Live High, Train Low: Altitude Training Systems to make difference at UFC Fight Night 13?
By: Adam Wagner
When Kenny Florian and Joe Lauzon meet tonight at the Broomfield Event Center for the UFC Fight Night 13 main event, there just might be one area where Lauzon has the edge: An ability to adjust to the change in altitude in the “Mile High City.”
That’s because Lauzon has been using an altitude training system.
Intended to help an athlete adjust to changes in elevation, altitude sleeping and workout systems are growing in popularity — especially in the world of mixed martial arts.
You might have seen tape of Wanderlei Silva working out with a crazy mask and tube strapped to his face in preparation fight against Chuck Liddell at UFC 79. Strikeforce/EliteXC fans heard the ringside announcers comment on how both Frank Shamrock and Cung Le utilize similar devices.
The UFC 80 Countdown show featured B.J. Penn — who helped prepare Lauzon for tonight’s fight with Florian — in an altitude sleeping chamber. Penn swears by this device, which helps him and his fighters adjust from the near-sea level altitude of Hilo, Hawaii, where they train, to higher altitudes like Denver, Colo., as well as providing an intense workout.
I spoke with Matt Formato of Hypoxico Altitude Training Systems —the leading distributor of such devices, which has provided training systems for Penn, Lauzon, Shamrock, Le, Din Thomas and a host of other top athletes — to find out how it all works.
It’s actually fairly simple.
“By sleeping at altitude and by prolonged exposure to an altitude environment,” Formato told MMAmania.com, “the body naturally releases EPO (or Erythropoietin), which triggers the kidneys to produce more red blood cells. More red blood cells in the blood equates to a higher oxygen-carrying capacity, and the more oxygen carried within the blood, within the body, the more oxygen that is able to be delivered to the body when it is under duress.”
“That being said, an increased oxygen-carrying capacity within the body leads to an overall greater conditioning level and greater cardiovascular stamina.”
Hypoxico offers Altitude Sleeping Systems that include tents for your bed; Altitude Workout Systems, such as the masks work by Shamrock and Le that were featured on Goldberg’s Toe to Toe segment (you can find it here); and even Altitude Wellness Systems that can be used in a relaxed state in the treatment of asthma, allergies, diabetes, sleep disorders and other degenerative or chronic diseases.
If you can’t afford one of these training systems on your own, you might be able to find a local fitness center that offers altitude training. More and more gyms, especially on the west coast, are beginning to offer altitude chambers, which enclose several fitness machines and are ventilated with hypoxic air, allowing for multiple simultaneous users.
In fact, you can even convert an entire room, if you’re so inclined.
These devices actually lower the oxygen level from about 21 percent at sea level down to about 13 percent, which simulates a 12,500 feet altitude environment.
Take that, you Nepalese sherpas.
While altitude training has received a lot of notoriety from fighters like Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson, who have trained in Big Bear, Calif.(elevation 6,752 feet, or 2,058 meters), you might ask yourself, how do you benefit from merely sleeping at altitude?
Let’s say you have a foot race with a Kenyan long distance runner coming up in four to six weeks. Let’s face it, unless you do something drastic, you’re going to get creamed. After all, this dude’s Kenyan.
Sleeping in an altitude tent — which is to say, sleeping in a low-oxygen environment — will help acclimatize your body so you won’t get altitude sickness if your race runs through the Rockies.
And even if your event takes place at sea level, the fact that your body has been working to produce more red blood cells, increase capillary growth (which means greater oxygen delivery to tissues, muscles and the brain) and enhance production of mitochondria (the cells’ power plant for aerobic energy production) means that you’ll see amplified pulmonary oxygen absorption and more efficient use of oxygen for energy production.
In short, you’ll smoke the Kenyan.
Other signs your money was well spent include decreased average heart rate and blood pressure, increased production and release of Human Growth Hormone (do I have your attention now?) and stimulation of fat metabolism. That’s right, fatties, you can actually lose weight easier on these machines. Sure beats Lean Cuisine.
Plus, if you plan to spend four weeks in Big Bear without first preparing yourself for the change in altitude, it might take you several weeks to adjust, meaning that you might not be able to push yourself as hard as you normally would until your body has had a chance to acclimatize to the elevation. That can eat into precious time.
Basically, if you could live in Big Bear while training at sea level, you might have even better results than what Team Punishment swears by.
As Formato put it, “The basic philosophies are to live high and train low. What that means is for athletes who are trying to get in their speed work or their intense conditioning work, they want to be doing that as close to sea level as possible.”
Hypoxico suggests “sleeping high and training low” for some athletes, and for others they suggest sleeping high while also incorporating three or four, 30- to 40-minute high-altitude workouts each week.
