Correct breathing pattern

[ChimChim75]

Will making adjustments to a 2nd stage air flow valve significantly affect air use as well? If so, is it better to have more or less resistance?

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Will making adjustments to a 2nd stage air flow valve significantly affect air use as well? If so, is it better to have more or less resistance?

1.) It is not better to have more resistance at the 2nd stage (or anywhere) in order to try to reduce air use. Your body "needs what it needs", and trying to artificially reduce its need for air will cause other problems, including (you guessed it) increased need for air

2.) Anything that decreases the work of breathing is a good thing. Will adjusting the flow at the 2nd stage significantly decrease air use? Nope. Probably not for most regulators. The reasons and cures for most "air-hoggery" are well outlined in the previous posts.

 

[InTheDrink]

Two things:

1. Get comfy. Spend time underwater, sitting on the bottom if necessary, so that being underwater doesn't rise your heart rate. Get comfy.

2. I've found that music helps me a lot. Listen to low/medium tempo songs you love and play them over in your head. It helps with the breathing part.

But first and foremost get comfy. It's when heart rates increase that things become more difficult to deal with in my, novice, opinion. Most things you're trying to do underwater aren't difficult if you were on land. The difference is being underwater. Ergo get comfy there first and the rest will become lots easier. 0.02.

J

 

[InTheDrink]

Sorry #3
Go as slow as you can with everything. Diving is the opposite of swimming. Slow everything. There's no rush, you see more when you look around. And the more you focus on what's around the less you focus on breathing and it starts being natural. When I am anxious I focus on some thing or activity and my breathing returns to normal. But point #1 is most important for me. Get comfy.

 

[XS-NRG]

I doubt the typical basic scuba diver even understands how impressive a breathing rate of less than 4 breaths per minute is, but I just have to say - very impressive. I know a petite instructor named Cindy that nears 4 bpm when relaxed and I thought she was suffering brain damage

I just tried this and with absolutely no effort I was already at 4 Breaths Per Minute. The easiest way to think about this relates to meditation and the metaphor of making your bed. Everyone knows how to make their bed; throw the sheet in the air and it gathers air and then slowly falls back down. Think of your breathing as the same. The inhale is the throw in the air, as the bed sheet reaches the top of its peak slow your inhaling (but keep imaging the bed sheet going up just a bit higher and naturally flowing), your inhale will stop/pause (but more so it will just become severely reduced), then as the bed sheet falls you are exhaling very slowly and continuously but much slower than the inhale. Once the sheet hits the bed (imagine watching all the final little pockets of air subside) you think your lungs are empty you will stop/pause (again it will just be a very reduced exhale) then repeat. You don't actually ever stop at the apex of the breath whether inhaling or exhaling.

Your breath is just a giant waveform. Slow, continuous and flows at an even rate. The frequency is long and curvy, there are no sharp changes to the parabolic curve, although the exhale is considerably longer.

Looking at this image you will see that the top sinewave is natural (the way your breath and the bed sheet would be), the second sinewave is what it would look like if you actually stopped and paused at the apex of each breath (both inhale and exhale). Clearly the top one is the way you would want to breathe, just remember that the apex is severely reduced but not fully stopped.

Doing this exercise my heart rate is about 40-50 BPM. Using a different technique I learned in martial arts I can get down to 30-40 BPM heart rate but I wouldn't recommend that while diving


[EDIT]Holy thread revival, didn't notice the date, I guess this was supposed to be in the thread that linked to this one.

 

[supergaijin]

I try to tell every diver that I'm with about "proper" breathing for scuba diving. Slow and deep- but just like the OP has asked; How slow is slow? And how deep is deep?

Relaxation is key to diving, correct weighting is very important but breathing control is paramount. As an instructor and guide I purposely dive overweighted by a couple of kg or so and for me it's not such a big deal to have an extra litre or 2 in the BCD to compensate- but when diving against current I have to be very focussed on trim and efficient kicking.

Back to breathing. Your first 50 bar disappear in a flash for a number or reasons.
One is temperature of the water if you are diving in the tropics. A tank filled to 200bar in 32 degree air temp, will lose a bit when immersed in 28 degree water.
Secondly most divers are not as relaxed as they should be when entering the water. Maybe it's the added effort of getting in to equipment, maybe a surface swim- maybe it's the divemaster revving people up. If possible calm your mind in that period after gearing up and before hitting the water. Once in the water (if you have time) take a few deep breaths of free air, then replace the reg and start your descent. Know the steps of a good descent in control, inflating as you go down to control your speed and prevent problems with equalisation.

When possible I stop a few metres underwater for a minute or so for people to sort themselves out and adjust. In that minute concentrate on slowing your breathing, get your balance, turn on camera if you have one etc. before heading to depth. This is possible on many tropical reefs but not very practical in current or diving on wrecks etc. If you have the chance- do it.

At depth try to minimise your movements- focus on efficient kicking using the full stroke of your fins. Like using a hand-saw to cut wood, a full draw of the saw is more efficient than rapid strokes which will quickly tire you.

For breathing a good 4 seconds to breathe in and breathe out. Most people are able to extend their inhalation much longer than their exhalation. The inhalation is also important. If you double the time it takes for you to draw a full breath- you've already added a quatre of air to your tank. Double both inhalation and exhalation and you've doubled your air supply.

Imagine sucking air through a straw- imagine sipping a hot drink. It takes some practise but you can practise anywhere at any time. It may sound a bit weird to your partner but in bed as you're getting ready to go to sleep is the best time. Underwater you want your body to be as relaxed as when you're about to sleep.

Concentrate on slowing down your breathing in the first few minutes of the dive and you'll add an extra 10mins at the end. Creating a good "rythmn" of breathing will increase it more. Slowing down your movements and increasing your efficiency will do more still and pretty soon you'll be surfacing with a solid third of your gas from pretty much any recreational dive in good conditions.

 

[gsk3]

Sorry #3
Go as slow as you can with everything. Diving is the opposite of swimming. Slow everything. There's no rush, you see more when you look around. And the more you focus on what's around the less you focus on breathing and it starts being natural. When I am anxious I focus on some thing or activity and my breathing returns to normal. But point #1 is most important for me. Get comfy.

Actually slowing down would benefit most swimmers also . Like diving, the hardest thing to do is stay still and balanced, butonce you can do it you move much more efficiently.

 

[Prostardiver]

Breathe in
Relax
Breathe out
Repeat as needed
Now go blow bubbles and have a great time looking at the nice fishies instead of your breathing.