Hong Kong athletes take runner's high to greater heights
Training gear that mimics the low-oxygen conditions of high altitudes is becoming more accessible to athletes, but not all experts agree it works, says Calvin Yang
Ultra-marathoner Andre Blumberg puts in 15 to 20 hours of training each week on tracks and trails around Hong Kong, his adopted city for the past 12 years. But for the German, it is the time spent at rest that is exhausting.
On most nights, Blumberg seemingly slumbers at 9,000 feet (2,743 metres) above sea level, where the thin air makes sleeping difficult. But while most athletes travel for hours or even days to get to such high and often remote terrains to live and train, Blumberg has a hermetically sealed altitude tent in his Mei Foo apartment.
It is better to be able to train at near 100 per cent of the body's potential
This hypoxic, or low-oxygen, tent has a generator that pumps in a predetermined mixture of low-oxygenated air while removing carbon dioxide, recreating the conditions of "living high and training low". This forces the body to produce more oxygen-carrying red blood cells and may lead to better endurance when performing workouts at sea level.
"It takes some time to get used to and, initially, I found myself waking up during the night," says Blumberg, 43, the IT director of a power company.
The tent costs about HK$37,300. Its altitude can be adjusted slowly as the body adapts, with the generator able to simulate up to 21,000 feet (6,400 metres), slightly higher than Camp II at Mount Everest. Hong Kong's highest peak, Tai Mo Shan, is only 957 metres.
It has proven a valuable training tool for Blumberg, who is in the midst of attempting the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning, a series of four 100-mile (160-kilometre) trail races in the US over 10 weeks. This past weekend, he completed the second leg, the Vermont 100.