Besides those fighters already mentioned, Dan Henderson reportedly used altitude training equipment to prepare for his UFC 82 fight with Anderson Silva. Other fighters using these devices include Marcus Aurelio, Nick “the Goat” Thompson and the WEC’s John Alessio.
Interestingly enough, Din Thomas might not see the same edge from his use of altitude training systems in tonight’s fight with Josh Neer. That’s because Neer reportedly has been using these same devices. If the fight goes into the third round, don’t expect either of these guys to let up early.
And more and more fighters might not have that edge for much longer thanks to the emergence altitude training systems.
28 Comments »
I’m actually smarter for having read that. Thanks, Adam.
Nice…Hendo is the man
this pic of Hendo cracks me up every time i see it. i think it’s the comforter.
nice advertisement!
[quote comment="398815"]nice advertisement![/quote]
FAIL.
Seems like good stuff but once everyone starts using it then no one will have the advantage anymore.
However what worries me is new upcoming fighters having a disadvantage as they may not have the sort of money or support for the equipment.
Then again I guess newbies are always at a disadvantage most of the time (e.g. no trainning camps, no experience, part time job etc…).
On anther note I would think his [Henderson's] bodies extra oxygen capacity would of helped him when he was getting choked out, guess not!!!
j-lau is using it. to bad it wont help against Ken Flo
pred. Ken ” i finish fights ” Florian by sub. in the 2nd.
I wonder if the UFC or other MMA sporting committees test for EPO levels. I interned for a pharmacist for a couple of months and he told me about this synthetic drug he kept in a mini-fridge that increased EPO. Its used for kidney failure patients and is extremely expensive.
The Olympic committee tests for it due to its ability to raise athletes performance levels. It seems like someone like Kenny Florian could just juice himself up with EPO and could be able to keep up with Lauzon without the months of sleeping in compression chambers… hmmm???
The drug is Epogen and has been banned by WADA and others. There is a natural supplement called Epo-Boost that will do the same thing and is not banned. It increases EPO levels within less than a month and they have lots of research showing it works. Lots cheaper that works faster
[quote comment="398827"]I wonder if the UFC or other MMA sporting committees test for EPO levels. I interned for a pharmacist for a couple of months and he told me about this synthetic drug he kept in a mini-fridge that increased EPO. Its used for kidney failure patients and is extremely expensive.
The Olympic committee tests for it due to its ability to raise athletes performance levels. It seems like someone like Kenny Florian could just juice himself up with EPO and could be able to keep up with Lauzon without the months of sleeping in compression chambers… hmmm???[/quote]
good question. on the FAQ section of Hypoxico’s website, it says:
“3Q: Why not just take synthetic EPO?
“A: EPO is erythropoietin – a hormone that makes the bone marrow create more red blood cells – a wonderful drug that has saved many lives – IN MEDICINE.
In the sporting world it has unfortunately been abused and cost many lives. It causes many problems in the body when not used for its intended medical application, completely throwing off the natural balance that the body needs for healthy long-term living. Consequently it is illegal to use in sports.
Already, drug-test samples are being frozen for re-analysis when the test for EPO is very soon perfected.”
that last part is the kicker (obviously more common among Olympic committees and Tours de France, but…)
[quote comment="398820"]Seems like good stuff but once everyone starts using it then no one will have the advantage anymore.
However what worries me is new upcoming fighters having a disadvantage as they may not have the sort of money or support for the equipment.
Then again I guess newbies are always at a disadvantage most of the time (e.g. no trainning camps, no experience, part time job etc…).
On anther note I would think his [Henderson's] bodies extra oxygen capacity would of helped him when he was getting choked out, guess not!!![/quote]
this is one of many new techniques that athletes are using, im sure ppl will keep coming up with crazy shit like this to improve once conditioning, as time goes on and everyone does it then theyre will be anew and improved way of having the edge …
I don’t understand how it would be better to sleep at an elevated level and then train at sea level. It seems like it would be better to get your body sleeping at lower oxygen levels and training at lower 02 levels. I always thought olympic swimmers should also train harder by swimming in jello with sharks chasing them after they give themselves a flesh wound to get blood in the water.
That’s what I would do. If I was a trainer, not a competitor.
anyone know why he changed his nickname from hollywood to dangerous dan?
