Controlling and reducing air consumption

[tarponchik]

Wow took 14 pages before CO2 gets mentioned! Its CO2 don't ignore it just because you haven't counted to 5 or 7 if you feel like you need to breathe go ahead and breathe. Regardless of whether or not your wife's fat is white or chicken or if your resting heart rate is low because you were shot while working as a policeman in NY or any of that nonsense.

OK, CO2 got mentioned. So what about it?

 

[Joneill]

OK, CO2 got mentioned. So what about it?

Because respiration, in healthy people, is mainly controlled by CO2 concentrations in the brain and arterial blood...

 

[tarponchik]

Because respiration, in healthy people, is mainly controlled by CO2 concentrations in the brain and arterial blood...

OK, got it. Guys who run out of air in 30 min are breathing heavilly cause they are desperate to get rid of CO2. Correct?

 

[gcarter]

OK, got it. Guys who run out of air in 30 min are breathing heavilly cause they are desperate to get rid of CO2. Correct?

Stop being a d*ck, not helpful.

CO2 is the automatic physiological driver, which you well know. It is not the only factor, which you also well know.

 

[tarponchik]

Stop being a d*ck, not helpful.

CO2 is the automatic physiological driver, which you well know. It is not the only factor, which you also well know.

C'mon, I'm just trying to figure out why @Zi55ou was so happy that someone mentioned CO2.

 

[dmaziuk]

:shrug: It seems our current theory is: we're burning no energy while diving, so the only reason we breathe is to vent the carbon dioxide. It follows that a diver's gas mileage is inversely proportional to their respiratory volume, and once the diver stops sculling, being overweight, panicked, and all those other YOUR GONNA DIE!!! things, the size of their lungs becomes the only factor determining their SAC.

Problem solved, in two easy steps:
1. stop doing YOUR GONNA DIE!!! stuff,
2. get your lungs surgically removed.

 

[The Chairman]

So, where are we with this? The correct technique for breathing is deep and slow? Or ...

It's the "Or..."

• Relax!
• Move slowly.
• Avoid currents.
  • Dodge
  • Dip
  • Dive
  • Duck and...
  • Dodge!
• Stay in the Scuba Position
  • Horizontal
  • In trim
• Relax!
• Adjust your depth with your breathing (not your BCD)
• Frog Kick slowly
• Make small corrections (not big ones)
• Make deliberate corrections (be in control)
• Look more, swim less
  • It's a big ass ocean and you're not going to see it all in one dive
  • Concentrate on finding the small stuff where you're already at!
• Did I mention "Move Slowly"???
• Did I mention to "Relax!"???

 

[The Chairman]

OK, got it. Guys who run out of air in 30 min are breathing heavilly cause they are desperate to get rid of CO2. Correct?

Precisely. It's why the Navy Seal ran out of air on the Grove.

Slow down, you Scuba too fast!
You got to make that little tank last.
Look under the rocks and all the stones.
Doo doo do doo doo: Scuba's groovy!

With apologies to Simon and Garfunkle and all those who love "Feeling Groovy"​

 

[dmaziuk]

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

The best I can offer after a brief search is the claim that "regular exercise can increase the strength and function of your muscles, making them more efficient. Your muscles will require less oxygen to move and they will produce less carbon dioxide. This will immediately reduce the amount of air you will need to breathe in and out for a given exercise" -- where "given exercise" would include walking to the car or drifting along a reef wall, not just swimming a one-minute hundred. Cite: doi: 10.1183/20734735.ELF121

 

[IncreaseMyT]

The best I can offer after a brief search is the claim that "regular exercise can increase the strength and function of your muscles, making them more efficient. Your muscles will require less oxygen to move and they will produce less carbon dioxide. This will immediately reduce the amount of air you will need to breathe in and out for a given exercise" -- where "given exercise" would include walking to the car or drifting along a reef wall, not just swimming a one-minute hundred. Cite: doi: 10.1183/20734735.ELF121

It is also going to make them bigger and if you have more muscle tissue they require more oxygen