How do you breathe?

[Toadie]

I'm averaging about 55 minutes on a tank and I was wondering what the master breathers are doing. When underwater do you breath deeply or do you take shallow breaths? Do you breath in fast and exhale slowly or do you breath in constant?

I tend to breath in deeply and exhale slowly... it works well but my bouancy changes more than I would like.

 

[MarcG]

"55 minutes on a tank"

You may want to mention tank size and average depth for SAC rate.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Gawd... I wish I got 55 minutes on a tank. ANY tank! LOL I'm assuming you mean an 80? (as I turn bright green with envy)

 

[Walter]

I catch my breath, then I breathe slowly.

Breathe in slowly, breathe out slowly. Move slowly, stay warm, Don't work hard. Do areobics. Stay in shape. Learn the frog kick and relax on your dives.

 

[freediver]

I catch my breath, then I breathe slowly.

Breathe in slowly, breathe out slowly. Move slowly, stay warm, Don't work hard. Do areobics. Stay in shape. Learn the frog kick and relax on your dives.

Hey Walter, are you saying that breathing should be eeeeasy?

 

[Walter]

Something like that.

 

[Charlie99]

How do you breathe?

When underwater do you breath deeply or do you take shallow breaths? Do you breath in fast and exhale slowly or do you breath in constant?

I tend to breath in deeply and exhale slowly... it works well but my bouancy changes more than I would like.

Shallow breathing doesn't work for me. My guess is that long deeeeeeep breaths does a better job of getting rid of CO2.

Your buoyancy is going to change from empty lungs to full lungs. Live with it. Use it. Don't fight it.

Key to long dives is being relaxed and not exerting oneself. Staying neutral so that one doesn't need to fin to maintain depth is important. This morning's dive was a nice mellow one at White Rock in S. Maui. 126 minutes, 33' max, 20-25' avg, AL80.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I don't think about breathing ever. I get my weighting right, trim right and move around slowly. The SAC rate will take care of itself.

 

[Xanthro]

It depends on the depth and temp. Deeper and colder use more air.

55 mins on an AL80 for decent depths is not bad at all.

Most of my dives are limited by time or buddies air consumption. Most boats want you back in an hour, and many people can't stay down much longer than an hour anyway.

I usually end an average dive (down to 60 feet, average 35 or so, temp in 60s) with about 1400 PSI on an hour dive, but I'm a zombie who doesn't breath.

 

[OE2X]

Think of yourself sitting on the couch and fully relaxed. Monitor your breathing. Remember how you are breathing for the next time you dive.

On your dive:
1.Do as Walter suggested.
2. Duplicate how you were breathing while at rest on your couch.
3. Buoyancy and trim need to be dialed.
4. Move around very slowly and keep your hands still.

If you can do these four things, are in reasonably good shape, a non smoker then your consumption will drop to a SAC of .5 or less. That 80 CF will last you 90 minutes depending on depth.