Skip Breathing

[dnew1973]

I heard a guy say he was a skip breather.He wasn't talking directly to me so i didnt get into the conversation.
Can anyone tell me how you do this and is it dangerous?
Maybe i thought i heard him say it .I do know he can stay down for sometime and he was useing nitrox.

[jamespitt]

You skip-breathe by not fully inhaling or exhaling and taking shorter shallower breaths. You can also skip breathe by inhaling a little, holding your breath, then inhaling a little more, and hold, and inhale...
Some divers believe that skip-breathing or trying to deliberately breathe slower and shallower will result in more bottom time. But you will merely add to your load of carbon dioxide, get a terrible Carbon Dioxide headache, use even more air trying to stabilize your blood level, and place yourself in a dangerous predicament.
there are better ways of conserving air like improving your fitness, getting a bigger tank, staying shallower, keeping warm etc.
breathe deeply, slowly and exhale deeply and slowly - the air in your tank is probably cleaner than the air upstairs...

James

[dnew1973]

Thanks for the reply.
I kinda had the idea thats what he was doin because I was watching him under water and it seemed like he would never exhale or if he did it would be a very small amount. This guy has been diving for years.Was a millitary diver and now is a VERY good P.A.D.I instructor. I didnt know if this was a skill that came with experience or if it should be done at all .

Thanks again for the reply.

[AliKat]

I was complaining about the headache I always get after diving when an instructor I had dove with a lot mentioned that I skip breathed. I had no idea!!

He went on to say that what he saw me do was take a deep breath, hold for a couple seconds, exhale completely, and hesitate another second or so before inhaling again. I wasn't doing it on purpose thinking I was saving air or anything.

I have paid more attention to not do that, and I don't get the headaches! I don't recommend skip breathing.

[Northeastwrecks]

My understanding is that skip breathing significantly increases the chance of blacking out from excessive CO2 buildup.

[art.chick]

Hoo, Boy, Dnew,
I have seen some of the instructors I work under do things that they teach students NOT to do. It's like reptile handlers: they have been doing something so long that they think they don;t have to follow the rules anymore, afterall, they have broken them & survived many times. Then one day, the rattlesnake they thought they could kiss on the lips nips 'em when they are out of anti-venom! Diving is like that, too - ignore the tables, ascend too fast, run around like a nut when u r supposed to be off-gassing, and you may well survive for years being reckless. But on the day your luck runs out, you'll wish you had colored inside the lines!

[MASS-Diver]

Only strokes skip breath:D

[Ranz]

Skip breathing can cause a build up of CO2, and the bodies driving force behind breathing IS CO2. So if you have more CO2 in the body, then you want to breath more, resulting in more air consumption.
Ranz

[Rockhound]

the "risk" reasons stated--even though I used to do it on all my dives.

Plus, it sometimes gave me a headache.

However, I do think it helped on my SAC's, as they were very, very low. I do not recall feeling the "need" to breathe due to CO2 buildup, but my "skipping" was less of an intermittent breath-hold technique than it was a "stutter breath". To do it effectively, you do have to be very relaxed.

My inhalations were very deep, not shallow, but my exhalations were stuttered (putting your tongue in the roof of your mouth and going "tah-tah-tah-tah" for a long time. There were times that I would have a continuous stream of bubbles from my mouth all the way to the surface from as deep as 60' or more. My actual "skip" between breaths was no more than 3 to 5 seconds.

These days I recognize the danger. I still breath very deeply, but often times focus on my breathing as a form of bouyancy control as much as a way of extending air time. I no longer hold between breaths. I still have a low SAC (despite the fact I weigh, ahem, 250lbs), but not as low as it used to be....

Skip breathing is a bad thing. Don't do it. But, I'm not sure that it would really drive up your SAC. I would think it just exposes you to too much risk.

[hypermount]

I never take a deep breath. Inhale slowly up to maybe 60-75% of your lungs' capacity, hold for a few seconds then exhale fully and do it fast to reduce the CO2 buildup in your body ... hold a couple of seconds before you start to inhale again.

Of course nothing beats this way if you want to keep your air consumption low, stay fit- go "gymming"!

[PhotoTJ]

Cardio, cardio, cardio! That will get your sac down!

