while others showed no change in endurance or velocity. Swim training generally provides a strong training stimulus to respiratory muscles, so swimmers with a strong swim background may not see any performance improvement with RMT. But this could be of great value to beginner swimmers who struggle with the breathing aspect of swimming. Improved performance was not recorded in VO2 max or lactate threshold, but RMT can modulate the body’s ability to maintain the all important energy and blood flow to working limbs when respiratory muscles are more “fit.” Inspiratory muscle metaboreflex operates at exercise intensities where there is cardiac output reserve. The threshold of activation of the metaboreflex is increased following RMT.


RMT can be accomplished by using one of the various breathing


devices:


PowerBreathe, Power Lung, Expand A Lung, etc. The protocols call for only a few minutes per day of breathing exercise, and improvements can be seen in as little as four weeks.


Intermittent Hypoxic Training Altitude training. The very thought can spark confusion and apprehension in the minds of coaches and athletes. Soviet-era scientists began experimenting on hypoxic dose to help pilots and athletes back in the 1930s acclimatize to low oxygen environments. But it wasn’t until the 1968 Olympic Games at Mexico City’s 7,350 feet that the sporting world at large started paying attention to what altitude did for and to the competitive athlete.


The live high-train high (LH-TH) model was the original; athletes live and train at about 4,900-9,800 feet. Then in the 1990s the live high-train low (LH-TL) model showed promising results, in both research and performance for athletes to achieve the benefits of living at a higher altitude and still be able to maintain a high level of training and racing at sea level. Several different models of hypoxic


training now exist and are used regularly by athletes around the world. The focus of this section is the application of hypoxicator or re-breathing devices used for intermittent passive breathing or training to induce the benefits of live LH-TL, live high-train high- live higher (live and train at altitude using breathing device to enhance performance) and most recently: live low-train high (athletes


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live and train at sea level and use intermittent hypoxic exposure during exercise or at rest). Living continuously at altitude for a period


of months or years is not an option for most athletes. But with the new portable devices access to “altitude” training is accessible to anyone, anywhere. Although the terms IHT (intermittent hypoxic training) and IHE (intermittent hypoxic exposure) are often used interchangeably, IHE is passive breathing of hypobaric hypoxic air in a passive state (live high) and IHT involves breathing this same air while exercising. IHT at rest can also be used to describe intermittent bouts of breathing normal air and hypoxic air. A hypoxicator (Hypoxico, GO2Altitude) is a device that provides simulated low oxygen air (through a generator) in order to stress the cardiovascular system that then triggers compensation in the form of improved physical performance (end result). Re-breathing devices (Alto-Labs, AltiPro) simulate high altitude by re-breathing CO2. These devices are used in conjunction with a pulse oximeter that monitors the reduction in arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2). This reduction in SpO2 signifies stresses on the cardiovascular system.


Altitude training has been termed “legal doping” and has been investigated extensively by WADA to understand if it needed to be ruled illegal. When exposed to altitude, the body responds by increasing ventilation, decreasing pH, producing more red blood cells and can augment skeletal muscle mitrochondrial density. (14) Research results have been mixed among various studies on IHT: some prove an increase in erythropoesis (red blood cell production), hemoglobin and maximal oxygen uptake, some do not replicate these results. From a research perspective altitude training remains controversial, but athletes continue to use and see improved performance results with altitude training. The research results are even less conclusive with the LL-TH model of using IHE/ IHT as this is a relatively new area of interest because of new technology. There has been increased interest by various users because of ease of use (no travel to mountainous regions). Scientific results show a potential for increases in erythropoesis and endurance performance, but more research is needed to be conclusive. The mechanisms of improved performance may be more in skeletal muscle: myoglobin content, mitochondrial volume and density and increases in capillary density


and antioxidant enzymes. There is more conclusive information that using IHT/IHE can help with pre-acclimatization for athletes prior to training or racing at altitude. A group of competitive cyclists and triathletes were tested using IHE protocol that resulted in clear enhancements in peak power and lactate profile power. Similarly a group of trained triathletes improved run performance in a 3k TT post IHE/IHT. A group of tested kayakers showed increases in peak power, mean repeat sprint power and hemoglobin concentration. Although the scientific community may not acknowledge clear evidence, there is great potential that IHT/IHE training can produce performance enhancement. The mechanisms that produce improved performance with IHT/ IHE protocols may simply be different from traditional LH-TH and LH-TH systems. Is there a connection between RMT and


IHT? Ventilation complicates matters with all types of altitude training. An athlete breathes harder and more frequently with hypoxic stress, which means the respiratory muscles are working harder. The “blood steal” by respiratory muscles may be why the extra O2 does not go to working muscles with return to sea level (i.e. no performance improvements). Altitude or hypoxic training may exacerbate this action making it the norm when returning to sea level training or racing. By training the respiratory muscles in conjunction with or prior to hypoxic training, perceived exertion and blood flow to breathing muscles decreases; this means more blood and O2 to working muscles along with cardiovascular and blood enhancements that accompany hypoxic training. Unloading the breathing muscles through RMT may enhance benefits of altitude training. Enhance breathing, enhance performance.


Melissa Mantak is a USA Triathlon Level III certified coach. She has been active in the multisport community since 1984 and was a professional triathlete for six years. In 1992 she was third at the world championships in Canada, capturing the overall World Cup title and earning the distinction of Triathlete of the Year from the U.S. Olympic Committee. She started her own coaching business, The Empowered Athlete, in 2006. Find out more at www.empoweredathlete.com.


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