Controlling and reducing air consumption

[BRT]

Smoking causes lung tissue damage and scarring which would naturally reduce the effectiveness of air exchange which equates to wasted gas and the need to breathe more frequently so you've got a smoker with smaller usable lung area and less effective gas exchange which can lead to more frequent inefficient shallow breaths compared to a nonsmoking diver with larger and more effective lung capacity who can take deeper, slower, less frequent breaths.



It's been my experience that drift diving can require an intensive amount of physical exercise for a boatload of reasons- working to stay on a patch of reef by turning 180 degrees to the current, maintaining trim and buoyancy in the stiff current, maintaining a safety stop without a line to hold onto, and swimming back to the boat is sometimes necessary even in a "live boat" situation. Lots of times the current abates and you've got your typical dive which can involve a lot of finning to see interesting areas of reef. Plus the climb up the boat ladder and the work involved getting the fins off while you're holding on can be rather strenuous. At any rate, it's surely more of a workout than a walk around the block

If you are going to fight the current you are going to use a lot of air. If you use terrain to stop and see things drift diving is the least work you can do diving.

 

[uncfnp]

Actually it does, they are directly proportional (not inversely proportional as I had suggested initially) according to several sources including this one that talks about how smoking can actually benefit athletes who participate in sports that have high cardiovascular demand (who knew?):

Cigarette smoking has been shown to increase serum hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, increase lung volume and stimulate weight loss — characteristics all known to enhance performance in endurance sports

Cigarette smoking: an underused tool in high-performance endurance training

Did you actually read this paper. It is pretty interesting but not for the reasons you posted. I did a quick read of the points and thought this is ridiculous. The author takes a few facts and uses them to support a flawed conclusion. I wondered about this for some time then went back to it to find out more about the author and to see if there was something I missed. So I started at the beginning...

“The review paper is a staple of medical literature and, when well executed by an expert in the field, can provide a summary of literature that generates useful recommendations and new conceptualizations of a topic. However, if research results are selectively chosen, a review has the potential to create a convincing argument for a faulty hypothesis. Improper correlation or extrapolation of data can result in dangerously flawed conclusions. The following paper seeks to illustrate this point, using existing research to argue the hypothesis that cigarette smoking enhances endurance performance and should be incorporated into high-level training programs.”

 

[MMM]

I think the first few responding posts covered the essentials. But they all focus on what to do in the water.

Here's one that hasn't been mentioned and which you can work on while on land. As you can see from my blurry avatar, I love yoga as well as scuba diving. In fact, there are a lot of similarities for me... A good yin yoga class will help you focus on your breathing so that it is slow, easy, and efficient. And relaxing. You become more aware of your body and how it is responding to stimuli....and automatically correct yourself with that recognition, slowing down your breathing. You will also benefit from greater flexibility and an overall feeling of well-being. It doesn't happen overnight but after several months of dedicated practice you will say to yourself...wow, I never used to be able to do that!

Another BIG one for me is staying warm. I started out diving in a 3mm shortie in tropical waters. Now I wear a full 7 mm suit with a hooded vest underneath. While others in the dive group are surfacing because they are cold and have run out of air, I am ALWAYS the last diver up with the DM with loads of air leftover. I am not inexperienced, so that helps also.

And here's another tip: at the risk of creating a debate about backplates and wings versus a traditional BCD...I found that my trim improved when I went to a BP/W, my buoyancy control (which was already pretty good) got better. And my air consumption got better also.

 

[ScottFL78]

Having proper weighting, trim and comfort in the water is important, but that counts when we are talking about your body needing oxygen. If you are chasing lobsters, expecially at 80-90' you will get out of breath and use a lot of air no matter who you are. So if we are talking about diving in general, and assuming no work, it comes doen to a mindset. There is a sort of breathing control that I do that may or may not work for you. I believe that most mamals appreciate a full inhale of air. I believe that you don't have to take breaths often, as much as they need to be full breaths. But if you take constant full breaths and exhale immediately, and repeat then boom, there goes your tank of air. The best thing that I have learned to do it to take a deep inhale and let out a slow exhale. I now have a .57 SAC rate and I am in no better shape than when I started diving. I was pretty confortable from the start too. So I may take a deep 3-4 second inhale and make a 7-9 second exhale with a 1-2 second pause in between breaths (whatever is comfortable with the conditions). As long as I do that I have plenty of oxygen in my system and I can outlast most divers on the boat.

 

[MMM]

Try yoga. My breath cycle (inhale/exhale) lasts about 25-27 seconds. But you are right...a slow exhale is important.

Edit: I just timed myself seated: it was 47 seconds for a full breath cycle. Obviously it would be faster when not seating/rested. But you can get yourself into that zone with some breath-work. The guy I dive with here in Cozumel also gave me an exercise to practice while driving my car. He told me to pick a point off on the horizon and try and get there on a full breathe cycle. When I could do that easily, pick a further spot. And then further. It's all about slowing down your breathe cycle.

I may take a deep 3-4 second inhale and make a 7-9 second exhale with a 1-2 second pause in between breaths (whatever is comfortable with the conditions). As long as I do that I have plenty of oxygen in my system and I can outlast most divers on the boat.

