Oxygen tents

[drivin_me_nuts]

Oxygen tents ...

I hear that certain football players from the higher parts of South America sleep in oxygen tents when in the UK. How would sleeping in a tent help performance when playing at lower levels?

[chickenkebab]

Probably because of all the st in the air we have here.

[bales]

It might be something to do with maintaining the adaptation from high altitude training.

I imagine that the adaption only lasts for a certain amount of time before your red blood cell level starts to normalise about its local atmosphere.

[ewenm]

What Bales said. I'm surprised there's a significant advantage to altitude training for a short-burst sport like football though... so this could be more down to psychological effects on the player - he's using the latest technology so must be fitter and better than his opponents.

[Lucie W]

Can someone explain the physiology of this? Athletes train at high altitudes where there is LESS oxygen, in order to build up the red blood cells/haemoglobin, so that when they return to a normal altitude, their body utilises the oxygen much better.

Surely sleeping in oxygen tents would have the opposite effect, maybe they just do it very short term to increase their performance the next day?

[drivin_me_nuts]

.. from what I have heard about this one particular player at least, he sleeps in a tent pretty much all the time.

[ShadownINja]

Lucie W said:

Can someone explain the physiology of this? Athletes train at high altitudes where there is LESS oxygen, in order to build up the red blood cells/haemoglobin, so that when they return to a normal altitude, their body utilises the oxygen much better.

Surely sleeping in oxygen tents would have the opposite effect, maybe they just do it very short term to increase their performance the next day?

It doesn't make sense, does it? It should hamper his performance as the body will have adapted to requiring more oxygen than is available on the pitch.

I mean you go up to Everest in stages so the body adapts and gets used to a lack of oxygen so you don't have medical problems. If you bailed out of an aircraft with no oxygen tank and landed on Everest's summit, you'll be the first to do it in 5 minutes but would pass out in seconds and likely die unless you're taken down.

That said, healing would be quicker, IIRC.

Edited by ShadownINja on Thursday 25th March 12:39

[Bill]

Lucie W said:

Can someone explain the physiology of this? Athletes train at high altitudes where there is LESS oxygen, in order to build up the red blood cells/haemoglobin, so that when they return to a normal altitude, their body utilises the oxygen much better.

Surely sleeping in oxygen tents would have the opposite effect, maybe they just do it very short term to increase their performance the next day?

Possibly the tent has a lower O2 concentration, to maintain the altitude effect.

Increased O2 is supposed to help with bony healing so it might be he struggling with stress fractures.

[DKL]

That would be my thinking - it may be called an oxygen tent but that doesn't mean it must run at high O2 levels. If you maintain some time in a lower o2 environment (than at sealevel) you must stand a better chance of keeping your, altitude enhanced, red blood cell count higher than you would if you didn't.
Quite how long you would need to show (or keep) an effect I have no idea.

Edited by DKL on Thursday 25th March 19:50

[Lucie W]

Aha good point - it looks like they can be low-oxygen too.

http://www.hypoxico.com/David%20Beckham%20-%20Tele...

[ShadownINja]

Doh!