only get used to the temperature of the water, but also to allow my breathing to slow down, I use less air.

It might be that simple for you.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

One problem I notice with experienced divers is they rush. They rush to the dive site. They rush to get their gear set up. They rush to get to the water. They rush to get into the water. Then, their air usage is about the same as mine; I have under 50 dives.

I find that if I take my time, and slow the f--- down getting into the water, and when in the water, I give myself time for me to not only get used to the temperature of the water, but also to allow my breathing to slow down, I use less air.

It might be that simple for you.

It's not the experienced divers that rush. I don't see a problem with getting to the dive site on time, setting up gear quickly, and getting in the water at a reasonable time, especially if you're diving a current-based dive. I wouldn't call it rushing.

And it's not the 'rush' of setting up and getting into the water. The problem is rushing while you're in the water, which is usually more of a problem with inexperienced divers. I barely move down there and I keep my buoyancy pretty well. I like to go slowly and actually see all the animals to photograph.

When you rush underwater (e.g., fin hard, play with buoyancy constantly, and move super fast), then you use up way more air. This is usually the case for most people with air consumption issues. Just don't exert yourself. This is a relaxing hobby.

 

[NCadiver]

How tall are you and what is your weight and lung size? How much lead are you caring? Slow down is the first thing that comes to mind and check your cumberbun and weight belt position.

 

[RJP]

Slow down. Air consumption is, at its core, a problem of "consumption" rather than "breathing technique." Your body is signaled to exhale (and hence, inhale) in order to rid your system of CO2. CO2 is a-by product of metabolic activity, which also requires oxygen. This is why you breathe faster/heavier when running around than you do while sitting on the couch.

Most divers "run around" underwater like diving machines; flutter-kicking all the time, arms moving, constantly zipping from here to there. This is a high level of activity, which requires lots of oxygen and generates lots of CO2.

It's a "demand" equation. Reduce the amount of activity (demand) and reduce the amount of air needed.

• Slow down.
• Learn more efficient propulsion techniques.
• Slow down some more.
• Get your weighting dialed in.
• Slow down even more.
• Get your trim more horizontal.
• You're still going too fast... SLOW DOWN!

Ray

 

[Diver0001]

Ok....

First of all you have to understand that just due to the physics of body size and minimum respiration rates that there is going to be a lowest achievable SAC for everyone and that this bar is personal. It's not a competition and below a certain threshold it's probably not even wise to try improving your air consumption. Question: do you know what your air consumption is? If you don't then it's a good idea to find out how to track it and then make some measurements.

Secondly, what you're doing by compensating for your air consumption by using bigger tanks is generally a good idea.

That said, there are several factors that will affect your air consumption, the biggest of which are :

- gear, especially fit/comfort, trim and the amount of weight you're carrying. Trim and ballast are something to consider. Do regular buoyancy checks and make sure you're not fighting with your trim to stay balanced under water.

- your fitness level, body size, level of relaxation of muscles etc. You can work on this to some extent (sounds like you already do) but the results are long-term. Relaxation is something you can work on short term.

- conditions in the water: especially water temperature and current

- how fast you move around (no matter how slow you go, you can always slow down some more!)

- the way you breathe. (meditation practice can help you become more aware of your breathing in general, which helps for some people).

That last point is what I'll focus on briefly (don't have much time but I'll jot down the essence of it).

What's in the PADI books about "just breathe normally" is quite simply dead wrong. Proper breathing on scuba requires training because it's not obvious.

Someone already mentioned fully exhaling. That's a good start because starting with empty lungs is the starting point for the breathing I'm about to describe. In a live demonstration I can get this point across in a few seconds so I hope I can describe it in words.

Scuba breathing is SLOW and LONG.

start:

* out-out-out-out-out : until lungs are empty (no need to force it). I also tell my students to think the word "ZEN" while they exhale as a reminder to release muscle tension and relax their bodies during the exhale phase. This also significantly increased comfort and reduces stress by beginners.

* no pause

* in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in: until lungs are mostly full.

* short pause keeping airway open

* out-out-out-out.

Try getting into a rhythm that involves doing one complete cycle of the above in 15 seconds or so with equal time spent on the inhale and the exhale. (4 times a minute). Slower is possible long term but just get the rhythm sorted first especially with respect to moving up and down in the water column, which you may experience as feeling a bit strange to start with. Experienced divers naturally start doing this anyway but it's seldom taught to beginners, which is really a shame.

Other things that will deliver quick short term results:

- ZEN: relax during the exhale
- SLOW DOWN!
- Get weight and trim perfected

That's the basics in a nutshell. i'm out of time, I hope this helps

R..

 

[goflyplanes]

When I was first trying to get my air consumption down to a reasonable amount, I started counting my breaths in. I first started with what was comfortable. Obviously I am not going to exhale to a 20 count if there is only 10 counts worth of breath in my lungs. Once I established a count I did it every breath. Consciously going 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 in 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 out. Eventually it becomes a habit and you do it automatically. A couple things to keep in mind with this is you may need to lower your count because of buoyancy. Remember the more you breathe in the more buoyant you are.

Another thing to just be conscious of is: does your mask fit properly? If you are constantly having to clear your mask you will consume more air. It is a problem I encounter quite frequently as most of the divers I lead are in rental masks.

Lastly, It's been covered before, but get your buoyancy sorted early on and don't mess with it. The more air you are putting in and taking out the more you are using! (Obvious statement, but you'd be surprised sometimes)