Sorry to re-invent the wheel… I actually considered buying an altitude tent, especially since my wife is equally crazy about wanting to get faster. I am an FP Doctor, so I have medical science background. I have reviewed most of the studies on Simulated Altitude, the “Live High/Train Low” concept. The studies/data are conflicting and confusing. At some point I stopped caring about so much data. Some studies have control groups and some don’t. Some studies use elite athletes and some dont. (Elite athletes would be tougher to show performance gains). The amount of altitude exposure (duration) and the type of altitude exposure varies as well (actual altitude vs artificial via a sleeping tent). I got a little fed up… I went to CAT (Colorado Altitude Training’s) website and looked at their studies listed. What bothered me was that of the two studies they have which use 8-10 hours of sleeping in altitude tents (normobaric hypoxia), that they cant show any significant increase in Hemoglobin mass… Overall, I WISH I could believe that a sleeping tent would increase my natural EPO level and increase my hemoglobin, but I cant find any real proof that this is true. So it seems that I cant justify spending $3000 on a sleeping system, especially sleeping in a hot, humid bubble… This looks like a “NO”. We still se athletes like MEB and Deena Kastor training at Mammoth Lakes… I saw video of Gwen Jorgenson in a sleeping tent last year, but I am not sure if someone paid her $1000 to take a nap in it while someone took video… I don’t see an altitude tent as cheating, since athletes can live at altitude without breaking the rules… As far as I can see, the 8 hours sleep is not enough stimules to increase hemoglobin significantly… Interesting as well, there is a gene for the ACE enzyme (type I) that codes for an increase in response to altitude. Has anyone out there measured their hemoglobin before and after sleeping in an altitude tent for a month? That is the only data I really care about… Is there a way to increase your hemoglobin/hematocrit without breaking any rules? BTW I would never inject EPO.
Hello shacking and All,
Here is some info I gathered many years ago … although not in a tent.
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/altitude_training.html
Suggest renting time in a tent and do the blood work to decide.
When it comes to pro cyclists, altitude training is often a cover story for doping. It makes it easier to beat the bio passport.
From what I have read altitude training seems useful for racing at altitude. It is rather dubious for anything else.
I can’t address altitude tents per se, but I’d be interested to know if you’ve ever looked at the research surrounding this finding:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16239610
It seems there is a possibility EPO can be stimulated by just rebreathing pure O2. I’ve dabbled with some personal testing on this and didn’t see any change in my blood tests. I’ve been thinking of trying it again but using the new Theranos service that uses tiny blood samples and then I’d be able to test many times during an intervention instead of just before and after.
Hi Neal… It’s funny, I had already found that article. I thought it was pretty cool. The guy actually measured his hematocrit before and after altitude exposure and showed a nice increase after only 9 days, impressive. What bothers me is that his experience doesnt apply to me, since he was not only sleeping at altitude, he stayed up there 24 hours a day for 9 days. In my case, I would only get altitude exposure for 8-9 hours a day (sleeping). As far as I can see, no one has shown that 8 hours a day is enough exposure to increase the hematocrit. I emailed CAT with the exact question. If I get a response, I will post it.
Ive always thought the tents were dubious, but i also believe altitude training(living at) is beneficial, at least for me and many others. People that say it does nothing, well then why are all the EPO doped cyclists leaving everyone else in the dust? Of course it is not nearly as much as artificial EPO, but i have seen gains in myself of up to 2% increase in HCT%. Not a lot, but overall it is about a 4% total gain, and at the pointy end that can be a big edge. I did a lot of blood work back in the day to see exactly what happened to me training high, and like you indicated, my own bodies EPO production went up, and quite a bit.
I have read a lot of the studies and they all seem to converge on the fact that people react differently, some positive, some negative. Only one way to find out, just do the bloodwork and extrapolate from there. I also felt great after a week up high, but that is just a feeling. I also felt great coming back down for about a month or so too, but also a feeling. I never tested it, but have been told that red blood cells can live up to two months. My guess is that you return to normal much sooner than that though.
And most agree that if you are going to race at altitude, then you should train at it. Where the agreement differs is training high to race low. I believe it works in endurance sports, maybe not so much in sprints. And my thought about sleeping in tents has always been that it hampers your recovery, and being high at your lowest metabolic rate just takes too long for changes to be made. I mean if you go to altitude and just sit on a couch for a month, or go up and train your ass off, which one will make metabolic changes faster? Seems like it should be a slam dunk, but many still argue the other side. And it could be that it is that way for them, like i said, some people go backwards at altitude, so would have a complete different experience.