 

[Soloist]

It's been my experience that drift diving can require an intensive amount of physical exercise for a boatload of reasons- working to stay on a patch of reef by turning 180 degrees to the current, maintaining trim and buoyancy in the stiff current, maintaining a safety stop without a line to hold onto, and swimming back to the boat is sometimes necessary even in a "live boat" situation. Lots of times the current abates and you've got your typical dive which can involve a lot of finning to see interesting areas of reef. Plus the climb up the boat ladder and the work involved getting the fins off while you're holding on can be rather strenuous. At any rate, it's surely more of a workout than a walk around the block

“working to stay on a patch of reef by turning 180 degrees” - at this point you are no longer drift diving you are swimming

“maintaining trim and buoyancy in the stiff current” - are you diving in “up and down” currents?

“maintaining a safety stop without a line to hold onto“ - there is no line to hold on to when drift diving (with the exception of hanging from a personal DSMB)

“swimming back to the boat” - very rarely does a captain or crew ever motion divers to swim to the boat on a drift dive

Not sure you are really talking about drift diving.....

Below is Lisa and me on a safety stop “hanging” without a line in a picture taken by the dive guide. We had 20 minutes to kill due to an unplanned deco obligation the forth diver required after he also violated the legal limit of 6 lobsters. Thanks moron! This was at the end of our second deep drift dive with some wicked 8 foot seas overhead.

 

[caruso]

“working to stay on a patch of reef by turning 180 degrees” - at this point you are no longer drift diving you are swimming

Right, even during a drift dive you might be doing some physical exertion such as when you choose to work against the current in order to maintain your position on the wreck or reef. That was my point.

“maintaining trim and buoyancy in the stiff current” - are you diving in “up and down” currents?

I have experienced up and down currents while drift diving (as well as other types of diving) and it's often necessary to make rapid depth adjustments when moving rapidly over a reef in order to avoid hitting something especially if you prefer to stick close to the reef, as I do.

“maintaining a safety stop without a line to hold onto“ - there is no line to hold on to when drift diving

That's exactly what I said.

“swimming back to the boat” - very rarely does a captain or crew ever motion divers to swim to the boat on a drift dive

It's been my experience that rarely does the boat spin around and back up right up to the diver making it so that he or she merely has to step onto the ladder and board. In many cases there's a bit of distance to cover and they ask in advance that when the signal is given to please swim rapidly to the ladder and climb on.

Not sure you are really talking about drift diving

Hope that clarifies it

Did you actually read this paper.

I did read it, and I too thought it was odd that the paper was pro-smoking and compared it to other performance enhancing drugs.Didn't really find myself questioning it, I just sort of nodded and said to myself "I never really saw smoking as a benefit but I guess it's possible". Figured it had to be true since it was written on the internet.

If you are going to fight the current you are going to use a lot of air. If you use terrain to stop and see things drift diving is the least work you can do diving.

Well of course you're not supposed to grab ahold of any terrain and I don't see too many divers carrying those reef poles to dig into the sand and in between rocks, so it would naturally follow that the vast majority of drift divers are going to want to maintain their position at some points during the dive to spend more time looking at something interesting and that's going to require some or a great deal of physical effort.

 

[BRT]

Right, even during a drift dive you might be doing some physical exertion such as when you choose to work against the current in order to maintain your position on the wreck or reef. That was my point.



I have experienced up and down currents while drift diving (as well as other types of diving) and it's often necessary to make rapid depth adjustments when moving rapidly over a reef in order to avoid hitting something especially if you prefer to stick close to the reef, as I do.



That's exactly what I said.



It's been my experience that rarely does the boat spin around and back up right up to the diver making it so that he or she merely has to step onto the ladder and board. In many cases there's a bit of distance to cover and they ask in advance that when the signal is given to please swim rapidly to the ladder and climb on.



Hope that clarifies it



I did read it, and I too thought it was odd that the paper was pro-smoking and compared it to other performance enhancing drugs.Didn't really find myself questioning it, I just sort of nodded and said to myself "I never really saw smoking as a benefit but I guess it's possible". Figured it had to be true since it was written on the internet.



Well of course you're not supposed to grab ahold of any terrain and I don't see too many divers carrying those reef poles to dig into the sand and in between rocks, so it would naturally follow that the vast majority of drift divers are going to want to maintain their position at some points during the dive to spend more time looking at something interesting and that's going to require some or a great deal of physical effort.

When I see a ledge coming I exhale and point down and drop behind it. There is often life there taking advantage of protection from the current as I am.

 

[uncfnp]

I did read it, and I too thought it was odd that the paper was pro-smoking and compared it to other performance enhancing drugs.Didn't really find myself questioning it, I just sort of nodded and said to myself "I never really saw smoking as a benefit but I guess it's possible". Figured it had to be true since it was written on the internet.

Did you read the section I quoted? The first paragraph. The article isn’t pro-smoking at all. Or even about enhancing athletic performance through a legal substance, smoking. Instead the author was illustrating how a reviewer could selectively chose specific research data to support a faulty hypothesis by drawing incorrect correlations and conclusions.

 

[Soloist]

maintaining a safety stop without a line to hold onto

“maintaining a safety stop without a line to hold onto“ - How difficult is it for you to hover at 15 feet? That was the point I was trying to make with the picture and description. We drifted along overweighted with steel tanks, steel backplates, pony bottles, lots of lobsters and gear for over 20 minutes in rough seas with no effort. So I am confused as to how a “line to hold onto” is relevant to exerting yourself on a drift dive.