Has anyone tried one of these? Are they a load of crap or are the effects similar to those of an altitude tent?
Has anyone tried one of these? Are they a load of crap or are the effects similar to those of an altitude tent?
If you are going to compete at altitude, you might get some benefit from using the device while training, but if it is what I think it is and you use it just sitting around--forget about it.
J Appl Physiol. 2004 May;96(5):1800-7. Epub 2003 Dec 12. Related Articles, Links
Click here to read
Intermittent normobaric hypoxia does not alter performance or erythropoietic markers in highly trained distance runners.
Julian CG, Gore CJ, Wilber RL, Daniels JT, Fredericson M, Stray-Gundersen J, Hahn AG, Parisotto R, Levine BD.
Sports Medicine Institute International, Palo Alto, California 94300, USA.
This study was designed to test the hypothesis that intermittent normobaric hypoxia at rest is a sufficient stimulus to elicit changes in physiological measures associated with improved performance in highly trained distance runners. Fourteen national-class distance runners completed a 4-wk regimen (5:5-min hypoxia-to-normoxia ratio for 70 min, 5 times/wk) of intermittent normobaric hypoxia (Hyp) or placebo control (Norm) at rest. The experimental group was exposed to a graded decline in fraction of inspired O2: 0.12 (week 1), 0.11 (week 2), and 0.10 (weeks 3 and 4). The placebo control group was exposed to the same temporal regimen but breathed fraction of inspired O2 of 0.209 for the entire 4 wk. Subjects were matched for training history, gender, and baseline measures of maximal O2 uptake and 3,000-m time-trial performance in a randomized, balanced, double-blind design. These parameters, along with submaximal treadmill performance (economy, heart rate, lactate, and ventilation), were measured in duplicate before, as well as 1 and 3 wk after, the intervention. Hematologic indexes, including serum concentrations of erythropoietin and soluble transferrin receptor and reticulocyte parameters (flow cytometry), were measured twice before the intervention, on days 1, 5, 10, and 19 of the intervention, and 10 and 25 days after the intervention. There were no significant differences in maximal O2 uptake, 3,000-m time-trial performance, erythropoietin, soluble transferrin receptor, or reticulocyte parameters between groups at any time. Four weeks of a 5:5-min normobaric hypoxia exposure at rest for 70 min, 5 days/wk, is not a sufficient stimulus to elicit improved performance or change the normal level of erythropoiesis in highly trained runners.
Publication Types:
* Clinical Trial
* Randomized Controlled Trial
PMID: 14672967 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
I have talked with numerous people who have been helped by IHT. Perhaps the study didn't consider all the variables involved in improving performance?
dispassionate observer wrote:
I have talked with numerous people who have been helped by IHT. Perhaps the study didn't consider all the variables involved in improving performance?
I give you a well controlled study and you give me "I have talked with numerous people."?
and perhaps the numerous people you talked with were using IHT but it had nothing to do with improving their performance. That is why one needs controls.
On the flipside and from a practical standpoint, I think that if someone finds something that works for him/her that the person should consider maintaining its use, but just make sure that it is the intervention that is working and not just the natural training effect.
I recall a friend who starting taking some supplement and said he had gotten faster over a 3 month period. The guy had completely ignored that he had added some intensity to his training and that probably accounted for far more of the improvement than some "natural" supplement.
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