whats up with the Darth Vader masks in the gym?

[trx680]

Saw two different guys this week wearing these masks over their face. They sound like Darth Vader when they breath...sorta. I wanted to ask why they wear them but don't want a light saber pulled on me.

[Rickb140]

If you've seen one of these ~crazy~ looking masks at your gym, you can relax — people aren't using them to fend off some silent plague or because you forgot to put on deodorant.

Actually, these awkward-AF silicon masks are designed to improve peoples' fitness. Designed to mimic air conditions at higher altitudes, where lower levels of oxygen can make breathing more laborious, the contraption covers the mouth and nose on purpose, obstructing airways so you have to inhale extra hard to get your oxygen fix. In other words, it's like resistance training for your respiratory system

[indianbuckeye]

this thing? http://www.roguefitness.com/elevation-training-mask-2-0

[murphyreedus]

"No one cared who I was until I put on the mask."

Wearing an altitude mask is an effective way to announce to the rest of the world that you'll believe anything you hear.

[Domicron]

specifically regarding elevation masks: at least i was being sarcastic in college when i would joke about how smoking a cigarette while walking out of the gym was "resistance training for my lungs"

[horsediente]

We have a guy like this at my gym too! He wears the mask and a weighted tech-vest to boot. I asked this winter soldier what was with the mask and he said it mimicks elevation, to which I replied that we were already living on top of the Rockies, simulating elevation in real elevation, it is sooo hardcore.

[keyboardworkout]

The tested protocol is for endurance athletes to sleep high and train low. This requires expensive sleep chambers. Elite cyclists do this.

Some idiot decided to try and get in on this altitude action and came up with the mask. However, they are doing it backwards.

The most controversial of these grey areas is the use of hypoxic chambers, also known as altitude chambers.

Altitude chambers boost an athlete’s red blood cell count, increasing endurance and recovery time. The athlete sleeps at a simulated high altitude, but trains at the optimal sea level, all without having to undergo the rigours of travel. He or she benefits simply by sleeping, and gains the same performance benefits as someone using the illegal hormone erythropoietin (EPO).

For Houlihan, it is an ethical issue. He described the use of the chambers as ‘a highly ambiguous area’ that will ‘never be reconciled’ with the current anti-doping criteria,’ and said that WADA must ‘not only establish a set of anti-doping regulations and protocols, but also give a moral lead in areas where there is this kind of ambiguity.’

WADA actually attempted to do this in a review in 2006 but failed. Its then chief, Dick Pound, condemned the chambers as ‘tacky’ and ‘artificial’, and the Ethical Issues Review Panel said that they were ‘a violation of the spirit of Olympic sport.’ But the chambers stayed off the list.

[Nebamartinez]

"No one cared who I was until I put on the mask."

Wearing an altitude mask is an effective way to announce to the rest of the world that you'll believe anything you hear.

This lmao 😂

[Domicron]

btw i thought there would be some actual darth vader looking elevation masks...everyone was calling them Bane masks as if the Sith Lord wasn't the original masked badass

[RemainDieHard]

I first saw these years ago where UFC fighters were using them in their training while running on the treadmill. I was assuming it was to restrict breathing and strengthen your lungs. If someone at a commercial gym is wearing them for anything other than the actual time they're doing cardio then they're probably drinking Rogue Kool Aid or they're just posers in general lol

[keyboardworkout]

I first saw these years ago where UFC fighters were using them in their training while running on the treadmill.

I remember someone, maybe Forrest Griffin, doing his walk out to the cage wearing a "training mask". lol

[GentlemanLifter]

Just suffering from asthma-envy.

[AttyGuy]

"No one cared who I was until I put on the mask."

You really needed a workout equipment-based visual for this one.

[cwcmac]

The tested protocol is for endurance athletes to sleep high and train low. This requires expensive sleep chambers. Elite cyclists do this.

Some idiot decided to try and get in on this altitude action and came up with the mask. However, they are doing it backwards.

Repping you was overdue but just the fact you referenced an article with a quote by 'Dick Pound' makes it even better.

[murphyreedus]

You really needed a workout equipment-based visual for this one.

I really did. I'll try to do better next time.

[horsediente]

One more thought on the purpose of elevation masks. . . They play the same roll as nipples on men. . .they are there just in case!

[Jhawk Fitness]

"No one cared who I was until I put on the mask."

Wearing an altitude mask is an effective way to announce to the rest of the world that you'll believe anything you hear.

You're correct. Here's a good read; http://www.stack.com/a/do-altitude-t...-actually-work

[ironwill2008]

Saw two different guys this week wearing these masks over their face. They sound like Darth Vader when they breath...sorta. I wanted to ask why they wear them........

One word, OP: dumbasses.