In Michael Hutchinson’s book “Faster” he says he was told by a BC coach that they didn’t think reduced oxygen content at normal air pressures (tent) gave the same adaptations as reduced oxygen content and reduced air pressure (altitude)
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Very cool study… What I would want to see is not just an EPO increase, but a hemoglobin increase, proven. I dont know if 60% increase in EPO is very much… I know that EPO levels already climb 60% at night normally, so my question would be “Is there really any gain?” I dont know much about actual EPO levels… If I find out, I will post it… Very cool idea, worth looking into.
Altitude tents can work, but you are correct- there is no free lunch.
A tent must be factored into your program just like rest, intervals, nutrition, etc.
It is certainly possible “over use” a tent and have it make you slower if you are not recovering from the
cumulative stress.
I find a tent helps if:
1.) Athlete is already training maximally and optimally- what I mean by that is that the athlete cannot benefit by riding more hours, more intensity, etc.
2.) Athlete is willing to alter training and recovery to make sure they benefit from the stress of the tent.
3.) A tent is more useful if the athlete is preparing for an event at elevation and does not have the possibility to do a full altitude stay before the competition.
Some think that a tent is like a supplement- buy it, jack it up to max elevation, and reap the benefits. Does not work like that at all.
I would put a tent pretty far down on the list of needs for most athletes.
the effects of real altitude on blood parameters is easy and unambiguous, demonstrated over and over.
The fact that evidence for tents is so lacking suggests to me that they are just nonsense. Without the reduced pressure the body just doesn’t do the same adapting, and/or 8 hours a day isn’t enough time in them.
As one poster noted - altitude tents seem to work when the athlete does everything else perfectly in their program.
wellllll
I agree with you, EPO can be a tricky measurement, just like any hormone. Many of the contrary studies I read mention this and many other faults to this research. I measured hemoglobin and hematocrit as a proxy. My correspondence with the authors suggest that the treatment duration and frequency need to be fined tuned to see benefit. Also, as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, its quite possible athletes won’t benefit as greatly (or at all) from this treatment because exercise training already “maxes” them out.
Thank you for the intelligent responses… most of the responses I saw on forums were guys getting ridiculed. I couldn’t help but notice Alberto Salazar uses them at the Nike Oregon Project… but makes sense, these athletes need every possible edge since seconds make the difference between winning and losing an olympics. My guess is these athletes get altitude exposure 12-14 hours a day as well eating lunch, reading, taking naps as well, basically living in an altitude chamber for more hours than I would be… I am lucky to sleep 6-7 hours half the nights, so I guess I have no business sleeping in the tent, recovery sounds more important. THANK YOU for your feedback. I still want to see the hard data (the numbers) from someone before and after sleeping in the tent. From the studies I saw, it is negligible
It may be that the blood values do not reflect the adaptation. Maybe the plasma volume also increases or something.
For me, over the last decade or so, using and not using my altitude tent (for a season, or for several months), I find it gives me between 20-30 Watts at FTP. I don’t know what my associated blood values are. I’m satisfied with FTP as a measure.
I hope you get a reply from CAT. They have some good guys there.
Cheers,
and/or 8 hours a day isn’t enough time in them.
What about if you are like Jeff and you are getting 13-14 hours of sleep 
.
Own a tent and use it for race prep…I live at 7900’ and will sleep in it 3-4 weeks out from a race…
My normal RBC count is around 48-50, after a couple weeks in the tent it will be around 54-55 with 98% ox sat
It will kill your recovery rate, and you won’t sleep very well the first week.
But I will add a nice little peak…
It may be that the blood values do not reflect the adaptation. Maybe the plasma volume also increases or something.
For me, over the last decade or so, using and not using my altitude tent (for a season, or for several months), I find it gives me between 20-30 Watts at FTP. I don’t know what my associated blood values are. I’m satisfied with FTP as a measure.
I hope you get a reply from CAT. They have some good guys there.
Cheers,
What sort of a % boost is this for you?
Maybe not speed, but do they work for acclimatization? I’m headed back up to high altitude for a race. Completed it last year coming from sea level with only minimal acclimatization, but would an o2 tent help? Clearly arriving a couple weeks before would be ideal, but that is impossible for me.
