ELEVATE YOUR GAINS
Altitude training has benefits far beyond marathon stamina. Use the principles of hypoxia to inflate your biceps to peak scale
Expect to see hypoxic chambers in your gym soon, as they cross over from the professional to the recreational athlete. They work by simulating the lower oxygen levels of high altitudes, promising to elevate your endurance and shift your calorie burn up a gear. Now, new research suggests that they can give your strength gains a lift, too: reducing your supply of O2 could be the fastest way to spike your levels of growth hormone, which means it’s well worth outmuscling the lean long-distance athletes hogging the valuable real estate inside the chamber.
Sports scientists asked test subjects to complete the same workout twice – once in a “normal”
atmosphere with 21% oxygen, then again in a far thinner atmosphere with just 13% oxygen concentration – equivalent to an altitude of 3.7km. Subjects completed five sets of 14 reps of bench presses and leg presses at 50% of their one-rep max, resting 60 seconds between sets. While the subjects reported no difference in fatigue – which, crucially, means they can train at the same intensity and complete the same volume of work – levels of HGH in their blood sky-rocketed when they trained in hypoxia.
Once released, HGH stimulates your liver to make IGF-1, which triggers the growth and repair of muscle tissue. So, take a barbell into the chamber and spend 15 minutes working through big compound lifts such as deadlifts and squats for the maximum benefit. You’ll return to sea level with new heights of strength.