Breathing

[DKL]

Along with breath control always try to take the path of least resistance. Instead of kicking, I try to pull myself along using rocks etc... when cavern diving. You use less energy and thereby decrease gas use. When in the ocean I just let the current push me along, keep my hands tight to my chest to decrease resistance and just relax and enjoy the view. The more movement you make the higher your gas use will be. I just breath slow and steady always keeping in mind to relax and use as little energy as possible for movements. Also, once at depth and neutrally buoyant, leave the BC alone. If you start dumping and adding air constantly, gas use goes way up. You should be able to control buoyancy with your breathing once neutrally buoyant.

 

[rockystock1]

So don't use bcd and don't move,, breath slow and deep,and if I do smash through a tank quicker than everyone else it's ok coz I'm new


Mike

 

[Akimbo]

…I've also been diving with Lynne (TSandM) and her air consumption is easily 1/2 of mine. It's a matter of physical size but also a matter of how "still" you can be in the water...

Size is certainly a factor, but I know several females who are taller and heavier than me who consistently have significantly lower consumption. Carbon Dioxide is the major stimulus to breathing and mussel is the major CO2-producing engine in the body. On average, females have a lower percentage of body mass that is mussel and a slightly slower metabolism. Reduce the generation of CO2 and you reduce the rate necessary to ventilate the lungs.

It gets more interesting when you throw physical conditioning into the mix. Both genders improve mussel efficiency (work to O2 consumption) with high levels of physical conditioning, even though muscle mass increases — apparently not nearly at the same rate. It would be interesting to see if the air consumption disparity exists in children or only develops in adulthood.

 

[DKL]

So don't use bcd and don't move,, breath slow and deep,and if I do smash through a tank quicker than everyone else it's ok coz I'm new


Mike

Yup!!! My nickname when I first started was J Edgar Hover...because my SAC rate was about a 30..LOL I could suck the bottom out of a tank in 20 minutes. Now my SAC rate is about an 11-12 and I can make at least 2 dives on an aluminum 80, and sometimes 3 depending on depth and activity level.

 

[daniel1948]

Very relaxed, very deep and slow. Yes, I rise and fall a bit as I breathe. Not a lot, though. I think that being in better cardiovascular condition reduces your need for oxygen, since you use it more efficiently.

 

[Steve_C]

You are correct that the physics says that if you are not breathing and not moving you will either go up or go down. The equilibrium is not a stable one since even a slight move in either direction with shift the lift and you accelerate off.

What is true is that this unstable equilibrium can be stabilized by an oscillating controller with a feedback loop that is tuned by a neural net.

In other words, the in and out breathing can be used to stabilize around an equilibrium. As you do it your body learns to adjust and tune itself. The fact that it is easier for most of us to do if we have a visual reference illustrates that we are using sensory feedback.

If you want another illustration try to hold a long wood dowel vertical with your palm flat and not moving your hand. It is very unstable. But if you oscillate your hand a bit from side to side it becomes much easier.

The need to get rid of CO2 so well explained earlier dictates that the breaths be deep.

The timing of the exhale and inhale tune themselves to reduce the size of the oscillations with experience. Sort of like prejumping bumps when you ski smooths out the slopes.

I do some quarry dives for fun with friends. A good way to practice is to see how close to shore you can get moving slowly and not touching the bottom or the surface. We have an old road bed and slowing swimming in 3 ft of water not touching anything is interesting.

 

[jdg]

What is the correct way to breathe in scuba
My instructor says slow and deep

My fellow student says he holds breath to hover but my brother in law says short shallow breaths, and my instructor says slow deep breaths to hover?? (Which I find impossible) but which is correct?

I've heard in for 3 out for 6

Do you guys just breathe like your on land or do you go into scuba breathing mode??

At the Minuit I'm just galloping air down and I'm sure I'm breathing incorrectly




Mike

my buddy who is an instructor keeps making me tapping between the eyes an it always the same thing. Relax, relax, relax.breath slow and deep. going up let it out.

---------- Post added November 17th, 2014 at 01:13 AM ----------

an dive with as small woman, actually most women, they will do double most of us haha

 

[rockystock1]

Yup!!! My nickname when I first started was J Edgar Hover...because my SAC rate was about a 30..LOL I could suck the bottom out of a tank in 20 minutes. Now my SAC rate is about an 11-12 and I can make at least 2 dives on an aluminum 80, and sometimes 3 depending on depth and activity level.

Ha,, I've been called the gulper.. Would doing some cardio help me or is it just experience??


Mike

 

[Steve_C]

Ha,, I've been called the gulper.. Would doing some cardio help me or is it just experience??
Mike

To repeat the earlier posts, Relax. Experience that makes you feel more comfortable in the water and not being in a hurry to get anywhere will make a huge difference.

Took a drift dive course a couple years ago. Day one we did a drift dive so very little effort. Day two instructor had me lead 5 divers. Half kept swimming ahead, the other half lagging back. Exact same dive, same excellent water conditions. I again had essentially no physical activity. But I was mentally nervous trying to keep the group in view and together. My air consumption rate went up 30%. Good lesson.

being in shape helps, but the breathing hard and fast that can happen with cardio is not the right breathing. I was swimming laps for a while and I found it sped up my breathing a little bit at first until I learned to slow it down for diving.

 

[daniel1948]

Ha,, I've been called the gulper.. Would doing some cardio help me or is it just experience??


Mike

Just my opinion, but I'd say both: Experience will help, with or without the cardio, as you learn to relax and make slow gentle movements. But cardio, done on a regular basis (half an hour to an hour, done 4 or 5 days a week, over the long term, i.e. several months to a year) will improve the efficiency of your metabolism, so that you consume less oxygen at rest. And when diving (with experience) you are more or less at rest.

And of course, cardio has tremendous overall health benefits, which will keep you active and healthy longer, whether you dive or not.

Note, however, that I'm talking about a regular habit of cardio. You don't want to do cardio, or any kind of exertion that you can avoid, before or right after diving. You want to be well-rested going in, so that you can breathe slowly, and I've read that extreme exertion right after diving can precipitate bubbles, though I don't know what's the latest on this.