Altitude Training... at Sea Level

''Place this plastic mask against your face and try to relax,'' said Richard Pullan, the Director of the Altitude Centre in Covent Garden as he handed me a clear-plastic surgical mask. The mask was linked via an omnious thin tube to a greyish white box about two-foot square called a "hypoxicator", which micro-filters the air to reduce oxygen and remove impurities. ''It is the purest air in London,'' he promised, switching on a widescreen television directly in front of me and as I felt my heart start to race.... I felt as if I was part of a strange science experiment as two lines on the console in front of me plotted my pulse (a red line) and the percentage of oxygen in my blood (a blue line) on a graph. The blue one was dropping fast: 98 per cent, 97, 90, 85 … I stared at it anxiously as I tried to relax wondering if it had been a wise move to trust a relative stranger with control over one of  the most critical elements - oxygen- reqired to keep my body going...

My immediate reaction was panic mixed with fascination. I blinked quietly with the surgical mask on my face as the white box hummed and whirred in the corner of the room. The entire scenario had a Darth Vader-like quality about it..."Luke, I am your Father'.. whoosh, woosh, woosh..."  As the anxiety ebbed away and as I regained control of my imagination, the graphs started to even out and my first five-minute hypoxic session passed without incident. As soon as I took the mask off and began to breathe normal room air the line on the console indicating my oxygen saturation levels quickly returned back to its base line score, which for me was 98%. Apparently my high 'time to recovery' bode well to the way that my body copes with altitude. Just like fitness, the quicker you recover the better... Hopefully this is a sign of things to come on Everest as the quick recovery time will be key during the ascents and descents of the North Col and up to higher camps.

''Some people find their short-term memory is briefly affected after a session. Others find their vision changes slightly, so that colours appear more vivid". I found this an interesting comment as had remarked on short-term memory loss following my recent climbing trip to Argentina (which my boss claims I've never recovered from!!) and also noticed an increased sensory awareness as we began to descend to sea-level - colors and smells seemed especially vivid. Mountaineers often refer to this hightened sensory awareness as, "chocolate air".... tastes great and very little calories - now that's my kind of diet!!

Richard kindly assured me not to worry about the fact that I was starving my body of oxygen. Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT)  (5-minute intervals over the course of 60 - 90 minutes) does not deny the role of oxygen in human life. On the contrary, it has been proven that hypoxic training significantly improves oxygen metabolism in the body. Transient lack of oxygen stimulates the pro-oxidant system in the body. Short-term exposures to mild hypoxia stimulate the body’s defence mechanisms and produce numerous beneficial responses in our physiology...

The Altitude Centre, hidden away near Covent Garden in London offers sessions of inhaling air that has been filtered to reduce its oxygen content. The remarkable claims made for the treatment include helping with weight loss, sleeplessness, migraines and asthma attacks.  Many top-level athletes in endurance sports train at altitude. The Altitude Centre has recently been profiled in the UK Press as the England football team will be using hypoxic sessions as part of their training for the World Cup in South Africa.

The equipment  in the altitude centre 'does what it says on the tin' -- it simulates altitude. The normal level of oxygen in air at sea level is 21 per cent and during a 'hypoxic session' it is taken steadily down to 9 per cent, the equivalent of the air you would breathe at 21,500 feet. If you can be more efficient with your breathing, it takes a load off your body. Richard compared it to 'tuning an engine. The body's response to the lack of oxygen is that it stimulates the production of red blood cells, giving the blood better oxygen-carrying capacity and lowering the heart-rate. It takes the body more than two weeks to produce new red-blood cells, treatment involves daily hour-long sessions spread over a 21-day period.

The results of my tests made interesting reading  - the Td (Time to descent) score was excellent at 195 seconds which means that I have a very good tolerance to hypoxia. This result showed I de-saturate well, which indicates the muscles are taking oxygen very well, and the lungs are able to replenish this demand.

The Journey Continues....

I decided to continue on with the hypoxic training in preparation for Everest and subsequently made an appointment with Richard for the installation of the altitude tent in my room over my bed.

Several days later Richard showed up at my front door with the opening line, "Hi there. Take me to your bedroom".... Well, I've heard some interesting one-liners in my time and I'm certainly not one to let strange men into my flat but...

Within 15 minutes I had my own portable altitude training sleep-system installed over my bed which would simulate sleeping at 3800m. The tent will allows me  to develop and maintain the physiological benefits associated with altitude training while sleeping or resting. The tent has eliminated the need to travel to high elevations to maintain altitude training regimens. The tent also came with an altitude adapter which would allow me to combine it with the intermittent hypoxic training up to 6400m. It reminded me of the bubble-boy episode from Seinfeld....