Before I got opened water qualified I was certified as a freediver. In freediving we spend a lot of time learning diaphragmatic breathing, relaxation and breath control. When I took the opened water course I was happy to discover I was doing really well with buoyancy control and air consumption.
from Brasil: dica maravilhosa! Muito interessante. Vou tentar... Muito obrigado! from Brazil: wonderful tip! Very interesting. I'll try... Thank you very much! (google translator)
Instructors like to say "least weight possible," but it doesn't really pan out in a real dive. They always have me under weight by two or five kilos, and then I struggle to stay down the entire time even with a fully deflated BC. Yet the instructors/guides are always at least 20 kilos heavier than I am just in general, like when walking around on land, because they're just bigger dudes. And even so, they _always_ outlast me on tank consumption. So 5 extra kilos of lead is obviously negligible compared to their superior buoyancy skills.
After 50 years of diving, I have been spending more time with group excursions, dive masters etc. I see divers going .005 mph, flutter kicking and doing everything to lower their consumption like it is a competition to see who surfaces with the highest number on the pressure gauge. This over-focus seems to eliminate some of the fun exploring on a dive. I remember one of my first instructors. She sucked less air diving than I do sleeping. Consumption tests were never a problem. What is the benefit, really, of breathing so little as to diminish mobility? Tech diving I get, but most of us are recreational divers.
James I am struggling With breathing ONLY through the mouth. I’m 9 out of 10% there... I just keep letting a tiny bit out through my nose when I exhale which is causing water to go in my mask. Then I have to surface :/ how do I fix this? I am trying so hard to breathe through just my mouth
I have noticed that people that smoke use less air, i spend almost twice the time under than non smokers! Dont take this as advice to start smoking, it might be becorse my lungs are less effective..
Doing yoga which emphasises diaphragmatic breathing massively improved my SAC rate. Really useful video!
"I'm a big fan of breathing in general" 🤣
Thanks James. Great tips once again. This series is especially helpful for us newer divers!
Instablaster
Excellent tips and your encouragement is so positive 👌👌👌
Thanks a lot
Before I got opened water qualified I was certified as a freediver. In freediving we spend a lot of time learning diaphragmatic breathing, relaxation and breath control. When I took the opened water course I was happy to discover I was doing really well with buoyancy control and air consumption.
Great tips!! Thank you!! 😃
from Brasil: dica maravilhosa! Muito interessante. Vou tentar... Muito obrigado! from Brazil: wonderful tip! Very interesting. I'll try... Thank you very much! (google translator)
Rule Brittania - go James and Mark!
thanks for this important video ..
Great tips Mike
Living in the midwest 2 to 3 hour drive away to decent dive spots ...... local pools closed to scuba for covid but gonna make a way
Thats tough. I think everyone is struggling to stay wet this year.
Thank you James! Nice tips, keep going~
Instructors like to say "least weight possible," but it doesn't really pan out in a real dive. They always have me under weight by two or five kilos, and then I struggle to stay down the entire time even with a fully deflated BC. Yet the instructors/guides are always at least 20 kilos heavier than I am just in general, like when walking around on land, because they're just bigger dudes. And even so, they _always_ outlast me on tank consumption. So 5 extra kilos of lead is obviously negligible compared to their superior buoyancy skills.
After 50 years of diving, I have been spending more time with group excursions, dive masters etc. I see divers going .005 mph, flutter kicking and doing everything to lower their consumption like it is a competition to see who surfaces with the highest number on the pressure gauge. This over-focus seems to eliminate some of the fun exploring on a dive. I remember one of my first instructors. She sucked less air diving than I do sleeping. Consumption tests were never a problem. What is the benefit, really, of breathing so little as to diminish mobility? Tech diving I get, but most of us are recreational divers.
James I am struggling With breathing ONLY through the mouth. I’m 9 out of 10% there... I just keep letting a tiny bit out through my nose when I exhale which is causing water to go in my mask. Then I have to surface :/ how do I fix this? I am trying so hard to breathe through just my mouth
Practice, practice, practice.
I have noticed that people that smoke use less air, i spend almost twice the time under than non smokers!
Dont take this as advice to start smoking, it might be becorse my lungs are less effective..
No. 6 - Don't be 100 pounds overweight.
Amen to that!