Intermittent hypoxia is something that many people practice today, whether or not they are professional athletes such as climbers, cyclists, mountaineers, swimmers, etc. A widely used technique that consists of educating the body to work the same in unfavorable oxygen conditions. We can do it naturally or artificially, and both cases the benefits are the same.
If we want to know what intermittent hypoxia is, then this text interests us. Along the lines that make up this text, we are going to discover what intermittent hypoxia is, how it is done, what it is for, who can do it, what benefits it brings and much more.
A practice that has become normalized, although it is still something exclusive to several elite sports modalities to get the most out of the athlete. We do not have to be afraid, what we have to do is put ourselves in the hands of real professionals and experts in the field, as long as we have previously consulted our doctor if everything is fine and he authorizes it as a safe activity for us.
Intermittent hypoxia is no game and it is not recommended to start it on our own without professional monitoring, without the proper machinery and without the necessary knowledge. Remember that it is about depriving our body of oxygen, something that can have certain negative consequences if it is done wrong.
What is intermittent hypoxia
It may seem like an irony, but we all know the benefits of breathing, staying alive, and we also know that a lack of oxygen has serious consequences, from brain damage to death, so now let’s try to think about holding our breath in a conscious and mechanized way.
Actually, intermittent hypoxia is not depriving the body of oxygen, since that is holding your breath, but it is about continuing to breathe “normally”, only that it is done with a type of air modified to train the body.
Simply put, intermittent hypoxia is intermittently depriving the body of normal breathing. In our breaths there is 21% oxygen (although in blood it is 100%), but with mechanized breathing to achieve intermittent hypoxia there is less than 20% oxygen. It seems little difference, but it is quite noticeable, that is why it is advisable to always do the process guided by professionals and with the approval of our doctor.
In our breaths there is not only oxygen, there is also CO2 and it is quite beneficial for our body. In addition, we believe that the more oxygen we breathe, the better, and no. CO2 helps protect our neurons and is what produces that feeling of relaxation when we breathe deeply and calmly and hold our breath as long as we can.
How you train
We can train by holding our breath and train the body to be able to work without having to constantly breathe. It is still a bit overwhelming technique and requires a lot of practice, development and patience. We do not recommend it. However, if we want to perform a hypoxic training, we can go to a specialized center, or a very professional gym where they have training masks.
Truth be told, the hypoxia mask should not be confused with training masks . The first are masks that reduce oxygen concentration below 21% and while we can be at rest (hypoxia at rest), walk, do sports (hypoxia during exercise), and there are even hypoxia tents to help with insomnia (nocturnal hypoxia).
Training masks, also known as an altitude mask or elevation training mask, are masks that attempt to simulate high-altitude, low-oxygen conditions. The problem is that these masks do not achieve the desired effect, so it is better to train with hypoxia machines.
There is an intermittent hypoxia exercise that is well known and it is the RSH Method that consists of doing a Sprint with the hypoxia machine at maximum and then resting for up to 5 minutes.
Best known advantages
Intermittent hypoxia is full of advantages as long as we do it in a conscious, legal way and accompanied by professionals. It is a common practice in elite athletes of different sports modalities throughout the world.
With intermittent hypoxia, we make better use of the oxygen we capture and create better efficiency during training time . Although it seems contradictory, our body is capable of training harder in an environment with a low oxygen level. With this, a stronger workout is achieved in less time, hence the efficiency that we mentioned before.
There are other advantages of training with hypoxia and that is that the training load is reduced, that is, a training in these special conditions maintains and increases the cardiovascular condition, but reduces the mechanical load, hence the hypoxic training helps in the injury recovery.
- We improve performance.
- We increase the power.
- Anaerobic capacity is improved.
- Adaptation at the cellular level.
- Fatigue is reduced.
- He trains us for a session with altitude.
- We are more effective with training. Less time and more effort.
- Increase fat burning
- Improves cardiovascular and pulmonary condition.
- Adaptation to the same altitude is avoided.
- Serves as a complement to regular training.
Main benefits
Performing intermittent hypoxia is beneficial, whether we do it at rest, to sleep or while doing physical exercise. Next, we are going to review its main benefits to convince ourselves of the importance of adapting the body to other oxygen conditions that are not the usual ones.
We already know that oxygen is a very precious commodity and that without it life is not possible, at least for now, 2,000 years from now, we’ll see. So when the amount of oxygen drops, the training methodology should not change, otherwise the objectives or the advantages that we have mentioned before are not achieved.
What is obvious is that when oxygen decreases, so does the ability to maintain a certain intensity in sports practice, hence many train in intermittent hypoxia, so that this reduction in intensity is as minimal as possible.
- The energy that is produced is used efficiently.
- Increases the density of veins, capillaries and arteries.
- Increase respiratory volume .
- There is a better adaptation to physical effort under normal conditions.
- Increased hemoglobin.
- VO2 and the number of mitochondria go up.
- Overexertion is reduced under normal conditions (after adaptation to hypoxia).
- We improve physical resistance.
- We recover better from injuries (not serious and requiring complete rest).
- In relation to the previous point, if it helps us to recover quickly after an injury.
- Increases oxygenation of the brain.
- Stress is reduced .
- It helps us sleep more and better.
- Boost our immune system.
- Lower blood sugar levels.
- It helps us lose weight better and faster.
- Lowers blood pressure.
- It has a diuretic effect.
- Helps in pathologies such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, sexual impotence, etc.
