Acclimatise Without The Pain

We sent OM routes editor Dave Mycroft to high altitude, in, erm Manchester. He spent almost a month undergoing an intensive training course imported from New Zealand which is claimed to simulate the training effects of going to altitude by simply breathing oxygen-depleted air for five minutes at a time.

The process, developed by New Zealand company IO - www.io-nz.com - is used by numerous professional sportsmen and women, but we were more interested in its potential benefits for climbers and trekkers - pre-acclimatisation for a Himalayan peak or trek anyone? Could you save vital acclimatisation time by getting it done in advance?

Does it work? Dave takes up the story....

Three weeks of driving round the M60 every day didn't exactly fill me with joy on cold February days, but the idea of acclimatising in the comfort of a leather chair while watching TV was intriguing. The inspiration had come from a forum posting in which someone mentioned that a new idea from New Zealand had made an appearance in Manchester of all places.

Essentially the three-week treatment involved sitting down watching TV for an hour a day. For five minutes you'd be breathing reduced oxygen content air, with five minutes break at normal air before the next round started. Silly old Dave chose to wear his mountaineering kit too, though it's not strictly necessary ;-)

The science behind it dates back to the space race age, when the Russians tried it for fighter pilots. The idea is that the body slowly gets used to operating with reduced oxygen content, but without the other undesirable side effects of altitude. Over the three week period the oxygen content is reduced from 12% to 9%, compared to a normal sea level content of over 20%

Straight To 4500 metres...

The first week we started straight in at the equivalent of 4500m, and for the first couple of days it was tough. After a few breaths the mask had to come off as I needed to gulp in big breaths of real air. Slowly the gaps between mask-off stops became bigger and the number of gulps needed became smaller, but the tell tale headaches started. Anyone with altitude experience will tell you about the headaches, and they're a sure fire signal of hypoxia.

From day one some of the normal effects of being at altitude became apparent, with a headache starting within two or three of the five minute sessions. Breathing was difficult at first, and harder when trying to carry out even a simple process such as reading a newspaper.

Throughout the training, blood saturation levels are measured using the oxymeter, below.

By the end of week one the feeling was, subjectively, close to that of having spent two or three days in the Alps around the 4000m mark. There was little noticeable improvement in a maximum duration cycle test at full setting, and little feeling of increased energy or endurance levels. Day 3 had seen us "climb" to 5200m, with the first 1% oxygen reduction, but by now the body was adjusting to the point where it felt no different from how a simulated 4500m had.

Then On To The Summit of Kili'

The second week saw an immediate drop to 10% saturation levels, which is like being on top of Kilimanjaro at 5800m. After the first day at this level I could leave the mask on full time and the headaches of week one were gone with just a faint tingling sensation around the temple and eyes. By this stage I was feeling physically better and this showed up with increased duration on the maximum duration cycle test.

The third week saw the levels drop again, this time to 9% or 6600m. This was a common trouble spot, where some of the professional rugby and football player clients had struggled. For some reason the drop didn't seem even noticeable, but the improvements were really starting to show.

The headaches were gone and I felt full of energy - enough even to face the drive round the M60 each day. Subjectively it felt very similar to being high on Aconcagua whilst wearing the mask, but once removed it was similar to having returned to sea level after a long period at altitude. Breathing seemed easier, exercise less exhausting, and there appeared to be a general feeling of well being. By the end of the week there were remarkable improvements in the maximum duration cycle test.

Objective Tests

Of course subjective results are just opinion and notoriously fallible, so we carried out some standard tests throughout the treatment to see if the benefits were genuine. The results showed lower heart rate, faster recovery times and increased endurance, no wonder the Australian Olympic Triathalon team use this for training!

As you can see from the table above, over the three weeks, Dave's results in a maximum duration cycling test showed drastic improvements with a doubling in mileage achieved after the full course, a decrease in maximum pulse rate during the test from 168 bpm to 144 bpm and a significantly improved recovery time.

What Does It Mean For You?

For trekkers and mountaineers, the important tests are how much oxygen the lungs can hold and how quickly you tire. Tests of maximum aerobic power, V02max and lactate levels were done in cooperation with www.TheEnduranceCoach.com.

Both maximum aerobic power and V02 max are useful indications of the body's ability to take in, transport and process oxygen. The higher these figures are the better you can cope with the oxygen reduction experienced at altitude.

What also helps massively is the 22% increase in the hemocratic and haemoglobin levels, meaning more oxygen carrying cells are produced from the bone marrow. High lactate levels are an indication of the likelihood of getting cramp through exhaustion.

The table below shows improvements in all three areas.

Does It Work?

The bottom line is, did it make any difference? And the answer is a resounding yes. Both subjectively and objectively it gave a significant boost to performance at sea level. And feedback from previous users suggests that the training seems to increase the chances of summiting on a trekking peak like Kilimanjaro.

It takes about a week after final training for the full effects to kick in properly, but timed right it could be a useful way of fitting a long trek into a shorter time or just enjoying more of the experience of being at altitude. Bear in mind too, that you can go back for a top-up session some weeks later to keep your acclimatisation at optimum levels. The ice axe is optional...

Alternatively, for competitive endurance athletes, a full session at IO could give you the sort of edge over your competitors that you'd otherwise have to train at altitude to acquire.

So is there a down side? At £350 for a full three-week course involving a daily one-hour session, it's certainly not cheap, then again, neither is a trek or climb at altitude and improving your chances of summiting or simply not suffering from altitude sickness may be worth a lot more to your personally.

Secondly, at the moment you need to live within easy range of IO's UK centre in Manchester - you're going to be going there once a day for three weeks - however there are plans for portable units to be introduced which may make that less crucial if you can afford the outlay.