Manitoba Muscle
Darren Mehling
BA, CSCS
As a strongman competitor, Darren has pulled 50,000 lb trucks and dead lifted 805 lbs. As a competitive bodybuilder, he has won Provincial Super-heavyweight & Overall titles. As President & CEO of FREAK Fitness, he has coached his clients to hundreds of Novice, Provincial/State, National, and IFBB Pro titles. Having been involved in the sport of bodybuilding for over 20 years, Darren has his finger on the pulse of the local and international bodybuilding scenes, and will be keeping you informed through his column, “Freak Fitness."
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Hypoxic Training Masks
Q. I’ve seen athletes using those hypoxic training masks. Do you use these with any of your athletes, or are they a scam?
A. I can guarantee you that the athletes wearing those masks in the gym aren’t my clients!
The theory behind wearing a mask that restricts your breathing while training is to mimic training in high altitudes. Many endurance and mixed martial arts athletes seek out training facilities that are located in high altitudes, at 8,000 feet or more above sea level, so they can live and train in a lower air pressure environment, which results in relatively less oxygen. After being in that environment for a few weeks, it is believed that the athlete’s body produces more red blood cells, which ultimately provides more muscle efficiency once the athlete returns to lower altitudes. This effect can last up to a few weeks, after which the athlete adapts again to the higher air pressure.
I don’t recommend hypoxic training masks because they won’t improve endurance.
The mask cannot change the atmospheric pressure you are training in. Further, the mask is only worn during training, which, based on the high altitude training theory, isn’t long enough to create the desired effect.
My only clients that wear masks during training are my tactical athletes, such as the emergency response team (ERT) members and firefighters, during their scenario training. These athletes have to become comfortable wearing masks (gas masks or self-contained breathing apparatus [SCBA]) during very high-stress situations and must be able to move and think fast while wearing them.
If you want to get trained by Darren Mehling, visit his website FreakFitness.ca
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