What to do about air consumption?

[toddster541]

I never know what to say, exactly. I always seem to finish a dive with more air left than anyone else. But I've taken a lot of noobs out as buddies. You can kind of see it in their eyes (and huge clouds of bubbles) that they need to relax. I can't believe how fast some people can burn through a tank of air. Sometimes it helps to get them focus on the environment, rather than themselves. e.g. I might point out an octopus den or the feet of a starfish. Or clown around a bit with an empty beer bottle. Whatever. It's really just a matter of getting into a relaxed, efficient rhythm.

 

[fnfalman]

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 had 200-dives in and still burned through air a lot quicker than I liked. I improved quite a bit since Dive #1, but not quite there. A local course director told me that I should take his basic freediving class and he guaranteed improvement within the first session. I thought that he was full of it but the classes were cheap enough and I liked the guy (plus the cute babes in the class helped).

Lo and behold, he didn't give me a fib. My air consumption went way down after the first freediving session. It is nearly halved now (I'm somewhere in the high 200s or low 300s dive counts right now), than when I was doing my 200th dive.

Freediving training gives you two things that truly help with air consumption: 1) breathing technique that allows you to relax yourself - almost like Yoga or Zen but not quite, and 2) hellacious confidence in yourself underwater. I thought that I was a pretty confident diver by the 200th dive, but after you freedive down to 20-ft, put on your snorkel/mask, fins, and weightbelts WHILE wearing a 7mm wetsuit...I can see why those freedivers are like fishies in the water now.

Before the freediving, I know that with one breath I can do an ESA or CESA from practically any depth. Yeah, yeah, I practiced and all that with a closed valve on the tank. But now I KNOW that I can survive with one breath underwater. That takes my worries away and allows me to relax even more.

Freediving is the best kept secret in SCUBA training.

 

[NCadiver]

5'10 215lbs not usually having any weight with steel tanks.

---------- Post added February 6th, 2013 at 02:57 PM ----------

Thx everyone a lot of great ideas! I have done some yoga classes but has been awhile ago so I will try that some more. I do have a pool at the gym so more laps are needed as well. Most of all I think the 12345678910 in 12345678910 out I am going to try the most. I have tried to concentrate solely on my breathing and I get to a point where I feel like I am out of breath and that is what I am afraid of. Thanks again for all the suggestions!

---------- Post added February 6th, 2013 at 02:59 PM ----------


Lately I have instead of on the bottom but descend on a line to usually the safety stop and stop and breathe for a min or so and get relaxed and that has helped as well.

Last thing I can think of beside the obvious stuff is could your wetsuit too tight causing you not to get a full breath.

 

[jkelly1]

Firstly, it’s VERY important to remember that decreasing your air consumption should not be an aim in itself, as it is actually an outcome of good diving practice and technique. Good air consumption does not make you a better diver, but it does allow you to stay down longer where appropriate.

 

[Hatul]

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 was diving with a guy who was an air hog, and I could not figure out the cause. He was also experienced-- divemaster, but would almost double my air consumption. Then one day he got an upper respiratory infection, had breathing problems, saw a doctor, and was diagnosed with asthma. I'm convinced that the asthma had something to do with his poor air consumption, and the feeling you describe underwater of needing to breathe rapidly is in line with this. Asthma can cause hyperventilation, and also an increase in pulmonary dead space, making breathing less efficient.

One thing to try if you're not already doing this, is using your albuterol inhaler just before diving to see if this helps. You may be having some bronchospasm and not be aware of it.

Also there is an instinct to hyperventilate and also breathe shallow when under water, so you do need to control your breathing.

 

[toddster541]

I had 200-dives in and still burned through air a lot quicker than I liked. I improved quite a bit since Dive #1, but not quite there. A local course director told me that I should take his basic freediving class and he guaranteed improvement within the first session. I thought that he was full of it but the classes were cheap enough and I liked the guy (plus the cute babes in the class helped).

Lo and behold, he didn't give me a fib. My air consumption went way down after the first freediving session. It is nearly halved now (I'm somewhere in the high 200s or low 300s dive counts right now), than when I was doing my 200th dive.

Freediving training gives you two things that truly help with air consumption: 1) breathing technique that allows you to relax yourself - almost like Yoga or Zen but not quite, and 2) hellacious confidence in yourself underwater. I thought that I was a pretty confident diver by the 200th dive, but after you freedive down to 20-ft, put on your snorkel/mask, fins, and weightbelts WHILE wearing a 7mm wetsuit...I can see why those freedivers are like fishies in the water now.

Before the freediving, I know that with one breath I can do an ESA or CESA from practically any depth. Yeah, yeah, I practiced and all that with a closed valve on the tank. But now I KNOW that I can survive with one breath underwater. That takes my worries away and allows me to relax even more.

Freediving is the best kept secret in SCUBA training.

Hmm... it has been a long, long time, but IIRC, way back in the first open water class, they had us do a whole day of cold water free-diving before we even went near the scuba gear.

 

[scubadada]

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!

So, RDRINK25, what is your average SAC? If you have an AI computer it will be automatically calculated and captured in your download software. If you don't dive an AI, it's very easy to calculate SAC Calculator. It's amazing to see the factors that affect your SAC. I have a huge advantage in that I was a competetive swimmier and water polo player prior to becoming certified at age 16. I already had the slow breathing pattern down, even with very vigorous physical activity. My SAC improved with experience, improved buoyancy control, improved trim, loss of inefficient movement. Over the last 250 dives, my average SAC in in the mid 0.3s, regardless of many of the usual variables.

Would seem to me that your relaxation and general breathing pattern is the key to your bringing your SAC down to it minimal value. That may end up being different than mine or others.

Good diving, Craig

 

[tracydr]

First-I'd recommend seeing a pulmonologist. I see so many patients as an FP, who have been seeing other FPs for years and when I question them, they think they have a really " mild" asthma, "well controlled". When I ask the right questions, they fall into the " moderate persistent" or sometimes even the " severe persistent" category. Getting a pulmonary referral with a good evaluation is important, it sounds like you may be unable to fully exhale, which may be a sign that your asthma is bothering you more than you realize.
Next, if your asthma is truly not the issue, start working with a yoga instructor. Learn proper diaphragmatic breathing technique.
After you're breathing properly, slowing down, relaxed and have the asthma under control, there's not a lot more you can do.
Make sure you're staying warm enough. Air consumption goes up if you're cold.

 

[kimbalabala]

We dove with an older couple and I was amazed that they ALWAYS had the most air left after every dive (and he was a smoker too). I decided to keep an eye on them to see what they were doing right. They just went more slowly. We would jump off the boat and hurry from one thing to the next - I think that was part of being new divers, excited about all the cool things to see and not wanting to miss anything - but I think we also felt like we needed to "keep up". These other folks saw all the same stuff we did (and usually more) and kept up fine. They just relaxed and lost the hustle-and-bustle when they got in the water. I have less than 100 dives, and the OP has 200 - so I'm sure I'm not saying anything he hasn't heard before. But sometimes it bears repeating. My standard practice is to exhale completely and remind myself how incredibly peaceful it is under the water. I miss more by hurrying so I make the effort to slow down.