Proper hook breathing with video

baiyoke said:

I've seen many people not doing proper hook breathing. And I've heard other people on db saying the same thing. I think it's a general problem in many near-limit dives, competitions and BO that people have just not realized, learnt and trained how to properly HOOK-breath.

I'm not claiming to be an expert myself, but I think this video just really well ilustrate what a really forceful hook looks like...:blackeye Great video if people needs a reminder...

[ame=[media=youtube]tMVNWZ4FzwM[/media] to 9G's! (or how to not G-LOC!) - YouTube[/ame]

I also wonder how many people do the forceful contraction of arms and legs??? Might be more needed for in a fighter jet, but still might make a difference in those few intense seconds...

I think perhaps some BO's could be preventd, and new PB's made if more people were doing monster hook breaths... What do you think?

Click to expand...

Sorry, that youtube address doesn't seem to work

here's the link to the video
I'm not sure if we should do it exactly the same way as jet pilots. They have to cope with huge g-force, we don't. However, I could not find a good description of proper recovery breathing for freedivers. I do it as follows: after surfacing I try not to exhale more than 40-50% of air, then I do deep inspiration followed by relaxation of inspiratory muscles with closed glottis for half a second. Then I repeat the whole sequence three times. Is it the correct way to do it?

When surfacing from a static or dynamic I do not exhale, I only inhale 3 times in a hook breath way. This is because after a long dive the O2 is replaced by CO2, taking up less space in my lungs (~ -0,5L) (perhaps due to contractions I might have swallowed some air too) and therefore I do not feel full of air when I surface, allowing me to inhale some air right away, keeping up the blood pressure as the fresh O2 gets into the bloodstream and brain (takes about 8-10 seconds), then the surface protocol.

For depth it's a different story.
You see when a dive is deep and long, the lungs full with plasma reducing it's volume. So reaching the surface one feels really full even though the O2 is replaced by the less voluminous CO2. Therefore I exhale a little bit (0,5-1L) just a few meters before surfacing. Then it's like in the pool, inhaling (without exhaling!) and keeping the pressure up, waiting for the fresh O2 to reach the brain, then Surface protocol.