Don’t Waste Money on High Altitude Workout Masks
Altitude training masks are popular training items, mainly because you can look cool like Bane. They supposedly improve your cardiovascular system by mimicking high-altitude workouts like Michael Phelps, who is known to train frequently at high altitudes. Well, don’t hold your breath; save money on a real Bane mask instead.
Presumably, these expensive altitude training masks work by limiting the amount of oxygen available during exercise (or, in fact, anytime you wear it). This might make sense if you are thinking about limiting airflow and how your body must adapt to operate with even less oxygen available. The problem is, science doesn’t support this hypothesis. Not really, anyway.
In response to being at higher altitudes, the body transfers more oxygen to the muscles through some cool physiological adaptations, such as more red blood cells carrying oxygen around your body ( hemoglobin ), a higher concentration of blood vessels (capillary density) to get oxygen there. where it is needed, and some others. In fact, all of these can really help endurance athletes.
However, according to Bodybuilding.com writer Ciaran Fairman, developing them “will take weeks – even months – of life and training at high altitude.” Moreover:
By limiting oxygen, you force your body to work much harder for any exertion. However, I suggest that the intensity and workload you could achieve without the mask would be of much higher quality and more adaptability than any workout you could achieve with it.
Whatever your training status or goals, chances are you want to improve your fitness level. Exercise to increase your VO2 max, lactate threshold, and hydrogen ion buffering capacity. Resistance training to improve strength, power, and speed will all improve your endurance performance. All of these actions initiate beneficial adaptations, and none of them are enhanced by the training mask.
Interestingly, if you really want to reap the benefits of a mask, it is recommended that you wear the mask for 20-22 hours a day (five days a week for at least four weeks) and take it off for an hour or so. the exercise you are doing is the exact opposite of what you expect!
Bottom Line: There may be some benefits when used correctly, but for the most part, there is currently no evidence to support the physiological benefits of mask training.
Do elevation masks work? | Bodybuilding.com
Stephanie Lee is a freelance health and fitness writer. You can follow her shenanigans on Twitter or on her YouTube channel .