TY  - JOUR
A1  - Porcari, John P.
A1  - Probst, Lauren
A1  - Forrester, Karlei
A1  - Doberstein, Scott
A1  - Foster, Carl
A1  - Cress, Maria L.
A1  - Schmidt, Katharina
T1  - Effect of wearing the elevation training mask on aerobic capacity, lung function, and hematological variables
T2  - Journal of sports science & medicine
N2  - Altitude training and respiratory muscle training (RMT) have been reported to improve performance in elite and well-trained athletes. Several devices (altitude and RMT) have been developed to help athletes gain the competitive edge. The Elevation Training Mask 2.0 (ETM) purportedly simulates altitude training and has been suggested to increase aerobic capacity (VO2max), endurance performance, and lung function. Twenty-four moderately trained subjects completed 6 weeks of high-intensity cycle ergometer training. Subjects were randomized into a mask (n = 12) or control (n = 12) group. Pre and post-training tests included VO2max, pulmonary function, maximal inspiration pressure, hemoglobin and hematocrit. No significant differences were found in pulmonary function or hematological variables between or within groups. There was a significant improvement in VO2max and PPO in both the control (13.5% and 9.9%) and mask (16.5% and 13.6%) groups. There was no difference in the magnitude of improvement between groups. Only the mask group had significant improvements in ventilatory threshold (VT) (13.9%), power output (PO) at VT (19.3%), respiratory compensation threshold (RCT) (10.2%), and PO at RCT (16.4%) from pre to post-testing. The trends for improvements in VT and PO at VT between groups were similar to improvements in RCT and PO at RCT, but did not reach statistical significance (VT p = 0.06, PO at VT p = 0.170). Wearing the ETM while participating in a 6-week high-intensity cycle ergometer training program does not appear to act as a simulator of altitude, but more like a respiratory muscle training device. Wearing the ETM may improve specific markers of endurance performance beyond the improvements seen with interval training alone.
KW  - Altitude training
KW  - interval training
Y1  - 2016
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/50809
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-508096
UR  - https://www.jssm.org/hfabst.php?id=jssm-15-379.xml
SN  - 1303-2968
N1  - This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
VL  - 15
IS  - 2
SP  - 379
EP  - 386
PB  - Department of Sports Medicine, Medical Faculty of Uludag University
CY  - Bursa, Turkey
ER  -