Djokovic’s not-so-secret chamber shows the value of oxygen therapy
Charlie Eccleshare finds out how the Wimbledon champion boosts his on-court performance
The day before the first instalment of his epic semi-final against Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last month, Novak Djokovic stuck to the routine that had served him so well throughout the tournament. He enjoyed a gluten-free breakfast, guzzled down some room-temperature water and headed to Mayfair for an hour-long session at the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Centre. An athlete who is dedicated to picking up any advantage he can, Djokovic is an avid user of hyperbaric oxygen chambers – so much so that he had one installed in his Monte Carlo home.
Djokovic beat Nadal over two days, then defeated Kevin Anderson to win his fourth Wimbledon title.
At the US Open, starting tomorrow, he will continue his routine from Wimbledon of using a chamber on his rest days. Given how open he is about his oxygen chamber use, they can be seen as his not-so-secret weapon.
The potential health benefits of an oxygen chamber are manifold, but sportsmen such as Djokovic use them primarily to saturate the blood with oxygen and stimulate healing. When competing three days running, as Djokovic did at the end of Wimbledon, quick recovery is essential.
Dr Robert Pender, the HBOT Centre’s leading practitioner who saw Djokovic every other day during Wimbledon, explained to The Sunday Telegraph: “Oxygen chambers have an anti-inflammatory effect. For a sportsman, after each match, inflammation gathers around joints because of the stress and things like changing direction. This reduces the circulation of blood getting to those joints, and so the areas that are under stress and need more oxygen are actually getting less. A session breathing in pure oxygen dramatically improves circulation.”
The benefits of oxygen chambers for sportspeople have led to them becoming increasingly popular over the last few years. Tiger Woods has one at his Florida home, Cristiano Ronaldo enjoys regular sessions and Mohamed Salah used one last season to help combat a groin injury. In the past year, Pender has been visited by Premier League footballers from Watford, Crystal Palace and Newcastle.
Curious to see why, I headed to central London for a session myself.
The centre is based in a salubrious corner of Mayfair, but the pod itself is a relatively simple-looking contraption – essentially a narrow tube with wires and a mask to breathe in oxygen.
After having my ears, carbon monoxide levels and oxygen saturation tested – all fine, thankfully – I slip into the pod and adjust to the changing pressure. It is a bit like the feeling one gets when sitting on a plane at take-off.
Chambers like these were initially invented in the 19th century to treat deep-sea divers suffering from decompression sickness – also known as the bends – but are now used to help patients manage a variety of conditions, including multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue and autism.
After my demonstration, I am more energetic than usual when I go for a run in the afternoon and generally feel more alert and awake – as if I have just had a caffeinated drink but without the lull that inevitably follows.
Pender stresses that the benefits of oxygen chambers are mental as well as physical. “The brain uses 26 per cent of the body’s oxygen intake and is really an oxygen machine,” he said. “It can’t survive without oxygen and that becomes very evident in sport. Look at how many mistakes are made late on in the Premier League – goals conceded, chances missed. That’s not because they’re not physically fit, it’s because of an oxygen deficiency in the brain, so decision making slows down and gets worse. We did a study with a pro club a few years ago who were bottom of the table. We worked with their three key players – the striker, midfielder and centre-back. They were all consistently showing tiredness in the last 15 minutes of games. So we gave them two chambers per week for two months. They then won six games and drew two of the last eight and stayed up.”
A non-disclosure agreement prevents Pender from naming the club, but the story gets me thinking. If oxygen chambers only carry upsides, why are they not banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency? According to Wada, they are allowed because they do not do two of the following: “potentially enhance sport performance; represent a health risk to athletes; violate the spirit of sport.”
With that weight off my mind, I accept Pender’s offer of a weekly session in the chamber ahead of running the London Marathon in April. As for Djokovic, if he is to win a third US Open title on Sept 9, he will owe a debt of gratitude to those hours spent meditating in the pod.