The Science of Simulated Altitude Technology

Altitude training typically involves athletes training for several weeks at high altitude, preferably higher than 8,000 ft above sea level. At this altitude the air still contains the same proportion of oxygen it would at lower altitudes, approximately 20.9%, but the atmospheric pressure, and thus the partial pressure of oxygen is reduced, meaning the air is "thinner," or there is less total air available. Recent scientific studies have consistently verified what endurance athletes and coaches have known all along -- altitude training improves speed, strength, endurance, and recovery time. The higher energy demands required by doing more with less oxygen also lead to weight loss, as body fat is burned to produce the energy necessary for sustained physical activity, with even more energy required after the workout to repair and rebuild muscles torn down by hypoxic training.

Simulating High Altitude Conditions

Altitude Generators are mask-based altitude simulation systems that reduce the partial pressure of oxygen to recreate conditions found at altitude. Although they do not decrease the atmospheric pressure, like true altitude conditions, these systems achieve the same results by decreasing the oxygen content in the ambient air from 20.9% down to as low as 9.5%. This allows athletes to implement different training techniques including Live High, Train Low, or the practice of merely performing occasional exercise sessions at altitude.

Physiological Effects

Depending on the training methods implemented, and individual physiological differences, the body may adapt to the relative lack of oxygen hypoxia in one or more of a number ways such as increasing the mass of red blood cells and hemoglobin, and non-hematolological responses. Athletes who live at high altitude or consistently use Altitude Generators have a higher concentration of red blood cells for 10-14 days after prolonged, consistent exposure, giving them a competitive advantage well after they leave altitude conditions.

Altitude Generator Technology

The technology behind Altitude is the same pressure swing adsorption process that is used in oxygen concentrators to deliver oxygen therapy in healthcare applications. The difference is that rather than increasing the amount of oxygen the patient breathes in, Altitude Generators actually decrease the oxygen content to simulate high-altitude training conditions.

Altitude Generators depend on a cutting-edge Advanced Technology Fractionator (ATF) module to separate out the oxygen and thin the air. This single mechanically integrated module made of space-age composites has only one moving part, is maintenance-free, self-cleaning, and invulnerable to wear. ATF patented technology eliminates more than 200 troublesome parts found in conventional two-bed zeolite systems.

The ATF's pressure characteristics reduce wear on compressor components. In conventional oxygen separators, the compressor is often the most wear- and fatigue-prone component in the system.The imposition of continual large cyclic changes in output pressure results in transient vibratory loads on the intake and exhaust flapper valves in the compressor, causing metal fatigue and reduced operating life. These same pressure fluctuations also result in cyclic variation in compressor speed, which lead to greater wear and reduced life of the ball bearings supporting the motor shaft and pistons.

Endurance testing of ATF's has confirmed these benefits. One compressor was run continuously for 24 hours per day for 1.5 years without failure while operating a prototype ATF. In this period of time, an equivalent compressor in a conventional oxygen concentrator would have required at least one overhaul.