High Altitude Training – How You Can Do It
What is the elevation training mask?
The elevation training mask looks like a world war gas mask and its purpose is to simulate high altitude conditions (where there is less oxygen), so conditioning the lungs.
Who invented it?
UFC vet Sean Sherk, aka the cardio machine! Seemingly, they used to buy gas masks and tape them all up to restrict your breathing. They realized the idea worked so well they decided to build a product. You could have also seen a similar process of limiting airflow which is employed my Wanderlei Silva (a top UFC fighter), although he purchased a snorkel and forced himself to breathe through that in training! I believe an actual training mask works a hell of a lot better!
What are the advantages?
- Increases in lung capacity as your lungs have to work 9 times harder to get the oxygen in
- Increases anaerobic thresholds
- Gas exchange becomes better
- Energy production levels rise
- Psychological and physical stamina increases
What is your conclusion?
I believe the mask is brilliant and I can see this technique getting more mainstream! I am grateful there aren’t too many people using it right now (especially my opponents) but I guess it’s just a matter of time. After wearing the mask for 20 minutes I felt just like I had a hardcore hour workout. My lungs felt kind of achy at first but now I’m able to train in the mask with much greater ease and I will actually feel that my lungs are stronger. As soon as I rip the mask off after training, I recover within around 6-7 seconds as my body is used to an absence of oxygen. As a result, when it gets hit with an entire load of dear oxygen (when you take the mask off) you’ll feel wonderful!
It is difficult to train with it everyday – I only use it around 2 times a week when I’m not fight training. It actually does get you in the zone!
When in the cage, I occasionally suffered from adrenalin dumps leading to me getting gassed; this mask has seriously helped with that as all of the oxygen I am taking in gets efficiently used.
The mask includes 3 attachments for assorted levels of difficulty. It took about a month of hard training for me to be able to train for just about 20 minutes with the red attachment (the hardest level). Best of luck with your training!
Scrap your everyday training techniques, check out the elevation training mask now
