Breathing Pattern and Bouyancy Control

[RiverRat]

The DM said he exhales quickly, then hesitates as long as possible before taking a long slow inhale. Obviosly his BC was better than mine so I'm wondering if I should change my pattern.

I've been diving 2 years and have about 65 dives but I think the divemaster is actually SKIP breathing here (not good). The idea is NOT to pause on the EXHALE, but to pause AFTER you INHALE. So it goes like this.......

Nice...SLOW..DEEP inhale.......PAUSE (you now have a lung full of fresh air, by pausing here you allow for better gas exchange, you absorb more O2 and get rid of CO2) then a nice SLOW, DEEP complete exhale (empty that "dead" air/CO2), then right into inhale NO pause.

Can some of you more experienced divers share you typical breathing pattern underwater? I'm also wondering if you vary your pattern significantly during a dive as necessary such as taking a deep breath to clear a high coral formation etc.?

After you get that down (the breathing pattern) it's just a matter of a "bigger" inhale or a more complete exhale to tweak your buoyancy. But you have to be spot on neutral for it to work.

Now this is easy for me in a 3mm shorty in the Tropics but it is more difficult for me in my 7mm full suit in cold water. That's because my 7mm really compresses alot as I submerge. So after it crushes (loses buoyancy) I'm basically overweighted on the dive (to be expected) and have to use my BC more to compensate whereas in the Tropics I don't put much if any air in it. So now I'm using my BC and lungs to effect buoyancy, harder to coordinate the two. This is why I switched to a drysuit for coldwater. I hated the buoyancy "swing" of the 7mm. I have a shell type suit, no compression, I just have to adjust my suit squeeze with a shot of air every now and then (some added buoyancy during the dive) but I like diving the drysuit much better.

 

[Finnatic]

Breathing underwater....it's a miracle is'nt it? Who wouldv'e thunk there's a method to the madness? As the posts prior suggests..ultimately it is a matter of experience and many unique experiences. I have tried to apply "pattern" breathing to my dives...it seems uncomfortable and fabricated to be dedicated to a particular breathing pattern , and also very distracting to have to "pay attention" to a particular regimented style. I suppose I do have a pattern of sorts, a long slow deep inhalation, followed by a long, slow deep exhalation which i am rather conscious of. This works for me. Ultimately, it all comes together and feels natural.