hypoxic environment

[Casale]

I am an athlete looking to advance my training via live high train low program. i am curious how to take oxygen out of air, or create altitude, or an hypoxic environment. i have figured i might be able to do it via an air compressor and pumping nitrogen into a tent, but i am figuring it would be difficult to monitor and i kinda don't want to die. www.altitudetraining.com has several examples, but i am looking for a cost effective alternative to buying this expensive equipment. plus, making stuff is fun.

[5614]

well, if you are in a confined space you slowly 'use' up the oxygen and breate out CO2, which replaces the O2, so you could stay in a room for a long time, but i dont think that this would work as a rooms the kinda size that you want will be a bit too large for that effect to take much affect, if you see what i mean!

 

you could build a head gear, and the O2 would run out in there quite fast, but maybe a bit too fast, what kinda distance running to you want?

[Casale]

the idea of the training is to sleep at low oxygen levels, so that your body in turn reacts by creating more red blood cells to carry oxygen when you are competeing in a normal environment. the only problem with using head gear or something is that i don't want to suffocate or have a serious problem with CO2 buildup.

[budullewraagh]

heh, if you need loads of o2, try getting loads of hydrogen peroxide and decomposing it

[Casale]

its the exact opposite, I need very little O2 in a controlled environment. my newest idea is setting up a pump or compressor and metering in N2 in with air to simulate altitude. basically i want to put the oxygen in a lesser proportion than sea level air, resulting in my body creating more red blood cells as a response to try and carry more oxygen to my body.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

You could buy scuba gear and modify it so it gave you less oxygen than you should have, so then your body has to react.

[Casale]

You could buy scuba gear and modify it so it gave you less oxygen than you should have, so then your body has to react.

ahh yes, good thinking, thats the type of idea i like. i have a friend that owns a scuba shop, i am gonna have to talk to him, i like the basis of the idea though

[jsatan]

Have the air mix with less O2 and more He, that should give you the effect of thin air, lol.

 

Good luck, but if you get light headed dont blame us, lol.

[Casale]

that would be the question, does nitrogen have a negative affect on the body, Pure N2. He would make me high, as CO and CO2 would poison me. Nitrogen makes up a majority of the atmosphere as it is so i assume that i would be able to use that as the displacer.

[Casale]

some further research has said that they use a "generator" to reduce the oxygen level from 21 to about 14%. anyone have a clue as to how you could extract o2 electrically and be sure at what level it is being removed? This seems to be the way to go, for efficiency and safety.

[badchad]

Not sure, but IMO to change the amount of oxygen in a closed room would be very difficult. You'd have to make the room air-tight. Seems tough.

 

If you're going to such extreme lenghts to increase your RBC's why not just "blood dope". Have your blood removed, then separate the RBC's and inject them back into yourself. Not too sure about the intracicies of this but doesn't seem to be any more difficult then engineering a room with lesser oxygen. Diet can affect RBC production as well.

[coquina]

Well, I once read that breathing into a paper bag will cure hiccups because the CO2 builds up. Suppose you used a paper bag with a few small holes, so some oxygen could come in but the CO2 would be higher.

[budullewraagh]

hah there you go; just create a carbon dioxide atmosphere by combustion reactions. cheap to do, as well...altho you'll start to feel really weird after a few mins, then you'll pass out

[Casale]

well i wouldn't have to make a room airtight. I would just buy one of the premade altitude tents that are airtight made for this purpose, they are cheap and only about 200, its the generator that is expensive, and 4000. Blood doping is out of the question, its unethical. I'm a cyclist too, we need not go into the damage that blood doping has done to my sport. Its kinda funny too, my mom works for Amgen, the company that makes procrit, with the more common term of epotin. I could jump 60% in RBC, but why would i want to die, and why would i want to get the biggest bullshit from every competitor around me. Not worth it.

[ajrusz]

Why not just sit in a CVAC Machine for 20 minutes three times a week?

 

It also helps with recovery.

 

http://www.cvacsystems.com

[Molotov]

You can get compressed nitrogen cheap from paintball shops.

 

Get an oxygen sensor and wire it up so that it activates a solenoid on the N2 tank when oxygen levels are too high and when the levels are too low have it activate a fan venting atmosphere into the tent.

 

Maybe invest in an additional sensor and have it activate an alarm if the amount of oxygen in the tent drops to dangerous levels.