[BigJetDriver]

Hoo, Boy, Dnew,
You may well survive for years being reckless. But on the day your luck runs out, you'll wish you had colored inside the lines!


HOO-HAW! That is a wonderful way of putting it! May I borrow that for my students?

:rofl:

[Rick Inman]

Inhale slowly up to maybe 60-75% of your lungs' capacity, hold for a few seconds then exhale fully and do it fast to reduce the CO2 buildup in your body ... hold a couple of seconds before you start to inhale again.

I love it! On the Internet, you can get detailed instructions on how to skip breath. :11:

Well, my buddy Tony has less than 100 dives, more body fat than me, never exercises and dives with a BC and console, and the guy breathes like a teenage girl. After an hour dive at 40', I have 500psi left in my 95, and he's got 1100 in his al80. We all have taken to calling Tony, Girly-Man. He doesn't skip breath, doesn't think about it at all.
Some people just breath less. I say, just go diving and have fun and don't worry about it. It isn't a competition. All you can really do is dive more and get a bigger tank - darn! More diving and more gear! :eyebrow:

[Kennedydive]

Just don't do it! It Dumb, Dumb, Dumb! The only thing that improves your sac rate is Cardio and comfort level. As you become more experienced you slowly realize that you can get longer out of a tank than when you were a tadpole. Some people are better on air than others.

I can give you an example of how people differ and there is not a thing you or the next person can do about it.

At 30 feet me and two of my buddies can go diving and after the allotted length of time one guy comes out with 800psi I come out with 750psi and the other guy comes out with 650psi

The same three guys do a dive to 200 feet and the first guy comes out with 1100psi, I come out with 1025psi and the third guy will come out with 400psi.

We are as equally comfortable at the depth but as we go deeper the air consumption gap between him and the other two divers gets larger. My theory is that his lungs are larger and at 2ata the difference in consumption is not that much but multiply it to a depth of 7ata than it is more noticeable.
Jason

[Keysdrifter454]

My understanding is that skip breathing significantly increases the chance of blacking out from excessive CO2 buildup.

I skip breath in a way that scares most people, usually one cycle every 45-50 seconds.

I inhale slow, hold, exhale quick.

I control bouyancy and overall depth (perfectly) with breathing control.

The fact is, it -can- cause CO2 build-up, and -may- cause blackouts, but like everything involved in leaving the natural human environment, and entering a sub-aquatic one, the risks and dangers involved vary for each person.

Dweeb (the guy that got kicked for no reason) was a 165 lb decathlete. and I'm 5'9" and 300 lbs, with a 48 inch waist, and my air consumption is as good or better than his.

I breath slow, and relaxed, just not at a natural rhythm like topside.

I frequently hold inhalation to adjust depth, or exhale to drop.

The only time I've ever had a CO2 hit underwater was trying to keep up with a diver named Rich Lesperence, who is (maybe) second only to Dan Volker for speed underwater.

The most experienced diver I know, with incredibly low consumption, admonishes students continually not to skip breath.

Then he got a new video camera, and guess what, you can time his breathing during dives.

Very enlightening.

Skip breathing is a big term, make sure you know what it encompasses.

[BigJetDriver]

Try skip-breathing with a FFM, as I did for an experiment, and the absolutely blinding headache will convince you not to do it again! (Done shallow, with an experienced buddy who was well briefed.) Ouch!

[liberato]

...I frequently hold inhalation to adjust depth, or exhale to drop... After reading some of the descriptions here I skip breathe but did not know that is what it was called and I only use it for momentary buoyancy control. Full breath, half exhale, full breath, half exhale to go positive; half breath, full exhale, half breath, full exhale to go negative. I don't remember being taught that, it is just something I stumbled upon and thought everyone did as they became a more refined diver. My regular neutral breathing is normal, though. So, is that not how breathing is supposed to be applied to buoyancy control?

[Keysdrifter454]

After reading some of the descriptions here I skip breathe but did not know that is what it was called and I only use it for momentary buoyancy control. Full breath, half exhale, full breath, half exhale to go positive; half breath, full exhale, half breath, full exhale to go negative. I don't remember being taught that, it is just something I stumbled upon and thought everyone did as they became a more refined diver. My regular neutral breathing is normal, though. So, is that not how breathing is supposed to be applied to buoyancy control?

