Controlling and reducing air consumption

[tarponchik]

Irrelevant how? I was correcting your incorrect statement on meat being red because it has blood vessels. So how is correcting with actual facts incorrect?

Because the point I was making was that the fat is white. Fat lacks both hemoglobin and myoglobin because it does not need much oxygen. So being a bit overweight won't increase air consumption.

 

[tarponchik]

True - a DM on a recent dive said it best: "A good diver is a lazy diver " (in the water, obviously). But marrying good technique with good aerobic fitness from routine excercise will make it evern better.

This is wishful thinking. Unfortunately, we only get what we train for. If you run long distances, you will have good endurance, but you won't become more flexible or stronger or faster. And you won't consume less air underwater. If you would like to use less air, train yourself to use less air.

 

[tarponchik]

So effectively you've just downgraded your opening statement "exercise don't help" to "well, there's so many variables that... who TH knows", is that correct?

Again no. It depends what kind of exercise. The exercise needs to address a specific ability.

 

[tarponchik]

Here is a puzzle for you, Einsteins. There was a tragic but an interesting case in NYC about 20 years ago, when a cop was wounded in a firefight. He died, unfortunately, because he got blood transfusion too late. Nevertheless, the doctors claimed that almost anyone in his place would have survived, and that his death was caused by the sport activity he was into. Can anyone guess what kind of sport was this and why did it kill this poor fellow?

 

[Joneill]

This is wishful thinking. Unfortunately, we only get what we train for. If you run long distances, you will have good endurance, but you won't become more flexible or stronger or faster. And you won't consume less air underwater. If you would like to use less air, train yourself to use less air.

So how, exactly, do you train yourself to use less air?

 

[dmaziuk]

Again no. It depends what kind of exercise. The exercise needs to address a specific ability.

It'd be interesting to have a sports medicine professional look into this whole diving thing, and not just gas mileage.

My respiratory rate is usually at least 20% lower than my wife's, but of course I cannot prove if this is due to all that specific exercise I've been doing on and of throughout most of my life, or I was just born this way.

 

[tarponchik]

So how, exactly, do you train yourself to use less air?

Isn't the answer obvious? By using less air. Try to run on 3+5 counts for the starters. You can also try "shallow breath". Sitting at your comp or watching TV, try not to inhale or exhale at all. Of course, you will inhale and exhale, but in very low volumes. Sorry, gotta go

 

[Joneill]

Because the point I was making was that the fat is white. Fat lacks both hemoglobin and myoglobin because it does not need much oxygen. So being a bit overweight won't increase air consumption.

Ahhh... but what you said was that "lean meat is red but fat is pink or even white because it lacks blood vessels" which is not true as I pointed out, so quite relevant to your comment.

Also, being over weight will make you carry more lead/weight when when diving - all things equal, moving more weight through the water will take more exertion and will have an effect on your air consumption. More weight will also likely mean more air needed in your BC to keep you neutral at depth which will create more drag - so more effort will be required to move and that will have an effect on your air consumption too..

 

[The Chairman]

My respiratory rate is usually at least 20% lower than my wife's,

Great... now how about tidal volume? I bet your breath is more than a third more in volume than her's. Worse, the slower you breathe, the less CO2 you'll expel, increasing your angst and probably leading to increased respiration.

Ahhh... but what you sais was that

This sounds like a semantics trap. That's so fifth grade.

 

[halocline]

Here's the practical part IMO. A person who is interested in lowering his/her air consumption would be well advised to improve their fitness. This could include losing weight, increasing cardiovascular efficiency, and muscle tone. It all kind of goes together.

Of course there are other, more dramatic factors in air consumption, like a person's size and dive technique. Small women who are excellent divers will always consume less air than large men, no matter how fit they are, or how good they are at diving. Divers who exert themselves unnecessarily and/or experience anxiety in the water will use more air than they would if they were calm and controlled.

Comparing one person's consumption to another's is pointless. The relevant discussion is "how do I improve my air consumption" and fitness is a factor. Let's say there is an excellent diver who gets winded easily and is 50 libs overweight. If that same diver lost those 50 lbs and got in better cardiovascular shape, he would definitely use less air diving. If he included swimming in that pursuit and got better at swimming, the decrease in air consumption would likely be even better.