[quote comment="398873"]I don’t understand how it would be better to sleep at an elevated level and then train at sea level. It seems like it would be better to get your body sleeping at lower oxygen levels and training at lower 02 levels. [/quote]
I believe that the problem is, when you live at sea level and then move to Big Bear, let’s say, for a short period of time, you won’t be able to push yourself as hard until your body acclimates itself. so the inefficient workout will cancel out the benefit of the altitude training.
however, if you are training for a long enough period to acclimate yourself, after several weeks, you will experience efficient workouts.
at least, i think that’s how it goes. all i know for sure is, after living altitude, you can drink WAY more beer when you go visit your sea-level friends.
If Hendo was using this prior to the silva fight, it didn’t seem to help because he gassed in the 2nd round
dude if that is true I guantee you there will be a whole bunch of rich drunk ass ppl buying those isolated sleeping chamber in order to be able to drink more
[quote comment="398873"]I don’t understand how it would be better to sleep at an elevated level and then train at sea level. It seems like it would be better to get your body sleeping at lower oxygen levels and training at lower 02 levels. I always thought olympic swimmers should also train harder by swimming in jello with sharks chasing them after they give themselves a flesh wound to get blood in the water.
That’s what I would do. If I was a trainer, not a competitor.[/quote]
Read the article it explains that. You can train harder at sea level than you could at higher altitude.
[quote comment="398899"]If Hendo was using this prior to the silva fight, it didn’t seem to help because he gassed in the 2nd round[/quote]
I was Thinking The Same Thing And It Seems A Little Much . After I Heard The Fighters Interviews None Of Them Were Concerend With Altitude.
This System Is Reminds Of Something Crazy Ol Mike Jackson Would Sleep In Or Something.
[quote comment="398919"][quote comment="398899"]If Hendo was using this prior to the silva fight, it didn’t seem to help because he gassed in the 2nd round[/quote]
I was Thinking The Same Thing And It Seems A Little Much . After I Heard The Fighters Interviews None Of Them Were Concerend With Altitude.
This System Is Reminds Of Something Crazy Ol Mike Jackson Would Sleep In Or Something.[/quote]
Gassed? Were we watching the same fight? Spider strikes, not stamina, were Hendo’s downfall.
[quote post="5628"]anyone know why he changed his nickname from hollywood to dangerous dan?[/quote]
-They called him Hollywood in Japan and he always hated it, so he changed to Dangerous.
Props on the high altitude training info. I used a sleeping chamber several years ago and it helped me get rid of my migraine headaches. There not near as expensive as they used to be, and there pretty cheap to rent.
yesterday john put a link to a Kiril Sidelnikov fight.he also mentioned some one named Chris Horedescki. is that the correct spelling of his name ,because i couldnt find any of his fights.
Simply,
Low Altitude increases oxygen diffusion, more oxygen to blood, more training.
After that long day of training, you go back to High Altitude, where there is less oxygen in the atmosphere and your body has to compensate by creating more red blood cells to deliver oxygen.
And you become the longer trained, more RBC (red blood celled) fighter.
So I just read this post and went to lunch. As I came back into my building through the freight entrance, what do I see? About 10 boxes of Hypoxico Altitude Training Systems on their way out for shipping. Hypoxico is in MY BUILDING!! I can only hope that someone contacts me and invites me up to the 5th floor to meet some fighters….. ahhh dreams. Lovely.
[quote comment="398813"]this pic of Hendo cracks me up every time i see it. i think it’s the comforter.[/quote]
lol… Right on Adam, good stuff. what about enimas? who’s doing that?… just playin.. i dont want to know.
We all know that BJ Penn already always “sleeps high”. Ba-dump-bump!
[quote comment="398919"]I was Thinking The Same Thing And It Seems A Little Much . After I Heard The Fighters Interviews None Of Them Were Concerend With Altitude.
This System Is Reminds Of Something Crazy Ol Mike Jackson Would Sleep In Or Something.[/quote]
why do some ppl write title style in every single word? It’s kind of annoying reading it. I’m not trying to pick on you, I’m just wondering really
when people say Hendo was gassed and others say “were you watching the fight what gassed?” I can never understand why they say that. I watched the fight and in between round 1 and 2 hendo is breathing heavy, VERY heavy and has his mouth open for air, even heaving. Anderson looks like he hasn’t gotten off the couch by comparison. If this was meant to be an endorsement for this product it didn’t sell me even though I know the concept is valid. [sort of]. Hypervaric chambers[not clue how to spell it] are used in hockey. M nhl team got one a few years back and it speeds the rate at which a body heals and all sorts of crap. If hendo used this he used it wrong imho or used it backwards thinking he knew better. Maybe he mis read the instructions. It wouldn’t suprise me to be honest.
Cross country skiers have the highest VO2 max of all sportsmen. They feckin’ live in these things.
I wonder how far you can push this?