When taking a breath before going under water is it better...?

Question

... to take a breath that is much bigger than normal to make up for the air you are not going to get over the next few seconds, or just to take a breath that is a little more than normal.

When I take a big breath and go under water, I feel the need to breathe it out quickly, and I need to have more air.

If I take a slightly bigger breath than normal, i dont feel like I have enough after a few seconds!

So which is better for your body - which one gives you more oxygen?

What do swimmers do?

:o)

Answer 1

hyperventilate, then take a normal size breath. When you are under water breath out slowly. The main trigger for you to breath is the concentration of C02 not the need for 02. So breathing out releases C02 which will help you go a long way

Answer 2

YES

Answer 3

Swimmers and divers hyperventilate.  They take several deep breaths then hold the last one thereby building up the oxygen content of the air they do hold so they can stay under longer.

Just taking a large breath of air fill the lungs to bursting and if you go deep you have to let go of some to keep the pressure off your chest.

Answer 4

Take a bit more than normal because if you take a big breath you'll have to exhale pretty soon

Answer 5

Take more than normal but not a big one or you will be forced to exhale. Once under the water there will be a slight pressure on your chest so don't gulp in too much. Just a bit more than normal.

Answer 6

yes, that's true.....

i think thats much better for me

Answer 7

You will naturally want to come to the surface when the need for air is wanted... DO NOT HYPERVENTILATE.

Just relax before going under the water, if you feel the need to take just a big more air than usual then do, but expel some as you are underwater, that way you are relieving the extra pressure on your lungs.

Remember to relax and enjoy and not worry about it as the human body reacts to having water on the face as to shut down the breathing response, something that we divers have to overcome as we must always breath and never hold out breath under water whilst using scuba gear. We are told that under water NEVER hold your breath and always breathe out when we remove our  breathing regulators.

Answer 8

I'm not a swimmer, but i find this technique the best for holding breath:

~ Hyperventilate until you feel faint.

~Take a final large(ish) breath of air.

~ Be quite disturbed by how long you havent taken a breath  for

Hyperventilating works because it floods your brain with oxygen. You'll feel faint because this is how your brain reacts to there being a little too much oxygen around. You can hold your breath for much longer because your brain is still using up all the excess oxygen that you took up while hyperventilating.

This is also quite fun to try with a stopwatch :D

LATER.

Um, According to wikepedia, this is a really dangerous thing to do, because by hyperventilating, you dont  incease levels of oxygen, just lower your levels of CO2. So This tecnique can apparently casue blackouts underwater, which are obviously not very good.

So PLEASE dont try this technique.

Sorry guys, i didnt know...

Answer 9

Take a normal breath and just go under, when you run out of breath, you will automatically come back up for more air, and then dive back down again.

Answer 10

ok simple anser is whatever feels good... i am a freediver and able to get a crayfish out of a hole for up to 3.30mins. this is by practice and NOT HYPERVENTILATING. i have posted and answer to another similar question with u may find interesting its "how do i train myself to hold by breath better" or go to MY SITE >> www.freedive.webs.com <<<<

Answer 11

I take a normal-to-large size breath and exhale slowly when I have to.

Please -- PLEASE -- do NOT hyperventilate prior to going under. That's how people drown. Hyperventilating prevents your urge to breathe from kicking in -- and you blackout. Please read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallow_wat...

Answer 12

grow gills

Answer 13

It's best to take a deep breath, but do not hyperventilate!

Hyperventilation is quite dangerous, because it doesn't do anything to the oxygen supply - but it drops the CO2 levels down, thus repressing the urge to breathe. Basically, it tricks your body into thinking you don't need to breathe, when you do! What can often happen if/when you hyperventilate before holding your breath is that you will pass out before you even feel the need to breathe.