Depends on who you ask.

Works just great for me.

I'd say that more experienced divers are skip breathers than are willing to admit (and may not even know).

Frankly, I think if anyone doesn't know what Insperatory Reserve Volume is, they don't know as much about bouyancy and/or air consumption as they think.

[lamont]

i'll inhale deeply, hold, exhale slowly, then inhale. my understanding was that skip breathing was holding your breath after exhaling, or not breathing in deeply enough. i'll do skip breathing sometimes for buoyancy control, where i'm breathing out of the top or bottom of my lungs, but that's never more than a couple of seconds...

i was breathing like this last night and had no headache issues...

[ShakaZulu]

i'll inhale deeply, hold, exhale slowly, then inhale. my understanding was that skip breathing was holding your breath after exhaling, or not breathing in deeply enough. i'll do skip breathing sometimes for buoyancy control, where i'm breathing out of the top or bottom of my lungs, but that's never more than a couple of seconds...

i was breathing like this last night and had no headache issues...

I do the same, I think more people do it with knowing.

[NetDoc]

There is skip breathing and then there is getting into the "zone".

I am not fit... not by any stretch of the imagination. However, I am very, very relaxed in the water and not much hassels me. Consequently, my sac is low... I would even say way too high.

No, I don't consciously skip breathe and I have no problem breathing fast when the environment dictates it. Every now and then I realise that I have a slight headache, and then I will consciously breathe more.

So I agree you shouldn't do it, but some people need less air than others, depending mostly on attitude, fitness, and environmental conditions.

[J1M1]

I dont think anyone mentioned breathing excercises to lower your rmv and to stop skip breathing. Sit in bed at night and practice lowering your breathing rate, imagine yourself diving. It works. People have claimed to drop from a 1.0 to a .6 or .5 by using this technique. I run 2-3 times a week now and my breathing rate has changed a little but not alot since the cardio started. The breathing excercises helped more..

[awap]

I dont think anyone mentioned breathing excercises to lower your rmv and to stop skip breathing. Sit in bed at night and practice lowering your breathing rate, imagine yourself diving. .

Sit in bed!
SIT IN BED!!

Why would you want to sit in bed and practice diving when you can do it at WORK?

Works for me.

[Talon]

I don't get too hung up on the term skip breathing. Do I do it??? Maybe... But it is just my natural breathing pattern underwater. I tend to take slow deep breaths underwater, then slowly release. From time to time, I may even stutter the exhale (i.e., little out, hold, little more out). I mainly just pay attention to what my body wants. I'm not TRYING to hold my breath. Only exceptions are these: first, every now and then I make sure to forceable FULLY exhale all the air in my lungs. Mainly just to clear out all the CO2. I also change my natural breathing pattern as I get more shallow. Having your lungs nearly full at 120 feet and going up a few feet is COMPLETLY different then doing that at 10-15 feet. Matter of fact, one of the early challanges I had when I started scuba was staying stable at my 15 foot safety stop. I keep floating to the surface with each breath. I've had to learn to breath more shallow and faster.

[hypermount]

Another way to decrease air consumption is learn to smoke cigarette if you're a non-smoker ;).

[hypermount]

Kidding of course hehe. I know it's bad for your health but what amazed me most was that an overwhelming majority of divers I know smokes.

[scubadiverjunkie]

I think maybe the term "skip Breathing" is misleading. There is a way to "hold your breath" that would be considered not dangerous. Only if you understand it should you do it. You can inhale - hold with the throat open (you will get a better exchange of oxygen) - exhale. In the holding of breath, you want to hold it with the chest - DO NOT relax the chest and close he throat - MOST IMPORTANT is to KEEP THE THROAT OPEN so in any case of ascension, expanding air can and will release through the throat. You can practice this type of breathing until it is second nature under water and you will see signifigant improvement combined with being comfortable diving. It helped me improve my bottom times immensely. Again - I stress the fact that you should only do this if you completely understand the technique.

[NetDoc]

You can practice this type of breathing until it is second nature under water There is an additional danger to this type of skip breathing. While you may (or may not) escape baurotrama, you will increase the amount of CO2 in your blood and this will inhibit normal cell respiration as well as give you a wicked headache.

