How to control breathing while descending?

[diver0008]

Maybe. I don't know if some dive ops would like people moving about before told to do so. But maybe it would be OK--I never thought about it or seen that happen on any charter I've taken.

There are many ways to prepare for a dive. On boat dives, some people show up on the pier already in their wetsuit. On boat rides out I've often seen people gearing up as soon as they're aboard, and are in their BCD's and fins ASAP. Others, like me, ask the DM or captain for a 5 minute warning, and get set up during that time. To each his own.

Someone also has to be the last one in the water; I never mind being the one. I also like to take a moment floating on the surface to get my mask just right, and make sure all my gear is where I like it before I deflate and descend, and I descend slowly. I will not be rushed with any of this.

Someone also has to be the last one back in the boat. Again, no problems, and often the case is, it's me, after leisurely sitting back and watching divers disappear one by one up the ladder.

I really don't think that any recreational activity that requires training and the hiring of a professional crew to assist in its execution benefits from or does its customers any service with an impatient attitude. I would also extend that to fellow divers, but I've yet to meet one, although sometimes a good photo op will dictate some divers' aberrant behaviour. Aside from that though, an impatient scuba diver seems like an oxymoron. Eager, sure; aren't we all?

 

[cmrangel]

+1 on what DevonDiver said. I have seen first hand the effects of staying vertical vs horizontal. I have a friend who was taking OW class and we were hoping to be dive buddies so I was hanging around. For the first couple dives he was anxious and would descend vertically feet first. He would then abort and go up complaining that he could not catch his breath. We really thought he was going to fail the OW class. The dive instructor got him to not hang around on the surface (vertical) and get horizontal on descent ... problem solved. Now he has more experience and has no issues.

 

[TMHeimer]

Murky Waters, Oh, I agree with you. I just haven't seen gearing up on a boat before the crew said time to gear up. But I haven't been on that many charters over the years.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Maybe other divers hate waiting for you? Just a guess...

Oh, I would expect they do--I didn't mean to imply I thought otherwise. People who feel a need to take their time should consider avoiding the "hot drop" kind of dive for both their own benefit and that of other divers on the boat.

 

[Lorenzoid]

You don't have to speed up; just start gearing up earlier.

I disagree. One can be fully geared up, having gone through their normal gear check, etc., and then be expected, when the DM gives the signal it's your turn, to scramble out of your seat, shuffle across the deck, and jump in, so the diver behind you can do the same, and so on. Bam bam bam. You jump in, you're already breathing hard, and now you have to keep in mind someone is jumping in right behind you as you hurry to descend, adding to the anxiety of it all. It can be difficult if you're not accustomed to it.

 

[Doby45]

I disagree. One can be fully geared up, having gone through their normal gear check, etc., and then be expected, when the DM gives the signal it's your turn, to scramble out of your seat, shuffle across the deck, and jump in, so the diver behind you can do the same, and so on. Bam bam bam. You jump in, you're already breathing hard, and now you have to keep in mind someone is jumping in right behind you as you hurry to descend, adding to the anxiety of it all. It can be difficult if you're not accustomed to it.

If it is true drift or true hot drop you are not dropping on top of each other. If you simply do not like that style of diving, don't do it. I can go out on a spearo trip and they will drop 10 divers with spearguns and some O2 safety bottles in about 2 minutes. Even faster if they use both sides of the boat to drop divers. All of the "anchored" boat trips I have been out on they allow you to pretty much drop when ready and how you want to. DiveMaster stands at the side they want you to drop in from and tells you "The pool is open!" I have seen people that fight to get to drop first and people who have sat and calmly geared up and then waddled over to the side. So more to the point if you do not like to be "rushed" I would say you need to avoid known drift dives and stick with anchored boat dives.

 

[Boaty McBoatface]

You don't have to speed up; just start gearing up earlier.

Yeah, I do this so I can move slowly and relax more as the dive time nears.

Some good advice I got from my OW instructor was (1) set up all your gear at the dock (easier, and a better place to discover any problems), and (2) when gearing up stay 1 step ahead of the dive master (if he/she has their wetsuit on their lower body, mine is fully on; if theirs is fully on, I've also got my boots and weights on; etc.).

