Altitude Training - at Sea Level

I placed a clear plastic surgical mask against my face and tried to relax. The mask was linked via an omnious thin tube to a greyish white box about two-foot square called a "hypoxicator", which micro-filters the air to reduce oxygen and remove impurities. My immediate reaction was a panic wondering if had been a good idea to attempt my first Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) session of the year without supervision.

I blinked quietly with the surgical mask on my face as the white box hummed and whirred in the corner of the room. The entire scenario had a ‘Darth Vader-heavy-breathing’ like quality about it..."whoosh, woosh, woosh..."  As the anxiety ebbed away and as I regained control of my imagination, my first five-minute hypoxic session passed without incident. As soon as I took the mask off and began to breathe normal room air the reading on my pulseoximeter indicated my oxygen saturation levels quickly returned back to its base line score of 99%.  I repeated the process 5 more times over the course of the hour and ended my first session feeling suitably ‘enlightened’.

IHT does not deny the role of oxygen in human life. On the contrary, it has been proven that hypoxic training (5-minute sessions of inhaling air that has been filtered to reduce its oxygen content) significantly improves oxygen metabolism in the body and stimulates the body’s defence mechanisms with beneficial responses in our physiology. The remarkable claims made in favour IHT treatment include helping with weight loss, sleeplessness, migraines and asthma attacks.  Many top-level athletes in endurance sports such as the Tour du France train at simulated altitude.

The normal level of oxygen in air at sea level is 21 per cent and during a 'hypoxic session' it is taken steadily down to 9 per cent, the equivalent of the air you would breathe at 21,500 feet / 6400m. If you can be more efficient with your breathing, it takes a load off your body. Your body’s response to the lack of oxygen is that it stimulates the production of red blood cells, giving the blood better oxygen-carrying capacity and lowering the heart-rate. It takes the body more than two weeks to produce new red-blood cells, so in order for intermittent hypoxic training to be effective, treatment involves daily hour-long sessions spread over a 21-day period.

The strategy is that with this ‘pre-acclimatisaton’, my initial few weeks on Everest will, from an acclimatization perspective, be more comfortable as I will be ‘pre-acclimatised’ to the lack of oxygen at altitude. This will leave my body to focus more on getting stronger rather than needing time for the production of increased red bloodcells.