Mask for the muscle

How good  is this accesory for you to increase flesh and stamina?

By ChulucanasGym

There is a serious disadvantage between who trains sea level and who does it upper altitude, we mean 1000 meters or 3280 feet to up. Perhaps as high as you go, the air becomes rarer and your need to consume more oxygen to do any effort increases. That is, in essence, the reason why the lowland people feel like the air lacks when they are higher.

However, a Darth Vader-style accesory  (before his face got horrible) could create the sensation of rared air at low altitude, demand your lungs for inhaling it much more, and your stamina during your workout session increases that way. 

"I used to go training before at the gym and play soccer, but since I started to study at La Unión Police Academy, I don't have such many time because my instruction and my first field assignments are my priority," one of ChulucanasGym Team founder Pedro Changanaquí, 25, tells.

Nevertheless once upon a day, he found a mask made of rubber and corespum, which he did all his cardiovascular workouts.

How does it work?
It is supposed the mask induces hypoxia - a low oxygen level, trying to simulate at low altitude the same effect that training above 2500 meters or 8202 feet had. 

If we take Chulucanas ass a basis (90 meters or 295 feet altitude), a sportsman could travel 2,5 hours until Chalaco (2200 meters or 7217 feet altitude), where he could work out.  But does it result profittable to do the trail everyday for having 1-to-3-hour training sessions? 

For the majority, this is maybe impossible, so the mask would replace straight the need to travel, reenacting at 90 meters altitude the same sensation it could have training  at 2200 meters or more (the average maximum altitude of Morropón Province is 3000 meters or  9842 feet). 

It is probable where you live the accesibility to high altitudes is so easy like this, or more difficult, or it's probable you already live in altitude and just above 2000 meters. 

Controversial results
But do you really acquire more stamina when working out  high altitude? The theory says yes because if you get more oxygen then you can endurance more, but the achievement is reported in the breathing muscle instead. 

Apparently, medical tests reveal indexes in blood and the used energy amount compared to who train low altitudes are not remarkable. In fact, one of our producers does power-&-stamina conventional mixed daily workout for 30-45 minutes in functional mode, at 60 meters or 196 feet altitude. When he had to work at 1400 meters or 4593 feet and even above 2700 meters or 8858 feet, climbbing up a montain  with 50% inclination, he did not experienced the air lack associated to disaclimatization.

In the same way, clinic tests applied  until the last year to persons using the mask neither revealed more development than breathing muscle level, but a light increase in anaerobic capability (power) indeed,  what is consistent to muscular increase that Pedro says he experienced.  However, specialists say the tests are not conclusive.

So does it mean it doesn not work? It doesn't mean so exactly, but it cannot be affirmed or denied yet that  because it is necessary to have more independent proof. Despite, if in your particular case  you notice there are benefits, and any clinic risk is discarded, it could -could!- continue working out with the mask.  Remember that what works for anyone not necessarily works to you and viceversa. Regarding Pedro, and until we do not prove the opposite, it seemed to work him.

Pedro thinks his aerobic performance might increase 25-30% compared to the time he worked out maskedless, although it is necessary to verify details as the continued and suspended training time, so his ability for muscular response before any type of effort. In other words, it will be necessary running some tests on him.

Let's remember he also did prior gym training and played sports, so muscular memory is on his favor. That means his body is able to get muscular fastly or develop stamina under the minimum workout.

However, share us your experience here, using or not the mask.