 

[Lorenzoid]

So more to the point if you do not like to be "rushed" I would say you need to avoid known drift dives and stick with anchored boat dives.

Exactly what I recommended in previous posts.

 

[Boaty McBoatface]

Folks..

CO2 retention = "air hunger + anxiety"

It also causes rapid-onset CO2 narcosis on/after descent.

If your respiration is elevated due to increased physical demand, you need to ease the workload of, and resistance to, respiration.

Assuming properly functioning regulators, there should be far more respiration workload from the pressure differential between mouth and lungs when vertical at the surface, compared to breathing from a regulator when submerged horizontally.

The lungs are submerged >40cm below the surface and your diaphragm has to work harder to compensate for overcoming that hyperbaric pressure.

Don't believe me? Try going down 40cm and breathing from a hose pipe to the surface..

Your heart also has to work harder to pump blood down to the lower extremities. Don't under-estimate that added demand...

The physiological demands are much harder than having to work to inhale against the crack-pressure of a regulator if fully submerged and horizontal.

While at the surface in a vertical position, swimmers lungs are at a greater pressure than surface air, and they must breathe against negative pressure caused by their immersion. While this is occurring, their heart is additionally stressed due to a shift of blood from the extremities, to their chest cavity, also caused by immersion.
DAN - Advances in Immersion Pulmonary Edema Studies 2017
​

(That article is also WELL worth reading for an understanding of IPE.. an increasingly critical concern for divers..)

Also, at the surface, most (nearly all?) novice divers make a lot of involuntary movements (especially needless finning and sculling) that markedly increase exertion and, thus, respiratory demand.

If you're relaxed.. and still.. and not getting swamped, splashed or fighting current... at the surface... then it's acceptable to rest and relax.. to normalise breathing, before descent.

It also pays dividends to 'lay back' when relaxing on the surface. .. as this raises the submerged depth of the lungs and reduces breathing workload.

Nonetheless, any perceived 'ease' of breathing at the surface with the regulator removed is more of a psychological than physiological benefit.

More often than not the underlying issue is physiological... so addressing the psychological niceties (which demand an entirely opposing course of action) is demonstrably counter-productive in achieving a desirable resolution.

If surface conditions aren't optimal... or if you find yourself exerted for any reason.. and not recovering a relaxed respiration... then it can pay dividends to get down a few feet and chill out there.

The emphasis is on being neutrally buoyant, to cut out exertion; and being in horizontal trim to reduce the effect of mouth-lungs pressure differential on respiratory demand.

I accept that this advice is, indeed, counter-intuitive to what most people might expect.. but I've seen it 1000 times... and seen it benefit divers as many times.

Needless to say... it assumes the individual is capable of getting down a few feet.. getting neutral and horizontal... and that competency is woefully lacking after many OW courses, and beyond.

Some really cool info there, thank you! Seems like the key question for the OP is to ask himself whether or not the increased respiration is due to psychological apprehension.

Another suggestion I heard from an instructor (haven't had the chance to test it, myself) is to make sure one is fully *exhaling*. Easy not to do when you already feel like you can't catch your breath. The idea, I think, was related to your first point -- gotta first get rid of the CO2 that's inducing your heavy breathing.

Also, I now realize that because my BCD is a back inflate model I'm already floating on my back most of the time. So, there's usually little of the pressure differential on my lungs. I wonder, then, whether the OP has a wraparound BCD that's fully inflated at the surface and physically restricting his breathing.

Good info, thank you!

 

[boulderjohn]

Maybe. I don't know if some dive ops would like people moving about before told to do so. But maybe it would be OK--I never thought about it or seen that happen on any charter I've taken.

I am a notoriously slow dresser--always have been, and I have no explanation. When I was in high school, I fairly ran down the halls at the end of my last class to get to the locker room for football practice, and I would be one of the first ones there. I dressed as fast as I could, and I was usually one of the last ones out on the practice field.

When I am with a group diving at our favorite inland site in New Mexico, I am always one of the slowest in gearing up, even though I am not wasting time.

When I dive off a boat in Florida, knowing that, I show up early and start gearing up early. I am half done before most people get on the boat. I am done and ready to go comfortably ahead of most people as a result.