dumpsterDiver
Banned
- Messages
- 9,003
- Reaction score
- 4,652
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
I think that one of the most important ways to quickly reduce air consumption is to deliberately breath slower and deeper. I think this is a more efficient way to breath and I feel that the slower breathing helps to calm the diver which also slows down the metabolism. Another "trick" to lower air consumption is to move slow and if you do start to become out of breath, stop and rest for 15-30 seconds well before the workload becomes at all uncomfortable.
And while I'm on my soap box, it seems that so many divers view a reduced air consumption rate as a metric of how good of a diver someone is. Certainly experienced divers have better consumption than novices, but in my opinion air consumption does not matter too much to me because I plan my dive appropriately.
Who cares how much air I use, I have a big tank and I run out of no-deco time even with nitrox...
Another observation that took me a long time to acquire, "extremely fit and athletic divers CAN use a hell of a lot more air than an unfit one". I've seen thin, very well conditioned student divers, who are very nervous suck up an ungodly amount of air, while the fat, calm lady quitely sips from her tank. I assume that this could be related to a greater tidal volume for a well conditioned athlete.
And lastly, don't we all hear from the fitness gurus that if we increase our muscle mass, then our basal metabolism will increase and we will be happily "burning fat" while we rest? I assume this is true, but doesn't it indicate that the diver with more muscle will naturally burn more air??
And while I'm on my soap box, it seems that so many divers view a reduced air consumption rate as a metric of how good of a diver someone is. Certainly experienced divers have better consumption than novices, but in my opinion air consumption does not matter too much to me because I plan my dive appropriately.
Who cares how much air I use, I have a big tank and I run out of no-deco time even with nitrox...
Another observation that took me a long time to acquire, "extremely fit and athletic divers CAN use a hell of a lot more air than an unfit one". I've seen thin, very well conditioned student divers, who are very nervous suck up an ungodly amount of air, while the fat, calm lady quitely sips from her tank. I assume that this could be related to a greater tidal volume for a well conditioned athlete.
And lastly, don't we all hear from the fitness gurus that if we increase our muscle mass, then our basal metabolism will increase and we will be happily "burning fat" while we rest? I assume this is true, but doesn't it indicate that the diver with more muscle will naturally burn more air??