Now ELLE’s Sophie Gridley follows in their footsteps
The theory
Hypoxic training, altitude training, intermittent hypoxic training, oxygen deprivation training – all are just fancy ways of talking about something which is, ultimately, not that fancy or glamorous at all. It’s scientific to a point, but don’t be baffled. All of these phrases describe exercising using one very simple principle: when the body is subjected to a decrease in oxygen in the air it breathes in to adapt. It has to do more with less, so it works harder. Athletes who train – or live – at altitude see an increase in the hormone which instigates red blood cell production, and thus an increase in red blood cells, and an increase in their VO2 max score. Their capillaries are said to deliver oxygen more efficiently, their cholesterol levels may decrease. If you’re looking for the competitive edge, when an improvement of the tiniest amount is crucial, these miniscule advantages are gold dust. Within an altitude simulation chamber – which is kept at normal pressure but subjected to a reduced percentage of oxygen – similar effects are witnessed. Not all the research papers agree – but this hasn’t stopped the technology being marketed and altitude training seeping into mainstream gyms’ fitness offerings.
The method
I want to see if altitude training can benefit you. That is, if you’re not a pro-athlete striving for a new PB, an Olympian hopeful with an injury, desperate to recover pre-2012, or Chris Moyles, about to climb a mountain. Because I’m certainly not. So I book in for a training session with Gareth Cole, personal trainer at the Third Space gym. The hypoxic training room at this London gym has been frequented by all of the above, some under Gareth’s guidance. OK, so maybe Moyles didn’t frequent – but he certainly visited, pre-Kilimanjaro. A pro rower once slept in there, as an exercise in acclimatisation. My session, however, is booked for 9am on a Friday morning and I am terrified. I am not exactly a gym bunny – when I was a member of a posh one years ago just the fact I had a direct debit seemed to me to be enough of a commitment. I never actually went. Workout I loathe and despise and just cannot do, amplified by around a thousand times. After all, there is less oxygen. It’ll be more difficult to breathe, right? I will have to work harder. I will struggle, I will fail, I will look silly – I might even keel over. But Gareth smiles, I sign some sort of disclaimer, and enter the altitude chamber.
In practice
Once locked-in, we are at a simulated altitude of 8,500 feet, meaning the oxygen content is 14.8 per cent, compared to a sea-level percentage of around 21. In the chamber, there are a range of high-tech machines – I am still feeling pretty intimated. I begin on a treadmill, with lots of smiles, encouragement, water and towels provided by Gareth. My initial impression is of a cool, calm atmosphere – not the scary twilight zone I was imagining. The controlled atmosphere in the pod-like room produces a much cooler temperature than the sweaty jungle gym outside – this, I like. It’s like walking from a sub-tropical city into an icy hotel lobby; instantly I am refreshed, calmed, able to deal with the scenario better. I begin walking on a treadmill slowly, working my way up to a jog. Gareth’s technique tips (he taps out a rhythm for me to jog to, and adjusts the placement of my arms) are invaluable. This is easy peasy, I think. Gareth is going easy on me but it’s for a reason, he says. The chamber provides a sort of illusion – because your aerobic system is working harder than you realise, it’s not possible – or at least not advisable – to train as intensely as you could ‘out there’. As we work harder, I notice the effects of the extraordinary environment. My usual familiar breathing patterns, which I switch to automatically as I begin to get out of breath, don’t work. I have to breathe more frequently, and am unable to breathe so deeply. It throws me off at first – but means I think more about my breathing, which steadies my running rhythm. But my enthusiasm falters when Gareth tells me he doesn’t use the hypoxic chamber with his personal training clients and he doesn’t recommend the technique for weight loss, purely because you just can’t achieve the intensity necessary to burn fat.
The alternative
The specific benefits of altitude training are ideal for one pastime I have an interest in – skiing. Another Third Space trainer leads Hypoxic 5, a 30-minute bi-weekly circuits class that is held in the hypoxic chamber. Its tougher than my lock-in with Gareth but Third Space claim it can improve cardio-vascular function and acclimatise you perfectly for the slopes. They also claim it can assist in weight loss. Though some recent research has suggested that there may be something in hypoxic training for weight loss – moderate exercise in a simulated altitude environment led one group of obese subjects to lose significantly more weight than a group training in normal conditions – it seems the jury is still out among researchers and trainers. But one Brighton gym, ZT Fitness, are proponents of the weight loss claim, championing the idea that after altitude training the body is in a state called EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) where fat, and just fat, is burned at a much higher rate than normal. This theory aside, if I could train in a room as cool as that at the Third Space I might actually go – which would be a start at losing weight. I am also curious to see whether training in a hypoxic chamber could make a difference to how I feel on a sea-level treadmill. Could it improve my fitness to the point I could train for longer without giving up or getting out of breath? It hasn’t given me those effects in the short-term. But I’ll be back for next winter’s ski holiday and if I ever get convinced to climb higher than a few feet above sea level without getting on a plane, I’ll be back in that chamber. But don’t bank on it.
The contacts
Hypoxic 5 classes are free to members of The Third Space. Membership costs £126 per month. Personal training sessions cost £60 for 60 minutes. Enq: thethirdspace.com
ZT Fitness, Hove, Sussex. Enq: ztfitness.com
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