gcarter
Contributor
Cold makes a real difference for sure. Cold water to warm makes a 0.10 - 0.20 difference for me.
Controlling and reducing air consumption
- Thread starter Sbiriguda
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Fruitographer
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Just because your diving doesn't mean it will improve to an acceptable rate. Nor does the idea of forgetting about it. Staying calm and controlling your movement with the least amount of exertion possible is the best way. I learned this through free diving and it has helped me tremendously. I broke my back in a parachute accident and swam for physical therapy for a year. Each day after therapy I would practice swimming the length of the pool and see how I could go further and further on one breath. Now I'm to the point where I can dive open water and have dove with somebody who had a scooter that was relatively good with their SAC while I kicked and still had more gas than them at the end of the dive. I pay close attention to keeping control of my breathing and relax as much as possible. Imagine it like a meditation. Another thing I do is practice moving and walking while holding my breathe to see what way of moving will allow me to accomplish the most on one breathe. Obviously you should not hold your breathe while scuba diving though.
I agree with everyone about trim and buoyancy and if your fighting that the whole time you'll never be able to relax and control your breathing. Fitness and cardio is also extremely important like some one else already pointed out.
I agree with everyone about trim and buoyancy and if your fighting that the whole time you'll never be able to relax and control your breathing. Fitness and cardio is also extremely important like some one else already pointed out.
In the meanwhile, I am still trying to improve my air consumption skills.
The problem in my case seems to be I am not relaxed while breathing and I still don't breathe correctly. I use 2 kg of weight in the pool and 4 kg in the sea (so correct), I don't scull with my hands, I have a correct posture. I am still improving my frog kick which is not correct, I tend to bend my knees, while I have been told the right movement would be moving only the ankles and then the fins "like a seal". Still, I don't think this is the problem I applied the technique of counting: I count "one-thousand-one" "one-thousand-two" "one-thousand-three" while inhaling and "one-thousand-four" "one-thousand-five" "one-thousand-six" "one-thousand-seven" "one-thousand-eight" while exhaling. Until now this technique didn't change much my air consumption, there must be something I am missing. Yesterday in the pool I started with 200 bar and ended with 130 bar in only 30 min (not good...). I was also making some exercises with DSMB, so inflating it could have an impact, but I don't think so
The strange thing is that I am not anxious underwater. When I do hovering, mask and reg removals exercises, etc. I feel calm and relaxed, also without mask or during exercises with secondary regs when the air from the tank is off
The problem is I probably just breath to fast. My inhale / exhale cycle is too short
The problem in my case seems to be I am not relaxed while breathing and I still don't breathe correctly. I use 2 kg of weight in the pool and 4 kg in the sea (so correct), I don't scull with my hands, I have a correct posture. I am still improving my frog kick which is not correct, I tend to bend my knees, while I have been told the right movement would be moving only the ankles and then the fins "like a seal". Still, I don't think this is the problem I applied the technique of counting: I count "one-thousand-one" "one-thousand-two" "one-thousand-three" while inhaling and "one-thousand-four" "one-thousand-five" "one-thousand-six" "one-thousand-seven" "one-thousand-eight" while exhaling. Until now this technique didn't change much my air consumption, there must be something I am missing. Yesterday in the pool I started with 200 bar and ended with 130 bar in only 30 min (not good...). I was also making some exercises with DSMB, so inflating it could have an impact, but I don't think so
The strange thing is that I am not anxious underwater. When I do hovering, mask and reg removals exercises, etc. I feel calm and relaxed, also without mask or during exercises with secondary regs when the air from the tank is off
The problem is I probably just breath to fast. My inhale / exhale cycle is too short
Last edited:
Fastmarc
Just drifting along...
Are you in a state of excitement during a dive or is diving a relaxing activity?
For me it's the latter. I find it very relaxing and kind of a zen experience. As someone that meditates, I kinda look to diving in that light. How I dive and my gas consumption reflects this I think. Even if I have to be very active during a dive (eg. swim against a current), I quickly return to this state.
I find most people I come across usually are pretty excited before, during and after.
How excited you are during a dive will obviously impact you consumption.
The strange thing is I feel relaxed in water. I enjoy watching around and I don't feel any anxiety when I remove the mask or the regs
Water all around doesn't give me a sensation of choking
I probably just breathe too fast. They also told me it is relatively normal due to my limited experience
Perhaps I also move too much. I would like to try to stay on the bottom of the pool completely still for some minutes, just to understand how much is my consumption in let's say 5 minutes if I am completely still. Just to isolate how much is my air consumption if I exclude any factor that might interfere
I am also thinking of making some exercise in the pool, just swimming on the surface. In the pool when doing scuba with the tank a good air consumption rate would be more or less 10 bars every 10 minutes at surface and then multiplying by the ATA of average dive depth. If I calculate how much air I can inhale while swimming slowly at the surface and then how fast I am supposed to exhale perhaps I can improve my air consumption while swimming instead of diving. This would be easier for practical reasons and it can be done much more frequently in the pool also when I don't have the gear
Water all around doesn't give me a sensation of choking
I probably just breathe too fast. They also told me it is relatively normal due to my limited experience
Perhaps I also move too much. I would like to try to stay on the bottom of the pool completely still for some minutes, just to understand how much is my consumption in let's say 5 minutes if I am completely still. Just to isolate how much is my air consumption if I exclude any factor that might interfere
I am also thinking of making some exercise in the pool, just swimming on the surface. In the pool when doing scuba with the tank a good air consumption rate would be more or less 10 bars every 10 minutes at surface and then multiplying by the ATA of average dive depth. If I calculate how much air I can inhale while swimming slowly at the surface and then how fast I am supposed to exhale perhaps I can improve my air consumption while swimming instead of diving. This would be easier for practical reasons and it can be done much more frequently in the pool also when I don't have the gear
I will update on some exercises I am making
Target consumption: 10 bars every 10 minutes (the pool is 3.9 m or less in some points)
Exercise 1
10 minutes on the bottom of the pool staying completely still, just laying down
Consumption: 10 bar in 10 min (not good...)
Exercise 2
Swimming in intervals of 10 minutes each and recording start and end bars for each interval
Consumption; more or less 10 bars every 7 or 8 minutes
While swimming I tried to keep optimal conditions (slowing down, relaxing, weight of 2 kg, avoiding making exercises that could increase air consumption, etc.)
Strangely, it seems by now that flutter kick swimming done slowly implies lower air consumption than frog kick swimming anyway I want to check more extensively
Target consumption: 10 bars every 10 minutes (the pool is 3.9 m or less in some points)
Exercise 1
10 minutes on the bottom of the pool staying completely still, just laying down
Consumption: 10 bar in 10 min (not good...)
Exercise 2
Swimming in intervals of 10 minutes each and recording start and end bars for each interval
Consumption; more or less 10 bars every 7 or 8 minutes
While swimming I tried to keep optimal conditions (slowing down, relaxing, weight of 2 kg, avoiding making exercises that could increase air consumption, etc.)
Strangely, it seems by now that flutter kick swimming done slowly implies lower air consumption than frog kick swimming anyway I want to check more extensively
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