Altitude Training | Hypoxic Training

Rosalba C. wrote

At present in the western world, knowledge of IHT has been mainly among elite athletes.

A study by Dr John Hellemans, sports-medicine doctor from Christchurch and a world triathlon champion himself, showed that after 15 to 20 daily or twice-daily sessions of IHT lasting 60 to 90 minutes, athletes’ performance improved by 2.9 per cent. Blood tests also showed that IHT stimulated red blood cell and haemoglobin levels and that this correlated with improvements in performance.

Dr Hellemans suggests, “The method of IHT can be strongly recommended for any serious athlete as part of their training and preparation.” Dr Hellemans found that the results of using IHT were particularly successful for athletes suffering from fatigue and overtraining in recovering full functional capacity.

One dramatic case study of an elite triathlete incorporating IHT in his normal training routine over a 14-day period showed a 7.25-second-per-kilometre improvement in performance time. In addition, his resting heart rate dropped from 35 to 28, his weight dropped from 68.7 to 67.9 kilos and his red blood cell count increased from 44 to 51 per cent.

Rosalba C. wrote

Most of us are not elite athletes, therefore being a few seconds faster has no real significance whatsoever. What we do want, however, is to be able to carry out our day-to-day living without fatigue and with ease and enjoyment.

Elite athletes balancing precariously on the pinnacle of human achievement consider themselves lucky to increase performance by three per cent. The good news is that untrained people show an even more dramatic improvement in fitness, energy and endurance when given a course of IHT. In one study with healthy but untrained men, adaptation increased the total amount of work performed on an ergometer by 27 per cent; the maximal output of their heart increased by 15 per cent; their lung capacity increased by up to 40 per cent.

Rosalba C. wrote

In my practice, the main consistent benefit of using a Hypoxicator is improved energy levels.

Judith (not her real name) was one of the first people to complete the course of IHT at the clinic. She was generally healthy but suffered from high blood pressure (which tended to always be a little high even with medication), some asthma, fatigue and insomnia. Although she exercised regularly at the gym three to four times a week and played golf at least twice a week, she often felt extremely tired, after even moderate exercise. After golf she always felt really exhausted and wondered if it was a symptom of menopause. Seeing octogenarians skip up the steps to the clubhouse, she wondered why she felt so tired when she looked so healthy. Her gym sessions left her feeling really tired for about two hours.

After completing 16 sessions of IHT, Judith finds she can do her exercise at a more intense level than she could previously, and without any subsequent fatigue. She says: “My energy and performance levels have increased to a marked degree. Even after extreme effort I am not as tired. I recently spent a few days cross-country skiing at a high altitude. Previously, it would have taken a couple of days for me to acclimatise. After having IHT I found I did not experience the usual headaches or tiredness. I also slept better than I did at altitude.”

Also, throughout the period of having IHT, Judith monitored her blood pressure. Previously it was difficult to stabilise and tended to be 145/95 or sometimes up to 155/100. Now it is consistently lower, at around 125/80 to 135/85, with fewer fluctuations.

R.C. wrote

My own experience with IHT has been fantastic. In my late 40s I have achieved a level of fitness I did not enjoy even in my younger days. There are days when I just feel effervescent with energy and can work all day without total fatigue waiting to meet me afterwards.

After a stressful year of drama and tragedy, I found myself a year ago experiencing palpitations on just walking up a small hill. I felt grief at my lost health and resolved to do what I could to regain it. I began a slow and careful exercise program and was gradually building up a program of running and walking, combined with more time spent in relaxation. Even though I was starting to become fitter and the palpitations had gone, I still didn’t have much endurance. However, a few weeks after starting IHT I noticed the same feeling I had experienced after trekking in the Himalayas: a combination of bliss and bouncy, resilient energy. I found for the first time in my life I could run for 30 minutes without stopping and without breathlessness or gasping. I now go out and do this almost every day — because I want to. I feel more confident that I will be able to remain fully functional and vibrant as I get older.

