How Deep Breathing Improves a Scuba Diver’s Health
Breathing is vital for our existence. If we don’t breathe, we die, it’s that simple. But did you know that all of us breathe an average of 20,000 times every day? Now multiply this by the 365 days in a year. You breathe 7,300,000 times a year. You will still have to add the number of years you live (your age). Amazing, isn’t it?
Breathing delivers oxygen to every cell in our body, from the brain to all other vital organs. The body cells must be oxygenated to receive the nutrients they need to function well. Lack of oxygen is the number one killer of cells. You are likely to face several health issues if your body is not getting adequate oxygen.
Importance of Deep Breathing
Deep Breathing should be a part of our everyday life. It lengthens our life and can give us more energy too. Breathing deeply is a well-known stress reliever and has many health benefits. However, in our high stress busy lives, we often breathe very shallowly most of the time. But with a little effort, deep breathing can become an easy and unconscious part of our daily life.
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It also promotes smooth blood circulation, lowers blood pressure, and improves strength and endurance. Fast and shallow breathing does not circulate sufficient oxygen for the body, and this can lead to stress, anxiety, fatigue, and a weaker immune system.
By making a conscious decision to focus on our breath for a part of each day, we can make it so that we regularly breathe deeper without having to think about it at all.
Deep breathing is very useful for a scuba diver. That’s why a diver must practice deep breathing exercises. And in fact, underwater is a great place to practice deep breathing.
The fact is that, going underwater allows you to inhale and exhale deeper. Scuba diving is one way to improve your breathing techniques. Scuba divers are trained to breathe slowly and deeply while diving, almost all the time. We are encouraged to do so because the air in the tank will last longer. And naturally, if we have more air, we would be able to spend more time underwater and look at all those amazing marine life and attractions.
However, most of us take our breathing for granted. People think that breathing is not a big deal. But in reality, it is a BIG DEAL!
Best Deep Breathing Technique During Descend
- Slowly (like whistling) exhale while deflating your BCD
- Go on exhaling slowly until your head is 50 cm under the surface
- Stop deflating your BCD after 50 cm of depth even if you have more air in it
- When you need to inhale, do it. But not lungful: Slowly and steady
- You will go on your descent while exhaling, slow down and even stop while inhaling and so forth
- You should NOT be “falling“, you should BE “soaring” like a leave.
- This will give you the chance for equalization (both mask and ear) and save air by moving slow (less oxygen need)
Best Deep Breathing Technique During the Dive
- Inhale for 4 seconds slowly
- Pause for 2 seconds (I am not talking about holding your breath)
- Exhale for 4 seconds
If there is an obstacle in front of you, like a giant rock, you can shorten the 3rd steps. This way, you can use your lungs for this obstacle. Then you can exhale fully again and follow these 3 steps. The idea here is to full your lungs that will dissolve as much oxygen as possible during the dive. On the land, you are inhaling and exhaling for 2 seconds. But saturating your lungs with oxygen is important when we are talking about the underwater.
Best Deep Breathing Technique During Ascent
- Inhale for 3 seconds
- Never ever hold your breath
- Exhale for 4 seconds
- Be sure that you are exhaling fully
It is important to learn deep breathing. It may sound silly, but the truth is that, many people do not breathe properly. It’s that much more important for scuba divers that they know how to breathe right in the water.
If you are going scuba diving soon then you should check out our best waterproof cameras section as it contains very useful tips and reviews on the best possible caneras available to buy.