If you’ve never witnessed or used an exercise mask before, you may question why someone would strap a mask over their face to workout. Lovely help make your workout much harder?
That’s really the purpose, based on individuals who use training masks.
Also referred to as altitude masks or elevation training masks (ETMs), these masks are utilized to simulate conditions at greater altitudes to worry your body during exercise.
Ideally, utilizing a training mask can help you increase physical performance and get more and more challenging goals.
But exactly how effective are these training masks at enhancing your performance? And it is it safe to work with one? Continue reading to find out more.
Do you know the advantages of an exercise mask?
An exercise mask is made to assist you to re-produce the conditions of high altitudes whenever you can’t physically go high above ocean level.
Putting on this mask during exercising is considered by a few that will help you attain the same benefits you may achieve should you be training at extremely high altitudes.
An exercise mask looks quite different from a surgical mask or perhaps N95 mask.
Like individuals masks, an exercise mask covers the mouth area. However, additionally, it features adjustable channels or valves around the front to limit the quantity of oxygen you get, in addition to a valve where exhaled air exits the mask.
Whenever you put on the mask, the body begins to adjust to the lower oxygen intake, making your heart and lung area continue to work harder.
Then, whenever you go ahead and take mask off, you’ll obtain a big boost – the body has adapted towards the restricted oxygen and has the capacity to make use of the oxygen more proficiently, which will help you perform better.
After utilizing a training mask for a while, you might seem like you are able to improve your speed, jump greater, or bike for an extended duration. If you are a rival, this could give you an advantage within the people you’re facing.
Here are the specific benefits that advocates of training masks typically cite.
Builds aerobic capacity
VO2 max is basically shorthand for the maximal oxygen intake. This refers back to the uppermost limit for the quantity of oxygen bodies are able to utilize during exercise. You may even listen to it known as peak oxygen intake.
Training masks are meant to help you in achieving your VO2 max, but research shows mixed results. Inside a 2016 studyTrusted Source, for instance, training masks helped wearers improve their VO2 max. A 2017 study, however, demonstrated no real benefit.
Builds breathing
You might frequently hear that training masks help to improve your breathing. But studies suggest that may not be the situation.
The 2016 studyTrusted Source pointed out above compared one select few of “moderately trained” adults who used ETMs having a control group that didn’t use masks.
The research didn’t find any improvement in breathing backward and forward groups.
Induces hypoxemia
Hypoxemia may be the condition of getting below-normal amounts of oxygen inside your bloodstream. Basically, training masks are meant to help you in achieving this condition as their effect is comparable to what you are able experience at high altitudes.
However the question still remains: Do ETMs really help you in achieving exactly the same benefits you’d receive from training at thin air?
These 2016 studyTrusted Source implies that these masks aren’t really effective altitude training devices in the end. Rather, they’re more efficient as respiratory system muscle training devices.
The 2017 study pointed out earlier notes the limited period of time that the mask is usually worn may limit its potential benefits.
When training at high altitudes for any certain period of time, bodies are constantly uncovered towards the reduced oxygen levels. So, there’s time for you to evolve, even if you aren’t exercising.
But putting on an exercise mask for just an hour or so-lengthy workout 3 or 4 days each week, for instance, might not be sufficient enough to create a good comparison.
Are training masks safe?
These masks might or might not work, but it is also vital that you think about the safety factor. Elite athletes could see some advantages of them, but should amateur athletes try them, too?
Individuals who begin using these altitude masks can experience some benefits, like improved lung capacity. However they might also experience certain negative effects, based on 2018 study of 20 male weightlifters. These negative effects can include:
- lightheadedness
- dizziness
- fatigue
- discomfort
- anxiety
The weightlifters within the study used the masks during training, and researchers discovered that the mask wearers lost some extent of performance and concentrate toward their tasks because of reduced oxygen intake.
Even with no underlying health problems, you should know that it is easy to hyperventilate or faint when utilizing an exercise mask. If you have health issues, like high bloodstream pressure or coronary disease, your physician will probably counsel you to influence obvious of those masks.
How do you make use of a training mask?
If you are worried about whether your wellbeing is a good example to get a mask, seek advice from your physician first.
If you are in good condition with no underlying problems that might preclude you against an exercise regimen that employs an exercise mask, think about these steps:
Look into the fit. Make certain the mask fits properly. It ought to fit snuggly over your mouth and nose.
Don’t start too fast. Don’t placed on the mask and mind to run five miles. Put on it around your home for a while, possibly while testing out some pursuits like light house work. You may feel just a little lightheaded initially since the mask restricts your breathing, so be conscious.
Increase progressively. Consider scaling your regular workouts before adding a mask.
Adjust the valves. Some ETMs enables you to tinker using the altitude settings a great deal. Select a low-level before you observe how you react, and progressively come up.
Focus on how you’re feeling. Take away the mask if you are feeling lightheaded or faint.
Based on your physical fitness goals, an exercise mask may not be the best choice for you. Or else you should choose that you do not like the thought of putting on a bulky mask while you’re exercising.
Plus, there are more choices for working up to and including tougher exercise routine that builds more than a extended period of time. It might take a couple of days to determine the way your body reacts before you decide to notice any enhancements inside your aerobic capacity.
The takeaway
Thinking about trying an exercise mask? Their benefits appear attractive, however they might not deliver precisely what you picture.
Evidence for training masks continues to be inconclusive. However, these masks could make some workouts harder, supplying some benefit for aerobic workouts.
The end result is more research appears to become needed – particularly since the majority of the existing research concentrates on those who are athletes or military personnel – to be able to decide if training masks provide real benefits.