Rosalba C. wrote

One of the amazing things about adaptation is what’s known as ‘cross adaptation’. Adaptation to one type of stress or load will, to some extent, increase the body’s ability to cope with stresses of another type. It is well know that a regular exercise program is associated with an increased tolerance to stress. Stress-related diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, ulceration of the stomach or duodenum, diabetes, dermatological diseases and disordered immunity have all been shown to have improved outcome with both exercise and IHT. Protection comes because the body becomes more tolerant and resistant to stress.
Dr F Z Meerson, one of the most prolific writers and researchers in the field of Adaptive Medicine, describes in his book Essentials of Adaptive Medicine — Protective Effects of Adaptation the three main mechanisms whereby adaptation to particular stressors protects an organism from damage:

• Fade away of the stress reaction
• Increased activity of the central and peripheral stress
limiting systems
• Desensitisation of target organs

From Rosalba C.

IHT might prove to be of tremendous help for sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). People with CFS frequently suffer from breathlessness, poor aerobic metabolism, lactic acid accumulation after exertion and other indicators of poor oxygen efficiency. Studies have been conducted showing that improving fitness though exercise therapy helps CFS suffers have more energy and general improved functioning.

The problem is that exercise, if overdone, can also easily lead to incapacitation. IHT might prove to be a stepping stone for increasing fitness and functional capacity for people with CFS. The CFS sufferers at our clinic who have completed their acclimatisation to 11 per cent oxygen have all shown marked and even exceptional improvement in their condition over a few months.

Rosalba C. wrote

IHT forms an important branch of an emerging new discipline called Adaptive Medicine. The Russian Academy of Medical Sciences has a Department of Adaptive Medicine, one of its aims being to look at the therapeutic potential of IHT. An International Academy of Adaptive Medicine was formed in 1990 by an interdisciplinary group of scientists and clinicians from many countries including Japan, Australia, Germany and the USA. Its aim is to develop further understanding and share information about the ways in which the adaptive process enables the body to respond to different stress stimuli, with a view to treating and preventing different diseases.

The scientific definition of stress as given by Dr Hans Selye, one of the first researchers to really study stress in the laboratory, is: “A stressor is anything that challenges an organism to adapt.” In this context, heat, cold, physical exercise, electrical stress, lack of food, hypoxia of altitude and even emotional or psychological turmoil are stress factors that can be used to strengthen us if we experience them in amounts we can tolerate and to which we can adapt.

Rosalba C. wrote

Researchers found that IHT technique allowed adaptation to altitude to occur with less stress to the body than continuous exposure to low oxygen. Because the dose and the blood oxygen levels are totally controlled, there is no danger of altitude sickness. The intermittent nature of the hypoxic exposure means the adaptation to lowland is not lost, as is the case in normal acclimatisation to altitude.

Adaptation to intermittent hypoxia has the unique attribute of activating the body’s own internal production of antioxidants in the brain, liver and heart as a result of the frequently repeated re-oxygenation that occurs on breathing room air. This differs from continuous hypoxia, which actually reduces antioxidants because of the decreased need for them in low-oxygen environments.

Rosalba C. wrote

The technique know as Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT), whereby oxygen levels of between 10 and 15 per cent (equivalent to an altitude range of 2500-6000 metres) are administered by a machine known as a Hypoxicator, which separates air through a semi-permeable membrane. The person is asked to breathe the high-altitude air for just a few minutes at a time while their blood oxygen levels are continuously monitored. They then breathe ambient or normal air for a few minutes, giving their body time to adjust back to normal conditions. The time spent alternating between low-oxygen air and normal air is 60 to 90 minutes at a time. The procedure is generally carried out once or twice a day for a total of 16 to 30 sessions.

FULL Article from: Herald Sun

THE Socceroos will spend the last two weeks of their World Cup preparation training at altitude before retreating to a luxury base camp.

Coach Pim Verbeek and his staff have identified the need to train and acclimatise at altitude for the World Cup given several of the tournament venues are at high altitude.

Verbeek and his staff scouted potential training bases earlier this year, but an official Football Federation Australian party gave the plans a tick of approval during a visit to South Africa last week.