How do you stop being an air-monster?

[NotDeadYet]

One thing that newish divers forget is to simply slow down. Don't do anything fast, moving, turning, reaching for something... anything. Slow everything right down.

I've been doing freediving training for the last three months but as all my dive kit is stranded somewhere in the Highlands I haven't dived on scuba in that time to say if it has had an effect.

There are a lot of effects that happen with freedive training. Haemoglobin and haematocrit levels can increase, blood shifts away from the extremities, muscles begin to work anaerobically (i.e. without free oxygen)... my personal favourite is spleen contractions Most of these are temporary effects though and are only present after the reflexes have been stimulated (through facial immersion, pressure on the diaphragm, etc) so not really practical for scuba.

However... you do learn exercises that train the muscles you use for breathing. Lots of them come from yoga. Freediving courses in the UK are expensive but yoga lessons aren't, couple of quid a time. Yoga for Athletes is a good read too, written by the ex-Hungarian Olympic coach, good if you don't want to be seen buying a chick book

One of the exercises you get taught is apnea walking, basically seeing how far you can walk on one breath. Combined with other training you can really see a difference after a few weeks. Some freedivers use rebreathers with really low setpoints (0.08 bar) to train on too. But like I said earlier, how useful any of this is to scuba I don't know. Some of it is aimed at making the body more efficient in oxygen use but mostly it is aimed at making you more CO2 tolerant (which is what creates the urge to breathe). In scuba, you shouldn't have to deal with that on an everyday basis unless your kit isn't working right and oxygen levels at depth are very high so is probably of little use.

If nothing else though, it does teach you to manage stress. The first time you realise you are at 20m and with only the air in your lungs to get you back to the surface, no back up, no bail out, no octopus, it's quite an eye opener. It's given me a lot more confidence with diving singles as I now know if I can swim to 20m+ and back on a lungful then I should be able to manage a one way trip from 30m.

If you get the opportunity to do a course then go for it. In 15yrs of diving, the best dive I've ever done was on a freedive in Thailand earlier this year.

Cheers,

Stuart

[Lou]

The one thing that helped me and also helped Caroline later on was the tip to start counting your breath for a few dives. Breath in steadily and comfortably for a count of 5 and out for a count of 8.

After a couple of dives doing this consciously you can see a real improvement and it becomes natural.

Also, as was said previously, in order to do this you learn to take your time. There is rarely any need to rush underwater!

Lou

[DJL]

Originally Posted by Lou

The one thing that helped me and also helped Caroline later on was the tip to start counting your breath for a few dives. Breath in steadily and comfortably for a count of 5 and out for a count of 8.

This is a good thing to remember for those times when you get stressed or feel uncomfortable underwater! Kinda takes the edge off things.

Dave.

[Narked@50]

As most people have poited out all the good stuff, I only have one little gem to pull out the bag:

Take a good look at your kit configuration and trip.

This is why a car is better on petrol than your average van - aerodynamics, or hydrodynamics in the case of diving.

Get rid of all the crap and dangly stuff, tuck in hoses, use pockets, swim horizontaly and dont fin like you ride a bike.

The difference this can make is remarkable.

James

[darthmoll]

your sac is not bad, but yoga would help you to improve, one of the first things i learned at yoga was how to breath properly, i am not going to try and explain how, you will have to take classes or read a book, but i am sure it would help.

[ray]

Hi/
Get a bigger bottle a 12 is not very big these days, most people I dive with use 15 / 18 's , I wouldn't worry your air consumption is OK.

[AirHog]

Staying out of this one!



Mark

[Violent Ken]

From what a few of you have said, maybe I should stop whinging if 45 mins @ 20m off a 12 is ok. I was just comparing myself to some of the lads I dive with from time to time who always seem to have a substantial amount more than me at the end of every dive. They have been doing it for years though, so if general diving experience helps decrease air consumption that would explain a lot.

[hopper]

Originally Posted by Violent Ken

From what a few of you have said, maybe I should stop whinging if 45 mins @ 20m off a 12 is ok. I was just comparing myself to some of the lads I dive with from time to time who always seem to have a substantial amount more than me at the end of every dive.

45 mins @ 20m off a 12 and the most important thing is you had air left at the end. So your buddies had more left, so what? Keep coming up with enough air left and your doing something right.

I used to be an air guzzler, then I went to the pool everyweek when I wasn't diving. The simple act of breathing underwater, getting used to it, getting more comfortable with it, made all the difference.

[AirHog]

Originally Posted by Violent Ken

From what a few of you have said, maybe I should stop whinging if 45 mins @ 20m off a 12 is ok. I was just comparing myself to some of the lads I dive with from time to time who always seem to have a substantial amount more than me at the end of every dive. They have been doing it for years though, so if general diving experience helps decrease air consumption that would explain a lot.

Dear Mr Violent,
My air consumption is erratic at best. I must admit it seems more stable since I started diving twins, but EVERYONE always comes out with more air than me. If you worry about little things like that when you still have a reserve, my advice is DON'T.
I would agree with some of the comments above about over-thinking the air consumption thing as when you are thinking you are not relaxing and enjoying the dive so your air consumption goes up, so you don't relax and enjoy the dive, so your.....see where this goes?
Since I have become more at ease in the water (pool sessions every week, diving as much as possible) and my skills have got better my air consumption has decreased, in the main. I still have my moments, but I know from past monitoring how to deal with this when it happens - cutting the dive short, or moving up to a shallower depth as two examples.

Just enjoy the diving

Regards

Mark