Training masks have one use, but it is not an improvement in performance
We think most of you have seen training masks already. If not in the gym, at least through social networks, where someone spewed a motivational post with a photo in a mask, where adrenaline and sweat flowed through the monitor or smartphone screen. So today's topic is clear how they work and what do they cause? The title may whisper, but it doesn't tell the whole story, so let's do it!
It all started probably because of the MMA community, when Wanderlei Silva used something similar in one video. As usual, it was not enough and was unfortunately in the world. Even less was needed and the marketers, who had another easy-to-promote product for the target group of athletes, grieved.
“If top athletes want to improve their performance, they train in places with higher altitudes. And it is this mask that simulates such training. After returning to normal conditions, their performance is better, faster and stronger. ”- an excerpt from one e-shop.
Okay, so like this. Now it may be less interesting and somewhat incomprehensible, but it should be mentioned. Hypoxia is a lack of oxygen. The reason the body reacts physiologically to higher altitudes is due to a drop in atmospheric pressure (gas exchange in the lungs occurs through passive diffusion). When we reduce the actual air pressure that flows in (that is, less dense), the total amount of air molecules in a given volume (cubic centimeter of air in the lungs) decreases. In other words, fewer oxygen molecules enter the bloodstream. It is not a lack of air - it is the pressure of the incoming air (partly O2 pressure).
By increasing the number of red blood cells, the body can maximize the amount of oxygen taken into the bloodstream per 1 cubic centimeter of air. This process takes time and requires a constant low ambient pressure to trigger such regulation. This is an adaptation that takes some time - days, weeks at low atmospheric pressure. Until then, performance is limited. Simply training at higher altitudes may cause some variation, but in the meantime the performance of the individual is reduced, so altitude can temporarily negatively affect performance. Time at low pressure is more important than stress at low pressure. The body then responds by increasing myoglobin / hemoglobin and capillary density and consequently increasing oxygen transport to the muscles. Such, let's call it adjustments, could over time contribute to some training benefits, but as we mentioned, it takes quite a long time and one hour training in the gym or in the ring with a mask on your face is definitely not. We write “could contribute” because even here studies do not say that they will clearly contribute and the results are mixed at best.
The problem with the training mask is that it is simply something that makes it difficult to inhale. The pressure of the incoming air is the same as the classical atmospheric air and contains an amount of oxygen for the body, which means that it does not in any way stimulate triggers to increase the number of red blood cells. And this is important! It simply makes it difficult for us to breathe, limits top performance, forcing people to spend energy on inhalation, and in fact makes everything counter-productive to training. Just the opposite. And why? Because nobody (let alone asthmatics) is limited by a real “lack of oxygen to the lungs” in sports performance - it is not the air entering the lungs that is deficient, it is the blood flow, oxygen supply and oxygen utilization, which is insufficient .
We just “feel” as if we have to breathe harder because we “lack air”, as this sensation causes stress in the brain due to several physiological factors including systemic stress and changes in blood pH. One thing that elite athletes are good at is controlling their breathing, not losing their energy for gasping, but controlling the rate of inhalation. Rather, such “heavy breathing” can cause problems, as confirmed by any doctor who has worked with patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. To all of this, we can improve our respiratory system, lung capacity and not Vox or blood cell count. Moreover, this practically does not improve our performance at any intensity within anaerobic or aerobic activity (unless you have any disease). If you want to benefit, move to a higher altitude place and sleep there, live there. Don't wear the mask in your gym, you can ask the sparring as you go beneath it to put the pillow to your mouth… and press it.
You may remember the military and their gas mask trainings, but fortunately this is a completely different matter under the 'train as you fight' formula, and there are other, specific components for this kind of training. In such cases, it is important to adapt to the wearing of something that may have a legitimate use in the battlefield, and the adaptation (that is, training with one of the components) mainly improves wearing comfort.
Several researches support the counterproductivity and ineffectiveness of training masks in exercise. What's more, even the most recent of 2016:
“The training mask does not provide respiratory benefits and causes hypoxemia when worn during exercise. There were virtually no differences between the two different altitudes of the mask. Just because something can be used doesn't mean it should be used. Reducing exercise tolerance and maximum physical performance reduces the quality of training and has a negative impact on endurance sports performance. The training mask causes inadequate hyperventilation, which has led to arterial hypoxemia and psychological discomfort, but the size of these elements was small and did not differ across the different training mask configurations. ”
Some studies of this type of training say that theoretically, arteriosclerosis (arterial disease) can be prevented, but that's probably not the reason to buy a 100-euro gadget, huh? There are several other articles, researches and statements by experts that speak clearly that training masks are just hype-boosted by marketing and do not help in what they are supposed to help. Unfortunately, people would rather believe in picture material from films like Creed or Southpaw than controlled research. Companies have given up too much money to incorporate their masks into a few shots, and does anyone really think they have refused the money and that some filmmakers have researched in detail whether these masks are really beneficial?
However, training masks will allow you to look like a Bane of Batman and also less talk and more work, which may ultimately have a positive effect on hypertrophy. Either way, these training masks do not simulate altitude, but only teach a person totally wrong “breathing patterns” while lowering the intensity of performance, which is the very opposite of when you want to improve your performance. Another aspect to mention is psychological. Just buying and believing in those words in e-shops play a role, not just putting on the face mask and training with the feeling that we are hardcore like never before. Placebo is a powerful component that we wrote about long ago. You better invest 100 euros in something else.
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