Altitude mask while training?

[fatski]

You can always try the sleep systems made by Hypoxico. They are not cheap, but several of my clients use them before we go on high altitude expeditions to South America and they swear by them.

 

[m3mike]

I am a physician and I will tell you they are junk (altitude masks), possibly even harmful.

 

[MZMpac]

Another medical provider here, also agree. They are garbage.

You cannot re-create the effects of altitude (lower partial pressure of oxygen) with a mask that essentially makes you re-breathe expelled Co2 and vapor. It does not change the partial pressure of oxygen.

If you live at lower altitudes, your best approach will be to train your endurance system with some combination of running, hiking or stairmaster, and hiking or stairmaster with a load.

Try to arrive at your destination at least a couple days early to get a head start on acclimation. There is a drug called acetazolamide you can ask your physician about that can ameliorate the acclimation process.

 

[Ragnarnar]

There is a drug called acetazolamide you can ask your physician about that can ameliorate the acclimation process.

Not a doctor, but a drug enthusiast here.

Acetazolamide has too many potential side effects for my liking, and as a diuretic it makes it difficult to hydrate, which is obviously important if exercising strenuously at altitude. And you need a doctors script to get it.

Ibuprofen, which you probably already have in your kit is just as effective at preventing and treating altitude sickness, has fewer side effects and is available everywhere. Be aware it may cause issues with your stomach, but you'd probably know already if it did.

Talk to your doctor, cause I'm not one. Here are some papers on it.

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-n...od-of-altitude-sickness-researchers-find.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/20832701/

 

[MZMpac]

I'm a PA, and have taken it. It works.

Nothing wrong with ibuprofen either, but I haven't found it it as efficacious as acetazolamide for my own AMS symptoms. I tend to get more nausea, dizziness.

I get some paresthesias in the feet for a few days after I take it which is a known side effect. And yes, I do pee a lot---that's part of how the whole mechanism works. I just hydrate continuously.

 

[wpwarren]

You can always try the sleep systems made by Hypoxico. They are not cheap, but several of my clients use them before we go on high altitude expeditions to South America and they swear by them.

These are the best option. I lived in a mountain town in Colorado and new more than one Olympic hopeful. Every one of them lived by the motto of sleep high train low. Do your training at low altitude where you can train much harder and sleep at high altitude (or in a high altitude tent) to train your lungs to make better use of the reduced amount of available oxygen. They would drive the hour down to Denver almost every day and come back to rest and recover.

 

[dfanonymous]

Those mask won't help you acclimate to a changed environment. Being there at least two weeks in that environment will help you acclimate more. When those mask came out, so many of my Marine buddies used them, and before that, it was PT with gas mask. The only thing those mask do is make you know what its like to be exhausted and not breathe well. Like most hypoxic work outs, it will take a very long time, doing it most of the day, everyday, for months, or even years before you see any real measurable results. Not just a few times a week for an hour. As far as work outs are concerned, people are better off just running, rucking, lifting, eating right, and then giving yourself time to acclimate in a new environments. All the things people usually don't do.

 

[dhfactory]

I would not use them.

Your fitness training would be better placed at optimum conditions and looking to achieve more. They seem like a fad to me.

 

[LostOnTheLlano]

This was a fad years ago for distance running. Now debunked.

 

[LostOnTheLlano]

Dhfactory is spot on.

 

[Left Hand Dave]

I have a heart murmur and it's always been harder for me to build endurance. That being said I live at 1000 feet and elk hunt at 8500-10000 feet every year. I train on the stair master for 1 hour and then the elliptical for 1 hour 3 days a week. The stair master and elliptical are less impact and easier on the joints. In April I also put gravel in my pack starting at 50-60 pounds and walk 2 miles. I keep adding weight and distance until I am at around 100 lbs and 4-5 miles. It's flat but still strengthens your legs and gets you use to moving with the weight in your pack. Helps me with balance and just being more stable. I have found working at a lower intensity for a longer time better than going at it like killing snakes for a short time. May not work for you but who knows.

 

[Left Hand Dave]

One other thing. Not sure how old you are but that will need to be taken into account. Listen to what your body tells you. As I am no longer 20 years old some things have changed. If you are older it will take longer to recover from workouts. Every once in a while you may need to take an extra recovery day especially after starting out. Start out slow and work up so you don't wipe yourself out and then quit. Remember we don't get out of shape overnight and it takes longer to get back in shape. You're in it for the long haul. That being said you have to learn to judge when your body requires more recovery time and when it is lying to you, it some times does that when your on the machine.

 

[Buckdown]

Nothing works for me but good old fashioned exercise hill climb with pack treadmill ect.