Now we have a lower bound for Damon’s FTP.
It is more than 20!
from a buddy, regarding tent usage from a ceu course he took…
"But 8-9 hours in a tent does not work for many. One needs 11-12+ hours in it. "
he further added that sprinkling hypoxic training may be needed well. that it is hard to isolate all factors in studies to see exactly what is going on as to why some appear to repond and others do not.
Hi folks… I did get a response from CAT and pasted it here… I hope Shaun doesnt mind. (Read Below). Looking at the studies, I am aware that there were improvements in some performance parameters (I believe it was “time to exhaustion” and lactate threshold, with use of simulated altitude (tents). One place where we clearly get caught up is the difference between truly living high, and simulating that with a tent system. I am pretty sure that there is some increase in hemoglobin with tent use, it only makes logical sense, and I suspect that normal adaptative responses (increases in total plasma volume) probably cover up that effect. I was honestly surprised that people can shoot EPO and get obvious, measurable gains in hemoglobin mass, yet a few simple studies on using tents couldnt prove that. It is so easy to measure and prove. And for me, I really am not too interested in any other mechanisms of improvement beyond the obvious one. EPO works and we know why. Hemoglobin carries oxygen, and we are endurance athletes. Most of our energy systems run on oxygen that we use. Yes, lactate thresholds matter, as do a variety of other energy systems. But why ignore the obvious most important energy system? My suspicion is that YES, the tents work, and unfortunately the effect is smaller than I would like. Shaun below mentions that WADA says that the tents show performance gains. Also that Galen Rupp had measurable success with it. I would like to see that data, and I would like to see if his hemoglobin levels changed. As is always the problem with exercise science-- How much performance gain is attributable to the tent? and how much is “all in our head”? Anyone in any study knows they were sleeping in an altitude tent, so when they are tested, they believe they should be better. How powerful is the power of belief? Like Dean Karnazes said, running is more than 50% mental.
SEE BELOW
From: swallace@altitudetraining.com
To: scotthacking@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: Doubts about Simulated Altitude
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 17:57:42 -0800
Hello Scott,
8-10 hours may well be insufficient to increase Hgbn by much, but that doesn’t mean that there are not performance gains by other mechanisms. Indeed in the past 18 years since I made the first tent system I don’t believe I’m aware of any athlete who’s consistently used a properly-designed altitude simulation system for 8-10 hours a night (with sensible protocols) , who hasn’t seen worthwhile gains.
I’m amazed how many serious/pro long-time athletes there are who STILL leave this pot untouched, yet go to such extremes (eg incredible annual mileage for cyclists) chasing after such miniscule remaining gains there. But that merely means we’re still in the phase where athletes who DO get serious, and get their systems and protocols correct, can enjoy a very worthwhile competitive advantage, just as I did the last few years of my career.
I know such athletes enjoy seeing articles putting doubt on the systems as it deters others, and have little interest in sharing their success.
Most published studies on altitude training are hideous in their design. eg Cycling Weekly UK is doing their own (admittedly “unscientific”) test which is almost bound to fail. I detailed several reasons on their on-line story, starting with the sub-par equipment of a type I haven’t sold for over a decade.
The best data I’ve seen comes from groups such as the Nike Research Lab on the elite runners in the Oregon Project, eg Galen Rupp. Their gains are quite stunning, comparable to the best achievable by those who have access to suitable mountain locations for LH-TL.
It was interesting back when these were new how innovative individual athletes (as I was at the time) were able to start using them immediately, whereas organizations such as the US Olympic Association were several years before they were able to officially start using them (I say officially as I know a blind eye was deliberately turned to athletes in the OTC who were using them,… and posting excellent treadmill results which was not able to be officially attributed to the tents as they weren’t supposed to have them). That OTC now has several bedrooms converted to Colorado Mountain Rooms. So the " innovative individual athlete" enjoyed several years head start,… and I’d say STILL now has an advantage over likely most of his competitors.
FWIW the organization WADA, while considering the legality of the altitude tents, did conclude they were beneficial to performance. Unless something is dangerous (they concluded “no” on that) they are not allowed to consider banning something unless it improves performance. Their final deciding criteria then became the ethics, and it was concluded they are indeed ethical, no different in function and use to an Air Conditioner, and have enabled more even access to altitude.
Hope this helps,
Best Regards
Shaun