Is Training At A High Altitude The Fastest Way To Lose Weight And Build Muscle?
Photo by Adam Voorhes
New gyms that simulate extreme heights are rolling out across the country, promising that thinner air means thinner waistlines.
By Lindsey Emery
Pro athletes have long lived and trained at high altitudes (LeBron James has been known to don an altitude mask during treadmill sessions). Now the benefits of mountain living are becoming more readily available to mere mortals at sea level who want to burn fat and build muscle faster.
In April, the Quad fitness club near San Francisco launched Air Fit, a 1,000-square-foot space filled with air that’s been compressed and filtered with some oxygen molecules removed to induce a hypoxic state (which, theoretically, causes your red-blood-cell count—and fitness level—to rise). The studio can hold nearly 30 people for 50-minute classes (circuit training, rowing, andspinning) at artificial altitudes of 5,280 (Denver) to 13,000 feet (La Paz, Bolivia). Similar facilities are set to open in Southern California, then nationwide, next year, while sauna-size chambers have been popping up at boutique fitness studios in the U.S. and abroad.
Experts debate whether this type of training can produce the same results as, say, running in Mammoth, California, every day. “The only proven way to [boost red blood cells for a significant time] is to live at an altitude of 7,000 to 8,000 feet for three to four weeks,” says Randy Wilber, Ph.D., senior sport physiologist for the United States Olympic Committee. “But there is some evidence that it can enhance sprint and strength performance.” (Air Fit’s research shows about 40 percent more calories are burned and about 30 percent fewer reps are needed to see improvements in weight loss.) The pros concur: “On a treadmill at sea level, it takes 15 to 20 minutes before I break a sweat,” says former World Cycling Champion Shaun Wallace, who works out regularly in a hypoxic studio. “If the room is at 9,000 feet, I’ll feel it after five minutes.”
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