Breathing techniques for low air consumption

[Anti-Hero]

CARDIO! -- if you are not a skilled swimmer take some lessons. You should learn the breathe, stroke x 4 then breathe method freestyle. This will get your muscles trained to work with little fuel.

Hit those feet on the street instead of pounding 16 ozers and you'll be amazed how much better you'll become..

Agreed! I started a pretty intense cardio routine 5 days a week, with resistance training 2 of the days on top of cardio and my consumption has fallen dramatically. My resting heart rate went from ~70 bpm to ~58 bpm in 8 weeks. And when rested and relaxed even dips down into the high 40's.

 

[elan]

Or there is another option - change your sex - women usually consume less air

 

[diverdown78]

and if you run out of air, you can overpower your buddy and take his tank!

exactly:d

 

[elan]

To lower your gas consumption, you want to keep your metabolism level as low as possible - as close as how you'd feel lying on the couch at the end of a day:

This exact type of training helped me to lower my SAC

 

[Buoyant1]

This is parallel to what a lot of people have already said...but it works for me...I go to the gym 4-5 times per week, and walk briskly for 60 minutes. (as well as about 15-30 minutes of weight training...nothing crazy, I'm not going for Mr. Universe) I feel I have good stamina while diving, and a good paced dive doesn't have me panting like a nut when I get back. On a relaxing dive, I use much less air because I'm more focused on the dive and my enviroment, and not focused on breathing. If I think about breathing, then I'm breathing too much, it just needs to be natural.

When I first started, I was paranoid about my air consumption. Someone suggested using larger tanks than everyone so I'd start off with more gas, and stop worrying about being the first one to "suck down the 80"...so I tried it and it got my mind set to stop worrying about it.

So when you stop worrying about it, and start enjoying it, and seeing more, than being slightly on edge or over thinking about what you are doing, your dives will become more enjoyable, and your air will be a non issue.

 

[BettyRubble]

I go into the 'meditation' mode when I feel my breathing getting out of control. This happens sometimes if I over-exert or get uncomfortable for any reason.

I just stop, float horizontal facing the sand/bottom, and focus on breathing. Nothing else. Once I'm sufficently 'chilled' I resume 'the dive'. Not so sure my buddies are always pleased but it works for me, especially as a newbie. It also proves I can actually hover! LOL

 

[NoVaScuba]

Since my 16 yr old daughter is getting irritated that her old man is cutting short her dives, it's hard to relax and not worry about it. She also tends to swim faster so I have to keep up. I've considered larger tanks but I won't be able to get them when I travel so that's not much help.

I'm in good shape and work out 5 times a week and have no problem riding my bike 12 miles to work on occasion but I've found that swimming (crawl) tends to wear me out. Also, finning requires a different set of muscles. I found that the public pools will allow lap swimming with mask, snorkel and fins. So I'm going to get a set of training fins (required by the pool) and add some laps a couple of times a week to build up muscles and endurance that are more directly related to diving.

Relaxing in the water is something that will only come with more dives. Working on that.

 

[BettyRubble]

Since my 16 yr old daughter is getting irritating that her old man is cutting short her dives, it's hard to relax and not worry about it. She also tends to swim faster so I have to keep up. I've considered larger tanks but I won't be able to get them when I travel so that's not much help.

I'm in good shape and work out 5 times a week and have no problem riding my bike 12 miles to work on occasion but I've found that swimming (crawl) tends to wear me out. Also, finning requires a different set of muscles. I found that the public pools will allow lap swimming with mask, snorkel and fins. So I'm going to get a set of training fins (required by the pool) and add some laps a couple of times a week to build up muscles and endurance that are more directly related to diving.

Relaxing in the water is something that will only come with more dives. Working on that.

knee cap her . . that'll slow her down! oh wait, did I say that outloud?

 

[NoVaScuba]

knee cap her . . that'll slow her down! oh wait, did I say that outloud?

No, You said it online. That's worse!:shocked2:

 

[BettyRubble]

No, You said it online. That's worse!:shocked2:

No one reads this stuff, right?

Oops! Sorry!