Skip breathing?

[ucfdiver]

Could someone explain exactly what skip breathing is?

I'll intentionally lower my SAC while scootering just by giving some thought to slow, controlled breaths. Another thread made me think this is what some people are considering skip breathing, I always thought it was breath holding to the point where you're retaining CO2?

 

[nadwidny]

The explanation is there in the other thread. This is hardly a topic for T2T; doesn't matter how dead this section is.

 

[Cave Diver]

Could someone explain exactly what skip breathing is?

I'll intentionally lower my SAC while scootering just by giving some thought to slow, controlled breaths. Another thread made me think this is what some people are considering skip breathing, I always thought it was breath holding to the point where you're retaining CO2?

Skip breathing is when you take a deep breath then intentionally hold it in an effort to conserve gas. You are "skipping a breath" because you're holding when you would normally breathe instead.

*I* don't equate this the same as taking long, slow, measured breaths or taking a brief pause in between inhalation/exhalation. One technique that I've been taught to avoid doing this is to focus on your exhale by doing a long, slow one til you have fully exhaled then relaxing and just letting your lungs fill back up normally vs. trying to take a deep breath then only exhaling partially. The first technique helps ensure a full gas exchange while the second can leave some "dead air" in the bottom part of your lungs that never really gets exchanged.

I can't prove it's worth medically or scientifically, but anecdotally on dives where I've found my stress level or workload to start increasing, making a conscious effort to use that technique seems to help.

 

[Dive-aholic]

There's a fine line between skip breathing and taking a brief pause. I take long, slow, deep breaths and briefly hold them. However, I do find that sometimes I hold them a little too long. If I do that too much, I usually pay for it with a headache.

 

[ucfdiver]

The explanation is there in the other thread. This is hardly a topic for T2T; doesn't matter how dead this section is.

Just posted it in here in case someone decided to post a "how to".