Just breathe like your life depends on it... it does.

[scubadiverjunkie]

In correction NetDoc - the pause while your lungs are full of air allows more time for gas exchange, so you can take in more oxygen and dump more carbon dioxide with each breath. It only takes a pause of a few seconds after each inhale to make a signifiganr improvemnet in your breathing efficiency. Now its very close to the NO-NO taught in diving, there is a difference here in the fact that you DO NOT hold your breath with a closed throat risking embolism - IT IS SAFE however to hold your lung expansion with the chest muscles instead and keeping the throat open. Instructors do not teach this method because they do not want the students to become confused and close their throats. Many experienced divers adopt this method of breathing overtime anyhow. You will need to breathe less and will get more cycles out of your cyclinder. **Some of this was quoted directly from a publication**

[NetDoc]

The tension of CO2 expiring from your blood is very slight... not much of a differential.

The "pause" tends to eliminate turbulance from around the alveoli reducing the tension even more. The lower the tension, the more inefficient the gas exchange. Its a law of diminishing returns. Remember, CO2 triggers the breathing response. When you are "gasping for air" you are really trying to get rid of that CO2.

We haven't even touched on how your cells respirate. When an athlete runs, he doesn't seem to need to breathe near as much as I do. ;) Why is this? Has he trained his lungs? Somewhat. I believe that you will find that he has trained his vascular system even more. Cellular metabolism/respiration improves signifigantly with aerobic excersize. This is a REAL benefit!

Since there is such a "fine line" between "pausing" and "holding your breath", I preach to not even try. You will get more bottom time by slowing down and by cardio excersize (especially swimming) than by trying to modify your breathing. It's a huge ocean, and there is no way you are going to see it all in one dive, so take it slow. The best divers expend very little effort to swim and to explore. They are calm and efficient at what they do. That will reduce your need to breathe far more naturally than trying to adjust the way you breathe.

I do train my students to breathe a bit more slowly and deeply than they do on land. This is straight from the NAUI book and helps to flush out that residual CO2 that will build up if you breathe shallowly. NEVER do I ever suggest to pause or to hold their breath... In fact, my rule #1: Don't stop breathing.

But hey, if you feel it works for you, then fine. I just don't recommend it.

BTW, I am not a medical doctor, and niether do I play one on TV. I am an scuba instructor and would be open to change my understanding of this process if one of our real docs decides to chime in. The day I stop learning is the day I will step away from ScubaBoard.

[scubadiverjunkie]

I agree 100% with you Netdoc. I just found myself naturally breathing this way after about 45 or 50 dives - and then I read some articles on this. I agree that it shouldn't be taught to new students because of the confusion it would probably cause. I guess if more experienced dives were still having some issues with consumption, they may find this as a helpful hint - I can only really speak for me and I definitely extended my bottom times with this form of breathing by gross amounts. Point taken Netdoc :)

[liberato]

... In the holding of breath, you do not want to hold it with the chest -- MOST IMPORTANT is to KEEP THE THROAT OPENand later
...IT IS SAFE however to hold your lung expansion with the chest muscles instead and keeping the throat open...I don't know enough about respiration physiology to comment but the two statements seem to logically contradict each other (the part about the chest).

[lamont]

i use the same pause with my lungs full -- and on dives when i do i usually feel really good afterwards -- no post-dive mental exhaustion and no post-dive headache.

[scubadiverjunkie]

and laterI don't know enough about respiration physiology to comment but the two statements seem to logically contradict each other (the part about the chest).


Yes - excuse the typo. I did not catch that I had it typed as DO NOT - clearly my mistake and you are rewarded with a great big pat on the back for at least putting in your two cents to point out that I was wrong in typing that mistake - Thank-you !!

[fmw625]

The first time I used a regulator under water I seemed to not be able to get enough air. I felt that I was doing something wrong. I made a mouth piece with a hole in it about a quarter inch in diameter. I discovered that a slight pause on inhilation would let my lungs expand a little more. On my next confined water dive I tried this and ever since have not had the "not getting enough air " problem. Is this a form of skip breathing? If it is I need to figure out another way.

[DandyDon]

With the addition of a new "auto search" feature this past weekend, you'll now find 3 related threads among those listed below that containt the word "skip."

How cool is that? :D